Search Results for 'sections'

[Anonymous]

I agree.   Although still very creative and complex, 3D visualization is communicating design concepts through illustration and rendering.  Having sat on both sides of the plan review table (regulatory and design) all too often these illustrations go far beyond what is allowed within a municipality or county (notable exceptions may include high end residential for single owners).  

When I review student portfolios I still see a ton of 3D visualization.  To go back to the original post, I think it is still alive and well.  However, it often comes at the cost of other components of landscape architecture.  Why don’t more LAAB schools teach more classes on plant identification?  What about site design?  I will never take the LARE, but why do landscape designers fail site design and grading sections of the exam?  Perhaps there is TOO much studio time on making pretty pictures (yes, that is what they are) rather than getting back to the basics and learning HOW a site works.  Sometimes learning, yes, learning, how to do a GOOD old fashioned 2D plan and elevation, or sketching something on trace in front of a client, combined with solid public speaking skills can convey complex LA arguments to a client at a fraction the cost of Sketchup, Rhino, 3DMax, etc….Just my two cents

[nca]

Glad to say I passed a couple months ago, first try. Also thought sections 3 and 4 were easy, but could see how someone could be frustrated by the material. Section 4 had very few practical grading vignettes. It was mostly multiple choice and required alot of cognition, careful reading, critical thinking, focus, and common sense 

in answering multiple choice questions. 

[Jay Smith]

Sorry I’m a little late to the party here, but is the installation something a homeowner could handle?  I need to do about a 30 foot section that will have some curves.  Do these steel or alum sections bend and shape fairly easy?

[MLCC]

Brenden,

The test transition was  beyond frustrating and there are tons of people with your exact same gripe, including me. I was pretty outspoken directly to CLARB about my issues with the way they handled the test transition. I could bore you for hours with the details of my bad history with CLARB, lol.

When the test transitioned from the old to the new, I only had Section E, Grading left to pass. passed all the other sections years earlier. But I just had a baby, and had no intention, time or money to pass Section E before the new test version took effect.

So eventually when I did take the new version, it was called Section 4, and it combined the old Sections D and E. Well, I had already passed Section D years before. So essentially I partly was re-taking –AND PAYING FOR— a test that I had already previously passed. To say I was pissed is an understatement.

Many people were in this “bridge” dilemma. They had taken one older version, but had to re-take it again because it was now bundled with a different test section in the new version. There was so much outcry over this, but CLARB answers to NO ONE. They are an independent entity, and they can do what ever they want.

And don’t forget, the bottom line of all this is about the money. I don’t care what anybody says,  this is not a non-profit organization, and it IS ALL about the money.  The tests cost more now then they did previously, even though they are all computerized. CLARB still fails to answer questions as to how  higher test fees are possible and/ or necessary.

And what motivation would CLARB have to make the test easier for people to pass the 1st time around? NONE!  It’s a BUSINESS, plain and simple. More test taking=more money. Economics 101. Once you recognize this, and you consider yourself a customer, who has to watch his back, you might be a tiny bit less frustrated. Hopefully, 😉

Sorry for the extremely long response, but I feel your pain, I have been there, and there is no end to the irritating and unjust things CLARB is capable of. I just finally passed everything and if I told you all the details of how it went down you wouldn’t believe it.

If are still a test candidate, please heed my advice and document EVERYTHING during the exam process. Keep track of every single correspondence you have with CLARB during all of this B/C you might need it. I kept a notebook of every email, letter, receipts, etc… .

Feel free to ask me any questions. Good luck to you. 🙂

[Brenden Waller]

What if I was not notified of the testing change by email or otherwise?

The first I heard of it was when somebody else in my office mentioned it to me, and was already to late. To assume that everybody was notified and that if the amount of time was long enough to make the transition is just dumb. As a student coming out of college taking this test was never very clear to begin with, so it is beyond frustrating when you pass section C and E and will just have to retake it. Ok fine you want to change the the format to a computerized form, great I’m all for it, but why would you combine three parts of the test into two and also combine three sections that were never offered at the same time. When I took it C and E were offered together and A,B, and D where offered at another time. This means that most people would take C and E and then work on passing A, B, and D separately. Dumb, you should offer a test that covers section D in the new computerized format to make right that well thought out decision.

Is there anybody else in this situation? Has anybody had success taking only section D?

Frustrating…

[Tosh K]

I didn’t (don’t) like Civil3D – it’s great for developments/roads but awful difficult to get smooth terrain and not particularly helpful in doing walls with variation in cross-sections, etc.  The software uses lines and sections to do quantities and such so it is a bit clunky.  It was useful to verify grades, but not as useful as Revit is to architects that do box architecture (no complex geometry in Revit either).

Vectorworks is somewhat common in some of the higher end offices on this side of the pond (being less expensive than AutoCAD and much less so than Revit).  Maybe when Rhino’s BIM add-on becomes more robust that’ll work too.

[Dave McCorquodale]

I agree.  My biggest concern was understanding the context of the test.  I took prep classes for the old-version C & E through UT @ Arlington and bought books to study the multiple choice sections.  With a lot of hard work I passed all sections first time around.  The two prep classes no doubt were a huge help and worth the cost (though they were close enough to drive to and stay with family while I was there, so costs were limited).

Prep classes didn’t teach me site design or grading, but they taught me how to apply these skills in the context of applying them exam.  The stories of people who were great in these areas but bombed the exam seem to exceed those who aced the exam without proper exam-specific preparation despite strong backgrounds in the material.

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[J. Robert (Bob) Wainner]

Toby…………….Seriously, $530.00?  Well, I am happy for you…that you did pass all sections of the LARE exam….Congratulations!!!

(Please see my comment on this subject above).  Denise, before you run out and spend hundreds of dollars for a LARE Grading Seminar – pick up a LARE book on Grading @ Amazon.com.

I have other suggestions in my comment above also.  OR, just contact me, I’d be more than happy to help you any way I can.  I have mentored other young LA’s on the GRADING portion of the LARE…..and they PASSED the exam.

I admit, I have never taken the LARE exam or taken the computer version that is now required.  But, I KNOW grading – with over 30 yrs. of grading design experience.

It just really bothers me to see so many people (and organizations) taking advantage of young LAs or recent LA grads who are studying to pass the LARE….by charging outrages amounts of money.

Also, CLARB has a LARE YouTube video on-line….that walks you through the LARE test, even the Grading Section – it would be good for every candidate to watch the video.

Let me know if I can be of assistance to you, OK.

Best Regards,

Bob

[Trace One]

If I were you, I would follow the design process outlined in Design With Nature.

First, analyze your site as a SYSTEM – where is light and dark, slopes, soils, existing vegetation (none, probably, so then you should look at  what lives naturally in this environment nearby), and the patterns of human use on the site (pretty easy – car traffic in the middle..).

Next, how does this site function in the landscape – also easy answer, it is a river (of traffic.) What do rivers look  like in this area? Map the vegetation on any existing rivers, and emulate, for a nice natural design. It would be smooth stones towards the bottom of the slope, where the traffic/river runs fast and constantly, as one moves upslope you can use plants that tolerate less disturbance. Rivers are usually extremely wet and extremely dry environments – flood plains, in other words.

Once you have that mapped, feel free to abstract the plan, or overlay your stamp on it. I would stay away from color dependent landscapes, because color is so temporary and changeable, but that is my predilection.

The main point is, the more you can make your landscape look like  it has a reason to look the way it does, the better the design will work. The word McHarg liked was FIT. the landscape must FIT.

and that is what I would do.

PS, don’t exclude maintenance – what machines do they use, and how will they get there? The landscape should use simple maintenance, none if possible, because highways are very dangerous places for maintenance workers. They may need access roads (unpaved) or pull-offs.

Also please try to work  in bicyclists and pedestrians, safely. At least take a look at the possibility. A road is transport and cars are NOT  the only type of transport humanity uses.  Olmsted used braided paths, separated by grades, each type of path with dedicated uses – one path for walking, one for driving, one for horses, all three braided into the landscape.

Have fun!

And this is not to disclude the possibility of  my entirely  misunderstanding of your problem.

ps, as for distracting drivers, I agree with you. You do not need detail, depending on the desing speed of the road. Detail can enunciate intersections or overpasses, but  on the whole, not a good  idea. Try to work in broad swaths,  and try NOT to irrigate anything –  irrigation is high maintenance, prone to break, useless.

IMHO!

[Tanner Dyson]

Aleksandra;

Here is a guide from ASLA’s website (for sections 3&4.) I am currently studying for sections 1&2, and will be taking them at the end of next month. This page has links to the LARE orientation guide as well as some of the recommended reading for the sections. Here is the upcoming testing dates for the sections as well if you would like to view that. If you haven’t seen this page , it has some great tips, along with links to other places with review information from Professionals in the field. You may have already known about alot of this, but I wanted to throw it out there anyways. Best of luck!

[Roland Beinert]

I was kidding about autocad. I guess I should have put a smiley face behind that so that people wouldn’t consider it a serious suggestion, even though I began the next sentence with “seriously”.

As I said, I think a set of drawing tools and a book would be good. If Trace has any of her old hand graphics books from college, it might be a good addition to drawing tools, especially if the book has lots pictures of plans and sections the kid could try to copy.

[Cheryl Corson]

Promo alert – but I went through the process from 2011 – 2013, taking the new Sections 3 & 4. After I failed and then passed Section 4, I created webinars to help others with Section 4, which is the toughest exam. These are now available through my website, http://www.cherylcorson.com. You can also see my article on Section 4 on Land 8 – https://land8.com/profiles/blogs/5-tips-for-passing-section-4-of-the-lare 

Best of luck in your preparations!

Cheryl Corson

[brian matthew walker]

I graduated in May and began working with a great residential LA firm.  I was always told in school that they will basically teach us the basics, and when you enter the working field, a lot of stuff would be new to us.  I have found there words to be fairly true.  So far in my career I really do not design anything.  Rather I do a lot of construction drawings (layout, sections, paving, drainage….).  So my question is to those who can remember when they really started to “get” things?  When do drawing details of things become second nature?  I feel like i have to ask a ton of questions on sections that I am drawing.  Do these things start to come together the more i draw them, or is it a matter of actually seeing some of these things built?  I really like the firm that I am working with, and I feel as if they really like me so it is not that bad to ask the questions.  But at which point in your careers did they kind of let you start designing, meeting with clients, and meeting on site to resolve issues and such..?

Thanks!

[Tosh K]

During my review session I was told they didn’t have a pipe sizing question in 3yrs (’08~’10), so I think that’s buried – I certainly did’t see one on mine.  Ditto on the surveying (elevations using stations) questions.  I believe both are in the PPI review books (and useful to know).  Retaining walls under 4′ are still there (basics of where rebar should go, drainage behind the wall – more in the construction documents / details sections).