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Poll-How many, if any Landscape Architects visit archinect - why

prince

Curious about how many, if any Landscape Architects visit archinect, and why - obvious reasons are that the other LA based sites are mindless

 
Aug 8, 05 10:56 pm

Not so. There are various landscape arch blogs now and they are quite good, imo. But... there are no "LArchinect's" in terms of the portal aspect (gallery, discussions, etc) -that I know of. And we'd be happy to post much more about landscape if some of the members submit it to the news, features and whathaveyou.

Aug 8, 05 11:52 pm  · 
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geno

yup. landscape architect here.
although some of my degree has been in architecture.
i date an architect.
i work for an architect.

i randomly hang out on archinect.

hmmmm. shit. i have a problem.

Aug 9, 05 2:50 am  · 
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prince

The landscape arch blogs I run into are helpful with news, but the critical aspect is lacking. A lot of the features that make archinect great are hard to come by. It would be great to ramp the landscape side of things on this site

Aug 9, 05 8:51 am  · 
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we would love to add a landscaper to our team. send me an email if any of you are interested in contributing.

Aug 9, 05 11:54 am  · 
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anotherquestion

is this a dumb question? but who do landscape architects usually end up working for? arch firms?

Aug 9, 05 12:32 pm  · 
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anti

they end up working for EDAW

Aug 9, 05 12:34 pm  · 
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anotherquestion

wha?

Aug 9, 05 12:35 pm  · 
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anti
EDAW

is the largest Land Arch firm in the world. I actually just finished a year in one of thier China offices. It is roughly the size of HOK.

Aug 9, 05 12:37 pm  · 
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anti

I am a LA and have yet to find an LA portal of any value. J.A. -- Please post whatever you have come across.

I personally like wearing my 'Architecture Sucks' T-shirt to meetings with architects because most of them get offended because I am 'not an architect'. Is that like telling Jew or Polish jokes if you aren't one?

Everything in the design fields are so connected that I get enough involvement and info from here, I never really felt the need for an LA only site.

Aug 9, 05 12:44 pm  · 
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LA-related blogs: http://www.landliving.com/ , http://pruned.blogspot.com/ (also has good links)
http://www.free-soil.org/ (just discovered it)

ASLA recently launched the Dirt: http://www.asla.org/land/dirt.cfm which covers a lot of news.

Aug 9, 05 1:27 pm  · 
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abracadabra

my random views on landscape architecture;

LA is an underrated, most un-understood building/design art there is.
it is often a deciding part of the towns' and buildings' success. often, it is interpreted via plants, trees and park benches and that is a most incomplete defination of LA. in small buildings, landscape budget is usually allowance which undermines profession's importance. landscape architects design buildings and theirs are the often most beautifully sited and proportioned buildings with functions directly speaking to one's soul. i was stunned by frederick olmstead's work when i first walked through the central park and studied its plan.
public parks are better used than most public buildings.
it doesn't promote its identity and necessity. landscape architects delegated as a consultant to the architects (the precious god), and their function is manupulated by the architect to beautify his otherwise not so great building design. since large full on landscape projects are few, most LA firms are large and also few. there are brilliant, small, young and old LA firms out there but their services is usually employed by wealthy home owners on the recommendation of their architect. national trend is, any open land is potentially also open to building development.
as opposed to generalized view of architects robust, on the know and fightsy personalities, landscape architects are more subdued, honest, grounded and quiter personalities causing them to be bulldozed by whores like us.

Aug 9, 05 1:52 pm  · 
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AP

Aug 9, 05 2:18 pm  · 
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geno

abra.

ok. at the risk of being sappy and emotional,
that is one of the most beautiful things i have ever read about my profession.
seriously, thank you. i've stuck with some form of this profession for 10 years now and can't help but find myself continually depressed by the lack of inspiration, motivation, gutsiness by most of my compatriots - and go to architecture for all of those things. but for some reason i stay here. i fully agree with you on your generalization of the personality differences. i have often thought about how to clone some sort of perfect hybrid of the two personality types. and believe me, you're not all whores. i quite enjoy the company of the pushy architect!

Aug 9, 05 2:56 pm  · 
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anti

abra, Thanks for that, much appreciated.

Your comment:
"public parks are better used than most public buildings"

is why I went into LA in the first place. I have many happy memories of being outside when I was a kid, but as much as I love arch. I don't ever remember being in a building and saying 'man this great in here'.

Aug 9, 05 3:00 pm  · 
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anti

JA- thanks for the links, I had come across Land+Living before, but Pruned and Free Soil are new to me.

Aug 9, 05 3:02 pm  · 
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prince

I'm not really thinking there needs to be a LA only archinect, jav's mentioned sites due post some good news, I really just want more LAs to come out of our "subdued, honest, grounded and quieter" shells. There is no denying LA-type projects can be the most rewarding and intriguing projects, past Olmsted projects and contemporary-in-the-wood-work projects prove that—the more discussion and relationships with other design professions the better the eventual design.
Hell we have a lot architect-trained LA’s that I work with and they are great designers
The best projects still have to be when the LA is lead consultant

Aug 9, 05 7:30 pm  · 
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Ms Beary

welcome LAers.

abracabadra that is really nice, you are an angel.

"I have many happy memories of being outside when I was a kid, but as much as I love arch. I don't ever remember being in a building and saying 'man this great in here'." yes you have something there. so much architecture is so constipated. sorry about that. we don't have god's help as much.

Aug 9, 05 8:39 pm  · 
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MysteryMan

Overall, LA's & 'A's need to mix more, because way too often, there is a disconnect between bldg & site that goes beyond grading. For example, One of my short-comings is understanding how to relate vegetation to structures. Maybe this can serve as a bit of a motivation for me to seek out LAs in the course of my design work.

Too many afterthoughts contribute to perpetuating a form of disposable environment that eventually future generations have got to deal with. usually that gets done by building some other afterthought a few more miles out of town. hence, the cycle becomes continuous. I think more interaction between the two discplines will make more of a journey, rather than a cycle.

Aug 9, 05 9:30 pm  · 
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anti... I hope you're aware that Robert Murasedied recently...
And not to be picky or anything, but you shouldn't neglect Mr. Corner from your list... He's probably been the most influential in bringing LA back to the Arch schools' debates. Every architect should also read Anne Spirn.

Aug 9, 05 10:44 pm  · 
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anti


JA,

I was not aware that Murase died. He truely is/was a master.

Field Operations and Mr. Corner was an oversight on my part. They should very well be at the top of my list.

Im not familiar with Anne Spirn, can you post your reccomendation?

one more:
STOSS
http://www.stoss.net/

Aug 9, 05 10:56 pm  · 
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prince

I am anxious to see if Corner can build and get it done right with the High Line....wait and see I guess

I was happy to see that posting of Robert Murase's passing away, it's very sad to loose such an elegant designer and a great man at that-

In a related LA tragedy to our profession, I heard about a week ago that late Dan Kiley's achieves where destroyed after a lighting stuck his house burning everything. Harvard was days away in negotiation with the family to take over the achieves---- a shocking heartbreak to all of the design community.

Aug 9, 05 11:08 pm  · 
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Sean Taylor

I would also add reed hilderbrand to the list.

Aug 9, 05 11:19 pm  · 
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prince

to add to anti's must list:
philippe coignet's (used to work with tom leader) new office Office of Landscape Morphology

http://www.o-l-m.net/

Aug 9, 05 11:21 pm  · 
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That's awful (re: prince's comment). Dan Kiley is like the cursed landscaper! Did you read Ken Smith and Nina Rappaport's article about the Lincoln Center renovations and Kiley's design? It's in the latest Future Anterior and some of it is shown here. & Anne Spirn... try to get a copy of William Cronon's (as ed.) Uncommon Ground... a great Spirn article on Olmsted called "constructing nature." Her book The Granite Garden is an urbanism classic and quite a trailblazer before sustainable became the rage.

Aug 9, 05 11:30 pm  · 
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anti

prince, thank you for that. I have never come across OLM, I will definitly spend some time looking through thier work.

Aug 9, 05 11:34 pm  · 
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prince

JA - I do have Language of landscape on my "wish list" - I will have to check out Uncommon Ground - thanks!
I'm still shocked over the loss the Kiley's achieve, its a terrible loss, especially for those who haven’t experienced his work, myself included in many cases – Add to this situations like the Lincoln Center…..ouch. Thanks to Ken Smith for coming out on that. I’m not a huge advocate for preservation but there’s hanging on and there is what should be unconscious. Imagine losing a Louis Kahn building

Any word on the Lincoln Center Plans?

Aug 10, 05 12:20 am  · 
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anti

Prince + JA, are you both LA's or architects with a larger than average knowledge of LA?

Aug 10, 05 8:25 am  · 
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anti... no, I never did a LA degree but it's an area I have a lot of academic interest in. I took a couple of electives at the gsd while I was a student at mit and spirn actually was my thesis advisor.

prince... the entire uncommon ground book is highly recommended. i have no idea if the lincoln center plans have been modified.

Aug 10, 05 10:09 am  · 
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anti

JA, are you still in the boston area?

Aug 10, 05 11:15 pm  · 
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negative. i'm in san juan right now, but good chance i have to be in boston next month or early october.

Aug 11, 05 12:51 am  · 
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why? are you in bos?

Aug 11, 05 12:52 am  · 
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anti

Im in New Bedford MA (1 hr south). San Juan for Business or Pleasure? The other post was kind of a last ditch effort to keep this thread going. Its rare that there is an LA thread....

Aug 11, 05 9:03 am  · 
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anti...i work here and am spending the days of august literally melting. this is where i grew up, but i'm pretty sure this will be my last summer here for at least a long while. what landscape architecture needs is a site like the Gutter...

Aug 11, 05 9:37 am  · 
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olaf

i am a LA and love to visit the site because i have an interest in architecture. since the LA profession isn’t quite the same size as the “arch” profession there simply are not the same amount of resources out there. i also tend to read a lot of arch magazines since they outnumber LA magazines about 10-1. however, that is not to say all LAers do the same. the LA profession is dispersed across a wide range practice areas therefore i would assume a relatively small number LAers visit this site, since their interests may lie elsewhere.

personally, i hate to label myself as an LA since it inherently begins to draw boundaries or limitations. some of you may disagree, but I prefer to think of myself as a “designer” cable of contributing ideas and vision to a variety of products. so i guess i visit architect as a means to carry through with my interests and stay connected to design related topics.

Aug 11, 05 12:17 pm  · 
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prince

the gutter - thats more like it. Maybe that will get LAs out of their shells, but somehow i don't think it would generate as much attention as the gutter,- I do love to visit that blog.

I am an LA, and like most LAs grit my teeth in public discussion about the profession. Olaf is right there are not as much resources as architecture, but look at the numbers. The number of LAs are a small % of architects and a smaller % of LAs that care enough to be loud and out there.
its refreshing to see architects more and more interested in LA, the more tallent brought to the profession the better the chance for LA to prosper

Aug 11, 05 11:31 pm  · 
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alliecat

they call me a landscape architect but, i am not a landscape architect... at least i never went to school for it, unless you count one history of LA class and one ecological factors in design class. i prefer to call myself a 'designer' because i feel unethical calling myself or letting people call me an LA...

however, if the new hire i am training and supervising right now is considered an LA just because she graduated college, it doesn't seem right...

i visit archinect because i love architecture archinect is a phenomenal resources for all questions design-related, there are some smart mofos frequenting this site..

Aug 11, 05 11:35 pm  · 
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anti

alliecat, neither you nor your trainee is a Landscape Architect. We have the same professional registration process and standards as architects.

No offense meant, but we work hard to distinguish ourselves from landscape designers (which can be anyone who wants to design landscapes).

AT - I laughed at the "make all your...." statement. Its so true. A friend of mine made a model using chip board and wire and spray painted it with that rust paint stuff and a professor asked if he meant the actual landscape to be rusted metal....

Aug 12, 05 8:06 am  · 
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prince

I've seen an LA make a model out of 3,000 jelly beans

i think the horrendous landscaper's challenge needs to be skewered

Aug 12, 05 8:50 am  · 
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prince

I've seen an LA make a model out of 3,000 jelly beans

i think the horrendous landscaper's challenge needs to be skewered

Aug 12, 05 8:50 am  · 
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alliecat

anti-
none taken, i forgot to mention that i live in colorado where there is no professional registration process, which is frustrating... so really, anyone who graduates with a degree in LA is considered an LA here...

i understand completely the want of LAs to distinguish themselves from landscape designers, my company deals with it everyday... clients don't want to pay for design work when they can hire joe landscaper down the road and get what they want without the design fees... that is why CO is in dire need of a registration process...

i know i am not an LA and never claim to be one, but the girl i train does... right now it just doesn't make sense for me to pay a bunch of money to go to school only to come out and be at the same place as when i left... plus, i'm not sure LA is for me, but for now my job is better than school and pays me more too:)


Aug 12, 05 9:07 am  · 
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mm

Alexander T., you wrote that "somehow I suspect landscape architects don't wear that much Prada or Aramani couturier as some of their design counterparts."

Jim Corner of Field Operations (and the Chair of the LA program at Penn) wears Prada. He's a fashionista. He was a model in a recent issue of Esquire. He hangs out with all the fashionable architypes, so I guess it has worn off on him.

Aug 12, 05 12:42 pm  · 
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anti

Corner is an architect who practices landscape architecture. His work, though great for our profession, is as fluent in trendy archi-speak as any Columbia students arch thesis...

Aug 12, 05 12:51 pm  · 
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mm

Corner is a registered LA, but yes, he's all Remmy.

Aug 12, 05 12:54 pm  · 
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anti

I meant architect in spirit... has anyone read is essay's? Hard to get through, and a whole lot of words that I had to go look up.....good though, I think....

Aug 12, 05 1:01 pm  · 
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No please no! I was being very sarcastic about a Gutter for LA. It is a distingushed and dignified characteristic of landscape architecture that it is not (yet?) suitable for a site like the Gutter.

Aug 12, 05 1:12 pm  · 
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prince

"yet?" for sure - but never to the extent of architecture

Aug 12, 05 3:51 pm  · 
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treekiller

wow- I missed this thread the first time round - so
*bump*

Gotta keep at least one 'scape thread active.

As to mr. pruned's comments- Corner is a good personality to parody, along with Ken 'i'm a camoflaged peice of astroturf' Smith. Of my prof's- I'll satire CriSS Reed's anyday.

Come on, what's the deal with landscape urbanists using glacial morpholical terms as their firm's name? StoSS, Till, what's next? Glacial Erratics, Drumlin (oh, that's used), Moraine, Esker, Outwash Plane, or Hanging Valley?

maybe LA's are just too earthy...

Oct 30, 06 11:31 am  · 
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tempo01

seems ii missed the thread too...only have to add, that i NEVER really worked as the typical landscape architect with all that fancy design park object stuff....like treekiller i also cant really understand the fuzz about landscape urbanism and urban landscapes - thats a concept which is really not new - i always worked at the intercession of architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture - thats the objects of desire, where´s the most is happening -
borders are important...

Oct 30, 06 1:55 pm  · 
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