Craig de Necker

Brandon,

What year did you graduate from USU? I’m a BLA ’06 myself. Your stuff looks awesome. What is the name of your firm?

As someone who spent years as a contractor before going back to school, i can tell you that often the person you deal with in the office, or the supervisor, isn’t always going to be on site when the plan implementation starts. The few LARs that I worked with back home, made it a point to make sure that all plans were easy to read/understand, or in…[Read more]

For a Landscape Architect to truy be successful as a designer, he has to be able to communicate on the level of the contractor. Not to say that he designs to the level of the contractor, (which we all know contractors are alot like water, they always take the path of least resistance…) I say that coming from alot of years of being a contractor…[Read more]

Oona,
LEED has been growing extremely fast these couple of years, at least in California and the bay area. Clients, public and private, are becoming much more aware of LEED and are requesting that we follow the requirements whether they are or are not applying for accreditation on a project. About half of our office of 50 is now LEED certified.…[Read more]

hi everyone, i just sign to this group. I have my own company here in UAE (Ajman) for (planning – designing – production – installation – construction) theme stages, wedding events, artificial rock work, fiberglass casting, mall decors, theme parks etc… check my profile i have lots of sample pictures of what my company has to offer. can anybody…[Read more]

Is anyone marketing “green building” or LEED more heavily these days?

a comment to JJ comment (?)
“The greatest designer is normal people—the best cities in the world were not designed” – my frien i think we may include that in the design category. not in the academic kind, but in the category of the design made by specific needs of people, but is design.
if t. Church said that the gardens are made for people (and…[Read more]

to justin, u were refering to the brownfield site. a master thesis by ledrew s.p from the university of calgary, an ecological design approach to urban landscape reconstruction might be helpful.

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]

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]