2013 Editions (January-June) Archives - Page 2 of 2

January 23, 2013 www.watershapes.com

ESSENTIAL

Completely Contemporary

Taking great pride in developing watershape and landscape designs that combine an appreciation for the setting with an understanding of the clients’ tastes, Roger and Sheri Soares have prospered for years on the high end of the hotly competitive Phoenix marketplace. In this project, they took advantage of spectacular views, blended their work into a hillside and worked out all the harmonic links between the desert and the home’s modern style.

This article, originally published in June 2005, has been digitized for all readers. Once you click ‘more’ on the next screen, you can zoom in on images to study the craftsmanship in detail. [continue]

PONDCRAFT

Weathering the Winter

Ponds can be at their beautiful best over the winter, notes Brian Helfrich — hence his desire here to offer a few simple steps that will keep them running for the duration. It takes some effort, he concedes, but the spectacle of frozen waterfalls and streams makes it all worthwhile. [more]

VIDEO GALLERY

Sound Stage

When asked to set up an antique wall fountain, Randy Beard did his client the favor of looking at it as a full-scale watershape. As this video demonstrates, a basic bit of plumbing and some attention to detail makes short work of what all-too-often proves to be an ongoing chore. [more]

PLATINUM REFLECTIONS

Up on Rocky Top

Even for a firm that specializes in big natural-stone watershapes, this project was huge. Working for an enthusiastic client, the staff at Glacier, Inc., stepped well beyond the usual in renovating a 78-acre private lake while also creating a stone stream and waterfall. [more]

WATERSHAPES WORLD

What’s Wrong with This Picture?

While surfing the web, Jim McCloskey spotted a story on a pool being built in Texas that triggered a flood of thoughts on the places we swim. Why is it, he asks, that so few public pools are being built these days, even in places experiencing tremendous population growth? [more]

WHAT’S NEW?

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London Olympic Aquatics
Centre ‘Most-Hard-to-Miss’

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TRAVELOGUE

A Fountain Revised

When the 12 acres of Grand Park were dedicated in downtown Los Angeles last year, observes Jim McCloskey, the key to it all was a renovated fountain now accompanied by a spacious splash deck. It’s definitely worth a visit — especially on a warm, sunny day. [more]

WATERSHAPES CLASSIC

Sustaining Quality

Five years ago, sustainability was a fairly novel subject among watershapers — so Bruce Zaretsky jumped right in to tell it like it was (and is) with respect to local sourcing, recycling and taking responsibility. [more]

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

MTV: Rambunctious ‘Rednecks’ Create

Swimming Pool from Unlikely Vehicle

Many water-related stories have been in the news of late – including reports connected to the three questions below.

1. “Buckwild,” a new MTV reality series, features a group of rambunctious West Virginia “rednecks” in their 20s who – among other things – turn what vehicle into a swimming pool?

a. An old school bus b. An abandoned boat

c. A used dump truck d. A derelict railroad caboose.

2. Which U.S. Olympic swimming champion is about to get his or her own TV reality show, starting in April?

a. Michael Phelps b. Ryan Lochte c. Missy Franklin d. Mark Spitz.

3. A U.K. businessman is planning to covert an empty warehouse in Portishead,a small coastal town in southwest England, into a facility with an indoor swimming pool and café. The pool will be aimed at serving which specific group of people?

a. Babies and toddlers b. Senior citizens

c. Moslems d. The physically challenged.

To find out how many you got right, click here.

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January 9, 2013 www.watershapes.com

ESSENTIAL

Making Frames

To Colorado pond/stream specialist Dave Garton, a certain ‘flexible responsiveness’ is the quality of utmost importance in all of his watershape designs. It’s an approach, he says, that calls for a keen understanding both of the setting and of what makes his clients tick — a dual awareness he puts on eloquent display here in discussing how he maximizes the personal appeal of his designs even as he works across a broad range of project types and styles. This article, originally published in May 2009, has been digitized for all readers. Once you click ‘more’ on the next screen, you can zoom in on images to study the craftsmanship in detail. [continue]

FEATURE ARTICLE

Landscapes Go Green

More and more often these days, Scott Cohen encounters clients who want him to take a ‘green’ approach to their backyards and incorporate a variety of eco-friendly concepts and strategies into their projects. Here’s how he gets the ideas rolling. [more]

TECHNICAL BRIEFING

Making Connections

From waterparks to pools and spas, great watershaping is largely about the plumbing that makes these systems work. As Steve Gutai attests, there’s nothing more fundamental to hydraulic success than securing all pipes, fittings and components in the right connections. [more]

WHAT IS IT?

#2: Vanishing Edge

Vanishing-edge designs are among the most popular of all watershape possibilities, notes Mike Farley, but that doesn’t mean clients really understand their features or how they work. That’s why he prepared this brief video to answer their most common questions. [more]

WATERSHAPES WORLD

Tackling the New Year

On the first day of 2013, Jim McCloskey did something he’d never dreamed of doing before — and it set the stage for a quick meditation on open-mindedness and stepping beyond the limits we impose on ourselves in both our private and professional lives. [more]

WHAT’S NEW?

Now at WaterShapes.com . . .

Go to the PRODUCTS button on the home page and pull down to Of Interest — your key to detailed information on the latest in watershaping products and services and all the information you need to make the right buying decisions. [for a shortcut, click here]

Audience Floats in Boats
‘Life of Pi’ Paris Premiere
Held at Iconic Indoor Pool

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TRAVELOGUE

New York’s Heart

Whenever he travels to New York City, Jim McCloskey has always made a point of visiting the Prometheus Fountain at Rockefeller Plaza. He describes it as a great and calming space in the midst of a teeming metropolis — especially so when the city’s at its busiest. [more]

WATERSHAPES CLASSIC

The Main Ingredient

All watershapers should be conscious of one big thing, noted Brian Van Bower in January 2003 — that is, the profound role water plays in our lives and the distinctive benefits of which we all should take advantage. [more]

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Scientists Vindicate Phelps,
Lochte on Pool Urination

Many water-related stories have been in the news of late – including reports connected to the three questions below.

1. Following the 2012 London Olympic Games, U.S. swimming champions Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte both revealed they urinated in the Olympics training pool — and they asserted there was nothing wrong with the practice. That assertion has been validated by the organization Sense About Science (SAS), at least when it comes to health concerns. Each year, SAS “challenges and examines scientific claims made by celebrities to prevent inaccurate information [from] gaining public acceptance….” Why did the group say Phelps and Lochte were right?

          a.   In a large pool, a single urination is just “a drop in the bucket.”
          b.   Urine — a combination of salts and water, with moderate amounts of protein and DNA
breakdown products — is essentially sterile.
          c.   Chlorine in the pool prevents bacteria from growing anyway.
          d.   All of the above.

2. Despite several attempts – her most recent at age 63 – American open-water distance swimming legend Diana Nyad has failed to achieve her dream of swimming from Cuba to Florida without benefit of a shark cage. Now 27-year-old Chloe McCardel, also an accomplished open-water distance swimmer, has announced her intention to attempt the same feat in 2013. What country is McCardel from?

a. Canada b. New Zealand c. Australia d. Ireland.

3. Openwaterswimming.com has conducted a survey to determine the number of people engaged in open-water distance swimming. How many professional open-water distance swimmers are there in the world, according to the survey results?

a. 379 (203 males and 176 females) b. 491 (300 males and 191 females)
c. 785 (395 males and 390 females) d. None of the above.

To find out how many you got right, click here.