ARTICLES Archives - Page 300 of 314

Are You Experienced?

In October 1999, I wrote an Aqua Culture column titled "Value by Design" in which I explained my belief that watershape designers should be paid for their designs in the same way interior designers and landscape designers are paid for theirs. Since then, I've been contacted by lots of people who are interested in knowing more about how this works; I've also had the privilege of traveling throughout the United States and abroad to talk about watershape design and construction and have met hundreds of people with the same need for information. On the one hand, it's exciting to see the notion of a watershape-design specialty catching on: It isn't a foreign idea to people the way it used to be, and

Choice Words

What do you call the effect of water falling over the edge of a pool? Do you say it has a negative edge? An infinity edge? A vanishing edge? Or do you have

Inspired by a source no less prominent than the hugely popular San Antonio Riverwalk, the citizens of an old Colorado steel town have invested $24 million in a project they call HARP – the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo. The project has transformed the town’s rusty image, says landscape architect Donald Brandes, and sums up the benefits of thoughtful watershaping on the grandest possible scale.

Down to the River

In 1921, a flood rolled into Pueblo, Colo., submerging the civic center beneath 11 feet of water and leaving more than 100 people dead. To prevent the recurrence of such disasters, engineers came to town, diverted the river along a different path and encased it in underground levees several blocks away. Seventy years later, a grand project known locally as HARP – the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo – undertook to restore the historic course of the Arkansas River and make it the centerpiece of a 26-acre downtown park. HARP re-creates 2,220 linear feet of the historic river in concrete-lined (yet naturalistic) channels. Nearing completion after ten years, the urban park will include 3,300 linear feet of navigable waterway for use by water taxis and pleasure boats as well as dramatic fountains; more than a mile of promenades and other walkways; a two-acre lake; and an outdoor environmental-education center. It has been a massive undertaking, as befits a project aimed at revitalizing an entire city. For the watershaping community, the project stands as an example of the truly transforming effect that

Picture Perfect

In February 1999, the cover photo on the premiere issue of WaterShapes showed a steel cage for a subgrade piling being lowered into the ground. That image was taken from a feature article by designer/builder David Tisherman, the first of many that he has contributed to the magazine. In that article and in another that followed in April 1999, he detailed the design and construction of an elaborate residential swimming pool project that he

The United States is one of the world’s richest countries when it comes to geological diversity. But until recently, say stone supplier Joe Nolan, only part of the rainbow of natural stone building materials was being extracted from the ground. That’s changing, he says, as increasing consumer demand is sending designers and builders to vendors in search of creative inspiration – and new or unusual materials, colors and visual textures.

Flat-Out Gorgeous

There's never been much of a tradition in this country when it comes to beautiful stonework, especially when it comes to flat stone surfaces. What you usually see is the same few stone types used over and over again in the same sorts of applications. To see a contrasting heritage, just travel in Europe and some parts of Asia, where you'll see a far greater variety of flat stone used in creative ways to create pathways, walls, decks, patios and a host of architectural features, including pilasters and finials. Of course, the Old World had a long head start on us, but even so, we've been slow in the New World to catch up with the masonry and quarrying trades as they've been practiced abroad for centuries. Fortunately, that's starting to change. My firm, Malibu Stone & Masonry of Malibu, Calif., supplies stone (flat and otherwise) to a host of contractors, landscape architects and designers. What we're seeing is a two-stage process: Professionals are surprised

Fountains have long been purposeful testimonials to the beauty of moving water and the effect it has on associated sculpture and landscaping. Less deliberate and controllable but still beautiful, say landscape architects and environmental artists Suzanne Roe Dirsmith and Ron Dirsmith, is what occurs when a fountain and its patterns of mist and overspray freeze – effects that open a fresh, unique set of options to watershapers.

Winter Delights

An important part of creating a human environment in harmony with nature is planning for and designing with the cycle of the seasons in mind. At our company, the Dirsmith Group, we operate with the belief that a blending of fine architecture and landscape design into our natural environment, in careful harmony with human beings, demonstrates both a reverence and a respect for nature. The result of this blended environment is that people feel good: They enjoy being in the space, and we believe it enriches the human spirit. When it comes to working with the seasons specifically, that's easier said than done in

Landscape designer Melanie Jauregui believes there’s much more to good exterior design than an understanding of project parameters, sound engineering and tight planning and execution. That’s why she takes time to uncover the aesthetic and thematic preferences as well as the emotional motivators of each client – a process that enables her to create landscapes and watershapes that not only function as desired, but speak to the heart as well.

The Power of Passion

It's natural for me to wax poetic about my work. Gardening and garden designs are what I call my "magnificent obsession" - so much so that the other arts in which I have an interest and for which I even have talent will generally take a back seat. After more than 19 years as a professional landscape designer, I am still driven and excited by the challenge of creating comprehensive landscapes for my clients. I thrive on the complexity of organizing the myriad elements required to create outdoor spaces that function properly, are beautiful and harmonious to the eye - and even touch

Survival of the Fittest

The project is complete. You've put the last touches on the landscaping, the swimming pool and spa are up and running, the pond and its water lilies are ready to be joined by some colorful fish, and the expanse of stone decking has been tailor-made for your clients' entertaining pleasure. You've managed to achieve exactly the look they originally imagined, and now they can sit back and enjoy it - or can they? The answer will be a resounding "yes" only if you took the time to consider the longer-term effects their beautiful new plants might have on the watershapes and decks. Partly, the concern over longer-term effects is about what certain types of plants can do as far as dropping leaves and what that can mean with respect to maintenance. Partly, too, it is about

Super Vision

In the past few issues of WaterShapes, I've used this column to share some very specific construction techniques with you - each one a special detail that I've used to add value and interest to my work. Before I did the first in the series, however, I probably should have laid down an important ground rule: Everything that you've seen in this column - and in the other articles and columns I've written and will write in the future - requires both constant and competent on-site supervision. It's a fact of life: The best design feature in the world isn't worth anything if it isn't executed properly. And no matter how good your in-house staff or subcontractors are, they need

Finding the Garden Path

This past January, I had the pleasure of traveling to Tucson, Ariz., to attend the annual conference of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. The focus of this year's conference was the use of water in landscape design, and the program appropriately featured an interesting mix of experts on swimming pools, fountains and water gardening. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect when I signed on. I'd only been to one landscape event before, and much of that trade and the people in it have been mostly unfamiliar to me. As it turned out, however, this conference was