Roman
‘Not long ago, I was asked by a reporter from The New York Times to define the main difference between swimming pools now compared to what they were 20 years ago. As we talked,’ wrote David Tisherman in his Details column for the December 2007 edition of WaterShapes, ‘it became clear that she was mostly thinking about technological breakthroughs in pumps and chemical treatments and the like. ‘I confirmed for her that, yes, those products had come a long way. But I wouldn’t let her stop there, suggesting that there was much more than
Please don't hold it against me: I was an English Literature major in college.
My specialty was the old stuff - Shakespeare's plays, the comedies of the Restoration period, poets from John Milton to Alexander Pope, and the early novelists, especially Jane Austen. It was mostly a pursuit of things written before about 1820 and kept me more than busy.
About eight months after I graduated in 1977, I took off and traveled the world for the best part of a year, spending May and June of 1978 in England and devotedly seeking out places where my favorite subjects of study had lived and worked and found inspiration. I went to the places where the great theaters had been and tramped along rivers and city streets listening for echoes and seeing if there was anything left that would attach me to the life experiences of my literary heroes.
It was all fairly thin until I reached the city of Bath, where Jane Austen had centered so many scenes in her great novels. Back in 1978, the place hadn't changed all that much since she'd lived there; it still embodied a mood and architectural style that easily carried me back 200 years to her time.
For all of her virtues, however, Miss Austen wasn't hugely impressed by Bath or at all into the one feature of the city that most thoroughly captured my imagination while I was there - that is, the natural watershapes that gave the town its name and had defined its function at least since the Romans reached England nearly 2,000 years earlier.
I'm mindful of the fact that I took this trip well before watershaping came to define my own function and life. Even then, however, I was blown away by the thought that the Romans had settled in this place around 70 A.D. and had converted the site's warm springs into a system of pools to serve as an early spa.
Not much is visible from those times; in fact, the baths were basically forgotten and buried after the Romans left a couple centuries later and were only rediscovered in Shakespeare's time. But seeing the still-visible parts of the Roman baths in person - and absorbing all I could about their inner workings from a memorable museum exhibit - I felt as though I was witnessing history in the grandest and most personal way possible.
When you take that history and surround it with graceful Georgian architecture, the package Bath offers its visitors is quite complete and unique. And so tasteful, I might add, that I have to think that even a Roman would have been pleased to see their baths set amid such a splendid and sociably neoclassical context.
No, you can't "take the waters" the way they did when Jane Austen was around, but it's well worth a visit: For inspiration, the baths of Bath can't be beat.
As I see it, watershaping is ultimately about its emotional effects: As designers and builders, it’s our job to bring a variety of technical and aesthetic elements together to create spaces and structures that leave our clients with enduring feelings of vitality, relaxation, comfort and luxury. In my case, the quest to realize this emotional component actually drives the process. As I strive to generate spaces that have real meaning for my clients, I’m always putting my heart into the work and am fully aware that what I do is an extension of who I am. Indeed, I’ve never been shy about letting my designs reflect my passion for art, architecture, history, color, form and even poetry. By working on this level, I find that I’m able to carry my clients along and make them as excited, inspired and engrossed by the process as I am. It’s an unabashedly romantic approach, but it can be infectious – and clearly satisfies everyone who gets involved. Of course, there is plenty of perspiration that goes along with the inspiration. For all of my enthusiasm, I spend a tremendous amount of time designing these spaces and selecting elements that will populate them, from the largest waterfeature to the smallest plant. I also closely manage the construction process, never relinquishing control because with each and every project, I’m expressing
It's a point I'll probably make to the end of my days: There is no substitute for travel and exploration of the historic world to learn about design. In my "Details" column in the June 2005 issue of WaterShapes, for example, I discussed my recent trip to Turkey and made the point that the ruins and intact structures we examined while there were full of specific details that I and other watershapers use in our work - whether or not we recognize that what we're doing actually derives from ancient original works. Showing what I mean in the clearest possible terms is what this pictorial article is all about. As you will see, I've included
Have you ever wondered why watershapes are at the heart of so many venerable courtyards and plazas? In a modern context, we might start answering that question by thinking about the natural human fascination and connection with water and then conclude that, like us, those who built the public spaces of ancient Mesopotamia or Athens or Rome simply liked being in the presence of water for emotional and spiritual reasons. But the truth behind the prominent role of water in these spaces isn't as romantic as all that. Indeed, there's
Some people seem to believe that designing is all about reinventing the wheel every time they go to work on a new project or need to create a new detail of some kind. Truth is, however, that most great design ideas and details are derivative of things that have been done before. This is why I'm such a strong advocate for education - especially the sort that involves venturing out into the world and seeing things with your own eyes. You can see pictures of things in books and watch slide shows in classrooms, and that's extremely valuable for the way it opens your eyes to
I spent ten days this last December traveling in Turkey - my second visit to the country in the past several years and a trip that reinforced vivid memories of just how mind-expanding a place it is. The Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires all held sway over this patch of land at times during the past 2,500 years, and throughout that long history, these and other great civilizations of both East and West have made their marks on the place. Situated at the crossroads of land- and sea-trade routes between Europe and Asia, Turkey has vast, rich reserves to drawn upon when it comes to
As designers and builders, we might feel with every new project that we have created the most profoundly original setting in the world. In most cases, however, our most likely achievement has to do with adapting an architectural concept developed long ago, putting a modern twist on it and calling it our own. For me, in fact, the more I learn about the history of watershaping, the more I feel connected to ancient watershapers and recognize that we haven't created anything really "new" in a long time. We all know clients, for instance, who want their backyards or public spaces to look like Spanish or Italian villas, French or English formal gardens, or maybe peaceful
