Chantal De Menezes

Elif;
All the ideas written to you are good/great. I would also like to add how important relationships are, especially the more involved/complicated/pricey a job goes.

History shows that the great designers were also people who were great “relaters”. Be personable, be authentic, be passionate, and be honest with your clients . . . it’ll carry…[Read more]

Hi Elif,
Glad that you found my comments helpful. 🙂

Thank you very much. It’s always nice to get suggestions from experienced Landscape Architects as yourselves. I’ll try to follow and let you know about the result.

Hi Elif,
I have always maintained that there is a profound difference between ‘planning’ a space and ‘designing’ a space. A good design trancends a good plan, but a good design must be based on a good plan.

Part of what makes a design a good design is its uniqueness or as you call it, its identity.

In my opinion the first person to whom you need…[Read more]

Hi there,

I’m new to land8lounge and this is my first group to have joined.
Hope to explore all of these web-site’s features and to get in touch with a lot of new collegues…

Greetings from Croatia

Hi Elif,
Now this is an interesting discussion, and I agree with a lot of what Michelle has to say, and I would like to add some of my own comments just as soon as I have time , perhaps over the week-end. Greetings from Ireland.
Hugh

Elif,
Not all well healed clients speak the language of art or architecture.
If you use stories to relate your design charrettes then you have to speak to them in a language that they understand.
If your client is a doctor use medical metaphors. In essence you are meeting your client at a level that they feel comfortable and knowledgeable in.

In…[Read more]

Thank you very much Chris. I probably share a common problem with other Landscape Architects. Hopefully in time, it will change!
Greetings from Istanbul!

Thanks for the suggestion.
I also prepare images and perspectives. What I wanted to ask was: Generally the client doesn’t know what they want and when you come up with new ideas rather than the usual concepts, they don’t understand it. Therefore I develop a story for them. For example, I say ” It’s a Mondrian Garden and the design structure is ……[Read more]

Elif,
I hope I understand your question, here’s goes. When I present a project to a client I bring pictures of plants and I try and draw quick perspesctives or elevations of the job. A lot of people can not visualize a plan view into a real life project. They have not had the training we have and don’t look at plans as we do. When I go to their…[Read more]

I have a question!
Each time I prepare a project, I write a story for it. I try to present it telling this strory. I don’t simply say “Here a group of shrubs you like and some other here!”
My clients are quite high level people but I don’t know why they don’t understand much when I try to give an identity to the design I prepare for them.
I would…[Read more]

iT IS MOSTLY CULLET DISPOSAL AND HEAVY METALS (LEAD), MOST OTHER CONTAMINENTS WHERE FULLY REMOVED. I WAS ACTUALLY INTERESTED IN BIO – PHYRO REMEDIATIONS BUT HAD NOT FOUND A GREAT DEAL OF INFO ON THEM.

Hello Chris,
In regards to your question about marketing at a home or trade show, I have some experience in this realm.
20 years ago I designed and installed a small intimate garden exhibit at the San Francisco Garden Show. I had just recently moved to the Bay area and wanted to open my own design practice.
The show was a success for me.
After 5…[Read more]

Welcome new members! If any of you are students and are in need of a simple project, the TLN is looking for someone to document how many of the 155 teaching hospitals in the U.S. have therapeutic landscapes or some other type of restorative outdoor space. Anyone interested? Could become a great thesis…

Ya i defentenly plan on trying to use Bioretention techniques, but this is not a exectly a mitigation techniques it is a stormwater solution, i need some way to extract or mitigate the heavy metals that are with in the soil and water on site, bioretention will help in preventing them to go to the stream but then they are still on site in the soil.

Great, Devin! Be sure to share your findings with us, and I will post anything new to the Therapeutic Landscapes Database.

Bioretention is a technique that can be used in nearly any environment, including brownfields, as a water quality control. This may be getting too technical for your project, but depending on the amount of on-site contamination, I would recommend that you wrap all of your stormwater BMPs with an impermeable membrane to help control the spread of…[Read more]

i am a landscape architecture student working on my senior project, which is a brownfield site ( old glass manufacture), and curious to see if any one had unique design, mitigation techniques and or a case study i should look in to.

Stumbled on to your database blog while researching healing gardens. Currently designing two for an outpatient clinic in Miami. Thanks so much for all the info you’ve posted.

Strut your stuff! Two opportunities with ASLA: http://tldb.blogspot.com/. Will announce the call for student awards when it comes around, too.