Brett T. Long

Hey Brett,
Don’t forget to get across the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods and up the coast a bit to Point Reyes. http://www.nps.gov/muwo/index.htm 
http://www.nps.gov/pore/index.htm   Enjoy.

Hey Rick. This may be a helpful example of a more progressive city direction.  This commission is slowly getting more sustainable site planning and landscape policies into city codes.  There was actually an incentive program that gave priority permitting review to projects that were attempting to meet a list of sustainable guidel…[Read more]

Excellent rebuttal, Rick.  We should talk.  I have some very interesting situations that are very closely mirroring your efforts in the City of Delta.  My practice is vested in the City of South Lake Tahoe, CA.  Incidentally, also situated on Highway 50.  You may want to call them on the fact that it appears the City Manager is “putting toge…[Read more]

Hey Mark.  These were custom designed and built for North Tahoe.  Nothing to interesting, but they are built like a bomb shelter. I wish my house was built like these.   http://www.moonshineink.com/articles.php/0/1798

Hello Marcus.  It is not customary for potential client to ask for a design without a proposal or contract. Typically I am glad to meet with the potential client and gather necessary information to prepare a proposal based on an agreed scope. Design competitions and charrettes are different and the possibility of being awarded larger projects may…[Read more]

Hey Thomas. Your boss is probably under considerable pressure to perform as well, and may not deal with his expectations very well or has difficulty communicating/relating to junior personnel. Your were hired as an entry level designer and it should be expected that you will be performing at that level with learning time and mistakes being part of…[Read more]

 You had some good thoughts. It is a shame that you led with a ridiculous insult and closed with another.

You aren’t alone. 

I agree.

There seems to be different terminology between design build and public bid projects.  Very interesting.
This is from the California Department of General Services and what I typically follow for my private and public projects:
What are preliminary plans? Preliminary plans are the initial design phase in preparing the construction bidding do…[Read more]

In my little world, Master Plan indicates a larger project with multiple disciplines, and possibly phases that may be constructed at different times and possibly with different funding. The master plan then ties together several separate parts from multiplel design disciplines. It does seem a bit much to use the term Master Plan in residential d…[Read more]

http://land8lounge.com/photo/diy-center/next?context=user   This was a simple, integrated stormwater and native habitat restoration that revitalized a commercial lot.  Design capacity is a twenty year storm event infiltration as required by the regional planning agency.  Removed 13,000 sf of asphalt from a car lot and cut in bio-swales from the ex…[Read more]

Hey Andrew.  Welcome to the Bay Area!
The Academy of Science and other points in Golden Gate Park , The Castro, The Presidio and catch a Giants game at AT&T park. Pier 39 is a tourist trap, but you can jog from Levi Plaza along the piers through Marina Green to the Golden Gate in 6 miles and take in quite a bit.  You can take a taxi back if yo…[Read more]

Allyson,  You are breaking the law and could be putting your self in jepordy of being fined by your state licensing board by advertising yourself as a landscape architect on land8.  You will not win this fight.  The laws are clear in every state.  Read them.  You appear to be the one who needs to get over yourself.

Hey Peter.  I think you should be able to give me a complete understanding of your capabilities from concept through construction documents on a single project in 5 pages or less.  You can always offer “additional sheets upon request.”   I don’t want to build your project, but I want to see that you can.  I would rather see 3 sheets of 5 project…[Read more]

John Lyle and the Center for Regenerative Studies provided a cornerstone to my education and degree in Landscape Architecture.
http://www.csupomona.edu/~crs/support_membership_call.html

I beleive that Landscape Architecture is the tool, not the product. My training and understanding of natural systems goes beyond suburban societal and cultural norms of landscaping. The challenge is bringing good, sustainable, possibly fringe ideas to mainstream architectural design. The priorities are most often set by the owner/client rather…[Read more]

I have been contemplating this very question for quite a while.  Every landscape architect should be striving to promote and integrate many of the concepts and methods of permaculture.  I am not sure how we can claim we are creating sustainable landscapes without utilizing or at least considering these concepts. In another forum someone used the p…[Read more]

Hi Tanya,
Bio-swales, rain gardens and water spreading are very low tech and very effective BMPs that can provide all of the required treatment and infiltration if space, slope and soils provide the opportunity. Permeable paving is also a big help to reduce the peak and annual volumes.  If you are able to convey to vegetated basins and infiltrate…[Read more]

Are you a landscape architect?