landscape
Back in June 2000, WaterShapes publisher Jim McCloskey and I traveled to Montecito, Calif., to have a look at a project being installed by our friend Mark Holden. Just the drive up the long private road from sea level to
When you work on projects in which stone is commonly measured in the thousands of tons and streams are frequently described in fractions of miles, you're not easily impressed by size. This job, however, was remarkably vast - a project driven by creative passion and a client's desire to turn a singular vision into reality. It's the kind of opportunity that doesn't come along every day, and when it did, we knew we'd have to give it everything we had. Our company, Glacier Inc. of Glenshaw, Pa., is a design and construction firm specializing in large natural and naturalistic bodies of water, and most of our work includes
The Getty Center is a true multi-media experience: imposing architecture, lots of people, incredible materials of construction, amazing views, diverse spaces, rich and varied sounds - and it's mostly all a bonus, because none of this has much to do with the Los Angeles center's core functions as museum and research institution. Designed by architect Richard Meier, the 750-acre campus is dominated by outsized structures wrapped in travertine, glass and enameled aluminum. It's all a bit cold (maybe time will soften the sharper edges and
Whether you choose to replicate old stone structures or borrow ideas and transplant them into contemporary designs, there is certainly a treasure trove of design concepts to be found in the masterworks of those who've gone before us. Indeed, stone has been the raw material of choice for many of the world's greatest architects, landscapers and watershapers, each of whom has relied on stone and its timelessness in fashioning works of beauty. In the first two articles in this series, we toured
Imagine your clients in this scene: It's a warm, summer evening, dinner for two on the patio is almost ready, the waterfall is on, and candlelight is reflecting on the surface of the pond. But the salad isn't quite complete, so this evening's chef steps into the yard, clips some chives from a clump near the water's edge and adds a finishing touch to the composition. Later, they pick a few plums and apricots for dessert, relaxed and about as happy as they could be in their backyard. Though the setting is delightful, it's the edible plants that complete the experience. And as was mentioned last time, with more and more people wanting
It's the little things that often make the biggest difference in creating beautiful spaces within gardens or near watershapes. A well-articulated retaining wall here, a clever treatment of a stone footpath there or the perfect placement of a stone stairway can, at various points, lend variety, balance and even a sense of antiquity to the work. In the first installment of this series of articles on classic uses of stone in gardens and watershapes, we began with an overview of stones set among plantings and used as simple structures in some of the world's most beautiful
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
Summer is arriving, and those 90-degree-plus days are coming with it. Your clients are thrilled to have their watershapes to cool off in, but they can't spend all their time in the water! I've discussed shade structures and shade trees before, and it's an important feature to discuss with any clients whose yard you are designing. But there's more to shade than what you do overhead, and you need to discuss what you'll be planting in those shaded areas. There are two problems here. For the most part, people don't know what to plant in the shade - nor do they
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
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
