Blog

HDRi Skies This Tip will show you the advantages of using HDRi skies to create better renderings. HDRi skies are a great way to improve any scene you are rendering. It is a quick and accurate way to give the user a high quality background image and illuminate the scene using the HDRi light intensity and colors One of the benefits of HDRi skies is the fact that the background image is in the shape of a dome, providing a full 360 degree background. This means that no matter what angle you are viewing your model from, there will always be a high quality background image. This also makes them valuable for scenes which contain reflection – reflective surfaces like this Camper, or windows. The HDRi image provides better shadows and illumination than just the sun, or plain sky. This lightin...Read More

What’s Out There Garden Dialogues, a new national program created by  The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) and taking place in April, June and July 2012, offers exclusive access for small groups to experience some of today’s most beautiful gardens created by some of the most accomplished designers currently in practice; and, opportunities to learn about the creative process from the designers and their clients. Garden Dialogues will provide a distinct look at gardens and enable participants to hear first hand about the collaborative process that led to the creation of each garden. Space is limited and each Garden Dialogue is $35.00. Seibert & Rice Fine Italian Terra Cotta is the national sponsor of Garden Dialogues, and Garden Design magazine is the program’s nati...Read More

  Each New Year, the internet is abuzz with it the inevitable horde of prophets and trend-watchers, confidently predicting the themes of the year. Of course, there is absolutely no accountability for these supposed experts because once the buzz of the New Year fades, the predictions are forgotten. I may be one of the few people on the planet who actually loves New Year prognostications. Finding meta-themes from the sea of quotidian activities appeals to my philosophic bent; for me, it is a puzzle game: I love the thrill of finding a pattern among scattered pieces. So it is with great delight that I present to you my attempt at New Year trend-spotting. This year, my trends focus on trends in garden design (it’s best to stick to what I know, right?). For the last few weeks, I have spent time...Read More

GROUND UP is a new journal print and web publication intended to stimulate thought, discussion, visual exploration and substantive speculation about emerging landscape issues affecting contemporary praxis. Edited and produced by the students of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at University of California Berkeley, along with an advisory board of noted landscape architects and urban theorists and critics, each edition will examine a critical theme arising from the tension between contemporary landscape architecture, ecology and pressing cultural issues. We are announcing an open call for submissions for our inaugural issue, Landscapes of Uncertainty, which examines the impact of recent radical economic, political and ecological shifts on the landscape. Wit...Read More

Finally today I’ve found sometime to work on the group… I’ve managed the group settings. From now on, everbody can be members and/or offer submissions for the galleries. From time to time approval can take time, please be patient. I’m holding the approval option on, just because to avoid a possible mess and keep the galleries clean & related to the main subject. I hopefully believe that this group can help us meet new landscape architects, urban designers who are already on DA and get inspiration from their works… Don’t forget that this is a non-profit work. Please be aware of the content creators’ rights, copy rights etc. This group is to share information and to get inspiration from each others’ works, not for art-theft.   All promotion...Read More

The First Prize in the Slant Garden Design Award has been won by Ricardo Alexandre Lime Gomes & Daniela dos Santos Silva (Portugal) for their project entitled Douro Valley Garden and full details can be viewed on http://www.slant.eu where you can also view full details on the 6 highly commended projects and the remainder of the short list. Your comments will be very welcome, and you can also follow us on Facebook at    http://www.facebook.com/SlantCompetition

I’m thinking of drawing all my future construction details in 3D….I have AutoCad and BricsCad but have never used them for 3D. Is there easier to learn 3D software or is what I have as good as it gets?

As most of us know, the normal process of broadening one’s knowledge is that you must go to school and study areas that you are interested in, then professors in different areas of expertise will address their specialty and viewpoints so you can pursue and expand your knowledge.  But this is a “textbook” approach to education and has limits to understanding what is really out there in the world and to what scale and complexity. To make experiences and educational outlook more real, travel is often one the best choices for a student of design. I have known and met may great and successful designers throughout my life, and most travel extensively to say the least.  Throughout the past 30+ years of the Graphic Workshop, this workshop has been a vehicle of opportunity to travel around the worl...Read More

    I’ve noticed that the UK Landscape Architects are under represented, therfore I’ve written a few a few points below that may be of interest:   I run a small practice which specialised in environmental planning and have noted a few points on recent projects in the UK:   Payground designs: (austrity measures) new playground projects now cut.   I worked on Environmental Impact Assessments for solar farms in the south of England. The government cut the feed in tariff therefore solar farms no loner financially viable (even though the sun shines).    Lottery funded works: such as redevelopment on village ponds, greenspace  and small scale environmental projects are only open to bigger practices or larger environmental consultancies with a track record. I am  therfore blocked out ...Read More

The Garden and Landscape Studies program at Dumbarton Oaks, in Washington, DC is pleased to share with you research opportunities for 2012-13.   The Fellowship deadline is November 1, 2011. http://www.doaks.org/research/info_fellowships.html   Pre-doctoral residencies and post-doctoral research stipends are rolling admission. http://www.doaks.org/research/info_short_term_residencies.html   To learn more about the program, please view the fall newsletter: http://www.doaks.org/research/garden_landscape/