Martin Schwanauer

Hello Everyone! I’m going to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens for a conference on Horticultural Therapy in April and it will be the first hort. therapy conference that I’ve ever been to. I was wondering if anyone in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee…knows of any other seminars or meetings that are going on in our area and what other organizations or…[Read more]

Hi Naomi, I am currently doing my masters in Landscape Architecture in South Africa, I am still decising on a theme for my thesis but I am very interested in environmental psychology and the relationship between mental health and nature/the outdoor environment. I want to work at a psiachiatric hospital. It looks like you are familiar with the…[Read more]

See today’s blog post for a conference on therapeutic environments in the UK in May, and also scroll down for info on a campaign by the American Cancer Society, early-spring bloomers to brighten the healing garden, and a review of an excellent movie, The Garden: http://tldb.blogspot.com/.

Welcome new members – feel free to post comments or start…[Read more]

I’ve been aware of SSI but hadn’t seen their latest report. Go to: http://www.sustainablesites.org
You’ll find a link to the report on the first page. I must say, the “documentation” requirements suggested in this report read like an undergraduate studio assignment for a year-long class. My recent work on a small LEED project looks like a total of…[Read more]

Hello Everyone, here’s what these plants can do in an office! Impressive! Check out this link and let me know what you think! http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/10/david-pogues-ted2009.html

Cool! ASLA just added a new professional practice network, Children & Outdoor Environments: http://land.asla.org/2009/0210/new_ppn.html.

Looking for a job in healthcare design? See today’s post, “Letter to a young landscape architecture student (looking for a career in healthcare design)” http://tldb.blogspot.com/.

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]

Has anyone seen a CA native develop over time? I’m interested in how native gardens survive in the real world of residencia. I’m using my own yard as a test, having just planted about 50 various species. They’re all infants right now, but I’m very excited to see how they grow,

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]

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…