Activity

Baxter, that is reality in a nut shell. He who gets the work coming to him is in control. It does not matter if you are an architect, a builder, a landscape architect, or a landscape contractor. I often hear LAs bitch about contractors who get them work over here, and contractors bitching about the LA being in control over there. When the work…[Read more]

To your later point. Unlike the 1700’s your survival is guaranteed by the state, you can be as lazy as you want and you will be fed and housed. Back in the time of the revolution the loss of rights and the tyranny of a government would mean that you not survive. In these days of Government tyranny the government can not guarantee your survival due…[Read more]

Trip is going well. I went by “downtown” Tempe and Tempe Town Lake. Both were really good examples of why pedestrianizing an area can make a space successful. It’s really hot outside right now, so I’ll wait until later this evening to go explore some more.

Architects will be the leaders until Landscape Architects head the projects, and select the consultants that they want to work with. Find the client, money and site and you will be the team leader. The one problem that most overlook is that then you become the business manager of others. Billing, taxes, insurance, cash flow, schedules, baby sitter…[Read more]

Mandy and Nick,

Points taken, and good ones, too
.
And your comments take my thoughts to a different direction:
As I have said before on this Forum, I am a Horticulturist and not a L.A.
I attend conferences where the horticulturists and grounds managers spend the time griping about the L.A.s who do not listen to what they bring to the table and…[Read more]

This is something we often discuss in my classes. My humble and most general suggestion is to learn more about current architects and architecture so you can place your values and beliefs within that context when you have discussions with architects. ( I know that architects would do themselves a great service if they learned more about landscape…[Read more]

I think when we’re talking about design we tend to get caught up in taking ourselves and our titles a little too seriously. I think we forget that ideas still have validity whether they come from an intern or partner. You said this yourself, Rob.

What becomes truly frustrating, as I think Mandy is alluding, is when an idea is killed based solely…[Read more]

Rob, I understand my 2.5 yrs of experience doesn’t amount to much and I’m painfully aware of all the things I don’t know, but what I do know, I know well.

My ideas are often immediately discounted because of my lack of experience and I often give 200% of myself to a project because I am so aware of that fact.

I’ve worked with architects who…[Read more]

Mandy,

For what it’s worth:
1. Your boss has to concern herself with keeping the company alive. It’s understandable that in your chair risk taking seems more acceptable

2. As others have written here, getting the respect of team leaders and other professionals is something one earns from their track record. After 2 1/2 years of practice you will…[Read more]

In my office as well, my boss is more on the passive side and refuses to push certain issues because my boss doesn’t want to anger or offend our architect clients, so we end up doing whatever they want us to do. It makes me a little angry seeing how docile my boss can be towards certain situations. I really like Jason’s idea of advertising…[Read more]

Thanks, Jordan. I’ve been compiling a list of resources online, and I am finding that alot of them offer classes and seminars for OCNT or APLD credits. And I hadn’t thought of Garden clubs before, but you are 100% correnct, and the great thing about the green industry is that everyone involed in it is quick to share their info and experiences. On…[Read more]

If you can afford it, I would recommend working as close to the field as possible. I worked on a landscape crew for my first year out of school and it helped immensely. I did get frustrated having a Landscape Architecture Degree and holding a shovel, but in the end I connected a lot of dots between what I was taught and what really happens in the…[Read more]

Thanks, Nick. The diploma I have just gave me a brief bit of info on all those topics, and it’s just not enough for me to get started in the business. I do have a few good books (Dirr’s Woody Plants, Booth’s Residential Landscape Arch.) which help. I was just looking for classes or a program that one could do from home to help advance my…[Read more]

Taliesin West designed by Frank Lloyd Wright is in Scottsdale, a “suburb” of Phoenixhttp://www.franklloydwright.org/taliesin-west/index.html Arcosanti 65 mi north of Phoenix http://www.arcosanti.org/ And Phoenix itself is worth a visit, because it is so spread out with so many “vacant” areas, if only to understand “sprawl” on first hand, and…[Read more]

By the way, thank you very much for your insight, it makes me feel less alone…

I can’t believe how similar your experience is to mine. I work at a very small firm where I literally do everything. I “led” a small school project within the first year I was with my firm. Since then, I’ve been a critical designer for every project that comes through the door, so It’s obvious that my boss appreciates my abilities as a designer,…[Read more]

I think we should advertise ourselves as SITE architects, rather than simply landscape. Its been an uphill battle all the way.

I actually agree with you on that, but we should probably try to avoid getting back into that discussion : )

I have less ‘office’ experience than you perhaps even though with my residential design experience while in school and prior to school I probably have more like a decade of ‘professional experience,’ but what I can offer is this; I interned at two large (40+) offices while in school and now work at a two person operation (my boss and I).

In my…[Read more]

Site architects…i like that…

I agree, but my employer also hired me for my ability to think critically about design. I’m not going to just sit around and hope the architects will figure it out when I know what they are proposing is obviously flawed. Anyways, the little story I told in the beginning was only to set the stage for a larger discussion on why so many LAs get no…[Read more]