tranquility

Achieving Blue Mind: Part II
Not everyone achieves Blue Mind in the same way. It's a concept that is extremely personal - and that's why it's so effective to boosting your mental, emotional, and even physical health. By contrast, Red Mind is your body's stress response gone haywire. It can be activated when you're worried about your
Achieving Blue Mind: Part 1
The ability to achieve "Blue Mind" is not dependent on a location - such as an ocean, lake, or river. It is also not dependent on being fully submerged in water. While being able to jump into a cool lake on a hot summer day or stand in the waves at a favorite beach spot helps you
Angry Shores
In our last edition, Lauren Stack invoked the concepts of "Blue Mind" and "Red Mind," both terms popularized by author Wallace "J" Nichols. While those references may seem somewhat esoteric, a recent personal experience suggests that Nichols is
2016/8.1, August 10 — Turf Perimeters, Faraway Fountains, Pond Q & A and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS August 10, 2016 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE…
2012/8.2, August 22 — Front-Yard Design, Aquatic Plants, Halprin Fountain and more
AUGUST 22 2012 www.watershapes.com ESSENTIAL Suburban Spaces You really can find opportunities in unexpected places,…
Suburban Spaces
You really can find opportunities in unexpected places, insists Mehrnoosh, a Los Angeles architect and designer who enjoys making refined aesthetic statements in previously plain suburban environments. To illustrate her point, she takes us to a project in a modest neighborhood to define how simple architectural and landscape elements – and water – can bring elegance and tranquility to otherwise overlooked and underappreciated spaces.
Why We Do What We Do
I was all set to write a column about the virtues of small jobs compared to big jobs, but I've had an experience that leads me to share something more important with you this time. Most of us have had these moments in our lives in which we are suddenly jarred into evaluating our existence for one reason or another - episodes that give us reason to pause and reflect on who we are and what we're doing and why we're doing it.   As I write this, I'm dealing with an illness in my family that has quite literally knocked the legs out from under me.  As I've spent time these past few days talking with friends and relatives, I've found myself quite often laying on the living-room couch and staring out the window into my backyard - and finding
A Garden Surprise
LeRoy, N.Y., is an historic village that's most famous (or most notorious?) for being the birthplace of Jell-O.   Far more significant to me, however, is the fact that the town is filled with beautiful 19th-century homes that run the architectural gamut from Colonial to Italianate to Victorian in style.  It's a beautiful place, and the site of one of my firm's most unusual projects in recent memory. The home featured in this article is a Second Empire Italianate estimated to be about 140 years old.  It's a prime example of 19th-century craftsmanship, from the Mansard roof with its scrolled cornices to the drive-through porte-cochere and the wraparound porch with its beefy wood railings.   It's definitely an architectural treasure, filled with the kinds of details that have been lost as far as today's custom-built homes are concerned.  Mindful of those special touches, we set about designing a similar level of detail into the landscaping in creating gardens and watershapes that brought real tranquility to