Boilerplater

Hmm. I think I could do a better job teaching that stuff if they are as you described.  However, it seems like a lot of design programs are like that.  You go in expecting to be told what to do and then you’re just told to go do it, then bring it in for critique.  That can be rather nerve-wracking, especially if you’re not used to criticism.  I k…[Read more]

I just sent in my $150 (cheap!) to renew my Nevada license yesterday.  Maybe it will be useful in 2015 or so!  Its such an absurd place…don’t know if I’d want to work there again, but I did get to do some things that I’m proud of.  I wonder who those companies are renting to in LV when so many people have up and left the valley, as I did last year.

The choice of a monoculture of Gingko reminds me of the over-use of the American Elm in this country and how that fostered the spread of Dutch Elm Disease.  Apparently that lesson has been lost, or just not understood and heeded by mayors with delusions of grandeur.
The US has done such large-scale plantings in the past.  Remember the Dust B…[Read more]

A little something to brighten your day:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/business/economy/new-indications-housing-recovery-is-under-way.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120628
 
So, first that supply of existing homes has to be bought up.  That takes a few years maybe?  Then they’ll start building more seriously again.  I’m thi…[Read more]

From the article: “Huffines is developing Viridian, 5,000 units on a 2,300-acre site in a flood plain near a landfill in Arlington, Texas.”
 
Sounds like an awesome site!  I have to pay for flood insurance, live with the risk of flooding AND I get to smell landfill stench all the time?!  AND its in Texas!  I’ll be surrounded by Con…[Read more]

Thanks for posting that!  He does some really expressive, fun work.  I bet he really enjoys his practice.  Seems like a very interesting character as well, going by his work and the company he keeps.  Very artistic family.

I think a good alternative career is any one that allows you to travel.  I believe it is important for LAs to travel and see the work of other LAs, noted works or architecture and famous natural landscapes and cities known for aesthetic merit.  I’ve been working as a biomedical technician, wihich is bascally electronics repair for medical d…[Read more]

In 2010 I took a home energy efficiency analysis class that included LEED-GA training, though not the LEED-GA class.  It was paid for through a grant to a local nonprofit that was administering job training grants.  It was part of that whole “Cash for Caulkers” program.  I actually got a few interviews to be an energy analyst through it, but as so…[Read more]

I’m a bit surprised to learn of this as some of the most original landscape architectural work I’ve seen in print has been in Spain. I like it for the complete absence of site furniture and things pulled from catalogs. Instead they design custom furniture…even light fixtures!  They seem to do a lot with low budgets.  Perhaps you’ve heard of En…[Read more]

Agreed.  If you’re going to issue statements that can be quickly and easily refuted with a Google search, expect them to be questioned.  It makes him sound like he’d full of shit.  I can’t stand people who are full of shit.  Its like the couple who always appears happy and high-functioning and then are found dead in an apparent murder sui…[Read more]

I initially became interested in LA through taking a critical view of the environment in which I found myself when I was growing up.  I looked at the strip malls, car dealerships, apartment complexes and so forth and decided that most of them were pretty ugly.  It all combined to create an atmosphere that was patently depressing.  Then I found tha…[Read more]

Mesquites are often used in the Las Vegas valley.  Can you grow those in Reno?  Texas Honey Mesquite seems to be the most pupular.  They grow quickly with irrigation, but the problem is they are subject to being blown over.  I heard a saying among landscapers there that they need to be kept pruned so that you can throw a football through the…[Read more]

Also interesting is that many of his “cottages” are quite obviously in flood plains.  What does that appeal to?  A sense of drama?  The possibility of disaster?  Look at the painting above, with a peaceful abode mere feet from a violent, malevolent sea.  You have a place of refuge adjacent to movement, to a force of nature.

Presumably due to the recession, I’ve noticed a lot more walkers along a four-lane highway much like the one in the article that I regularly drive along.  Now and then you read of pedestrians struck and killed along that same stretch of highway.  I used to try to preach about pedestrianism back when I was with the NJDOT, but I wasn’t really s…[Read more]

Yeah, its “Mall Art”.  Its kitsch.  But I think understanding the appeal of this kind of art is worth studying.  Does the viewer like to imagine themselves in such a landscape? In a little cottage with a thatched roof?  He did observe rules of composition that work for designed landscapes as well.  A lot of New Urbanism work gets the same kind o…[Read more]

Nicely done!  I’m so glad I put my money in free-range electromagnet futures!

I think its wacked to spend that kind of money ( the private colleges) on an LA degree.  You’re better off going to Cal Poly and not having the huge debt burden when you get out. They keep saying that student loan debt will be the next bubble to burst.  If you keep looking, you may be able to find more scholarships.

Yeah, woodpecker.  The way they hop along trunks tends to be very even, thus the evenly spaced holes.

The few licensure laws that I’ve read typically have language stating you have a right to copies of drawings, plans, etc. when you leave a company to use in your portfolio.  You have to give them credit when presenting the plan or photo, e.g. developed the illustrative plan fot this project while with xx-yy landscape architects.  So do they m…[Read more]

Have you looked at wire trellis systems like this: http://www.vertigrowtrellis.com/ ?  Or this: http://www.greenscreen.com/home.html?  Doesn’t give you the virtuosity in planting design that you could get with a real green wall system but at least it covers up a wall with greenery.
Bamboo might get a little battered, depending on how your cl…[Read more]