The White Garden

Happy New Year! Always in search of inspiration, we are exploring the use of white and neutral colors as a canvas or backdrop for pops of vibrant color. Not only do muted colors exude a sense of calm, the play of light and shadow is exaggerated, and the intensity and color of the sunlight throughout the day transforms the hue and saturation of the walls and paving in dramatic fashion. Here's to a bright and colorful new year!

Projects include Cap de Barbaria Villa by LUV Studio, Casa Grande by Lado Blanco Arquitecturas, Casa Maiora by Studio Andrew Trotter, Parque Natural Huentitan by SPRB Arquitectos, Grotta e Carrubo by Margherita Rui, and pool mosaic by Pierre Mesguich

Movement

In this post, we are exploring the concept of movement as expressed through materials, light, texture, apertures, water, and planting. As designers, how do we create spaces which cause the eye to travel, only resting on a deliberate punctuation in the landscape or within a built structure? What type of experience does this create? What types of activities does this encourage?

Projects include the Pause pavilion by Ashari Architects, LUUM 24 residential complex in Tulum by Noxx Studio, TECLA 3D-printed clay home by Mario Cucinella and WASP, Bamboo Pavilion by ZUO Studio, church by Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, Pigeon Tower in Esfahan, Torre Del Homenaje by Jimenez Torrecillas, Forests of Venice pavilion by Kjellander + Sjoberg and Folkhem, Ruins Studio by Lily Jencks Studio, photo of rice fields in Yunnan, China by Isabelle Chauvel, and photo of mudflats in Xiapu, China by Carol Yuen

The Mediterranean Garden via Africa and the Middle East

Our studio is currently collaborating with RELM on an affordable housing project in Oakland. Located in a predominantly black community, we had a fascinating discussion about how we might go about selecting a planting palette that reflected the culture of this community within the context of the Mediterranean climate of the Bay Area. The phrase "Mediterranean garden" almost always conjures up European references, but what about African and Middle Eastern references? In this journal entry, we wanted to highlight the incredible Mediterranean architecture and landscape architecture traditions of Morocco, Tunisia, and Syria.

The most notable characteristics are the intense, saturated colors, the application of intricate patterns on both vertical and horizontal surfaces, the concealment of many garden spaces within hidden courtyards, and the organic manner in which building and landscape overlap and interact. Fountains provide cooling elements and the narrow streets and enclosed courtyards provide refuge from the intense sunlight. The end result is a breathtaking overlap of cultural nuance and adaptation to climate, with a playful use of geometry. An example of the hortus conclusus, "enclosed garden," these gardens prioritize intimacy and privacy. Rather than looking outwards to the larger landscape, the architecture itself becomes the backdrop, or canvas.