Rico Flor

Hello nrschmid.

What is this a kibbutz or a business?!!

Not once did I suggest insubordination, nor was I complaining about the firms’ practices such that I will deserve a “If you don’t like it, leave it” phrase.

As I said, one could redefine how the practice is practiced. If one confines landscape architecure business and practice as solely…[Read more]

Just trying to be positive and…maybe…creative. With this crisis going full-blast, might be a good opportunity to push the boundaries of the practice, make it more relevant in your own way. One can shift the paradigm a bit and consider EDSA as just ONE of the many models of how to practice the profession.

Isaac Hametz and I have been…[Read more]

Hi Organic.

How do you think this concern can be addressed in the Lounge without resorting to using avatars and aliases? Also, in your opinion, can honest, downright nitty-gritty discussions be had while maintaining a professional. business decorum? Consider this as honest, objective questions, please. Yours could be the paradigm-shifting answer…[Read more]

Hi Andrew.

Land8lounge is great. I for one do not treat it as a social website, but rather a professional one (not as bland as Linked-In, hehe). I’m heartened to see that most discussions are relevant to our practice, dealt with a level of professionalism, collegiality, rationality. If ever passion comes into play, these are worth reading and…[Read more]

Hi Debb.

Having languished for so long in the University as a research associate, I lean towards finding the construction bust as rethinking, researching, refitting and retooling time. The Philippines went through such a construction bust around ’97-’98 and found the practicing faculty more receptive to new ideas, which IMO is better than prior…[Read more]

Anytime, Nikka!

Hi Nick.

Call it training for your people skills. For sure they have their own issues, but we do too. And, hey, it’s fun to recall our unforgettable professors ten…twenty years…down the line…

The Buzon-RohMix package does make sense for client’s savings and contractor’s sanity! I do have to bother Mr. Joerg again about RohMix dimensions.

My current gripe for now (actually, very minor) is related to product support. In the absence of Mr. Joerg, the staff would just not reply to my queries on RohMix dimensions and particulars. But…[Read more]

This is quite neat, Bryce (any relation to the SketchUp entourage??). The texture that a population of these benches make presents a unique contribution to the urban landscape itself. Get the toddlers awaaaay from the corners, though. 🙂

I’m not a ‘boarder, but if I was, this’d be a primeval call to invent the “stuttering rail” or “hopping rail”…[Read more]

Keep scouting Jashanmal and Magrudy’s, Architecture, Gardening and Home Ideas section. Recently, I scored a good book on Al Fresco set-ups…”Outdoor Spaces” by Ana Cañizares… at Borders for just 60AED…a steal because of the sale season!!! Expect a price tag ranging from 150 to 300 AED.

BTW, there’s still a Mike Lin book at Magrudy’s DFC…

I’m a fan of Oehms and Van Sweden, so grass to my mind is tall, maybe bushy, can be solitary, not necessarily a surface. I lean towards the “hate” side though I don’t totally condemn it. It has a place in the landscape (and best with sheep, sand dunes, a golf club and a lot of Scottish brogue)…

Hi Syarzad.

Have you compared the Roh-Mix version from the Correctdeck version? Verzalit seems out of contention; it’s hollow, makes a peculiar sound…. I’m interested to as to how they fare from a designer’s point of view. Both seem so similar from my end (I haven’t compared prices yet). Both might have similar LEED impact in terms of transport…[Read more]

Hi Nikka.

It’s January and by now, you would have had some answers. So, just to compare notes, I use a 600mm x 600mm minimum each way for the Buzon pedestals on-centers, so that’s bound to support your 75mm x 100mm joists. What spacing do you use? It’s a girl thang, but if stiletto heels do get thinner than 5mm, then I would space the planks (or…[Read more]

Which Zone?

Anyways, for large indoors spaces (e.g., lobbies, atria), I know of pantropic types like Ficus lyrata, F. benjamina, Brassaia actinophylla, F. elastica, I hear (but haven’t seen) Persea americana, Podocarpus. I believe there could be medium-sized palms which could take the stress of containerized environments (like Veitchia…[Read more]

Hello Kevin.

Considering that clients now want better bangs for their credit-crunched bucks, i would suspect so. The heightened awareness on landscape architecture is helping too. As well as the need to spend wisely to earn LEED points. The preceding six years had Dubai reeling in fast-paced, fast-track projects which sacrificed a measure of…[Read more]

Hi Kevin.

I’m not the expert on this one, but here are my two fils worth…. What I do observe anyhow is that there is room for a lot of improvement in workmanship (lines might deviate from the horizontal or plumb), as well as in cross-discipline coordination (utility ports and manholes sprouting where you don’t want them at all). The abundance…[Read more]

Hi Ahmad. You might want to try to find a copy of ED Merill’s Flora Manila. Since we basically belong to the same region, you could check out similar ethnobotanic uses. I do know that Alstonia scholaris is an abortifacient, as used by the local medicine men or ‘albularyo’. Also, the infusion, steamed (akin to inhalant, in a way) of guava (Psidium…[Read more]

Hi Nick.

UAE’s not a good place to start for now or 6 months hence (my reckoning only). One reality is that pay scales for US citizens are mostly on the upper end (yes, the pay scales here are traditionally not color-blind) and with this global recession in full force (or has it done so yet?), job openings would be difficult. Most have frozen…[Read more]