Gardens of Versailles
Given the tumultuous way in which 2016 came to a close, I figured I'd kick off the New Year by being as upbeat as can be about what the future holds for watershaping. Two news stories I've followed through the last couple months put me in a suitable frame of mind for this exercise. First up was the hovering
Starting in 1661, Louis XIV of France began a building project at his country estate in Versailles that would keep him busy throughout what remained of his reign. He held on all the way through until 1715, so he had a good, long time to browbeat large numbers of architects, designers and engineers into making the chateau a statement of power, wealth and majesty befitting a man who called himself Le Roi Soleil
David L'Heureux For much of human history, those with power and wealth have been willing to put both on display in the places they choose to reside. There are palaces and great houses all over the planet, each one testifying to the grandeur of its owner and the talents of the architects and designers brought in to turn grand visions into actual structures and garden spaces. Often, those commissioning these conspicuous projects were members of
