WaterShapes Archives - Page 144 of 421

Natural-Boulder Fire Features from Stone Forest

Stone Forest (Santa Fe, NM) offers fire features made using split natural boulders. Designed for…

A Tale of Two Admirals

In my pre-WaterShapes days, I worked for a publishing company that specialized in technical and scientific magazines. My job there in the early 1980s was starting new magazines, one after another. The work involved extensive travel, frequently to Washington, D.C., where I'd attend trade shows and

We're all naturally attracted to water, writes Robert Mikula, but with perceptions of its preciousness and scarcity on the rise, it has become increasingly difficult to ensure its inclusion in built environments. Here's the first of three articles about pathways through the obstacles.

Water’s Place

As watershapers, we're comfortable using our chosen medium as a place-maker, an entertainer and a resource for recreation. In doing so, we take advantage of the fact that water is a unique, extremely versatile substance that can be manipulated in innumerable ways. We also accommodate the thought that, supreme among design media, water has a pronounced and often profound effect on people who

Ponds can be gorgeous year 'round, even in winter. But keeping them attractive in truly cold weather involves some preparation, writes Mike Gannon, and a willingness to get active outdoors to keep things on track at a time when being indoors might seem a far better idea!

Ponds and Ice

Ponds in winter are uniquely charming. Where they teem with life and activity through the spring, summer and fall, they slow down when the weather gets cold - but never so much so that they lose their ability to surprise and delight. It's the seasonal changes that bring a welcome sense of drama to these settings when the days are cold and short: Super-clear one morning, snow-covered or crazed with ice the next, in winter these watershapes offer up daily levels of textured, luminous variety that I see as

Trend Tracking

It's not all that often that I use WaterShapes World to discuss a specific item appearing in our current newsletter, but this time I can't resist: The first in a series of three great articles appears in this edition, and I want to call as much attention to it as I can. In my last blog (click here), I wrote about the important lessons water-oriented professionals have learned through coping with

2017/2.2, February 22 — Sustaining Water, Frosty Ponds, Nautical Meditations and more

THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS February 22, 2017 www.watershapes.com SUSTAINABLE TRENDS…

Too Little, Too Late?

‘Many watershapers have a single-minded focus,’ wrote Stephanie Rose in her Natural Companions column in February 2007, ‘doing all they can to deliver quality shells and surrounding decks to their clients. Quite often, however, that narrow focus means that inadequate space is left for planting – a problem I face quite often as