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Boilerplater replied to the topic Short interview….big topic; "Have we designed our way to disaster?" in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 14 years, 1 month ago
I thought Collapse was great. He’s a good writer. Kept me interested through the whole thing, and not many books of that size have had such an effect. Diamond has been criticized for collecting information to support his theses, much as Mike Davis has, but he still makes a powerful argument. I went to a lecture by an anthropologist that attempted…[Read more]
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Boilerplater replied to the topic Short interview….big topic; "Have we designed our way to disaster?" in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 14 years, 1 month ago
Have you read “Collapse” by Jared Diamond? The case studies he presents show that “hubris” as a societal phenomenon is hardly a post WWII phenomeonon.
Yes, design needs more of this kind of thinking, but its just too much to grasp for most people. Try talking to your clients about the complex systems that their project is tied into, and they’ll…[Read more]
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Boilerplater replied to the topic 'The Next Real Estate Boom' in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 14 years, 1 month ago
Hey, I hope they’re right. I’ve been advocating for smart growth and urban infill for years, and have even been accused of operating with a “personal agenda” that did not benefit the client. I’m currently reading “Retrofitting Suburbia”, which includes several case studies of just this sort of thing.
One thing they do not address is the…[Read more]
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Boilerplater replied to the topic State of the Profession in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 14 years, 1 month ago
Yeah, the post was meant to be sorta simplistic for humor’s sake. I have benfitted many times, both directly and indirectly, from the actions of lawyers. And no, I’ve never been arrested.
Its the lawyers who do most of the presentation for the planning board and fight to get the project approved, and they earn substantial rewards for it. -
Boilerplater replied to the topic State of the Profession in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 14 years, 1 month ago
Could be worse. You could’ve gone to LAW SCHOOL! See:http://www.slate.com/id/2272621/?gt1=38001
Apparently work for lawyers went of a cliff as well. Then you have those student loans and the common loathing of lawyers to deal with! Nobody has ever made jokes like “Q. What do you call 100 landscape architects at the bottom of the ocean? A. A good…[Read more] -
Boilerplater replied to the topic Agave and Shrubs in the forum PLANTS & HORTICULTURE 14 years, 1 month ago
Agave, like most desert plants, are indigenous to soils that have very low levels of organic matter. They tend to prefer it that way in cultivation. In my experience, agaves in platers can be affected by heating of the soil, particularly if it has a southern exposure. Of course it get much hotter in Las Vegas, where I am, than Thousand Oaks. Here…[Read more]
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Boilerplater replied to the topic Goats as landscapers in the forum SUSTAINABILITY & DESIGN 14 years, 2 months ago
I’ve been to the Netherlands several times, and while traveling around the countryside you often see sheep grazing the tops and sides of levees along canals. I belive they can’t allow trees to get a foothold because their root runs can create water channels. Then Hans has to stick his finger in the leak in the dike and well, you know how the…[Read more]
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Boilerplater replied to the topic Is the future really "green"? in the forum SUSTAINABILITY & DESIGN 14 years, 2 months ago
By “somewhere else” do you mean hitting plant leaves and causing photosynthesis? Might we be displacing enough respirating plant life to have an effect on that cycle? I dunno, out here in the Mojave desert, there isn’t a whole lot of leaf area to remove to start with. Its predominantly creosote bush and coyote brush, spaced far apart. They have…[Read more]
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Boilerplater replied to the topic Is the future really "green"? in the forum SUSTAINABILITY & DESIGN 14 years, 2 months ago
Author Douglas Coupland’s take on the future: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/a-radical-pessimists-guide-to-the-next-10-years/article1750609/singlepage/#articlecontent
Note #9 on what will become of “E.T.style” California suburbs. -
Boilerplater replied to the topic The Suburbs that bad? in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 14 years, 2 months ago
Your wife had her own bike path built?
Sorry, I’m a wiseguy. I’m from NJ. I can’t help it.
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Boilerplater replied to the topic The Suburbs that bad? in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 14 years, 2 months ago
But wouldn’t an increase in more walkable neighborhoods or dense housing lead to less need for residential landscape architects?
There would be overall less area of residential lots that need landscaping, so there would be less of that sort of design work, but making walkable neighborhoods includes the creation of streets that are attractive and…[Read more]
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Boilerplater replied to the topic Who deserves jobs? in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 14 years, 2 months ago
That’s an interesting way to frame it because “deserving” in my experience does play into decisions of who gets to stay and who is let go. If you were the boss, what would be an easier decision: laying off the guy who’s wife just had a baby or the single guy who has no real attachments to the region and can easily pick up and move. If you’re an…[Read more]
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Boilerplater replied to the topic How to deter canadian geese from playing fields in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 14 years, 2 months ago
There’s no companies with trained border collies to chase them off in your area? They use them at a lot of airports in the northeast. CA Geese are tough birds. Go near their nest when they have eggs or goslings, and they’ll chase YOU away.
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Boilerplater replied to the topic does germany landscape the autobahns? in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 14 years, 3 months ago
Hey, all that planting and irrigating keeps people employed! But for a fiscally strapped state like California, that may not be the wisest course of action.
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Boilerplater replied to the topic Design-Build mortar question in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 14 years, 3 months ago
You really might be better off hiring a mason for this and watching them closely to see how THEY do it. Since you are using thin pieces and you are in a climate with a lot of freeze-thaw cycles, make sure you have a thick base, 4-6″, thoroughly compacted. On a home project I did when I lived in NJ, I cut bluestone with a regular circular saw with…[Read more]
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Boilerplater replied to the topic Back to the drawing board in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 14 years, 3 months ago
After checking air photos on Google, I realized the Nevada photos are of Sun City Anthem and Anthem Country Club, just a few miles away from me. I’ve actually worked on some landscape plans for homes in there. On the ground level, it presents a rather sterile face and appears very controlled. Of course some of that control has fallen by the…[Read more]
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Boilerplater replied to the topic What is a simple way to make a survey with a hand held GPS? in the forum TECHNOLOGY 14 years, 3 months ago
I worked on a park project where we had surveyors use a Trimble GPS system to get points for trails that we laid out in the field. They then just downloaded it and sent me a CAD file that I could import into my drawing, just had to make sure I was using the same base coordinate system. I could ask them for more detail on how they did it, but I no…[Read more]
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Boilerplater replied to the topic Back to the drawing board in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 14 years, 3 months ago
That led me to today’s Opinionator, which I found more interesting: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/the-geometry-of-sprawl/
Sorry to derail the thread. -
Boilerplater replied to the topic State of the Profession in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 14 years, 3 months ago
And Texas was supposed to be in better shape economically! Seems like I see more ads for LAs there than anyplace else. I know many don’t believe that more government spending is the answer, but I’m thinking we’ll need a WPA-type program to get people working again. When the rate of indigence reaches a certain level, there is risk of riots, social…[Read more]
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Boilerplater replied to the topic Pond design in the forum DETAILS & MATERIALS 14 years, 3 months ago
I’ve worked on wetland projects that used a bentonite liner. There are companies that package it in large 20′ wide rolls here in the US. If I remember correctly it needs to be placed on a layer of compacted sand. A supplier will probably have installation details. Have you found any bentonite suppliers there in Portugal?
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