Blog

David Farmer is a licensed Landscape Architect and the founder and CEO of Ecografx, Inc. He graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a degree in Landscape Architecture in 1974 and Architecture in 1976. David still resides there where he practices on “the side” and perfects the software he developed – Land F/X. He is passionate about design, efficiency, and construction details. In this interview we talk about Buckminster Fuller, military projects, how he and his son created Land F/X, and his advice to young designers. Can you tell us a little bit about your background? I basically went to Cal Poly, SLO for my education. I was in the Architecture program there. It was a bit of a conservative program at the time and I was getting a bit disillusioned by it. So, when the...Read More

Ten Landscape Architects were mentioned In the May/June 2009 issue of California Home + Design, as the top ten Landscape Architects to watch in California. I was happy to see a Land8Lounge member was among “these rising stars.” Ive Haugeland and Tyler Manchuck of Shades of Green Landscape Architecture Studio in Sausalito, CA have a contemporary approach to sustainable design. They start from the soil up and enjoy creating innovative things from found objects. Read the Article

The Unreality of “Reality” TV How many times have you seen them? You know what I’m talking about. Those reality TV shows where the host of the show talks and walks us through the complete installation of an entire landscape in just a scant 23 minutes? Unfortunately, as you are well aware, reality is much different than what we see on TV. What our clients don’t see, and generally never really consider, is that a quality landscape can take at a minimum of several weeks to even many months from initial concept, complete design, planning and then final installation. Rarely it seems are even the simplest landscapes installed without something unexpected happening; yet our clients sometimes seem to base their ideas on what happens by what they see on reality TV. One would hardl...Read More

Lately there has been a lot of hype about what it means to be “green” and to “live sustainably”. The green message is omnipresent: celebrities are touting their electric cars, models are strutting down the catwalk in organic clothing, Ed Begley Jr. and Bill Nye are competing on a reality television show to see whose house can be more eco¬friendly. But one has to wonder how much of the green message is encouraging actual changes in energy savings in American households, and at what pace? There is a message, yes, but is there action? And to whom are we sending the message? One of the organizations that is soaring into the green activism forefront is Green For All, which “advocat[es] for local, state and federal commitment to job creation, job training, and entrepreneurial opportunities in th...Read More

In celebration of May being my birthday month, this tutorial is going to use candles! We all know and use those typical little multi-colored twisty candles but I was only able to find one. Here is the original candle and it’s the blue one. It’s all cropped out and ready to be colored up. So….how do I get different colors? The best way to make these color changes is to use the Hue/Saturation dialogue box. You can open this dialogue by going to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation. This will open up the following dialogue: Notice the drop down at the top of the dialogue next to the word “Edit:”. The default is “Master” which means that whatever you do with the sliders, it will apply to the entire image. You may or may not want to make changes t...Read More

So I came across a feature in Photoshop that I had never seen before. It is called Vanishing Point. I was new to me and I thought it might be useful to others so I made a quick tutorial. Vanishing Point is basically what you would expect; it allows you to move things in perspective. This can, obviously, be quite useful. To demonstrate I am using this picture of an old greenhouse at my in-laws. The windows have been damaged by many hurricanes over the years but it refuses to give up. Let’s see if we can fix the windows. To enter the Vanishing Point filter press control + alt + v on a windows computer or you can just select it in the Filters drop down. When it opens you will see something like this: The first thing to do is click four points that form a rectangle and create the plane you wan...Read More

Friends, I have written a survey based on my interest in how landscape architects view their careers and their profession in light of the economic downturn. I am looking for your experiences and feelings. I am seeking a maximum number of survey responses to improve the data collected. You are welcome to share this survey with any contacts or colleagues. Results of the survey will be analyzed and published over the coming months. Please follow the link and let me know if you have any questions. The survey should take between 5 and 15 minutes to complete. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=R3s0YM8QnguWAhWVVFVSxg_3d_3d Thank you and please contact me with any questions, Greg Tuzzolo greg@tuzzolo.com

As a student of Landscape Architecture at UCLA Extension I have learned about the profession from subject matter experts. These skilled professionals have revealed their passion about the industry by sharing their experiences ranging from the more technical side of grading and drainage, irrigation and tree analysis, to the design aspect of master plans, resort planning, residential designs, temporary art installations, parks and public spaces. As I have studied with each of these masters of the profession I have embraced their enthusiasm and have wanted to experience the same level of passion thinking that in order to do so I must become an expert in the same subject. As a result, through the course of learning my thoughts about where I might find the most fulfillment has changed depending...Read More

Design Under Sky {Image via New Scientist} On April 18th 2009, the New Scientist published an article on a remarkable project developed by researchers at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy, and the World Bank. The authors combined a series of maps to create a new map of connectedness showing the most interconnected and remote places on earth. The maps are based on a model which calculated how long it would take to travel to the nearest city of 50,000 or more people by land or water. The model combines information on terrain and access to road, rail and river networks. It also considers how factors such as altitude, steepness of terrain and hold-ups like border crossings slow travel. {Image via New Scientist} Plotted onto a map, the results throw up surpri...Read More

How often, when introduced to a stranger as a Landscape Architecture student, do we receive the following query; “I have been in need of advice about my backyard, can you come over this weekend and give me some ideas?” Obviously, there’s nothing inherently offensive about such a proposition (unless of course the stranger assumes that we would do so on our own time – free of charge.) The conflict here is not one of title and ego, but a confused perception amongst the general public of the fundamental differences in practical knowledge between the “small picture” private realm of Landscape Design, and the “big picture” public realm of Landscape Architecture This is not meant to classify one or the other art forms as having any more inherent value than the other, but merely to point out...Read More

Native Minnesotan Noah Billig is currently completing a Ph.D. in Planning, Design, and the Built Environment from Clemson University‘s program in Istanbul — while he is living in Vienna. I asked him why he’s moved abroad, and why he would pursue a rare “built environment” Ph.D. What drew you to move and study overseas? The draw overseas was really an agreement with my wife. She is a high school counselor and for a long time wanted to try the overseas international school circuit. In February, 2006, she signed up for a hiring fair in Iowa and by the end of the weekend we had signed on for two years in Istanbul. My decision to study overseas came later that spring. I was trying to make contacts with landscape architecture and planning people in Istanbul. I saw t...Read More

San Francisco-based designer Joanna Borek-Clement has envisioned these neuron cell-inspired, Sky-Terra skyscrapers to cope with the growing need for green urban space in Tokyo. The towers rise up to 1,600 ft above the street level and expand out until they reach the flat top plaza layer. These plazas offer many options and configurations, from public parks, greenbelts, playing fields, jogging paths, amphitheaters, pools, and bath houses. Via Inhabitat I have to admit that I was drawn to the concept of building a sustainable cloud city. But what about the pedestrian experience? Where is the connection to the street and the natural environment? And how can one get a sense of place? This idea is repeating a historical mistake. Take Le Corbusier for example. “The desire to increase the a...Read More