sharing
With this edition of the newsletter, we wrap up two important article sets at once, with the second and final part of Robert Mikula's and Simon Gardiner's coverage of fountains as resources for civic participation and the last in Graham Orme's four-part exploration of techniques for lighting pools, spas and other watershapes. In the first instance, I have always
As you see this on November 1, I'm already in the WaterShapes booth at the International Pool|Spa|Patio Expo in Orlando, saying hello to old friends, making new acquaintances and doing all I can to make the most of our participation at the show. It's a celebration for us - our twentieth time
Back in the early days of WaterShapes, I recall a long breakfast conversation with David Tisherman in which we discussed the importance of travel as part of a complete design education. It was the summer of 1999, and I was on the hunt for artwork to go along with an article Mark Holden was preparing on the history of watershape design: David was known as someone who had traveled extensively and, more to the immediate point, was an avid taker of photographs of superior quality. He’d brought several sleeves filled with slides (remember them?) along to breakfast, and as we talked and I reviewed the photos, I was endlessly impressed by how meticulously he’d recorded so many places and details. I’ve always been a traveler, too, but I never much cared for
My father was a teacher by trade. When I was a kid, there were bookcases on the landing between the two floors of our home filled with the volumes he had used in teaching the history of science and technology in the 1940s and ’50s. There was one book on those many shelves that always fascinated me. He’d purchased it in France just after World War II ended, and it had neverbeen bound or trimmed, meaning the pages didn’t open unless you cut the edges with a knife. The book was entitled L’Architecture: Le Passé, Le Présent, and it gradually revealed its treasures to me as I grew bold enough to
Elevating the way we do things in this industry means addressing our gaps in knowledge on several levels. First, excellence means understanding the aesthetic side of watershaping - design traditions, art history and the nature of visual appeal. Second (and right in step) is the need to know how to build various types of systems properly. As an industry, in other words, we need to know how to avoid mistakes. In February, Genesis 3 staged a construction school in Orlando - and what follows isn't a commercial; rather it's a point of departure for a discussion long overdue in our industry. What struck me is that
I'm often asked what it takes to write an article for WaterShapes - and, almost as often, why it is that certain voices find their way into print while others don't. I love to field these questions, because they
I had the pleasure early in December of attending the first-ever Genesis 3 Fountain School in Toronto. As we've often discussed in these pages, Genesis 3's programs are loaded with useful
I've always been excited by innovation. I place creativity high on my list of aspirations and priorities in my own business, and I think my life gets most interesting when I'm involved with people who are similarly attuned to this desire to do and try new and interesting things. Fortunately, I've had the benefit of associating with highly innovative people through the years who've shared the creative process with me, taught me a lot and made the ride extremely enjoyable - and fruitful. These experiences have filled me with a desire to be out front myself with innovative and creative ideas. I often wonder where we would all be if some of us weren't willing to
David Tisherman