There has been a lot of interest in creating sustainable and energy efficient landscapes lately. My good friend and associate Susan Reed recently had her book published with the title Energy-Wise Landscape Design. A description of the book from their website is "Combining general guidelines with tips, techniques and actions, this fully illustrated guide explains the many opportunities our landscapes provide for conserving energy."
Link for the book
There are a few pictures of gardens Whirlwind built for Susan's clients inside the pages.
The Ecological Landscaping Association is having their 16th Annual Conference & Eco-Marketplace on February 25, at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield, MA. I attended last year, and it was a great experience. Not only did I find suppliers of green products and hard to find native plants, I also learned a ton about ecological practices. I definitely recommend attending.
Eco-conference Link
Right here in Amherst, and as part of the Sustainable Architecture in the Pioneer Valley exhibit at UMass, there will be a presentation titled "Sustainable Landscapes - The Greening of our Suburban and Urban Places" on Thursday, April 15 at 7:00 pm in the University Gallery. Speakers include Kim Erslev, Faculty, Conway School of Landscape Architecture; Patricia McGirr, Assistant Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, UMass Amherst; and Erica Rioux Gees, AIA, Kuhn Riddle Architects. This event is free and open to the public, and you can be sure that I will attend.
Sustainable Architecture schedule of events
hhey chris, congratulations on making it into a published book that is probably on the shelves of every barnes and noble in the country!!!! that is awesome.
ReplyDeleteas you know, i am not one to bite my tongue, and though the presentation seems like a very interesting event, i personally have a problem with the conway school of design and the landscape architecture programs across the country. conway is a "school" which provides a masters of landscape design to students after having attended classes for only ONE YEAR. sure the classes are intensive, but there is no way they can learn all that is needed to know, nor even close to the level of a real candidate for a masters of landscape architecture. when a conway student gradutes, he/she can then portray themselves as having a masters, which to the uninformed, (probably about 99.8% of the public), seems like it is on par with true landscape architect graduates, who have spent either two or three years attaining their degrees. speaking from my experience, i got an undergraduate in plants from cornell, then i spent 3 years studying at umass for a masters in landscape architecture. (sure, i did not finish my degree, but that was because i did not complete my final 6 credit masters project due to lack of funds,and other reasons i won't get into here. i did all the other work though.) continued next post....
i can say with asurity that any student who has only studied for one year, lacks the knowledge and experience in the field that a true student of landscape design does. even the landscape architecture programs are seriously lacking in areas such as plant materials. at umass for instance, you take a one semester long class on plant id....nothing about growing or caring for plants. also, they get VERY little information about construction and construction processes. further, since the field is so broad, you only get smidgeons of knowledge...a mere holistic overview of the field. also, in the masters program, you can get a degree even if your undergraduate degree has nothing to do with the field. a former professor comes to mind who had an undergraduate in english.
the result of these deficiencies....one year "masters" degrees, and 2-3 year masters degrees in L.A., with an overview knowledge set....is that the market gets clogged with a bunch of so-called landscape designers that don't know their bum from their elbow on a wide range of topics. they are able to present their credentials as being equal to you and me, who have done the work, and paid the dues. the unfortunate consequence of this is that the land itself, and unknowing clients, are subjected to inappropriate design, and frankly the planet is a much worse place as a result.
i started out in this field with the idea that i could change the face of the american landscape. it took many years to realize the sad truth that there is no combatting the BAD DESIGN that goes on by thes armchair masters degree student and pickup truck landscrapers. the result was a near total disillusion with the field.
fortunately, there are seasoned pros like yourself who have spent the time, learned your craft well, and create incredible, responsible, ecologically sustainable works of art as your profession and passion. it would behoove any potential client in this valley to seriously consider the ramifications of going with the low bidder. Chris Baxter is THE MAN ON THE SCENE. His skills and knowledge and experience are second to NONE here in the happy valley. do not sell youself or the planet short.
btw, i just noticed the link to my site, the back scratchin continues!
ReplyDeletethanks
Thanks for that compliment John. There are certainly a wide range of talents amongst landscapers, and of course experience in the field has a lot to do with this (as well as education). I have worked professionally with graduates of both Conway (CSLD) & UMass, and I have found some of each very talented, or perhaps weak in certain skills.
ReplyDeleteI happen to like the Conway School approach to education, with one small class studying intensively together for 10 months. They have some awesome teachers and there is a good ratio of faculty to pupils (19 students for 9 teachers + 50 guest lecturers). They work with real clients to produce practical, useful and affordable solutions. When I went to UMass in the early 90's, we were often encouraged to propose such lofty, fancy solutions that our clients would get impractical results they could not implement.
And in this economy, not everyone can afford to take 3 years off from work, and incur 3 years worth of tuition to get a MLA. However, $25,880 for a degree that is not recognized by the ASLA does seem a bit steep. CSLD grads have to apprentice for a long time before they are eligible to take the LA test.
There is no licensure of landscapers or landscape designers in Massachusetts. Any Joe can bill themselves as such and so I guess potential clients need to look at someone's body of work before they commit to hiring them. I think this is why I get so much referral work, because most folks are generally aware of this wide range of quality.
"we were often encouraged to propose such lofty, fancy solutions that our clients would get impractical results they could not implement."
ReplyDeleteamen!
those who can, do.
those who can't, teach.