Notes from various LA Awards

Dry Garden Poetry

Santa Cruz Mountains, Arterra Landscape Architects 

I was stuck by the spatial distinctions between the arid plants, hard landscaping vertical plans and buildings. Here I feel natural sparseness between typically desert plants has been used to allow breathing space between the different garden elements. The rectanlinear building work is mirrored by rectangular pathways throughout the garden, seperated by the gravel and sand which would typically denote the negative spaces between wild plants in arid and desert landscapes. Whereas in other gardens, lack of bodacious borders might suggest poor garden maintenance or design, here creates a calm flow and subtle softening/complimenting of hard built edges.

Www.asla.org/2023awards/7742




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