landscape architects
‘It’s an unfortunate fact that landscape architects receive little or no formal education in watershaping while they’re in school. As a result,’ began Mark Holden in his Currents column for the April 2008 issue of WaterShapes, ‘where the typical landscape architect’s irrigation plan will show every pipe, fitting, wire and component for a given project, that same project’s pool plan will carry almost no
'What if you were so bad at your job that a person in a related field decided, for the good of his own business, he had to learn your business and replace you rather than cope with your incompetence?' That's how Brian Van Bower eased his way into his Aqua Culture column in the May/June 2011 issue of WaterShapes. 'Most people,' he continued, 'would say that this would be a justified response to the fact that you
With few exceptions, the most satisfying projects we've undertaken through the years have come when our company has gotten involved with talented architects or landscape architects - and sometimes both - as part of larger project teams. We embrace this sort of work and enjoy taking a role as a resource for other professionals. Through the years, in fact, these collaborations have developed to a point where many of those we work with will automatically call us whenever one of their projects includes any sort of
Through the past few months, I've run across several representatives of the pool and spa industry who have expressed concern that some of us in the business of educating watershapers are encouraging landscape architects to move in the direction of the pool industry's traditional market. I can understand the anxiety. After all, landscape architects are degreed professionals in a closely related exterior-design field and have been academically trained in principles of design, while most of us in the mainstream pool and spa industry have no such background or relevant certification. It probably isn't paranoia to regard these design-oriented professionals as having something of an edge. There's also the simple fact that
I recently wrote a Letter to the Editor of Landscape Architecture, the magazine of the American Society of Landscape Architects, in response to an editorial he wrote on the lack of interest among landscape architects in plant knowledge. The gist of his commentary was that, for too many years now, landscape architects had been focusing on hardscape and overall design and were reserving little creativity, interest, or care for botanical adornments. My response was a supportive rant, as this has been a pet peeve of mine for years and I strongly believe that
All through my career, I've never really been big on advertising. In fact, the only place I've ever advertised is in Naples, Fla., where I've never been successful drumming up any business even though it's only a short distance from my home. I gave it a good shot - a nice ad with a picture of a vanishing-edge pool, placed in a local newspaper's special section on backyard swimming pools. I was confident I'd get some response, but all that came back was
Learning by Doing