It's not always easy to find modern gardens to visit, so if you're into contemporary design (or would like to be) ... then you simply must get a copy of Contemporary Gardens of the Hamptons: LaGuardia Design Group 1990-2020 (Monacelli Press, 2021). In a foreword to the book, award-winning author Alastair Gordon notes that Christopher LaGuardia, founder of the LaGuardia Design Group (LDG), has been working on Long Island since the mid-1980's and has been influenced by architect Norman Jaffe, but also by several modern landscape architects, including Dan Kiley, Roberto Burle Marx and Luis Romero Barragán.
In the 21 landscapes featured in the book, there are echoes of the above-mentioned masters. As Gordon explains, LaGuardia's approach has always been "to extend the geometric volumes of architecture in sympathetic contrast to the natural contours of the land." Each entry includes sketches and plans, gorgeous photos, and a brief description of the challenges the design team faced, along with the main highlights of the landscape.
For a nondescript property in Sagaponack, LDG was asked to create compelling views from every room in the house. The result included a parking court, tennis court and swimming pool, cutting gardens and spaces where family and visitors could gather. Existing trees were left in place when possible, but a mature European beech was moved 50 feet to open a view from the back of the residence to a sculpture beyond. Flowering perennials and ornamental grasses soften the edges of hard surfaces. Wherever your eye rests, it's a pure delight.
Featured properties include former potato farms to dunes abutting ocean beach, to traditional country-like settings. The book is a true inspiration for any designer who thinks outside the traditional box
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