#trends

2016/4.1, April 6 — Readable Water, Pond-Plant Shake-Ups, Cost-Cut Guidance and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS April 6, 2016 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE…
Chlorine Conversations
In recent years, it's been difficult to avoid two large and related discussions about water treatment as it relates to swimming pools and spas. One the one hand are discussions of the evils of chlorine, which, after more than a century of common and beneficial use, is still widely misunderstood by homeowners and many professionals in the watershaping trades.  On the other are conversations about chlorine-free pools and spas - another set of exchanges where there's proving to be
Swimming Past Barriers
Why don't more of us know how to swim? As I've discussed in several of my blogs through the past few months, I'm a firm believer that everyone should master this basic and essential survival skill.  As fervently, I believe that encouraging comfort in and around water is the key to watershaping's future:  Without it, why
2016/2.2, February 17 — Beach Entries, Fountain Fun, Shotcrete’s Path and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS February 17, 2016 www.watershapes.com CONCRETE PERCEPTIONS…
The Big Aquatic Picture
I've written a couple of my recent blogs about public pools, access to them, their cost, their status and my growing concern that, for a complex of reasons, swimming skills and our basic societal inclination to be water-involved is slowly moving onto the cultural version of the endangered species list. It's in this context that I call your attention to
A Flying Start
I'm going to start the New Year by breaking a personal tradition - and I'm going to do it on a grand scale. As I've written in past first-of-the-year blogs, I'm not inclined to make New Year's resolutions for myself, mainly because when I made them in the distant past, it would generally take less than a
Off the Deep End
'A big part of properly designing watershapes to meet specific client needs has to do with understanding how they'll be using the body of water,' wrote David Tisherman at the start of his Details column in January 2006.   'I always explore this issue with my clients, which is why, for
Santa’s Back!
As we acknowledged when we first spoke with him in 2010, the subject of this interview is known by many names in many places - Father Christmas, Père Noël, Kriss Kringle and Saint Nicholas, among others.  But in America, wide-eyed children of all ages mainly know him as Santa Claus.   Imagine our surprise
2015/12.2, December 16 — Holiday Fun, Brilliant Mirrors, Old-School Decking and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS December 16, 2015 www.watershapes.com INTERVIEW Santa’s…
Broad Boundaries
'Not long ago,' wrote Brian Van Bower at the start of his Aqua Culture column for the November 2010 edition of WaterShapes, 'I was reminded in a big way of the importance of understanding the international nature of our industry.' 'It was July, and my Genesis 3 partners . . . and I were on the Gold Coast near Brisbane, Australia, presenting a program at the Splash! Conference - an experience that, once again, underscored the fact that