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Botany for Designers is a  that offers a crash course in understanding plants and the role they can play in design. The actual botany/biology of plants is something that is often noticeably lacking from landscape architectural education. Author Kimberly Duffy Turner attempts to remedy this gap, commenting that surely landscape architectural education warrants more than one or two courses on plants — especially in the current climate where sustainable and ecological aspects of design are so integral to our roles. Outline of the book This book explores how plants can be living elements of our design. Turner suggests that an understanding of the biology behind those elements can ensure our design stands the test of time. Chapter 1 — What’s in a Name? — illustrates that knowi...Read More

From where do we trace the basis of landscape architecture and its evolution? Gardens first started to give us the concept of arranged nature, instilling the idea of designed exterior spaces. By manipulating plants and through artificial construction methods, the idea of the modern garden was pushed forward and landscape architecture got the boost it needed to become what it is today. There are a lot of books out there showcasing examples of contemporary gardens, with an array of visual presentations and textual motivation as to why they stand out. Today, we look at The Contemporary Garden by Phaidon Press Limited, the revised and updated edition published in 2009. Any landscape architect or student should have a basic book on representative gardens. But why choose this one? Get it Here! T...Read More

In this day and age, presentations are a necessary way of conveying information to a large group of people. Because of their perceived staleness, they have become one of the most dreaded things to make, give and listen to. For designers, the presentation is do-or-die time for selling a project. Perhaps that is why architect and visual designer Adam Somlai-Fisher, from Budapest, began using a zoomable user interface (ZUI) in 2001. His initial presentations were coded separately but when presentations were successful, he and Assistant Professor Peter Halacsy, Budapest University of Technology hatched the idea of ‘Prezi’ in 2009, as a publicly available ZUI. They brought in technology entrepenuer Peter Arvai and their product has really taken off in recent years. They are constantly updating ...Read More

  With the development of Microsoft’s full Windows 8 interface added to digital Tablets this summer,  Wacom unveiling their new pressure-sensitive stylus, and increased availability, digital tablets are strengthening their role in design offices across the country. Perhaps there is one in your office, or you have been on site when a fellow professional has scrolled through a drawing set. Initially, I was pretty out of the loop and would like to thank those of you who weighed in on the tablet discussion posted here. For me, it opened a never-ending Pandora’s box of additional questions and investigation that expands as fast as new products hit the shelf. It is my hope that we can continue to share and fully take advantage of state-of-the-art technologies. I’ve tried to sum...Read More

Scenario 5: Building the Urban Forest Call For Submissions The forest carries deep cultural significance. Within the urban landscape, this ecologically complex, spatially layered, dynamic system is also understood to perform a wide range of essential ecosystem services, from increasing property values to mitigating climate change. Reforesting cities is one of the defining trends of twenty first century urbanism, but there is little agreement about how our urban forests are to be designed, planned and managed. As arborists, parks departments, landscape architects, planners and community groups engage in the reforesting of cities, how are they collectively shaping the urban landscape? How do we quantify the benefits of urban forests? Where should we focus our attention and effort — streetsca...Read More

When the eight bitumen lanes of Australia’s Sydney Harbor Bridge are covered in soil and turf and 2,000 ballot winners delight in a breakfast picnic on the roadway, it is certainly an event worth noting. The event was held in October 2009 and again in 2010, with Sydneysiders reveling in the sunshine and breakfasting al fresco on one of the most iconic structures in the world. The importance of landscape was highlighted during the transformation of the bridge. Many trendy city dwellers feel enveloped by their urban environment and ache for open spaces. Bringing the landscape into the city is not an uncommon theme, with rooftop gardens, council verge regeneration, and green walls among many of the key ideas envisioned by landscape architects. These transformations emerge in an effort to coun...Read More

In the last three posts, I have been talking about networking – where to do it, ways to grow your network, and talking about one of the secrets to networking that few people acknowledge.  However, we should at least know why we’re doing all this, right?!  At the time of this writing, I have just walked in the door from a networking mixer.  The mixer wasn’t one of those super organized things where people pay to be a member and stuff like that, this group is more informal, all organized by one woman who knows a lot of people, and most of the attendees are individuals working for themselves or about to take that leap.  Among the many people I met tonight, these four stood out:  A personal assistant who was happy to talk about how her work was going, some of the challenges she faces, what she...Read More

  In this week’s quick AutoCAD tip I will show you how to set the correct hatch scale to get it to show at the size you need.  In the process of creating your hard finishes documentation you might decide that you want to represent the unit pavers with the correct hatch scale for the actual unit paver size. The reason for this might be to help you work out where the cuts are, how it works in with the headers, door openings and other structures.  In this case I will be representing a 220 x 110 mm unit paver and will use the hatch pattern AR-HBONE.   WATCH THE VIDEO TO SEE HOW TO DO IT Is the video not working? Try this link. ANY QUESTIONS? Did you find that helpful? Let me know if you have any comments/questions/suggestions.  Paul Stafford http://cadsmarter.com   If you’ve missed...Read More

Though it might be tempting, drawing on the defpoints layer might not be the best idea. Since the layer doesn’t plot, many designers like to use the defpoints layer to add construction lines, notes to other team members, and other information. In this post, I’ll explain why the downsides of using a defpoint layer can outweigh its advantages. WHAT IS THE DEFPOINTS LAYER? The defpoints layer is created automatically by AutoCAD when you create dimensions and contains the definition points of these dimensions. I’m not sure exactly what these definition points are but I know from experience that drawing on the defpoints layer can be bad news. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH DRAWING ON THE DEFPOINTS LAYER? There are two main reasons why using the defpoints layer is a bad idea: PROBLEM...Read More

A book review of the world famous landscape architecture book Landscape Architecture: A Manual of Environmental Planning and Design, by Barry W. Starke and John Ormsbee Simonds. For landscape architects, John Ormsbee Simonds’ book is our bedside book. It has not been just a manual for me; it is the book of landscape architecture theory. It has been a reference in my profession since I was studying and now is also a reference for teaching. The new edition — the fifth one, co-authored by Barry W. Starke — is really attractive, because it has all the essence and knowledge of Simonds, enriched to incorporate sustainability – which is the basis of landscape design — and include different examples of recent built projects. Throughout the pages of this book, the texts, quotes, s...Read More