appearance
Consider the way I spent my time yesterday: I had breakfast in an upscale eatery to discuss teaching a class. I went through a phone interview with a publication’s editor. I hung up the phone and headed over to a job site I knew would be a total mess after a night that had given us an unexpected inch of rain. Adding to the uncertainty, I was to
Although the concept is relatively unfamiliar in the United States and largely untested here, pools supported by an entirely natural approach to filtration and water management have been under development in Europe for decades and have caught on there in a big way in recent years. In this special feature, German watershaper and natural-pool expert Rainer Grafinger discusses the ‘technology’ behind this potent European trend. For most people in the United States, swimming is far from a natural experience: Bathers move back and forth in man-made, chemically treated backyard or public swimming pools and seldom (if ever) find themselves in
Who took the water out of watershapes? That may seem a ridiculous question, but it's also an obvious one when you see as many plans as I do - and by that I mean plans intended to indicate and initiate the watershaping parts of a wide variety of projects. Indeed, in my long experience in running an engineering-oriented firm, I've repeatedly been asked by designers to flesh out their watershape "ideas" (although in most cases vague inklings would probably be a more accurate way to describe them) and provide working drawings that reflect their "thinking." In my estimation, more than three-quarters of these plans lack any real indication of what the designers expect the water to do or how they want it to look. Instead, what I get is the typical overhead views with the ubiquitous "blue ghosts" or, in some cases, rudimentary sections of structures designed to contain water. It's left to me to probe and ask questions and determine what expectations they have about how the water is to appear and what it is to do. I've endured these common plan shortcomings for more years than I care to count, always wondering
Who took the water out of watershapes? That may seem a ridiculous question, but it's also an obvious one when you see as many plans as I do - and by that I mean plans intended to indicate and initiate the watershaping parts of a wide variety of projects. Indeed, in my long experience in running an engineering-oriented firm, I've repeatedly been asked by designers to flesh out their watershape "ideas" (although in most cases vague inklings would probably be a more accurate way to describe them) and provide working drawings that reflect their "thinking." In my estimation, more than three-quarters of these plans lack any real indication of what the designers expect the water to do or how they want it to look. Instead, what I get is the typical overhead views with the ubiquitous "blue ghosts" or, in some cases, rudimentary sections of structures designed to contain water. It's left to me to probe and ask questions and determine what expectations they have about how the water is to appear and what it is to do. I've endured these common plan shortcomings for more years than I care to count, always wondering
This is an unusual edition of "Book Notes." Yes, it involves reading a book or two, and those books have had a positive effect on my work as a watershaper, but they're well off the path of our usual discussions of publications relating to design, construction or business philosophy. Instead, it's about
As an artist, I tend to look at the world with an eye to "distinction" - that is, what makes certain objects stand out, what makes them appear round, what makes them catch my eye, what makes me notice them. By contrast, most "civilians" notice overall appearances. If they're in a garden, for example, they will enjoy the sea of shapes and colors and will generally respond to a particular plant or design element only if it really stands out in some way. Knowing this, I like to play in my garden designs with elements of visual control and on finding ways to direct what the viewer will look at first, then second and so on. In lots of my gardens, I use trees to capture this sort of attention. Even uninspired observers will take note of
Since the dawn of civilization, it has stood as the single most enduring of all artistic media: From representations of mythological characters and historic events to applications as purely architectural forms and fixtures, carved stone has been with us every step of the way. As modern observers, we treasure this heritage in the pyramids of Egypt and Mesoamerica. We see it in the Parthenon in Athens, in the Roman Colosseum and in India's Taj Mahal - every one of them among humankind's finest uses of carved stone in the creation of monuments and public buildings. As watershapers in particular, we stand in awe before the Trevi Fountain in Rome, the glorious waterworks of the Villa d'Este and the fountains of Versailles, three of history's most prominent examples of carved stone's use in conjunction with water. But you don't need to
Perception is reality: Regardless of whether that's right or wrong, you are judged by appearances. And there's no escaping those judgments because it's basic human nature. If your own appearances mean ugly-looking vehicles, sloppy-looking employees, shabby offices and job sites that look like disaster areas, you will inevitably be judged with that image by the clients who have hired you and by anyone else exposed to those appearances. Personally, I'd rather have them focus on the quality of my work rather than on superficialities such as these, but
The ancient Celts transported huge slabs of stone over long distances to create religious circles at Stonehenge and Avebury. The Romans used stone to build their aqueducts. From the pyramids of Egypt to the Acropolis in Athens, from the Great Wall of China to the great castles of Europe, stone has been the raw material of choice for our greatest and most enduring structures. Through the ages, stone has been a well-used material because it is both durable and readily available. It's hard to find a town in Europe without walls constructed of local stone, and all you need do is drive through
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
