Photo Captions
1. Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The polyaxial staircases lead to one of the entrances, and a large courtyard beneath the cross. The trees reinforce or break these axes to divide spaces.
2. Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. This perspective of the religious garden shows the high amount of enclosure from the low hanging canopy and the walls. Boulders next to manicured plants suggest two different time scales, one human, one eternal.
3. Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. This bosque of olive trees experienced some type of soil stress to cause the roots to swell at the base, creating a whimsical and gnarly look.
4. Grand Park LA. The highlighted magenta benches and chairs signify the year-long ‘bloom of Los Angeles’ amid a wide variety of seasonal flowering plants.
5. Grand Park LA. This fountain was inviting to people of all ages by staying very shallow, with very low bubbling streams, visitors have less fear of getting wet.
6. Walt Disney Concert Hall Level 3 Garden. The meandering garden bed edges create inviting subspaces in the dappled shade. This is on the third floor, so like many landscapes in LA, it is a green roof, where full size trees need adequate soil.
7. Grand Central Market. This neon artwork for a bar represents the festive and busy atmosphere of the market.
8. Bank of America Plaza. This panorama captures the feeling of entering a forest. We had to step up a few feet from street level which together with the trees helped to conceal what lay before, and accentuate the choreographed surprise.
9. Bank of America Plaza. This tropical oasis sunken plaza was a delightful find. The chest high perimeter is perfect for resting your elbows to lean in and get a good look.
10. Bank of America Plaza. Office spaces line the outside of the oasis. The waterfalls, cooling pool in the shade, and lush tropical vegetation have a calming effect.
11. Maguire Gardens. This grand entrance leads up to the Los Angeles Public Library. Cupressus sempervirens line the wide path. The long skinny pool, the line of trees and the symmetry all create a very strong axis towards the statues over the front door.
12. Colorado Avenure at Downtown Santa Monica. Curbs, meridians, bollards and road markings all establish an ordered, multi-modal traffic system. The Platanus mexicana create shade, add seasonal interest with falling leaves and frame the street together with the bright yellow poles.
13. Tongva Park. Phoenix canariensis punctuates this entrance sign. Vines crawling on the sign also hint at the wild vegetation inside.
14. Tongva Park. This mound represents the natural geomorphology of the arid landscape that existed before modern Los Angeles.
15. Tongva Park. Bougainvillea glabra dot and color the breezeway through an earthen mound. There is also an open skylight in the middle of the breezeway. Vertical metal slats make the structure beneath the earth more legible.
16. The Getty. These gorgeous bicultural round stone planters are placed in groups of three on a grand staircase. The limited material palette helps the planters to pop.
17. The Getty. This oozing hanging vegetation covers a wall separating the lower plaza from the raised vegetated area above. The hanging plants at eye level make you want to peer over the wall and see what is beyond.
18. The Getty. This pergola creates dappled shade and comfortable space for humans. The planters of grasses creates more seating and also a verticle plane to enclose the space. The woman is facing a wonderful view of the mountains, creating a sense of prospect and refuge.
19. Robert Irwin’s Central Garden. I love the single lamp which creates a tension of asymmetricity. The detail of the repeated railing on each side of the pool below creates a sense of continuity between the different spaces.
20. The Getty. This staircase had lovely shade in the afternoon. The trees were planted with a circle of black grass surrounding them, and then the green grass in the remainder of the bed.