Aquatic Culture | Watershapes

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Photo courtesy Questar Pools & Spas, Escondido, Calif.
Photo courtesy H2Oarts, Santa Paula, Calif.
Photo courtesy Hess Landscape Architects, Lansdale, Pa.
Photo courtesy Design Ecology, Austin, Texas
Photo courtesy Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pa.
Photo courtesy Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif.
Photo courtesy Rock Solid Tile, Calabasas, Calif.
Photo courtesy Hughes Water Gardens, Wilsonville, Ore.

Straight and Narrow

The Pacific coast of northern Costa Rica is lined with white sand beaches and dense vegetation -- beautiful surroundings that watershaper Joan Roca has long used to inspire his work. Here, he takes us to visit one of his most recent projects, this one for a commercial property with requirements that called on him to find different ways of expressing himself and draw on the character of the surroundings while using only the simplest possible forms.

Committed to Balance

It's tough to develop a landscape design that satisfies the social needs of a family while also meeting the practical needs of a thriving home-based business, writes Colleen Holmes. Ever consider what's involved in setting up a parking lot so it also serves as an off-hours retreat?

Peeling the Onion

As part of a huge, evolving, multi-year project, Scott Christie and his colleagues were tasked with adding a pool to an estate's big backyard. In the first of two articles on what took place, he guides us through a design process filled with details, changes -- and a key surprise.

Lighting by Design

To watershape designers and landscape professionals who see lighting as uncharted territory, Bruce Dennis offers simple encouragement: Apply what you already know about artfully organizing spaces and working with contrasts and textures and you already have a big head start.

Grand Expectations

Approaching the renovation of an historic fountain set over an existing, untouchable structure is daunting enough. But it gets tougher, write J. Wickham Zimmerman and Chris Roy, when the original documentation is sketchy and you have no choice but to figure out how to proceed.

Gravel's Virtues

Puzzled by its bad reputation among his clients, Mike Gannon undertook a study of gravel. He'd alsway believed in its abilities, he says, but found a rich history that now aids in him in easing his client's doubts.

All in the Details

It's not how he usually works, notes Ben Lasseter. But on this occasion, the opportunity to bring someone else's exceptional design to fruition made taking a secondary role the right move -- even with the awkward scheduling, unusual access issues and a few tricky alignments.

House Work

Among all of David Tisherman’s many projects, this one carried him about as far as it could beyond his usual role as a watershaper: Not only did he design and install an impressive pool, but he also partnered in building the house that went along with it. Working in a rich color palette and soaring, eclectic architecture, he crafted a masterpiece of form and reflection and made the house seem to float on the watershape that embraces it.

Welcoming Waters

For years, watergarden specialist Bob Dews has built his reputation by designing and installing streams, cascades and ponds of remarkable beauty and extraordinary realism. Lately, as he explains here, he’s embraced a new trend by executing projects in the front yards of clients who want a bit of tranquility to ease and invigorate their daily comings and goings and greet visitors with the sort of experience previously only found behind these homes.

It's Easier Being Green

In his October 2009 Aqua Culture column, Brian Van Bower came down resolutely in favor of what was then an emerging movement -- and here's another look at why he felt a need to speak up about it.

Rising Aspiration

Whenever he gets to Cleveland, Jim McCloskey makes a point of visiting The Fountain of Eternal Life: It's a poignant war memorial, but it's also a call for a better world -- and one of the most compelling statements about human aspiration he's ever seen.

Swimming in Harmony with Nature

Mike Farley reviews Natural Swimming Pools: Inspiration for Harmony with Nature by Michael Littlewood, an American landscape designer who moved to Europe. In the book, Littlewood explores the European trend of creating ponds that are used for swimming and other types of aquatic exercise. “The 250-page text is richly illustrated and if nothing else is a terrific idea book,” Farley writes.

CRYSTAL FOUNTAINS VIDEO SHOWCASE

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New Products at Watershapes.com

Hayward Introduces the AquaVac 6 Series

Pool/Spa Systems & Equipment
Product information from Hayward Pool Products on the AquaVac 6 line of robotic, WiFi operable cleaners for swimming pools.

Bobé Launches Series of Water/Fire Bowls

Outdoor Living Systems & Accessories
Product information from Bobe Water & Fire on its Builder Series of cost-efficient, single-bowl water/fire features.

Spray Feature for Splash Pads from Water Odyssey

Fountain Systems & Equipment
Product information from Water Odyssey on Mushroom Maze, a play feature for splash pads that emits a dome of clear water.

S.R. Smith Offers Commercial-Grade Lounges

Outdoor Living Systems & Accessories
Product information from S.R. Smith on its commercial line of Destination Loungers for hospitality and commercial pool facilities.

Pool/Spa Systems & Equipment
Product information from Pentair Water Commercial on the Aurora 3800 end-suction pump for waterpark applications.

Fountain Systems & Equipment
Product information from Campania International on the cast-stone, 29-inch-diameter, 18.5-inch-tall Del Rey Fountain.

When It Rains

WaterShapes World (blog)
The news from Skip Phillips about his separation from Genesis prompts Jim McCloskey to take another look at where we've been while pondering upcoming possibilities for an industry that needs good technical training and professional education, now more than ever.