Crack Garden San Francisco
Wow! This is a garden that can be created almost anywhere ... in any neighborhood ... for practically nothing.
With only a miniscule budget ($500). CMG Landscape Architecture of San Francisco designed this 800 square foot garden for residents of a four-unit building, who did the work on the project themselves. They jackhammered "cracks" in the concrete which are now filled with vegetables, flowers, herbs or weeds as the homeowners desire.
CMG says the inspiration for the design came from the tiny plants that occupy the cracks in urban landscapes, and it's aim is to reveal the "potential for beauty" beneath the concrete and asphalt in urban areas. CMG also installed a stainless steel cable trellis across a fence and a garage, supporting a potato vine and a Five-Leaf Akebia vine for texture and color. The garden also has a jacaranda tree, which helps the define the space and provides a little shade, as well.
It just goes to prove that you don't have to spend hundreds of thousands -- or millions -- for a garden that adds pleasure and beauty to a harsh and unforgiving environment. As the jury put it, "A profound project for the future we are about to embark upon."
It's notable that of the nine "honor awards" for residential design, six of them were in California. It's obviously the place where the latest in landscape architecture is happening, as this year's Cooper Hewitt award for landscape design also went to a CA landscape architect.
Venice, CA: Vienna Way Residence
This design by Ron Radziner, FAIA, of Marmol Radziner & Associates and landscape architect Meg Rushing Coffee, speaks beautifully to the surrounding landscape, which includes both water and Chaparral. The designers divided the narrow urban site into thirds, with the "garden" in the middle.
"Water" is represented by the actual swimming pool and also by mass plantings of Cape Rush (Chrondopetalum tectorum), which is typically found at water edges.
The kitchen, shown left, opens onto a dining terrace and a side garden, which is planted with Coast Live Oaks and Catalina Perfume.
There's a lawn in the rear garden where children can play, and the front is planted with architectural plants of nearly uniform color .
The jury cited the project for its "clear thinking about landscape architecture," because, among other things, "the ideas follow the modular forms of the house."
Seattle, WA: Hilltop Residence An updated landscape was overdue for a 1950's-mod house and carport in a planned community just 15 minutes from downtown Seattle. Landscape architect Paul Broadhurst & Associates focused on the relationship between the residence and the landscape on the one-acre property.
The challenge was to integrate the hardscape and the surrounding landscape and use plantings to counter-balance the form of the architecture.
The design intent was to connect the homeowners and visitors to "the interplay between man-made and natural" -- and in the jury's view, the designers succeeded on every level. "We love the scale and relationship of modern forms," they said, adding that the design "could win for best planting design if we gave an award for that -- it makes you want to be there."
For all of the winners, including the top Award of Excellence to SWA Group, Houston, for the design of the Buffalo Bayou Promenade, go to ASLA awards website here.
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