AU Blogspot

                           Image courtesy of Johannes Gilger. 

I am sad to say that there are a tremendous number of beautifully designed and perfectly installed landscapes that look terrible!  On the other hand, I’ve seen landscapes that were not professionally designed or installed, but which have been well-cared for, that absolutely sparkle!  Quality maintenance is an essential ingredient for the long-term beauty of any landscape. 

Here’s the key point I want you to understand when your design is created.  If the client asks for low-maintenance, then a low-maintenance design should be implemented.  There is no way that a high-maintenance design can be “transformed” into a low-maintenance one after it is installed.  The designer needs to determine what level of maintenance can be expected and use this as a criterion for the design.  A design and installation that looks great five years after it is installed is a living marketing tool for your business! 

There is another reason why you should consider offering maintenance services to your clients.  It is the bread and butter of many successful landscape companies.  In fact, many new design and installation opportunities often come from the maintenance side of the business.  If a particular landscape looks great, folks ask the owner who is doing the landscaping, and if it is you, this is an instant referral!  Also, by maintaining the landscape, you have ultimate control over your designs.  If you offer a guarantee on the installed plants, it is very easy to keep an eye on the installation and make sure it is receiving adequate care.  If a plant happens to die, you are right there to replace it as you complete your regular maintenance activities. 

One more note about this part of landscaping is that the term really should not be landscape maintenance but landscape management.  The difference is that someone who maintains plants hopes to keep them looking about the same from one year to the next.  A landscape manager, on the other hand, works to improve and enhance the landscape from one year to the next.  This is a perfect role for the landscape design professional, as it allows for new design activity to continue virtually forever.

Richard Ludwig
Landscape Design Program Instructor
Ashworth University School Of Skilled Trades

              Thanks to Starck Ting for permission to use this Photo.

Throughout his career, Philippe Starck has positioned himself ahead of the design curve, practically ignoring it, but not through the prescient recognition and/or early adoption of trends.  Starck instead relies on ingenuity to reinterpret the concept of design itself, reworking the most mundane of objects (clocks, silverware, computer mouses, etc.) until they are capable of being perceived in different contexts—with new meaning and functions.  In this conceptual sense, one can detect traces of Marcel Duchamp and his influential readymade objects.  The following video offers a fine introduction to the vision of Philippe Starck.  Starck’s vision will inspire you.  Click on the image above to watch this video.  Let us know what you think. 

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University  

The Mana Collection by TOUCH features one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces that cleverly string together social design and environmental responsibility, not to mention recycled treasures from the streets of Brazil. This LA based art/design collective recently introduced a stunning line of artisan made products including furniture, home décor items, ceramics, tableware, jewelry, and limited edition items.

They wisely brought on board Mana Bernardes, a young jewelry designer, poet, and visual artist from Rio de Janeiro, to oversee their hip jewelry creations. Detritus and discarded plastics never looked so good, as the Mana Collection is proof that one (wo)man’s trash is another (wo)man’s treasure. These are, for sure, the eco-sparkly jewels of creative re-use.

Multimedia artist and designer Mana Bernardes finds pure poetry in the flotsam of our lives and consequently is able to incorporate seemingly unusable materials such as PET bottles, phone cards, toothpicks, hair clips, plastic netting, pearls, silver, and gold into Mana’s handcrafted collection.

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Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies is the perfect holiday gift for those of us who are interested in green building, but need a little expert help. Admittedly, the For Dummies® books are a smart start for anyone wanting to pick up a new trade or just learn the overall basics on any particular subject. With more than 150 million books in print and over 1000 topics, this new release by Eric Corey Freed of Organic Architect may be the best evidence out there that green is mainstream.

“Green building” involves designing and constructing buildings and homes to reduce energy use, conserve water, improve indoor air quality, and reduce reliance on nonrenewable natural resources. Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies provides an introduction to every facet of green building, from start to finish, including the materials, architecture, and construction methods of green building and remodeling for both homeowners and professionals such as architects, interior designers, and contractors. (more…)

Inhabitat is excited to announce the Greener Gadgets Conference!

On February 1, 2008 industry leaders, entrepreneurs, journalists, and product designers will gather in New York Cty to discuss the growing need to green the consumer electronics industry. This one-day Greener Gadgets Conference will take place at the McGraw-Hill Conference Center in midtown Manhattan.

Why are we doing this? . The green movement has taken off significantly in virtually every industry. Visible examples include the success of hybrid vehicles, alternative energy, and green building. The fashion, food, and building industries are all embracing sustainable design with fervor, so why is the $150 billion dollar consumer electronics industry lagging so far behind? We believe that the consumer electronics industry is poised for rapid transformation, and we want to help usher in this new era with smart and innovative product design.

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We love Pkolino’s line of children’s furniture for their bright use of color, durability, and creative ingenuity that makes little ones’ furniture appealing to tots and adults alike. The P’kolino Klick is no exception, combining workspace for your toddler with a clever puzzle-like design that provides storage space for all their art supplies. (more…)

Social Design Network Design21 announced their latest design competition this week; the challenge - to design the official logo for “Stories from the Field: The United Nations Documentary Film Festival”. (more…)

Instead of covering your home’s walls with reams of tacky newly manufactured wallpaper, check out this cute alternative: repurposed decorating materials that gain new life as a patterned menagerie of elephants, giraffes, crocodiles, ostriches, monkeys, rhinos and lions! Dutch designer Inke Heiland has created an ‘old-as-new’ way for eco-nest builders to cultivate their inner habitat. INKE recycled wallpaper kits are made from one-of-kind vintage wallpapers that are cut into wildlife silhouettes and leaf-adorned trees ready to be assembled on your wall. (more…)

Kvadrat’s modular North Tiles combine an ingenious folding system with eco-friendly textiles to create a stunning interior element limited only by imagination. Flexible and easily reconfigured, North Tiles define space with sensuality and warmth, brought to life with materials and high standards of the indelibly green Danish company and the talent of French design brothers extraordinaire Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

The system, with tiles available in over 100 colors, offers infinite form possibilities, both geometric and organic. Modules can create walls, hallways, egress or canopies. In addition to their captivating visual and structural qualities, North Tiles provide soundproofing to the spaces they create and uphold Kvadrat’s environmental philosophy. (more…)