Fernando Caruncho.

Fernando Caruncho, Spain’s inimitable garden designer, has agreed to come to Vancouver next year to give a free lecture arranged by the University of B.C.’s Continuing Studies department.

The talk will be the fourth in a series featuring internationally recognized garden designers. The first lecture was given in 2011 by Luciano Giubbilei followed the next year by Andrea Cochran and earlier this month by Dan Pearson.

Tickets will become available about a month before the lecture in November. For more information of the series go here to UBC Continuing Studies.

Caruncho is probably most famous for his “Wheat Parterre” — the Mas de les Voltes garden he did in Castel del Ampurdan in Catalonia in 1997.

Wheat Garden by Fernando Caruncho.

This unique 25-acre garden consists of rectangular parterres planted entirely of wheat and punctuated with olive trees and Mediterranean columnar cypresses.
The design was partly inspired by geometric patterns in ceiling squares in a painting by Early Renaissance Italian artist Piero della Francesca.
Part of what makes Caruncho so fascinating is his passion about the connection between philosophy, art and garden-making. His fascination with classicism is evident in all his works.
A lot of his garden ideas are shaped by his understanding of pre-Socratic Greek philosophy and his belief that the origin of the garden has deep spiritual roots.

Garden by Caruncho

Gardens are at their best, he says, when they are places where we can reconnect with our lost innocence and experience a deeper sense of our place in the universe.
For inspiration, he looks to the Alhambra in Granada, Boboli Gardens in Florence, Vaux-le-Vicomte, near Paris and Ryoan-ji near Kyoto in Japan.
At 21, he designed a small Japanese-inspired garden for his uncle, who was living on the outskirts of Madrid in a house designed by the Viennese modernist architect Richard Neutra. The garden got rave reviews and ignited Caruncho’s career.
Since then, he has designed gardens for the Spanish Embassy in Tokyo, Clinica Teknon in Barcelona, University of Deusto in Bilbao and a section of Madrid’s botanical garden.
He has done numerous private gardens in Spain and, more recently, in France and the United States.
Grids are the underlying element in all his gardens. One of his first projects involved placing cypress trees in a cross pattern in the middle of a garden.
He believes geometry is “man’s first language” and making a grid is “like throwing a net into a space to help understand it.”
Caruncho only uses flowers to add flashes of colour. He regards them as fleeting entertainment, never to be over-used to create dominant structure.

News: Dutch architects Mecanoo have won a competition to design a garden and an underground pavilion with a corkscrew staircase in the Polish capital, Warsaw (+ slideshow).

The garden and pavilion proposed by Mecanoo will be located in the city’s popular Lazienki Park, which was designed around a series of buildings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Called the Garden of the 21st Century, this new addition comprises a triangular sliver of landscaped parkland criss-crossed by an undulating path, with exhibition spaces hidden underneath.

“The Garden of the 21st Century is special, because the design of the pavilion follows from that of the landscape,” said the architects.

Mecanoo collaborated with Dutch landscape architect Michael van Gessel, Delva Landscape Architects and Polish firm Jojko Nawrocki Architekci on the design of the landscaping and pavilion.

Entrances in the walls that run along both of the park’s long edges lead into the pavilion, which can also be entered from a public plaza that slices into the landscape.

“Two entry points are carved out of the side walls and another one out of the landscape,” explained the architects. “All give access to a central hall, which connects two major exhibition spaces and two smaller ones that have modular layouts.”

This entrance foyer contains a spiralling staircase connecting two levels and a series of skylights that appear above ground as rounded oculi embedded in the garden.

The pavilion is designed to house temporary exhibitions, while the garden will be used for educational as well as recreational purposes.

Here’s a brief project description from the architects:

---

Garden of the 21st Century in Warsaw

A team consisting of Mecanoo, Michael van Gessel, Delva Landscape Architects and Jojko Nawrocki Architekci has won the competition to design the new Garden of the 21st Century with integrated exhibition pavilion in Warsaw. In a ceremony at the Royal Lazienki Museum on Friday 16 November, the Polish Minister of Culture National Heritage and the Minister of Environment jointly announced the result of an international competition with 80 submissions.

The new 2,5 hectare garden will be part of Lazienki Park, one of the most important touristic destinations in Warsaw that includes many 18th and 19th century buildings such as the Royal Baths, a Roman-inspired theatre and a water tower. The existing gardens in the park were all designed around these historic buildings. The Garden of the 21st Century is special, because the design of the pavilion follows from that of the landscape.

The 1800 m2, underground exhibition pavilion seems to grow out of the undulating walkway that surrounds the garden. Two entry points are carved out of the sidewalls and another one out of the landscape. All give access to a central hall, which connects two major exhibition spaces and two smaller ones that have modular lay-outs. Several oculi, or large round skylights, protrude through the walkway and the vegetation creating a mysterious play of light in the garden, but also providing carefully controlled daylight in the pavilion.

Both the garden and pavilion will provide new cultural life to the park with its many museums. The pavilion will host large temporary exhibitions, whereas the garden will play a role in local environmental education as well as be an example of 21st century landscape architecture.

By Matthew Appleby
20 November 2013

By Matthew Appleby
20 November 2013

Mecanoo has been selected to design the new Garden of the 21st Century and exhibition pavilion at the Royal Łazienki Museum in Warsaw, Poland. The Polish Minister of Culture National Heritage and the Minister of Environment made the official announcement at a ceremony event on Friday, Nov. 16.

Mecanoo — in collaboration with Michael van Gessel, Delva Landscape Architects, and Jojko Nawrocki Architekci — won the competition out of 80 submissions from around the world.
— bustler.net

Like to learn more about home design and upkeep? We’ll draw names for five books with expert advice on Monday evening.

They are:

• “What’s a Homeowner to Do? 442 Things You Should Know” by Stephen Fanuka and Edward Lewine.

• “Compact Houses: 50 Creative Floor Plans for Well-Designed Small Homes” by Gerald Rowan.

• “Marrakesh by Design: Decorating with All the Colors, Patterns, and Magic of Morocco” by Maryam Montague.

• “Prefabulous + Almost Off The Grid: Your Path to Building an Energy-Independent Home” by Sheri Koones.

• “Nell Hill’s Rooms We Love” by Mary Carol Garrity.

For a chance to win, send an email to cmiller@newsobserver.com by 5 p.m. Monday. You must put “Book Giveaway” in the subject line for your entry to be considered. In the body of the email, include your name and mailing address and the name of the book you’d like to win. We’ll draw at random and announce the winners in the next Home Garden.

Good luck!

A year after gathering ideas on how a eurozone country could leave the single-currency bloc, the organisers of the 2014 Wolfson Economics Prize are plunging into Britain’s highly politicised housing debate and challenging people to design a garden city.

Offering £250,000 in prize money, entrants are required to answer: “How would you deliver a new garden city which is visionary, economically viable and popular?”
— FT.com

• 

Therapeutic Landscapes Cover Image

Hoboken, NJ (PRWEB) November 15, 2013

As hospital and assisted living facility interiors continue to evolve from white, clinical settings of decades ago to more colorful, patient-centered environments, there has been a similar revolution in the outdoor spaces that these facilities provide. A significant body of research confirms what many people have known intuitively: that connection with nature is beneficial, even vital, for health. Restorative and healing gardens are specifically designed outdoor spaces that meet the physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of patients and residents using the garden as well as their caregivers, family members and friends. John Wiley Sons, a leader in architecture and landscape design publishing, is releasing Therapeutic Landscapes: An Evidence-Based Approach to Designing Healing Gardens and Restorative Outdoor Spaces (Wiley; $85; November 2013) to serve landscape architecture professionals and the architecture community as the single most comprehensive and authoritative guide to designing healing gardens and restorative outdoor spaces.

While the evidence for the importance of access to nature is there, the actual provision of appropriate outdoor space in healthcare facilities is often less than adequate. Highly illustrated throughout, Therapeutic Landscapes focuses on the importance of evidence based design, highlights case studies, and presents research-based guidelines to inform the clients and designers of restorative outdoor spaces. Written for both the clients and funders of healing spaces, and the designers (principally landscape architects) who will translate client needs into an actual environment, the book covers:

•An evidence-based overview of healing gardens and therapeutic landscapes from planning to post occupancy evaluation

•Participatory design and the importance of a team-based approach

•General guidelines that can be used by designers and other stakeholders in a variety of projects

•Patient-specific guidelines ranging from burn patients, psychiatric patients, to hospice and Alzheimer’s patients, among others

•Planting and maintenance, offering critical information to ensure that safety, longevity and budgetary concerns are addressed at every stage

Therapeutic Landscapes’ unique focus on two audiences closes the gap between the clients and funders of healing spaces. If clients and funders understand more about the requirements and goals of a healing garden, they can more easily communicate with the designer. If designers understand more about the research on which to base their decisions, they are more likely to meet the goals of their clients—those who provide the funding and the users who will eventually benefit from the garden.

Therapeutic Landscapes is now available for purchase online and at retailers nationwide in both print and all e-book formats. For a list of retailers, visit http://www.wiley.com.

About the Authors

Clare Cooper Marcus is Professor Emerita in the Departments of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley. She is recognized internationally for her pioneering research on the psychological and sociological implications of the design of housing, public open space, and restorative landscapes. She is the author/co-author of six previous books including Healing Gardens and Iona Dreaming: The Healing Power of Place.

Naomi A. Sachs is the Founding Director of the Therapeutic Landscapes Network. She is currently pursuing a PhD in architecture at Texas AM University within the Center for Health Systems and Design. Naomi writes and lectures frequently about the restorative benefits of nature.

Therapeutic Landscapes

An Evidence-Based Approach to Designing Healing Gardens and Restorative Outdoor Spaces

ISBN13: 978-1-118-23191-3

ISBN10: 1-118-23191-0

Publication Date: November 18, 2013

Price: $ 85.00

PDF


Print

MG commission multi-gold-medal-winning designer to create paradise garden

Gold medal-winning designer Cleve West is to design the sponsor’s garden at Chelsea 2014.

MG Investments, the title sponsor of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and a leading international investment management company, has commissioned landscape designer Cleve West to create a contemporary paradise garden.

Invented by the Persians more than a thousand years ago, paradise gardens are spaces for sanctuary and contemplation. Cleve is known for designs that combine the classic with the contemporary, and in his plan for The MG Garden he is using ancient elements of water, shade and planting to create a paradise garden fit for 2014.

The MG Garden’s centrepiece is a tall, octagonal fountain within a sunken base, built from traditional British Bath limestone and flint. The water flows into four rills, through a stone edged sunken terrace and into an octagonal perimeter. The rills are a nod to the four rivers that are said to have flowed through the Garden of Eden, which many might think of as the original paradise garden.

Behind the fountain, flanked by yew hedging, is a vast limestone relief depicting the Tree of Life, painstakingly engraved across five panels by Cleve himself.

Cleve, who has won seven gold medals at Chelsea, said: “I was inspired by the idea that the ancient gardens of Persia, Greece and Italy still influence the way we create gardens today and I wanted to celebrate that in The MG Garden.”

Jacqui Haskins, MG Marketing Director, commented: “ Not only do we feel that’s Cleve’s impression of a paradise garden resonates well with our values at MG, we are also confident that Cleve’s innovative yet contemporary style of planting will produce another crowd pleasing success.”

2014 marks MG’s fourth year as the title sponsor of RHS Chelsea. MG has been managing the money of individuals and institutions for more than 80 years.

Japanese garden author and publisher Russ Chard has the perfect book for anyone who has a dream of a Japanese style garden at their home. A garden to help say ‘goodbye’ to the stresses and strains of everyday life.

For anyone considering adding a touch of Japan to their garden at home his book ’11 Simple Ways To Turn Your Garden Japanese’ will inspire and reveal simple ways of having a Japanese garden area.

• It’s nowhere near as difficult as you may imagine
• Japanese garden ingredients are easy to source
• Small spaces are particularly suitable for a Japanee garden
• His ideas are easy to understand and implement without breaking the bank.

From ‘dry’ Zen style gardens featuring sand, gravel and stones to more traditional Japanese gardens using trees, shrubs, stonework, Buddha’s and bridges. His book takes you through the processes of actually designing and building a simple and uncluttered Japanese garden however large or small the available space. Russ built his own small space Japanese garden at his home and describes how he did it.

Pictures and plans are included in this comprehensive trip through Japanese garden history and design techniques with accompanying photographs AND links to his construction video’s.

To claim a free copy of ’11 Simple Ways To Turn Your Garden Japanese’ CLICK HERE

Each free book comes with a complimentary membership to his Japanese garden Newsletter called ‘The Japanese Garden Bulletin’

Contact Name:Russ Chard Role:Author/Publisher Company: Zenibo Publishing Contact Email:click to reveal e-mail Contact Phone:01438798864 Company Website:http://www.turnyourgardenjapanese.com More Details:http://www.turnyourgardenjapanese.com