ALWright's Blog

NYC Aids Memorial Competition – Chapter 3 “The Details” part 1

alwright — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:47:28 +0000

“The Detials” part 1 from Andy Wright on Vimeo.

NYC Aids Memorial Competition – Chapter 2 “The Concept”

alwright — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:33:01 +0000

“The Concept” from Andy Wright on Vimeo.

NYC Aids Memorial Competition – Chapter 1 “The Challenge”

alwright — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:03:11 +0000

AIDS Memorial Park Design Competition from Beechwood Film on Vimeo.

The New York City AIDS Memorial Park Campaign is a coalition of individuals and organizations dedicated to the recognition and preservation of the ongoing history of the AIDS crisis. In the 30th year of the epidemic, we seek to honor the more than 100,000 New York City men, women and children who have died from AIDS, and to commemorate and celebrate the efforts of the caregivers and activists who responded heroically to the crisis. We represent artists, health care providers, historians, family, friends and neighbors committed to remembering the history of the crisis.
New York City still has no significant public AIDS memorial. Simply stated, we believe that we can fill that void by engaging the community, architects, designers, and urban planners in the design process, in order to create a memorial park that provides a much-needed inspirational, educational and green public oasis for the city and surrounding community.

Swan’s Water Gardens

alwright — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:27:04 +0000

A month or so ago I went to visit my friend Kevin Swan out at his research facility in Spring Hill, Kansas. Even though it was late winter when I visited, this water garden property was quite a surprise. Kevin has developed his entire property as a living functional portfolio of his work. He has 9 different ponds. Some of the ponds are for fish and plants, and some of them are rain water harvesting ponds that capture and filter run-off to keep the ponds full. They have also developed an entertaining space with a kitchen and a fire place. There is a green house for growing water garden plants, and there is even a tropical tiki hut with artificial palm trees. I can’t wait to revisit Swan’s Water Gardens research facility again during the season when all of the plants are thriving. I have included some photos of my visit below, but there is much more to see at their website. Please take a minute to look and see all of the services that they provide.

www.swanswatergardens.com

Greening Guatemala

alwright — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:37:22 +0000

In the summer of 2003 I was lucky enough to be a part of a community service project in Guatemala. My mission was to develop and implement a plan for a recycling garden for the village of San Marcos at Lake Atitlan. The garden was sited directly in front of the local high school. We created circulation routes by outlining paths with large and small rocks. We planted local flora and created seat walls from rebar frames and non-biodegradable trash (a little concrete too!) Macadamia trees were planted to teach the community about this alternate crop to coffee. Finally we built a centralized recycling area to separate waste products. This was a great experience for me.

My Valentine

alwright — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:07:28 +0000

Last weekend I picked up a custom flower arrangement for my girlfriend. The flowers came from a local company named Zokahana owned by Stacy Casteel. I just wanted to share a picture of her great work and show how we as gardeners can learn from our friends in the flower business. This arrangement used tulips and interesting bark and buds from pussy willow to create a unique valentine bouquet. I believe that this is so much more fun and exciting than the standard dozen roses. Keep in mind that flowers and color are not our only tools as designers, but texture and contrast are just as important. To find out more about Zokahana check out their website below.

http://zokahana.com/

Basic Landscape Design: Simple Steps for Planning your Garden (Large or Small)

alwright — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:49:20 +0000

The beauty design and architecture is in the combination of functionality (the science) and aesthetics (the art) to create a sense of place. When designing a garden one should follow a systematic and scientific process. The process begins with collecting information. A base map should be created gathering every pertinent detail of the site and its surroundings. This is also referred to as the site inventory. It is important to note every downspout, hose bib, window (w/ height), tree, fence, utility, etc. on the base map because these features can and will influence your design. I use drafting paper with blue grid lines. The gridlines are spaced at 10 squares per inch with each square representing 1 foot. The scale of the final drawing is 1” = 10’. As we finish the base map and site inventory it is now time to consider the program.

The program is a list all of the wants and needs for the space. In my case the programs are largely developed by my clients. However there are many times upon some discussion and idea generation when the program can evolve to more than what was originally planned. Sometimes solutions present themselves that homeowners never even imagined. The program will have tremendous influence on the next step of site analysis.

Once the base map, site inventory, and program are complete we must perform a site analysis. Using the data collected we look for opportunities and constraints. Sometimes the site may be completely shaded and have little to no opportunity for sun loving plants. At other times access to the site may be limited forcing constraints on large materials or budgets. One should examine all of the details and consider their influence and relativity to the site and the program.

Images taken from: “Residential Landscape Architecture” by Norman K. Booth & James E Hiss.

Finally, now that we have done our homework so to speak and collected and analyzed all of the data we can finally begin the conceptual design. The conceptual design is the creation of functional diagrams that are used to begin to organize the space and delineate circulation routes and hardscapes vs. softscapes. We can also begin to consider form composition of both the hard and soft materials. It is important to note that during this phase we do not name any specific plants or materials. Many designers create underlying grid lines extended out from all relevant edges, corners, windows and other important points to use for the organization of the space.

The next step in the process is design development. During this phase the conceptual design is refined and revised into the final details of the design. These details include plant selection, material selection, revisions of the concept and the final touches that may come such as irrigation and outdoor lighting.

It is important to keep in mind basic design principles of line, color, texture, focal points, balance, composition, flow, etc. This is the fun part. When designing your own garden it is important to understand that you do not need to be an excellent artist. The sketching and drawing is simply a way to record the ideas and the plan for the garden. As a professional it is more important for me to have well groomed graphic skills in order to communicate my ideas to a client. But as long as you can read your plan you can build your garden.

The next phase for professionals with large scale projects would be construction documentation. However this only applies when detail drawings are needed to communicate the specifics of a project that is most likely going out for bid. Personally I rarely take the time to develop formal construction documents because most of our construction work is done in house. I take a more hands on approach in the field to lay out bed lines and hardscape elevations on-site with my foreman and crew leaders. Occasionally quick sketches can be helpful in communicating with my team when we are away from the site.

Lastly we must consider the maintenance. A great landscape will require maintenance. The maintenance for a garden can be scheduled and forecast for the future. Spring is usually the time for cutting back grasses and adding a fresh layer of mulch. Pruning should happen during the season at least once and sometimes more often for mature plantings.

Certain species can be particular about pruning times especially those that bud early such as lilacs. These should be pruned immediately after flowers fade. Then the fall is time to clean up leaf debris and blow – out sprinkler systems. All of these scheduled maintenance routines will help keep your garden in the best possible condition and looking good all year round. There are also lawn chemical applications that should be completed on a consistent regiment to maintain lush green grass.

I hope this summary of the basic design process can help you in your next garden project. If you would like any further information or a consultation on any of your projects please let me know.

Thanks for reading,

Andy

Winter Interest in the Landscape

alwright — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:02:13 +0000

Often times as landscape designers we get caught up in the season and all of the colorful flowering plants that bloom during the spring, summer, and fall seasons. Our clients ask for all of the latest and greatest trends in annuals and perennials that they have seen on-line or at the local garden center. While these plants create the punch and seasonal interest that really make a garden pop, we can not forget the structural plants that give the garden its character all year long. The evergreens from uprights to groundcovers provide that constant color and unwavering sturdiness. These plants act as foundation plantings during the season covering ugly concrete and screening undesirable views. But in the winter months these are the plants that put on the show. They provide the varying shades of green when there is an absence of other color. The different shapes and sizes can contrast each other and provide interest when all of the blooms have faded. Not to mention the beautiful display they provide after a newly fallen snow. The snow blankets the upward edges of this green garden architecture and actually adds to the contrast and interest of the garden. The snow scenes can be just as beautiful as the summer blooms when gazed upon by an affectionate observer. Evergreens make up some of my favorite plant varieties and I do love the statement that they make both during the season and winter months. Without these plants it would be difficult to truly create a functional and everlasting landscape. There are also a few plants that may not be considered classical evergreens that can continue to have showy effects in this season. The ever-red heavenly bamboo, the deciduous holly, and some crab apples with their subtle accents can provide winter interest as well. When designing our gardens we must simply not forget about the winter. Just because it is cold and sometimes dreary doesn’t mean that we can not find beauty in our gardens. Below are some photos from my garden.

Learn more about me at http://andrewlwright.com

Learn more about Landworks at www.landworks-inc.com

What makes a good hardscape design?

alwright — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:02:52 +0000

The hardscape is the non-living functional and architectural element of the landscape. Hardscape design requires and understanding of construction and drainage to produce a space that is designed to fit with it’s purpose and scale. When designing these spaces we must know the intended and even unintended uses of the space. Find out about the dynamics of the clients lives in order to determine the function. An understanding of the psychology of space as it relates to human behavior and emotion is a critical part of designing these spaces. People tend to gravitate towards walls and edges, people feel more comfortable when steps between elevations occur in groups of at least 3 risers. Slight changes in elevation can break up a space and divide a larger scale into more intimate settings. All of these concepts play a role in site specific design of hardscapes.

The truly elegant and timeless hardscape designs do have one thing in common. Great outdoor hardscape spaces have a strict attention to detail. These details come in both the construction of materials in how the meet or join, and also in the choice of the materials for the specific situation. Any natural stone will lend to more timeless quality in the landscape, however there are some artificial products that have been tumbled or colored to give a great stone-like appearance with less labor. The scale of the material is also important in great hardscapes. Generally my motto is the bigger the better when building outdoors, but some thought should be put into which portions are larger or smaller. Steps are always a great place to exaggerate the scale when possible. And I never build a skinny rink-a-dink seat wall. We always build double walls to give the everlasting feel of landscape to last a thousand years. If we are using natural stone we even attempt to make it seem as though the wall has already been around a thousand years and has a millennium left.

The key to designing a quality hardscape is using quality materials with well thought out details of a great design derived from an in depth understanding of the space and it’s users.

Learn more about me @ http://andrewlwright.com

Learn more about Landworks at www.landworks-inc.com

Landscape Improvement Award ’09

alwright — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:39:17 +0000

I recently was told that I will be receiving another Landscape Improvement Award on the behalf of Landworks from the Mid American Green Industry Council. This will be my 3rd year in a row receiving this award. I am honored that my hard work and creativity is being recognized. I have included some pictures of this year’s project. This Hallbrook residence was in desperate need of a new front landscape. We played off the grand columns of the entry to the home. A very natural dry stream bed carries the watershed from the drive around to the side yard. Evergreen plant materials create the structure of the garden, while colorful flowering shrubs, perennials and annuals brighten up the curb appeal of this grand home.

Learn more about Landworks at www.landworks-inc.com

Learn more about me @ http://andrewlwright.com