proportion

Hard-Won Wisdom
I retired a while back after working for more than 20 years as a pond designer and installer. The result of that change in life is that I'm busier than ever. I still hear, for instance, from old clients who want me to come back to modify or expand an existing pond/stream/waterfall system. Those requests, often from people who have become good friends through the years, are hard to resist. More often, however, I'm being asked to teach. I'm frequently approached by
2019/7.1, July 10 — WaterShapes: Looking Back, Moving Forward and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS July 10, 2019 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE/October…
Proportional Response
‘One of the real tricks in any art form can be the challenge of exercising restraint,’ wrote Brian Van Bower to open his Aqua Culture column in September 2003.  ‘Bigger isn’t always better, and both scale and size do matter.  In other words, just because you can create something grand, it doesn’t always mean that you should.’   ‘This principle of proportionality has a sharp, specific meaning in the world of the custom watershaper,’ he continued, ‘especially when
2018/9.1, September 5 — Additive Exercise, Shaping Nature, Relining the Neptune Pool and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS September 5, 2018 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE…
Visual Acceptance
‘In one way or another,’ declared David Tisherman in his Details column of June 2002, ‘visual acceptance is what makes our world go around. ‘Think about the clothes we wear, the cars we admire, the foods we eat – not to mention interior design, home and office furnishings, landscapes and watershapes. So much of our response to these and other features of our environment,’ he added, ‘is based on
Managed Elevations
It definitely helps to have a good reputation within the local design community. In this case, an architect I've known for years and have worked with on numerous occasions - someone with whom I've gotten so familiar with on the job site that we've become good friends - called me in to meet clients who needed help beyond the work he was doing on their house. He thought we'd be a good fit, and he was right:  From our first meeting, the clients and I
2013/9.2, September 25 — A Connecticut Gem, a Chicago Classic, Mulholland’s Legacy and more
September 25, 2013 www.watershapes.com ESSENTIAL Teaming Perfection Every great watershaping project involves a measure of…
2013/9.2, September 25 — A Connecticut Gem, a Chicago Classic, Mulholland’s Legacy and more
September 25, 2013 www.watershapes.com ESSENTIAL Teaming Perfection Every great watershaping project involves a measure of…
Proportional Response
One of the real tricks in any art form can be the challenge of exercising restraint.  Bigger isn't always better, and both scale and size do matter.  In other words, just because you can create something grand, it doesn't always mean that you should.   This principle of proportionality has a sharp, specific meaning in the world of the custom watershaper, especially when clients ask for something that is oversized for the property or more elaborate than called for by the setting or surrounding architecture.  We all know where it comes from:  Clients have seen something they like, and it