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d.g. 3/8″ – 1/2″

Or tumbled recycled glass…

What about used ball bearings? Can we find a source for used industrial ball bearings…? I’m not even kidding…

“Awww, come on guys, it’s so simple. Maybe you need a refresher course.
Hey! It’s all ball bearings nowadays. Now you prepare that Fetzer valve with some 3-in-1 oil and some gauze pads.…[Read more]

“…if I have a pond and have the option of placing either 99 white geese or 1 black goose in the pond, which would be the direction to go?”

Neither. Place 99 white geese in the pond with 1 black goose. See how that instantly makes both of them more relevant? “Feel” that?

Taking it another step, or going for another effect, what would it be like…[Read more]

It sounds like you need to narrow your focus. It’s good to throw a bunch of ideas out there, just to get them out and get a feel for them but you need to refine it.

One global trend I’ve observed is the “Southern Californification” of China. China has specifically sought out US designers to plan and design towns and neighborhoods to look like the…[Read more]

But isn’t is great to see how others see and understand things? Each of us have different understanding and different ways of approaching design.

I would give the wells plenty of room… tree roots will work their way into sewer lines and wreak havoc, I don’t know why geothermal wells would be any different. Do they require maintenance? Are there access issues? I’d ask the Geothermal contractor / consultant on the project.

I have used campania and like them. They have nice contemporary form combined with rustic color and finishes.

Is good design truly based on knowing yourself? Is knowledge of history inherent in good design? I think you coulld make an argument that these all aid in improving ones ability to be a good designer, but that does not directly translate to good design.

It starts with problem solving and finishes with art. What you bring to solve problems can be…[Read more]

Most of those wells are lined with steel well casings I wouldn’t think it would be a problem if that were the case. You would have to check to make sure they were lined. Usually the wells are drilled and lined with steel well casings and then the water pipes are placed inside the well casings they have to run loops of pipe down into the well. They…[Read more]

I also liked to teach my students that one of the most fundamental aspects of good design is knowing yourself – you have to know where YOU are coming from, what are your predjudices, often, most importantly, what was YOUR childhood landscape – without that self-knowledge, I don’t think you can judge what is good. Self-knowledge, of course,…[Read more]

No… keep asking these questions. But don’t just ask the Web. Use your eyes and spirit and see what the land tells you. Question that and see what answers arise. When I was a student, I found it really helpful to study designs and landscapes with fellow students/friends. Best if we disagree a bit. Sharpens your thinking

This reminds me of the experiment MIT students conducted with the red balls placed around the world, and tracking how long it took and how social networks worked to successfully find all of them..

How about the ‘green wall’ idea..Try to chart it backwards, where it started, and then how it proliferated? Or architects and their building ‘skins’ so…[Read more]

Thanks for those stories TO, I always find the stories about how people use the space and its functionality very interesting because we all have our own ideas of how things should work.

Here I guess is the essence of my questioning my understanding, what makes one concept for a specific space, a good and functional idea and another one not? While…[Read more]

Intended duration of the landscape would be part of the design criteria. A residential landscape typically has a much shorter duration than a city park. Renovation is often an expected procedure in residential landscapes just as it is on residential buildings. Not every client lives for that, but without a doubt, many do. A landscape with a…[Read more]

no, using the runnal at Salk for communication cables is a good example of design not meeting needs – I think Lou Kahn would roll over in his grave if he knew communication cables were put in his stark little runnal, designed for water and reminiscent of the Alhambra..
it is an example of design being too design-y, and not functioning unless the…[Read more]

So…Function and adaptability to add to the list.

I had to chime in on this one, having traveled through some hilarious landscapes over the weekend (I wish I would have stopped to take some pics to show you all).
Seems like there is design all along the scale of goodness > badness, from sublime > what the @%#*$? Do you know it when you see it?…[Read more]

See and this is what is so interesting to me about design but at the same time really frustrating me, personally at least with where I am in my design development level I would never propose that for my concept but based upon what you just said the design of space works well. I just feel like there is something that I’m missing but I can’t put my…[Read more]

I used to work at UCSD, where Salk is – it is an extremely famous design, for the “landscape” as well, and it turns out that the famous single runnal in the middle is a great place to put cables for any public event you might be having there..

: )

Hey Andrew,
I clicked on all of the links and all of them have the same error message in the bottom left part of the window as shown below.

Thanks for everyone’s input, over the last 24 hours I have given this quite a bit of thought, and one point that I want to mention is the idea of ‘what is the soul of the space?’ or ‘what is the soul that will be brought to the space?’.

The architecture students went to the Salk Institute earlier this semester and took a few photos, when I saw it…[Read more]