Posts from — October 2008

The best parties inevitably end up in the kitchen.

The best parties resolve themselves in the kitchen because kitchens are comfortable.  Kitchens are comfortable because they are designed to perform and are tested everyday.  These collectors of conversation and conservatories of cuisine succeed because of a few simple availabilities; food, water, table, view.

What if landscapes were more like kitchens?

Better landscape architecture.

Steal the structure of the kitchen and build better landscape architecture. Take notes Senor sunflower:

1. Food. Plant food in your garden. Whether its food for you or food for the birds, plant shrubs, trees and perennials that produce fruits and nuts for humans and habitat to enjoy.

2. Water.  People love the sound of running water and the birds need a bath. No problems with water fountains either.

3. Table. Provide a place to sit. Bring people through the landscape and let people relax in the landscape. Make the table big; as big as the landscape allows.

4. A room with a View.  Provide a scene for lunch. Borrow scenery if necessary (Shakkei). Borrow the sky if needbe.

PEOPLE. People converse. People eat. People drink. People stare. The kitchen collects it all. Landscapes can too. Its not the photograph or magazine spread that makes a good landscape. It’s you and me, and those two, and that other couple talking about nothing between the clicks.  Fill landscape architecture with people and call it good. Let it perform under the guise of comfort and call it good.