Commentaries, Interviews & Profiles
If you’re like me, you look forward to the arrival of every issue of this magazine. As I see it, WaterShapes provides information that helps me become better at what I do. It’s also fun to read, informative and wonderfully affirming in that it shows our industry at its very best. It’s truly an indispensible resource, has been responsible for a good measure of the progress the industry has made in the past 12 years – and, unfortunately, it’s also struggling to make headway in a tough marketplace. Let me say this up front: I’m going to lay it on the line about
Interview by Lenny Giteck Veteran readers of WaterShapes will recognize the name Mike Farley as the author of "Book Notes," the magazine's long-running and highly popular book review column. For the past decade, Mike has brought a world of useful material to
For the past several years, a number of people in the swimming pool industry have debated whether saltwater has a detrimental effect on concrete and, in some cases, on stone decks. As one who has worked extensively with saltwater chlorination systems, I've studied this issue in depth in
Eric Herman has served as the editor of WaterShapes magazine since its inception in 1999. During a career spanning more than 25 years, he has written and edited articles across a broad range of industries, technical subjects and business interests. According to
It's human nature: We often neglect the quality and profound importance of that which fulfills our most basic needs. At a minimum, we expect breathable (if not clean) air, abundant food, warm beds, companionship, clothing and, especially, clean water. We take these and other "commodities" for granted because they come in abundant supply — so when issues arise, they tend to
An Interview by Lenny Giteck Jon Mitovich is president and general manager of Roman Fountains, a designer and manufacturer of fountain-system packages and components based in Albuquerque, N.M. Mitovich has conducted classes and seminars on the fountain business and fountain design to help watershapers understand the origin, history and application of water in architectural environments. He also has
The Harvard Business Review recently published results of an interesting survey: Overall, they said, some 75 percent of those contacted reported diminishing trust in U.S. business managers and their companies; moreover, their faith in educational institutions, product suppliers and government is on the decline as well – but not to quite such an extent. It all seems gloomy and pessimistic, but I couldn’t be surprised by the findings. In fact, I can
Standing in front of classes filled with landscape architecture students is always an unpredictable proposition: You just never know what their young minds will bring to the education process, the only constant being that they’re always full of surprises. Each and every time I’ve had the privilege of starting a new semester with a fresh group of students, however, it’s never long before one of them will ask me about how ecologically sound watershapes really are or can be. Truth be told (and as you’ll see in what follows), this has become something of a sore subject for me. So when the question inevitably comes, I pause, ponder a bit and finally tell these eager young people that
I have my opinions – some of them quite strong – but I’m also what I would consider to be a tolerant, open-minded guy: I weigh a broad spectrum of ideas in forming my perspectives, and I try my best to judge people by their thoughts, actions and merits. Every once in a while, however, my reserves of patience get pressed to the limit. When that happens, I believe it’s valid and useful to stand up and call things as I see them. Let me cut to the chase: On February 25, 2009, The New York Times ran a piece in the paper’s Home & Garden section by
On Water and Being Human