Activity

Craig,

I’m not sure who you are directing your post to or just to a generic “you”. I am a licensed LA, was an LD before that, and about any other role from mowing lawns to commercial site planning along the way. I have directly experienced several perspectives and have tried to understand each of them and those around me every step of the way. A…[Read more]

Craig: No, I don’t see LA’s as competitors for LD work. LD’s don’t command the hourly rates that LA’s do, but that doesn’t mean that we aren’t as experienced, creative, and caring for the environment, etc. I’m not “low-balling.” And I readily admit that I do not have the same training as an LA. I admire the students that I started with four years…[Read more]

I wouldn’t buy a Mac for what you want. There are a few programs that you would be forced to run on a virtual machine which is less than ideal.

I’ve always built my PCs and found you can build it for half the price of a comparable mac. Some components I hunt down on craigslist etc. like my monitor, video card etc. but core components I always…[Read more]

I am a student studying landscape architecture and to me, it seems like the people in my classes who have pc’s are most happy with their functionality and ability to run the majority of design related applications with few problems. Those with macs often ran into problems when trying to install autoCAD, or ArcGIS. I personally always wanted a mac…[Read more]

Hi Rico,

Never been to Boston but I think that’s the way they talk. It does boil down to licensure and how it is marketed and applied. Someone’s post stating “Caveat Emptor” is also very part right. It’s also how the “buyer” is trained to know the difference in quality. This statement can launch hundreds of examples. What’s the sense of marketing…[Read more]

Andrew: Now that your discussion thread has matured (in a bit more than a month) into a very real understanding of the qualifications and roles of both LA’s and LD’s, it’s time to pop the question: “Would you consider modifying the “byline” of the Land8Lounge to ‘The premier Social Network for Designers on the Land’ ?” The title of Norman Newton’s…[Read more]

Andrew: Thanks for stating the facts so articulately! Amen!!!

I have viewed “competition” as anyone who can legitimately take potential jobs over me and whom I can legitimately land a job over. Sometimes I think people expect licensure to make them a protected species by excluding others for reasons that go beyond simply their ability to execute the job. I don’t think that should be the purpose, although…[Read more]

Craig: I’m not a bargain basement guy. I have loads of training and more than a few years of experience. My hourly rate is based on those factors, currently $85./hour. That’s undoubtedly less than most LA’s charge. So be it. Yet I, too, have prospective clients say, “I’m not sure I can afford you.” There will always be landscape contractors who…[Read more]

Hello Rick.

That Bostonian accent was quite a hoot!

All three anecdotes (the LD and the LA) reinforce my theory that, without the laws..those applicable to your state…it’s a “my kung fu is better than your kung fu” thing (referring to my post a few pages above)..or whoever has “the quickest gun to draw”. Thanks to laws, issues sometimes get…[Read more]

LA’s and LD’s (before Frederick Law Olmsted coined the term, “Landscape Architect” were all Landscape Gardeners. And that includes our esteemed predecessors who were practicing architects as well as landscape designers. And before that, artists and sculptors were frequently also architects and landscape designers. So, historically, Landscape…[Read more]

Sitephocus is by far the best image library of the built environment.

Thanks for explaining. I can agree with that. I find myself inspired by older published work by Ian McHarg and Jane Jacobs but not so much by recent writings… Maybe it’s because McHarg and Jacobs were more like leaders/activists than designer or writer.

Nrschmid,

Hi and thank you for contributing to the discussion. Have you seen any accessible and online landscape specific image banks other than sitephocus?

Thanks
Laith

Chris

Top job. I’ve just reviewed sitephocus and it’s good. I congratulate you on the good work. I couldn’t quite figure out if there is a “search within keywords” function like iStockPhotos. Do you have a facility for others to sell through your site as well? Laith

Hi Jon

I sometimes search Google images too but often I need higher res images and a more focussed database to begin with (as I’m often searching at the 11th hour). Thanks for your reply.

Damien,

Good news. The image bank provided by Flickr is available via the Creative Commons website. Thank your suggestion opened the door. The CC website is an interesting resource itself. Will also check out the above plugin. Thanks for your help.

Thanks for the kind mention Eric. I would like to offer a bit of insight as well. As a seasoned AutoCAD-ArcGIS-Microstation veteran, I would say in today’s market hands down the product of choice would be Landmark from Vectorworks. Design, estimating (from reporting), pseudo GIS abilities like importing georeferenced imagery and shp files, and as…[Read more]

“The Landscape” needs to be defined before you can begin to consider whether it even makes sense that the particular landscape should be designed for a certain “lifespan” or if there is any reason to think it should go on for perpetuity.

A landscape with a “lifespan” (generally 10-15 years for most residences) can come and go within the context…[Read more]