I Always Knew This Day Would Come…

[Thomas J. Johnson]

I’m not down on the profession Maui Bob. I’m down with the profession, kinda like OPP:

 

I can’t wait to feel like a kid at the candy store again! It’s been a long time… but I did feel the tingle recently at the Chicago Auto Show. Great exhibits and vehicles. It’s all applicable to LA. Good design is fun.

[mauiBob]

Are you kidding me? Have you seen all the ridiculous and ill-conceived designs made by engineers out in the public spaces? Most have no aesthetics quality or even know what that means…zippo, nada, ziltch! You haven’t been in the profession long enough, otherwise you wouldn’t ask the question about architects and engineers being able to “stamp” their own landscape plans.

[mauiBob]

The “girl you meet in a bar” is more interested in knowing what landscape architects do than a boring, yawn civil engineer! And the girl you meet in a public library or art gallery is curious about your occupation, but the bar girl only cares for how much you make and the car you’re driving!

 

Other than the small backyard, I don’t see much of a threat.

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

Other People’s Property (OPP), that is what landscape architecture is all about!

[Thomas J. Johnson]

YES! B.L (Belly Laugh)

I remember one of my professors telling me, “You will be designing places that you won’t be allowed to visit after it’s built. They will not let you through the front gate…” I thought he was kidding… He was not.

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

I had a good laugh a few years ago when my high end design/build friend (http://www.crossroadslandscape.com/) and his high end cabinet maker friend were complaing that “this guy is only our age and he can afford us!” .

[Thomas J. Johnson]

I swear, there’s a perfectly good explanation… I was looking at a job posting and it mentioned a software package I had never heard of… (I don’t recall the name but it was $150) Curiosity got the better of me and I went to the manufacturers website where they had a link to a trial on Better Home and Garden. One thing lead to another and the next thing I knew I was playing around with the free demo. It was fun, in an immediate gratification kind of way… easily dragging around cartoonish trees and shrubs. I’m sorry. I know it was wrong. It won’t happen again.

Just in case you feel like testing your will power:

http://planagarden.bhg.com/planagarden/

[Thomas J. Johnson]

OK, I lied, I can’t help it… I made another one… it’s just… so… easy…

[Thomas J. Johnson]

[Thomas J. Johnson]

[Brandon G. Williams]

Are you sure this isn’t a puzzle from Dora the Explorer.com

 

[Anonymous]

Ladies love LAs. We’re the perfect balance of artsy-fartsyness in the office and rugged hardhat wearing while pointing at things on a construction site (usually with a roll of drawings under our arm and a scowl on our face of course) kind of guys. What’s sexier than a man who is responsible for tons of concrete and huge piles of dirt that can talk about color and all sorts of lovely things?

 

I think landscape architects have a whole lot more fun than civil engineers. Not to stereotype my rigidly precise friends or anything, but who would you invite to a party first?

[mauiBob]

You said it all, brother! Haha. Excellent post.

 

And let me add about our friend the civil engineer. Just yesterday, we LAs and Planners came across this plan. This is a high end hotel design with beautiful landscaping, lighting, signage, etc. The engineers decided to place the backflow preventer, all the utility boxes…right in front of the entrance!! Because it was convenient to do so with regard to aesthetics. The developer and the “non-engineers” all balked and requested them to move it in another location on site. I’ve got hundreds of other stories about engineers and their method of design.

[Thomas J. Johnson]

Aw crapola, there I go throwing stuff around on the internet again. Isn’t intellectual property copyright established the moment an image is created? That’s what it says in the book I’m reading right now… Are you guys going to “borrow” another one of my ideas…? Hey, as long as I get a nice royalty check every quarter I’m all for it…

[Anonymous]

Here’s one for ya!

 

Recently I had a civil look at me sideways when I made a BIG stink about his humongous concrete overflow structure for a “naturalized” pond that just so happened to be in the middle of a panoramic view from the main terrace off a dining hall for a fancy country club. He just couldn’t understand why I had a problem with it. His defense was that it would be like a waterfall after a heavy rain. Yes, a rather slimy one at that I responded.  

 

Luckily with a little convincing, the client realized that I was right and it was relocated with no additional expense before it was built. The client found a new appreciation for the profession of landscape architecture. Prior to that, I was just the trees and “bushes” guy.  

[Author]

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