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For all the talk about the spectrum of watershaping - the existence of those who, on one extreme, pursue high-quality, truly custom projects and those on the other who live in a low-end, cookie-cutter realm - I must say that I've yet to run into anyone from the fringes of latter camp who's stepped forward to say, "Yes, our company crawls in the dirt to win jobs based purely on price, and it's only possible because we deliberately do substandard work." Quite to the contrary, people in the watershaping business at all levels will tell you that they're in business to provide a quality end product that delivers real value to clients whether the average cost of their output is
We may be well into our ninth year of publication, but I'm still amazed and often amused by the ways that some people choose to describe WaterShapes. I've heard some armchair critics, for instance, dismiss us "a pool magazine that covers ponds," "a pond magazine that covers pools" or "a fountain magazine with
We may be well into our ninth year of publication, but I'm still amazed and often amused by the ways that some people choose to describe WaterShapes. I've heard some armchair critics, for instance, dismiss us "a pool magazine that covers ponds," "a pond magazine that covers pools" or "a fountain magazine with
It comes as no shock that we remember things that surprise and fascinate us. Back in my days as a graduate student in fine arts, I was determined to exploit that very human tendency in creating nature-inspired artworks meant to evoke deep-seated memories and a personalized sense of déjà vu. My first work along those lines involved creating a rail of ice with a central channel that carried heated air: The idea was to create a situation that reminded people of hot/cold experiences, such as the heat of a campfire on a cold night or the warmth of the sun atop a snow-capped mountain. That project started me down a long path that eventually led me to create waterfall systems that use large quantities of precisely controlled droplets of water to "paint" kinetic graphics, logos and text - a concept I've continued to perfect through the past 30 years. So far, these systems have mostly been used to display commercial messages at trade shows. It all makes sense: As deployed by exhibitors looking to amaze attendees (and by a handful of other high-profile commercial and public clients as well), the effect is meant to dominate a setting and attract maximum attention. To date, I've designed, programmed and installed more than 100 of these exhibits worldwide. We've done some special events as well, including an installation seen by 24 million people who visited Atlanta's Centennial Park during the 1996 Olympics and, ten years later, another display celebrating the 60th anniversary of the coronation of
It comes as no shock that we remember things that surprise and fascinate us. Back in my days as a graduate student in fine arts, I was determined to exploit that very human tendency in creating nature-inspired artworks meant to evoke deep-seated memories and a personalized sense of déjà vu. My first work along those lines involved creating a rail of ice with a central channel that carried heated air: The idea was to create a situation that reminded people of hot/cold experiences, such as the heat of a campfire on a cold night or the warmth of the sun atop a snow-capped mountain. That project started me down a long path that eventually led me to create waterfall systems that use large quantities of precisely controlled droplets of water to "paint" kinetic graphics, logos and text - a concept I've continued to perfect through the past 30 years. So far, these systems have mostly been used to display commercial messages at trade shows. It all makes sense: As deployed by exhibitors looking to amaze attendees (and by a handful of other high-profile commercial and public clients as well), the effect is meant to dominate a setting and attract maximum attention. To date, I've designed, programmed and installed more than 100 of these exhibits worldwide. We've done some special events as well, including an installation seen by 24 million people who visited Atlanta's Centennial Park during the 1996 Olympics and, ten years later, another display celebrating the 60th anniversary of the coronation of
In our business, when we talk about people with disabilities, we always put people first: We speak of "people with brain injuries," for instance, or "people with arthritis" or "people with spinal injuries." That's an important distinction, because the language informs the entire mindset needed to help them improve their situations in the most effective ways. For starters, this "people-first" approach helps us avoid misleading generalizations: Often, we find that two people with nominally similar conditions or disabilities will have significantly different needs and that the methods used to treat each may prove to be significantly different as well. Everything we do at the Brown Center, in other words, must be based on the individual's own
In our business, when we talk about people with disabilities, we always put people first: We speak of "people with brain injuries," for instance, or "people with arthritis" or "people with spinal injuries." That's an important distinction, because the language informs the entire mindset needed to help them improve their situations in the most effective ways. For starters, this "people-first" approach helps us avoid misleading generalizations: Often, we find that two people with nominally similar conditions or disabilities will have significantly different needs and that the methods used to treat each may prove to be significantly different as well. Everything we do at the Brown Center, in other words, must be based on the individual's own
Through the past 20 years or so, the vanishing-edge look has become perhaps the most recognizable hallmark of high-end, custom swimming pools. In that time, these vessels have gone from relatively rare to remarkably common. These days, in fact, it's a rare builder who doesn't have at least a handful of these projects in his or her portfolio. Unfortunately, this growth in the popularity of vanishing edges has been attended by a dramatic increase in problems with these structures, particularly on the outside surface of the freestanding wall that creates the elegant edge detail. The problems manifest themselves as cracks, surface delaminations, efflorescence and, in severe cases, as leaks. These are issues that have led to scores of dissatisfied homeowners and numerous potential
Through the past 20 years or so, the vanishing-edge look has become perhaps the most recognizable hallmark of high-end, custom swimming pools. In that time, these vessels have gone from relatively rare to remarkably common. These days, in fact, it's a rare builder who doesn't have at least a handful of these projects in his or her portfolio. Unfortunately, this growth in the popularity of vanishing edges has been attended by a dramatic increase in problems with these structures, particularly on the outside surface of the freestanding wall that creates the elegant edge detail. The problems manifest themselves as cracks, surface delaminations, efflorescence and, in severe cases, as leaks. These are issues that have led to scores of dissatisfied homeowners and numerous potential
From my first visit, I knew I'd be spending a lot of time here developing the watershapes and landscapes on this amazing site. Set on a bluff in Del Mar, Calif., the whole property slopes down from the street level to the back edge of the property. Beyond was an open space offering uninterrupted views of a river estuary, native coastal scrub studded with rare, indigenous, protected Torrey Pines and the Del Mar shoreline's pounding surf. There were also the spectacularly patterned cliffs at Torrey Pines State Park - a vista and set of colors that ultimately determined material choices for this project. It helped that I was completely at ease with
