Boilerplater

More often they’re sited to take advantage of a view or are at the edge of a center of activity…and that doesn’t mean south facing.  In Christopher Alexander’s “The Timeless Way of Building”, he goes on about the importance of south facing outdoor spaces.  That’s all well and good in northern latitudes, but in hot climates, you often want s…[Read more]

This might be where I read about it: http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/search?q=zoroastrian
It was a while ago.  Somewhere I found an illustration of the interior of one of these towers, with bodies laid out for the vultures.  Do a search for “Zoroastrian Burial Practices” and you’ll find a lot.

I was wowed by this when I first saw it…think it was when I was in school: http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Brion-Vega_Cemetery.html
Not a crematorial place, but I love the way it integrates the landscape.
 
Did you look up Swedish architect Gunnar Asplundh?  He did a famous c…[Read more]

I haven’t paid as much attention to the regional economy of the Southwest since I left in the spring after my girlfriend basically kicked me out.  Well, that’s a little harsh.  We basically agreed that since I couldn’t find work there I should move back east to be closer to my parents, who are getting up there in years.  Back here I’ve only be…[Read more]

A Springsteen song has been in my mind a lot lately, only its the Rage Against the Machine version.  Its “The Ghost of Tom Joad”.  I think their version better communicates a sense of fear and of struggle against a malevolent economic and geographic landscape.  Springsteen’s original is just sad.  The line “Families sleepin’ in their cars out in…[Read more]

Its too bad they don’t have any photos of installations with more mature trees on their website…well, there is one, but in all the others the trees look pretty pathetic.  I’d like to see how well they do over time in a regularly saturated soil in a concrete box.  The one with the larger tree appears to be in a more arid environment.  For pl…[Read more]

I’m just impressed as hell that you are able to find a client with a budget for large trees in MODESTO!
How about the Modesto Ash?  Nah, probably gets to big for what you want.  Used a lot of those in Las Vegas.  Amazing heat tolerance.

“Systemically dangerous Institutions”  That’s great!  I’ve been saying for years now that the way we indebt ourselves to educate, house and transport ourselves was unsustainable.  You can’t build a house slowly over time as you can afford it like pioneers did and how some people still do in “less advanced” countries.  Building codes essen…[Read more]

Geez, why did they have to put the “Curtains for the US” article at the top of the list below the article?!  I don’t even want to read that one after I get to feel good for a change!
I guess you can only dump so much smelly plastic and rubber on the world before it says “Enough!”  Seriously, ever get something made in China and all the parts are w…[Read more]

Smells like a Red herring to me.

No comments after a whole day?  Guess most LAs here aren’t into this.  This firm must be doing something right.  They also have a major commision at the World Trade Center site…whatever they’re calling it now…and they are hiring.  They have an ad on archinect.  Yet something tells me they will only consider Ivy League or European grads who…[Read more]

I thought he was referring to the duplicit position of firm owners working employees into ill health while designing “healing gardens” for hospitals and such. I often thought it was incongruous to try to design places that are relaxing and peaceful when your work environment has a bunch of stressed-out cad-monkeys going from one crisis to the…[Read more]

“A great distance separating work and home creates intolerable rifts in people’s lives” -Christopher Alexander in The Timeless Way of Building”  Well, it was something like that.  Though that may be seen as more of a planning quote.  He has some other good ones, such as the need for south-facing outdoor spaces.

I believe Kichler makes one a lot like it, if not that one.

Speaking of Breaking and Entering, its the only movie I’ve seen that portrays LAs tackling a major urban design project. That is the side of landscape architecture that I wish more of the public knew about. There’s this scene where Jude Law’s character is digitally inserted into a model of their big project.  He sounds more like a landscape ar…[Read more]

C’mon man.  Its Landscape Urbanism!  I set up a dialogue with the rough-hewn granite pavers and the smooth white concrete.  Can’t you sense the tension as the two elements fight for primacy, while the Ash trees, knowing they have the upper hand, lord over it all?  What do I care if its not nice to walk on?!  That’s what the sideWALK is for!

Here’s another option you might want to allow.  It’s dry-laid Belgian block with what was supposed to be a 1″ gap between them.  Joints are filled with granite fines, and I believe I specified 4″ of fines underneath.  You get plenty of infiltration with this kind of detail.  The trees were doing fine, but I really need to revisit this site as its…[Read more]

Yeah, we ended up with that narrow strip as the property line is to the left of the lot, and there was a setback, then of course the standard dimensions for the spaces and lanes.  That was all there was room for.  It also greens up a grade change rather than having a retaining wall.  Any shrubs in a strip like that would be at risk of damage fr…[Read more]

Well, there ARE more trees in the lot!  They’re out of the frame.  That strip between the rows was too narrow, and if I had one on the right side of the bulb it would block the directory sign.

Here’s one I did that was planted in ’06 or ’07.  Photo was taken last year.  Its in central NJ.  I was surprised that there was such great (total!) coverage by the ground cover junipers.  In this case, the owner really cares about maintenance.  They even put up little signs asking people to use the walkways and not step on the groundcover!  Its i…[Read more]