Dumbarton Oaks Symposium in May

May 8th and 9th Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC is hosting their Spring symposium entitled:

The Interlacing of Words and Things in Gardens and Landscapes: Beyond Nature and Culture

There is a lot of talk in the opening description about how this idea of nature an culture have been discussed by a lot of different folks in their own context, but never together in the discussion of designed spaces.

. . . . by proposing new modes for the description and understanding of gardens, whether in the context of history or in the present – as they have been, or are, experienced by those who make and use them across many different areas of the world.

LEED 100K House, more!

Yesterday I wrote about a comment thread at the 100K Leed house.

Interesting commentary thread over at this website about building a $100,000 house, following LEED requirements, and the landscaping, or lack of landscaping.
So a couple of folks have dropped over and added their opinion, and the debate goes on.

Builders—-I’m speaking in generalities here, just don’t seem to get it. Work with us landscape people, let us be part of the team, and not some last minute afterthought on some half-ass ridiculous budget.

Where we get my favorite:

Twelve shrubs, two trees, mulch and enough sod to cover the front yard.

This was the builders special of about 95% of all home builders in South Carolina in the late 80’s throught the early 00’s(oughts). If it’s changed down there; please someone, let me know.

Now I don’t know about budget on the 100K LEED house, it shouldn’t be that high, or if there is one(hope it’s not $500). But it all started when I commented quite a while back about the landscaping being added on at the end of the project.

Why not move into a nice new LEED house with a recycled paver/brick/sandstone front walk. A compostie deck  in the back?

Tree properly placed for shade in the summer and sunlight in the winter. Trees and shrubs to improve habitat for our animal friends, plants the are friendly to their environment, not needing pruned with gas shears, or crazy amounts of fertilizer.

Adding great soil at the beginning and not having to tear apart badly prepared beds later on, costing time and MONEY . . . nah, why do all that.

To hell with it just put in the twelve, 2, mulch, sod and sell the damn thing.

Yes, I am getting madder as I type.

Oh, and the AIG thing . . . I’d rather not get started.

Stunning Homes, Karachi, and Hanoi

So I ran across this article about 5 rules to design stunning homes and I thought I’d share them with you. Then let you decide for yourself if you think these are the big 5.

1. Rule  #1: Use more than one exterior material in order to get multiple textures.
2. Rule #2: Try to keep the facade from looking flat. Mix roof types and window shapes to give dimensional relief. Add shutters and railings.
3. Rule #3: Make sure all exterior colors are from the same palette, Johnson continued.
4. Rule #4: Keep proportions in mind, Johnson advises.
5. Rule #5: Don’t forget to save money for the landscaping, Johnson cautioned.

Hey how about that rule #5, that’s a good ‘un.

“I like to compare landscaping to the cabinets and finish carpentry in a house,” Nooner said. “If you skimp on those things, it affects the comfort and appeal of the house. In the same way, if you skimp on landscaping, it affects the appeal of the outside of your house.

How about this gem:

“People who invest properly in landscaping have a leg up with it comes to resale and overall aesthetics” Nooner said. “You don’t get a second chance to make a great first impression.”

You can find the entire article here at the Daily Herald a surburban Chicago newspaper.

One thing about that rule #1 that kind of bothers me is that mix and match thing;

“Don’t go with all siding, all brick, all anything,” Johnson cautioned. “Mix brick, siding and perhaps, stone, to get a better look.”

All of that mix and match is kind of a Heinz 57 type of thing. Just doesn’t do much for me. It seems to me that this is trying too hard.

I’m of the camp the simple style and elegance creates that classic look that really stands up over time. I would think that if you found an old stone house it looks as good or better today than it did the day it was finished.

Other notes;

***On another happy note in the country of Pakistan the city of Karachi plans to double it’s landscaping by the year 2030. I have no idea how much greenery there is in Karachi right now, heck 2 or 3 trees may double the landscaping.  I’ll get some mail on this, no doubt.

***Finally a master plan for a park in the city of Hanoi. That’s in Vietnam for those of you who are geographically challenged!

From the article;

According to the master plan, the green tree park covers a total area of over 6,800 square metres. The building with French-style architecture will be repaired and turned into a pubic library with an area of 406 square metres. Existing works on the land area will be removed to build the park.

If anyone recognizes that software for the drawing program fill us in.

French style, very formal and quite European in its look. I guess the Vietnamese hold no grudge against France, a country that went to war with Vietnam in the 1950’s.

Pierre Boitard

A interesting looking book just sold on e-bay for $1.031.00 Not bad for a 1834 book on Garden Architecture.

Here’s a blurb on the listing:

Pierre Boitard’s 1834 Manuel de L’Architecte des Jardins. Handsomely bound in red morocco, this very rare volume presents an unparalleled picture of every aspect of garden landscaping and garden architecture in the 19th century. None have been sold at auction in twenty-five years and the only institutional copy we could locate is in the British Library. The only copy for sale on the Internet is a later (1845) edition priced at $2398. We offer our 1834 copy without reserve.

I’ve pulled a couple of pages/illustrations from the listing that I found interesting.

[ Examples of 'clipping" work ca1834. ]

Here’s another.

[ It appears the mowers are at work. ]

Here’s the title page

[ The book looked to be in good shape for it's age. ]

I bring this book up because it’s good to know where we have been, and how others in the profession face challenges and came up with solutions. Granted it’s a little different style/class of client but design principles are design principles.

This style of design is worth studying because there are principles to be learned from, borrowed from and used in the present day.

So good reading to the new lucky reader of this great looking book. It’s on this page, not sure how long it will be here, but I’ll post it anyway.

One last look from the book.

[some gate, wrought iron possibilities. ]

Interesting stuff

Are There the “Worst of the Worst Landscapes”?

Bill over at the Giant Duck Institute has suggested an idea

You’ve hit on the idea for a post to rival “Trees We Do Not Like”. Perhaps you could call it…
“Landscape Travesties” or “Landscape Infractions”. Picture submittal s of unfortunate landscape projects perpetrated by the uninitiated. I could start you off with a few.

I think he may be onto something here, I don’t think it will evoke the “passion” of “worst of the worst tree“-folks are really taking it serious when it comes to trees they really dislike, I mean serious . . . anyway . . .

Send me something bad-no kidding-bad, as in stinks bad.

If you’ve seen something that’s really bad, or have torn out something really bad . . . or Heaven forbid . . . you put something in that was really bad. I hope I don’t see a lot of the latter(sp?). Send them to my e-mail address rick(at)whi . . . . .. (d0t)com-this is not spelled out so it can’t be hijacked-some internet thing(I don’t know).

So send the shots and I’ll figure it out in a post and on a page somewhere-maybe even a Squidoo page . . . something like “The WCI’s readers worst landscapes“

A fine example.

Something like this even worse, something we can really think our teeth into. This little planter bed is just stupid beyond belief-what a maintenance nightmare. I wonder what genius thought this one up?

Okay got the idea? Now don’t let me down, let’s see those bad landscapes-”the worst of the worst“.

Tree Houses . . . that are Super

For the cool price of $250,000 you can have this little beauty built for you in your own backyard. though for that much money you may want to put it in your front yard. Heck . . . it may be the house in the yard.

The photo comes from a story in Business Week, about Real Estate that Branches Out. It’s a nice read about the continuing popularity of building treehouse. The article focuses on the Daniel’s brothers . . . they’re doing nicley:

This year, the company has already overseen 10 six-figure projects, and expects to do about $6 million in revenue. Its efforts, along with those of a handful of other tree house designers that sprouted in the late 1990s, have recently opened the floodgates on an unexpected new luxury market.

Not bad for treehouses. The question is how do Designers fit into the niche. I would guess if you are spending that kind of money some folks are going to want a nice way to go back and forth from house to super treehouse. Or have a great landscape to look upon-I’m guessing here. But we are in the luxury market, and when we are in here-there are opportunities.

They constructed a 45-foot spire with cedar shingles, a copper turret, a side deck, two staircases with multilevel verandas, and a zip slide—all for the enjoyment of the youth. For the parents, they built a deck under the canopy of another nearby tree and adjoined the entire structure with a bridge. As a result, the adults can enjoy their roughly $90,000 investment in the company of friends while keeping a watchful eye on their kids.

Sounds to me like there should be a babbling brook running below.

Finally the super treehouse of the future. Apparently the future is here. Take a look at this:

Sybarite is under contract to develop at least three of these next-generation tree houses for clients in Arizona, Australia, and Italy. Made from 70% recycled materials, these prefabricated modular structures are fully livable “country homes” that can be adapted for a family of up to eight.

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This is a tease of the artist rendering(conceptual) for the super treehouse of the future. A modular home. I was curious(naturally) about the Sybarite company. A company on the ‘cutting edge’ or beyond the cutting edge-it seems.

Robert Marvin

Every so often I have been fortunate enough to meet the man whose work I have come to respect and study. In this field of Landscape Design this had/has happened to me several times. Robert Marvin was one of those people.

Mr. Marvin died in 2001 after getting along to the age of age 81, of the work he was responsible for there are some well-known public spaces. Some of which were highly praised and a few were not(Hazards of dealing with the public). Either way Mr/ Marvin stood by his work and tried to create the best design for the space and the client:

It is a look at the mind that left us such heirlooms as the Henry Chambers Waterfront Park in Beaufort; the Waterfront Park in Charleston; the Governor’s Mansion compound, the Congaree Vista and Finlay Park in Columbia; and the Callaway Gardens Sibley Center in Georgia.

I had a chance to spend time with Mr. Marvin after one of his trips to Columbia during the building of Finlay Park. It was during this time he was receiving some criticism about the design and it’s implementation. Even so he was gracious enough to allow me to pick his brain on several design issues and some of his design philosophy.

It was really great to discuss issues concerning simplicity in design and understanding the need to work with the clients on the site, and not force your ego on the site. a nice guy and I will not forget his patience and demeanor.

Why bring up Robert Marvin at this time? Well . . . If you live in the South Carolina Low Country you should take advantage of this event on May 6th:

May 6: Glorious Gardens — A Tribute to Robert Marvin, from 3 to 6 p.m

This event is part of the Walterboro antiques, history and arts festival which runs the 4th-6th. I was unable to get down to visit him in the low-country and will be sad to miss this event. And besides that Walterboro is some beautiful low country.

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Addendum: There is another new trend happening in another part of the Lowcountry, and I am sure this will create great opportunity for Landscape Designers. It seems that people are not driving all the way to Florida to get some sunshine and are getting off a few exits earlier on I-95.

Let us hope they keep the growth under control and leave the beautiful nature and scenery as unspoiled as possible.

One large-scale development, called Tradition, broke ground in October, with 9,500 homes in the $500,000 price range. Hampton Pointe, a gated golf community of 1,022 homes by the Toll Brothers, is also under way, with prices starting in the mid-$300,000s.

Then there is this gem and plenty more:

Lots were specifically drawn to accommodate the oldest live oak trees, and the developer, the Settings Development Companies, an Atlanta-based concern, has a policy of no clear-cutting. The first phase of the project is nearly sold out, with vacant lots selling for $100,000 to $800,000.

I am hoping for the best, but . . . The other thing I didn’t get straight was all the talk about building on marshland or, on and near wetlands. Lots of talk about saving Live Oaks, but marshland? wetland? I don’t know . . .