[beijingreenspace]

That’s like asking an architect if any landscape that detracts from the edifice is good.  Love the report exonerating it though.  a good read.  thx

[beijingreenspace]

You don’t think it’s possible the LA detail specified 2×4 plank backing? 

[beijingreenspace]

haha… brilliant! yet sad?

seems like a problem around the globe where it’s all fun and games til the inner workings are put on display.

I’m sure it will get fixed once the discussion… It’s a design flaw! No Construction mistake! Bad Maintenance! … gets worked out

[beijingreenspace]

We have designed several GFRC modular planters.  More because of the need for a seamless, double-curving facade than easy modular construction.  Ours was designed to be attached to a steel framework surrounding a concrete walled waterproofed planter.

Personally I prefer concrete or stone as they wear better and ‘feel’ more durable.  GFRC depends too much on the painted finish.  It is very light weight though…

looking at your sketch I am guessing you are trying to achieve a prefab planter wall but I guess I lack enough context to have a feel for whether it works or looks ‘good’.  It does seem kind of large and unwieldy for what you get.

Out of curiousity, why not just use lightweight concrete or brick with a rendered/steel/wood facade?

[beijingreenspace]

Now see if they were bringing attention to something like fracking I could somehow garner some emotional support, albeit very little even then I admit.  Has anyone been noting the tremors being caused by dumping fracking waste?

— Drape this over the Wall Street protesters or somehow make a forest in downtown Manhattan… now that would be noticed. Squirrels in the lobby! —

This will likely be done, reported on for a day and forgotten just as quickly.  

In fact /poof/, I’ve already forgotten it.  

[beijingreenspace]

Maybe it’s me but…

… I don’t get it.  Maybe it’s me.  Somehow I doubt it.

Do sponsors get to put advertising on the panels for rafters to enjoy?  /Big Bill’s Bait ‘n Tackle/ right up next to /Boater Life Insurance/ (actually that one would be too late) etc etc

[beijingreenspace]

I wanted to click ‘Like’ for this post…

… finally found it!

[beijingreenspace]

As I’m sure you know location depends entirely on age, species and maturity of the tree, soil types etc.  there is no absolute rule.  I personally do not have confidence in the drip tubes without supplemental watering during the initial establishment period but obviously the more the watering cone is within the root zone the better.

I worked in Israel previously where rainfall is null and we depended entirely on irrigation. There the soil is very sandy (with loamy clay added to it) and we used a complex system of drippers for everything except the rare bits of lawn which had a carefully targeted array of sprayers and rotors.  We often just gave the trees a couple extra loops compared to shrubs with occasional deep watering when newly planted depending on need.

Several times we used the subsurface drip below lawns but it is challenging to maintain.  the lines are hard to flush, damage is hard to find, root preventative treatments must be done and we still needed an overhead system to wash in fertilizer or pest treatments.

I think it’s key to have each plant type on a different controlled zone so plant needs can be regulated based on evapotranspiration rates and actual plant needs.  It gets complex but you can do a lot with a little water with a properly zoned and maintained system.  Have never been able to go all in with any one brand though.  Rainbird had the best sprayers, Hunter the best rotors, Netafim the best drippers… at the time.  it’s a constantly evolving technology but one which we need to keep pushing.  

Now in China… don’t ask

[beijingreenspace]

May his hereafter be bathed in swathes of ornamental grasses…

[beijingreenspace]

I’m curious what the general feeling is about this.

my experience leans towards out-sourcing.  Gives better results for the investment of time/energy.  Though admittedly we will actually go to a render company’s office for landscape (because no one can quite get the green stuff right) to tweak camera angles, add in photoshop landscape components and set the image ‘mood’. It’s still easier.

Just the investment in software pipelines, render farms and highly skilled man hours… don’t offices find it prohibitive?

Ok I realize I’m now in China but I’ll do anything not to see another landscape presentation using only SketchUp

m

[beijingreenspace]

Sorry MauiBob,

 

My comments were certainly not directed solely at yours.  I agree fully with what you had to say about building a strong basis in design.  My comments were merely a reflection of my own memories of that period when I spent a period distracted by trying to find the best software for presentations and focused less on the actual design intent, then again all softwares were fairly new so it was a necessary part of the process.  My only comment, similar to yours, was to focus on the tale not the tool.

 

I just see so many graduates coming out now with a false belief that pretty is all that matters and it can be disheartening.

[beijingreenspace]

hey, I actually like grading and drainage!

 

Absolutely not to put a damper on the purists out there who feel everyone should go old school and draw everything by hand (it is an invaluable rite-of-passage), but hand-sketched presentations take time and skill to develop just like photoshop.  The new generation have seemingly less patience and a plethora of tools with which to achieve good results.  And once in the job market speed can be as important as pretty at times.

Photoshop of course is quite useful. I have seen some very nice presentations done with a sketch-up base overdrawn and colored by colored pencil and marker.  Can give good ‘hand rendered’ results while maintaining scale and perspective for the inevitable change requests.  I’ve seen equally good 3d renders but good ones take a lot of time/skill/processing power (and are frankly good for selling to investors after the design is largely decided).

 

All I can think to recommend is find the tools that appeal to your story telling style, taste and technical capacity. Then spend all your spare time and energy becoming as proficient as possible focusing on those tools.  At one point I remember catching myself as I was learning all the software out there trying to find the perfect ‘pipeline’.  impossible and a waste of that most precious resource. time.  

Remember the client is not that interested in what tool you use, just in whether you can portray the design idea you are trying to sell.

 

 

 

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