Meeting Minds

Let’s begin this discussion with a question: What if you were so bad at your job that a person in a related field decided, for the good of his own business, he had to learn your business and replace you rather than cope with your incompetence? Most people would say that this would be a justified response to the fact that you do lousy work.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending how you look at it), this very thing is happening in the pool industry – or, more accurately, to the pool industry. For years now and with increasing frequency, landscape architects have decided they’ve had enough and are entering the pool industry. They are doing so because they’re burnt out when it comes to dealing with the astonishing incompetence they encounter at almost every turn.

So now, rather than simply providing conceptual designs and turning them over to a pool builder to flesh out the skeleton and handle the installation – the longstanding normal state of affairs – more and more landscape architects are actively learning the technical specifics of watershape construction, and many have secured contractor’s licenses to perform the work themselves.

I can’t quantify this trend, but I hear evidence of it almost daily, especially when I teach at conventions or as part of Genesis 3’s schools. As I open each class, I start by asking for a show of hands of those who are landscape architects and designers. The number of hands I see has been growing larger consistently, and it has now reached a point where I’d say a good third of my students in some classes come from the landscape realm.

In raw count, I’d say those hands now number in the hundreds – and maybe even higher.

SEIZING NECESSITY

The reasons for these migrations across industry lines are obvious. No doubt some landscape professionals see opportunities for increased revenue in the expansion of their scope of work and expertise. But right up there, so far as motivation is concerned, is that fact that almost every landscape architect I speak with has had an extremely negative experience with the mainstream pool industry.

And it isn’t a single incident in most cases, but is rather a consistent pattern of entirely inadequate performances on the part of pool “professionals.” Some of these stories would be laughable if they weren’t also so pathetic or painful.

Expanding my survey a bit, I’ve recently taken to asking by show of hands how many landscape architects and designers are there because they saw attendance as a matter of necessity, given the problems they’ve had with pool people. Every time I ask that question, almost every landscape professional’s hand goes up.

I’m not generally over-critical, and I know for a plain fact that there are lots of fantastic pool designers and builders out there. That said, what we have here is an industry that, overall, is so generally bad at what it does that professionals from a related field are moving in to fill the gap. And it’s worth noting that this movement has gained momentum even during the worst recession most of us have ever seen.

I’ve always believed that every scrap of work should be treated like gold, and that’s particularly true in times of scarcity. Even so, people in the pool industry are still dropping the ball, still underperforming in ways that make other design professionals roll their eyes and sign up for classes in pool construction, still doing things the old way even in times when it’s vitally important to sharpen their skill sets.

Now that the market is beginning to wake up again – and now that some are even reporting the return of robust business activity – there may well be even greater motivation for landscape professionals to cross industry lines as the demand for pools and other watershapes increases.

What this all points to, I believe, is a growing chasm between competent players and those who have yet to embrace the concept that quality rather than mere quantity is what breeds success. Moreover, and as has been noted several times in these pages and elsewhere that, since the beginning of Genesis 3 in 1998 and the launch of WaterShapes in 1999, we’ve seen the emergence of a separate, parallel industry rather than any real growth in the mainstream pool industry.

I would argue that the emergence of watershaping landscape professionals is the strongest kind of evidence that this new industry is on the verge of coming into full bloom and that this movement will become more pronounced and powerful as we move into the future. Those who have already hung out shingles out in this new industry will be prepared to meet opportunities that are just up the road, while those who persist in relying on outdated paradigms will fall farther and farther behind.

OUT OF OPPORTUNITY

Being the optimistic guy that I am, I don’t enjoy dwelling on the negative side of this discussion. I regret what is happening within an industry to which I’ve dedicated most of my adult life, but I accept the fact that there’s little more I can do to open the eyes of those who just don’t see the big picture. It saddens me, but it is what it is – so I move on.

The great thing is, for those of us on the positive, forward-looking side of the divide, that the presence especially of landscape architects among us spells opportunity in big, bold letters, both for watershapers and for landscape architects.

First, quality designers and builders never have to worry about someone swooping in and usurping their businesses. Even in the context of this recession, the quality/custom operations were the last to go down and are now among the first to rebound.

Second, now that more landscape architects are fully in the mix and have a greater understanding of what it takes to design and build good watershapes, we watershapers have a stellar opportunity to learn more about what landscape architects do and can position ourselves to forge fruitful working associations. As I see it, this is a win-win-win scenario for watershapers, landscape architects and clients. Indeed, the only people who have anything to worry about here are those who encouraged these shifts through their towering incompetence.

For my part, I love the fact that landscape architects are generally polished and professional, perhaps simply by virtue of having graduated from college on the way to becoming certificated landscape architects. I also love the fact that they work in exterior spaces and often design wonderful settings for my watershapes.

I truly enjoy these opportunities to create fully integrated designs. I also appreciate the fact that they understand hardscape and softscape in the context of great design styles and traditions, I like the fact that they know decks and pathways, garden ornamentation, loggias, arbors, pergolas, outdoor lighting, materials selections and spatial organization; and, finally, think it’s great that they’ve becoming better informed about watershaping.

If this intimidates you, I suggest getting over it. For those of us who engage in constant professional growth and development, our associations with landscape architects gives us direct access to their expertise and the opportunity to respond to their presence by operating on new and higher levels.

In other words, what’s happening, right now, is that we are learning from each other and finding ways to collaborate as never before.

HERE AT HOME

I’m the first to concede that I haven’t done everything to perfection in my career. For all that, among the smartest moves I’ve ever made has been the hiring of two landscape professionals to work side by side with me. Andrew Kaner and Miguel Hastings both have masters degrees in landscape architecture, and through their expertise and willingness to learn about watershaping, they have enabled me to add multiple dimensions to the services my company provides. With our veteran AutoCAD specialist Mark Krawczyk, we make for quite a solid team.

Their clear understanding of aesthetic issues, for example, has raised our level of design literacy to a point where we mesh easily not only with landscape architects but also with building architects as well. They’ve also enhanced our presentations and in many ways have made the work more fun because both of them are wonderfully creative.

Calling ASLA I’d like to make an opinionated observation: Based on scores of conversations I’ve had with landscape architects who are members of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), I believe the organization is under-serving its membership. When you look at the curriculum at ASLA’s annual conventions, there is one clear gap in coverage: Only rarely is there anything about the design of watershapes in any form, perhaps with grand-scale fountains being the occasional exception. Yes, there are lots of water-related courses having to do with irrigation, drainage issues and wetland management, but there’s little or nothing to sustain the livelihoods of landscape architects who work with decorative or recreational water – many of them in the majority of their projects. We at Genesis 3 have reached out to ALSA on multiple occasions, always pointing out that seminars on watershaping will benefit ASLA members, expand their control of job sites and enhance their ability to achieve the results they want with the water components of their projects. Most of our overtures have met with little more than courteous indifference, but the few programs we’ve done for ASLA groups have received tremendous response and enthusiastic endorsement. I’ve never figured this out, frankly, but I would love it if somebody could explain these disconnects to me. And I must say I wouldn’t mind opening an engaged and more engaging dialogue with the organization, basically because I think collaboration will do all of us a world of good. — B.V.B.

Admittedly, in times past I’m not so sure I would have fully appreciated all they’ve brought to my business. I recall, for example, that when we were developing the core curriculum for Genesis 3, I was puzzled by David Tisherman’s insistence that a course on color theory had to be included.

I didn’t see his point at first, but it wasn’t long before I recognized that, like it or not, all watershaping is in some way involved with the use of color. Very quickly, I saw not only that education on color theory was a good idea for our program, but that it was utterly essential to the work I do daily.

After absorbing everything Judith Corona’s color course had to offer, I found that my confidence had grown and that I was no longer disadvantaged in speaking with architects and landscape architects about color. (I also liked the authority it gave me in working with clients!) Immediately, I was able to see why someone who suggested installation of a white-plaster pool with blue waterline tile and red-brick coping wasn’t considered competent by educated design professionals. It was like being given the key to a door that had always been locked before.

This leads to an important point, especially for those interested in stepping up and engaging landscape architects on a level playing field: The first thing you need to do is learn to speak the language.

Long before you can actually wield landscape-design concepts, you must know what they are, what they mean and what their application can do for a project. No shortcuts here: You must find venues where you can learn about color, line, visual weight, symmetrical and asymmetrical balance, sight lines, textures and the plant kingdom. In particular, you must learn about organizing spaces for human occupation and movement.

You can learn these things in classrooms, from books and by working with and paying attention to design professionals who have that knowledge at hand. You also have to recognize that there are pecking orders to be observed and that in some cases you’ll run into substantial egos.

I dealt with the pecking orders and egos first by being confident in my own area of specialization, but I also did so by suppressing my own ego and being patient, respectful and ready to collaborate. In time, mutual respect has grown, egos are less of an issue and the pecking orders are occasionally even flipped, with landscape architects subordinating their work to mine as the lead watershaper.

FIND YOUR WAY

All of this requires flexibility and open-mindedness when it comes to the way projects unfold. In some cases, you’ll inevitably be a passenger, someone along for the ride in executing someone else’s grander vision. In others, you’ll call the shots yourself. In all situations, however, being involved with other design professionals (landscape architects, architects, interior designers, developers) puts you in an environment in which creative give and take is the order of the day.

These kinds of exchanges call on your knowledge, but they also require you to suppress your fear of the unknown.

So if you’re so bad at what you do that landscape architects and other design professionals are coming after you, it’s time – and I mean this in the kindest way possible – either to be inspired to do better or get out of the way. Either way, you must recognize that the status quo is not tenable.

For those who already work at a higher level, I suggest embracing other enlightened designers. Establish alliances with local landscape architects and figure out ways to build two-way streets in which the success of one of you means the success of both of you. Or do as I’ve done and bring people into your firm with the desired backgrounds and educations.

However you approach the issue, recognize that great work is almost always the product of great collaboration. Better yet, it’s a much happier way to spend your days.

Next: To support the points I’ve made here, I’ll follow this discussion up with some interesting anecdotes drawn from my own experiences in working with landscape architects.

Brian Van Bower runs Aquatic Consultants, a design firm based in Miami, Fla., and is a co-founder of the Genesis 3 Design Group; dedicated to top-of-the-line performance in aquatic design and construction, this organization conducts schools for like-minded pool designers and builders. He can be reached at [email protected].

SIDEBAR