How do you translate a “TED meets Burning Man” vibe into the design of a year-round property—as the investors behind Utah’s ski slope–adjacent Summit Powder Mountain are attempting to do in their 10,000-acre, billionaire-friendly planned mountain community? Summit, a company that organizes meetings, talks, and events with innovators and entrepreneurs, is discovering the difference between putting on a weekend conference and opening a permanent settlement: The latter requires a balancing act between vision, pragmatics, and the somewhat unpredictable dynamics between the individuals who choose to settle in such a place. The trick is to create a population density that can support amenities like restaurants, grocery stores, and public gathering areas. But what comes first, these amenities or homes for people to use them?

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects, Olson Kundig, Marmol Radziner, Studio Ma, JVA Arkitekter, and Tom Wiscombe Architecture are among the architects who have signed on to design some of Summit’s buildings.

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