September 2005 Archives
Finishing off a week of lengthy landscape treatises, we turn to renown sculptor and at times landscape artist Isamu Noguchi.
Isamu Noguchi was a unique figure among American artists of the twentieth century. He excelled in a wide range of genres and in countless media, in a career that spanned genres from the development of Modernism through Post Modernism. He created intriguing sculpture pieces, stage sets, paper lanterns, public spaces, landscape sculptures and architecture. His use of media extended from his favorite stone, to wood, metal, clay, mixed materials, and most importantly space. It was in the dimension of space that Noguchi thrived and his ability to bring art into the landscape was the hallmark of his career . Whether his work was a simple piece of carved stone or acres of a public park, Noguchi had an amazing flair for conceptualizing and designing things that were spatially engaging and which broke out of the box of traditional sculpture and art. Throughout his career he was always pushing the edge of what was considered art, and searching for ways to explore, and redefine personally what art indeed was. His experimentation, relentless drive and passion to create, pushed the limits of the art establishment throughout his over sixty-year career. With the larger canvas of the landscape, his stone sculptures reach a new and more powerful significance. Drawing on a rich cultural heritage and experiences from Japan, the United States, and time spent in Europe, Noguchi transitioned techniques and themes found in his sculpture into larger landscape projects.
His forays in the landscape strayed from the traditional staples of sculpture. His landscape compositions are a unique fusion of both art and landscape. An examination of Noguchi's origins places him in the proper perspective. Throughout his career, Noguchi sought to define himself and his work through a unique blending of his own personal context, in concert with his own artist's prerogative. Noguchi was born in Los Angeles in 1904, the son of a Japanese poet, Yone Noguchi and an Irish-American writer, Leonie Gilmore. This duality of cultural backgrounds, heritage from his childhood spent in Japan, and later experience living in the United States would shape Isamu's life and work. Noguchi referred to himself as an outsider because of his mixed-heritage and a less than stable family life that included a strained relationship with his father. Uneasiness and a lack of security shaped Noguchi's life. According to Bruce Altshuler in his book on Noguchi, "Noguchi said he could feel at home everywhere because he was at home nowhere." Perhaps it was this uneasiness, one that sat at the very core of his being, which would signal the purpose for his immense and diverse life's work as an artist.
Noguchi's landscapes were far reaching in their scope, representative of the currents of the rest of his art as a whole, and spanned the many decades of his career. From his landscape Play Mountain (1934), which was a conceptual idea for a children's playground that he conceived of early in his career, to his later works of landscape artistry, Noguchi maintained and continued to develop a refined design style and interaction between his art and the landscape. As time progressed, he polished his skills of combining sculptural elements with elements of the larger landscape.
Of particular distinction is Noguchi's work at what he entitled California Scenario (1980-82). It is here, at the end of his career, that Noguchi perfected his art. With an artists' hand Noguchi crafted this amazing work of plant, water, and stone. Just off of the 405 freeway in Costa Mesa, California there are two clusters of uninspired office buildings sitting close to the freeway. To the casual driver, or unknowing passerby, this office park, the South Coast Plaza, seems to be of little distinction. Similar developments are commonplace throughout the Southern California landscape. Entering into the complex in the direction of the freeway reveals subtle changes. Paths of flagstone of a rose hue draw inward, hinting at something more. Continuing into this space, there is a fountain of stone, capped by stainless steel, marking the transition into a different spatial envelope. Here, sandwiched between two glass monoliths scraping the sky, sits a divine 1.6 acres. Here lies Noguchi's scenario.
Noguchi's scenario is the embodiment of California through an artist's eyes. Using primitive and somewhat simple forms and representations, Noguchi captured in this work the essence of California, while at the same time maintaining a purity and clarity in sculptural form.
California Scenario is a composition of balances. Each element, each factor in the overall composition aids the larger message, while any factor solely by itself would illustrate only a diluted meaning. There is energy in this place, and it is odd that what is considered a landmark of landscape design and artistry should sit in such an inauspicious setting. The common user of this space may be a cigarette indulgent employee housed in the nearby office buildings for which Noguchi's artistry is unrealized; yet perhaps even the most unknowing viewer is affected by Noguchi's Zen-like composition. The space seems to command a certain recognition by those whose pass through it. This design is executed extremely well as the spatial layout and symbolic meaning flow together in perfect harmony.
The forms and symbols chosen to represent California in the work reflect both a basic understanding of archetypal units of California, and of an overall mystery. A stack of boulders, hand picked from the California desert is one such symbol. The individual piece titled by Noguchi, The Spirit of the Lima Bean, is both a wonder of construction and visually remarkable. Simple in its meaning, the large grouping of rocks reflects the essence of the Lima Bean, the crop that was farmed in the area prior to development. The rest of the meanings in the work are of the same simplicity, yet they maintain effectively what Noguchi was trying to accomplish. A large sculptural form to represent the mountains, stream paths to represent the valleys and to show the movement of water, a stand of redwoods to represent the mountains. In a corner a large mound of sand and cacti represent the desert. Each of these isolated elements is effective in its simplicity. Just the two words California Scenario, and the meanings of the basic elements become clear and command appreciation. Yet, like all great works of art, not only can the meaning differ with the individual, but also it is clear that Noguchi conceptualized something more complex.
Perhaps the best thing about the space is it forces no messages. Some may see a stack of rocks where there is a small ledge perfect to sit and smoke a cigarette; others may see the broadly sweeping and diversified California landscape. Noguchi's hidden jewel, enclosed in industrialism, sits still today as it did when Noguchi first installed it, slowly aging and growing wilder by the day.
Noguchi was an amazing artist not because he was just a great sculptor. He achieved greatness through an all-consuming passion for his art, and a unique appeal. As the Latin America Daily Post referred to him so eloquently, "He is a curator. A curator of time and space. A creator of a continuum of the universe that is only known to him." For those preoccupied with landscape and with space, he did something magical. He created spaces of living art and sculpture, greater than any landscape design or piece of chiseled rock alone. He created places of meaning, metaphors beyond the scope of traditional art.
GREATER SIGNIFICANCE
Clearly Noguchi did not want to leave the world of art, just redefine its boundaries. In an interview with Noguchi in 1981, the Latin American Daily Post beautifully articulated the artist's ability for capturing space, "This is a man who has brought clarity to natures order. It is a vision of time and space made tangible by one who lives in the present, but scans all and perhaps more, of what is Homo sapiens."
Noguchi in his landscape works created an outstanding sense of concept, often tapping into mythology from around the world, which gave a human level of meaning to his often abstract stone and sculptural works.
Isamu Noguchi grasped the concept of the Arts, not art alone, are a reflection of human life and existence. Art is not anything but an opinion, created by man for our own amusement, inspiration, and expression. Noguchi beautifully defined and created a wide range of works in his art, taking the known boundaries of what was considered art and pushing them further. This is what he did in the landscape, using the principle mediums of stone, form and space. Interestingly, Noguchi was not widely accepted in the art world as much as he was in the world of architecture and design. This isolation did not faze Noguchi though, he was resolved to take sculpture and artistry to the next level. Bruce Altshuler in his book on Noguchi eloquently surmises the aims of Noguchi's landscape art. "For Noguchi, in the chaotic void of the modern world- a world without religion and threatened with nuclear destruction- meaning must be created, and its creation required spaces that would encourage social ritual. The structuring of those spaces was to be
the new calling of sculpture, and it reining metaphor was the garden.
Indeed Noguchi's aim had multiple objectives. He sought to further sculpture while at the same time creating spaces and using the power of external three-dimensional space. He also sought a fellowship with nature, this was the reason why he had an affinity with stone and its expression in both the natural and man-made landscape. The article in the Latin American Daily Post expounds on this desire,
"This continuum of Isamu Noguchi is a realm of time and space which he describes with a halting simplicity and directness. His is a modest statement that it is nature, not man who prevails... [Noguchi represents] a man and his vision of the kinetics of nature. Sky, light, shadow, water, occasionally flora, and stone. Almost always stone."
Despite all his works, in his essence Noguchi was a stone sculptor. Yet as stone is both natural and expressed in space, this did not preclude him from pursuing and designing places to express his sculpture. In the end this is exactly what Noguchi did, he created space in the landscape to display his sculpture of stone and space together as one.
Through his work with the landscape, Noguchi expanded his own artistry, and left a legacy far beyond the stone of the studio. In his landscape compositions, scattered from Paris to Japan and points in between, Noguchi created a theater for his legions of stone; a wonderful and mysterious tapestry through which the stone could be brought to life. -- Noguchi's carvings through the larger landscape transcend what he could do alone with any artistic medium or with any landscape by itself. Noguchi gained the rarified distinction of landscape artist. Perhaps Noguchi didn't even see himself by this title, but he did have the realization that the landscape afforded him a much wider, sweeping appeal than through some stuffy museum alone.
California Scenario - "The Spirit of the Lima Bean"
Sources
1. Altshuler, Bruce. Noguchi. New York: Abbeville Press Publishers. 1994.
2. Ashton, Dore. Noguchi East and West. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1992.
3. Cummings, Paul. Artists in Their Own Words. New York: St. Martins Press. 1979.
4. Latin America Daily Post. "Isamu Noguchi Neither An Artist Nor A
Sculptor, But A Curator Of Time And Space." Brazil. 1981
5. Noguchi, Isamu. The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum. New York: Harry
N. Abrams Inc. 1987.
6. Torres, Ana Maria. Isamu Noguchi: A Study of Space. New York. Monacelli Press. 2000.
7. Tracy, Robert. Spaces of the Mind: Isamu Noguchi's Dance Designs. New York: Proscenium Publishers. 2001.
This is not to say that the Getty Center is a failure or is not a great facility, for indeed it truly is amazing by any circumstances. However, having been to the likes of the National Gallery in Washington D.C. and the unparalleled Louvre in Paris, my expectations for the Getty were high when I visited one sun scorched afternoon. The main problem observed with the Getty is its inability to put its many and complicated parts together into an effective whole. Among the major observed problems were a lack of unity of buildings and a poor interrelation between the buildings and garden.
First of these faults is the poor cohesiveness in the built form. Meier’s architecture attempts to be overpowering and grandiose with its modernist and classical allusions, yet it lacks the bold vision that would have made it successful. Architecturally the buildings seemed to be too concerned with alternating forms and materials than in really making one statement. Meier has his buildings undulating and changing between a variety of different basic forms; this is in addition to changing materials between travertine rock and aluminum paneling, which is distracting and detracting. The result is a building that makes no clear statement, and whose facades look as if they were two designs melded together. It might have been better if Meier had gone with more modernist ideals of simplicity and purity in form. In this way the Getty Center might have had a more universal and powerful appeal.
The overall composition of the center also shows weakness in the relationship between the gardens and buildings. The gardens of the Getty make their own statement that intentionally veers from Meier’s vision. The designer of the garden Robert Irwin had many fights with Meier over form and relationship of the garden. Ultimately Irwin chose his own independent design vision. While Irwin’s garden by itself is quite impressive it fails to hold its own and blend successfully with Meier’s buildings. The gardens do not have equal footing with the buildings, and as a result the garden is put in a subordinate and not a complementary role. Its forms while interesting and effective, do not play off the architecture in an effective manner.
Overall, the Getty Center is an impressive complex and is obviously poised to make a huge contribution to the world of art. Yet from the standpoint of form and space it leaves much to be desired. It seems as if the Getty Trust tried to do a little bit of everything and lacked focus in making the place exude one expressive and unifying feeling. Unfortunately Meier could not do what I.M. Pei did for the Louvre. Pei was able to combine design theories, philosophies and histories, as well as differing forms into a bold and unique design expression. Meier and the Getty Center did not succeed to the same degree in their pursuits, and this lack of unity detracts from the Museum’s experience.
For More:
Getty Center
Website
Richard Meier & Partners Website
Sources:
Perl, Jed. “Acropolis Now.” New Republic 26 Jan. 1998: 25+.
Beardsley, John. Earthworks and Beyond. New York. Abbeville Press. 1998.
The gardens at the Powerscourt estate embody many of these characteristic
elements very well. Powerscourt stands out by being different than many other
famous Irish gardens. The gardens are important in that the overall design is
very formal, they incorporate these formal traits in a way reminiscent of
Italian and French garden design, and they bring together all these varied and
complex traits into a cohesive whole.
Upon examining the typical Irish garden, it becomes clear that the Irish did
embrace the more pastoral romantic landscapes of England that began to develop
at the beginning of the 1700’s. These influences clearly had a great effect
especially on gardens of the ninetieth century, and it is this more informal
style that tends to dominate Irish landscape design of the most famous gardens.
It is this tendency toward the more organic designs of English style that causes
such a distinction and contrast in the fewer formal Irish gardens. This is not
to say that formal gardening was not a part of the design vocabulary of Ireland,
for it was. Victorian designers such as Sir
Charles Barry and William Nesfield were using elements Italian style in
their garden designs as the backbone of their work. Yet those landscapes of
particular distinction and fame in Ireland follow the path laid by famous Irish
landscape gardener William Robinson. Robinson’s effect on the design
theory of Ireland was similar to the more famous English names of Wise, Kent, Brown and others who pushed the transition to the
Romantic, free-flowing, naturalistic garden. As a result the Irish garden, never
fully developed an articulated formal style that gained widespread recognition
like the more natural gardens that would follow. Still, there were exceptions to
this overall trend in development of garden theory, and the gardens at
Powerscourt are one of them.
Situated fifteen miles away from the capital
city of Dublin in Wicklow County, the estate was the home of the Viscount of
Powerscourt. Encompassing at its peak 36,000 acres, the estate was quite large
and provided great opportunities for building and landscape formation. The
existing estate was finished in 1770, (although the interior was burned out in a
fire in 1974), and from that point the rest of the grounds began to develop. The
sixth Viscount of Powerscourt began development of the grounds as a start of
their eventual modern form, but it wasn’t until his son Richard, the seventh
Viscount of Powerscourt, took over the estate after his father’s death, that
estate’s grounds really begin to metamorphose. Through a somewhat complicated
series of designers and incarnations, the grounds surrounding the Manor began to
take on the shape that they still retain today.
The gardens owe they’re splendor and grandeur mainly to this principal
patron, Richard Wingfield the seventh Viscount. His travels to the gardens of
Europe, especially those to Versailles, Schönubrunn, and Schwetzingen, had a
profound impact on the overall form of the garden. It is because of these
travels that the gardens at Powerscourt show such interesting similarities with
these more mainstream gardens and their design elements and philosophies. The
gardens at Powerscourt, like Irish gardening in general, incorporated all these
influences while maintaining an individuality that gives the grounds a
uniqueness and overall sense of place.
The actual design work of Powerscourt
was done by a number of designers starting with architect Daniel Robertson. It
was Robertson’s overall vision that would set the backbone for what Powerscourt
would become. Robertson worked for the sixth Viscount and although he and the
Viscount would die before they’re plans were realized, the foundation was set
for what was to occur next. Robertson was responsible for the layout of the
rounded series of terraces and the incorporation of the existing water elements
in the overall design. Robertson also was responsible for the formal Italian
design of the gardens that he supposedly emulated from the Villa Butera in
Sicily.
The transition in designers following Daniel Robertson’s death meant a fourteen year reprieve from development and it wasn’t until 1854 that the Viscount’s son and Scottish gardener Alexander Robertson (no relation) would team up and continue development of the estate. Alexander Robertson continued and adapted the vision of his predecessor and development progressed. It was under the steady hand, and bold vision of the new Viscount that work continued although Alexander Roberson also died in 1860. The Viscount then entertained plans from four other designers, and the combination of their work continued to develop the project and its specific details. The first of these was James Howe who continued to develop the semantics of the terraced gardens, and who unfortunately died a year after his Powerscourt plan was created. Later designers followed including Broderick Thomas and Lord Powerscourt’s neighbor Sir George Hodson. These designers continued to articulate the gardens as the design process foraged on.
The result of these no less than six designers and the two lords was nothing less than fabulous. Through its development, Powerscourt developed into one of the most distinctive and interesting gardens in Ireland, and for that matter in Europe in general. The site was a microcosm of European design styles, yet with the unique setting of the rich chromatic green of the Irish landscape, and the backing of Sugar Loaf mountain in the distance the estate achieved something more than its individual design elements could ever achieve alone. Distinctive elements of the formal gardens include a beautifully constructed perron designed by Francis Penrose. The perron evokes visions of Italian designs in its style and beauty, using scores of small stones of black and white set eloquently into the terraced steps. This and other elements enriched the gardens’ already strong formal European feeling. Copies of many famous statues like the Hellenistic Greek statue of Laocoon, ornament the many terraces of the grounds and give the gardens a very continental flavor reminiscent of other famous formal gardens such as Vaux le Vicomte.
Detail is present everywhere in the site, from the beautifully crafted
statuary to the magnificent intricacies of contorting wrought iron shaped in a
multitude of elegant forms. Two bold statues of the winged horse Pegasus accent
the central pond and are very distinctive in design and have their origins in
the Powerscourt coat of arms. Beauty abounds and there is a good cohesion in
site between built form and landscape. The landscape functions well as an
overall setting and extension of the manor.
Here at Powerscourt is the
unheralded Irish formal garden in all its glory. It is this somewhat unique
niche of formality that gives Powerscourt its distinction and importance. The
garden succeeded in creating a formal atmosphere, and yet with additional
gardens such as a Japanese garden addition, and a flawless integration with the
more informal countryside and other informal gardens, there was a creation of
something larger. With its unique setting and properly fit elements, Powerscourt
transcends the ordinary; and when on site or looking at photographs it can
become an almost surreal work of art.
The gardens succeed in carrying on the tradition of the Italian Villa and French Chateau. Renaissance architect Alberti would be proud, as the estate conforms wonderfully to his guidelines for villa planning that a site should be oriented towards “familiar mountains”, such as are found in Sugar Loaf looming picturesquely in the distances that lie beyond as Alberti put it, “the delicacy of the gardens”. It has the open feel of Versailles while at the same time combining the curvilinear themes of the romantic pastoral English designers using its contextual setting. It is a work of combination, done perfectly to create something that is more than its individual styles. The gardens don’t have their own distinct style, and yet they do in their inclusion of all the aforementioned elements. It is in this characteristic that Powerscourt achieves greatness. It is the unlikely formation of a great formal garden in a country not known for its articulation in this aspect of garden design. This contrarian gesture of design against the popular preconception of the Irish garden is what makes Powerscourt grand.
Sources:
1. Hyams, Edward. Irish Gardens. London: Macdonald, 1967.
2. Malins, Edward, Patrick Bowe. Irish Gardens and Demesnes from 1830. New
York:
Rizzoli,1980.
As part of our ongoing Masters Series
Michelangelo Buonarroti was the prototypical Renaissance man. Sculptor, painter, writer, poet, architect and engineer, there was nothing that was outside the man's reach. Not only did he excel at all these disciplines, but he excelled at them exceeding well. Practically every facet of his work was breathtaking. From his sculpture of David, to his design for St. Peters cathedral, both are to this day incredible. It is interesting to compare his two most recognized areas of expertise, painting and sculpture, with his underemphasized work in design and architecture. There are similarities and differences in their elements, style and overall significance to present day society. Although Michelangelo's art is some of the greatest in the history of western civilization, his architecture and design work are equally important to western design and architecture.
Mention the Sistine Chapel and the average person will be able to understand and visualize the paintings on the ceiling of the Vatican in Rome. Yet mention to this same person Campedoglio and they may stare at you dumbfounded. Michelangelo was so prolific in his sculpture and painting that many times recognition for his architecture and design is lacking. Yet Michelangelo's accomplishments in design were pivotal in the evolution of western and renaissance design. His work with projects such as Campedoglio, the Porta and Strada Pia, and the plan for St. Peter's cathedral showcase his immense architectural vision and abilities.
In regard to the evolution of architecture, Michelangelo was as pivotal as he was in his contribution in art. His abilities in spatial design are incredible as well. Through his use of a distinct personal design philosophy he was able to innovate in the practice of spatial layout and architecture. As Denis Sharp put eloquently "He always subordinated invention to the needs of overall composition, which to Michelangelo was analogous with the symmetry and articulation of the human body." Michelangelo's strength laid in his practice of rejecting convention and designing space that did not always obey the strict rules of Renaissance design. This kind of thinking, the breakaway from Renaissance classical ideals known as Mannerism, paved the way for an expansion of thought and innovation that led to the baroque period. He played with the rules in the same way he expanded art, and created something more in the process.
Campedoglio and the Porta and Strata Pia are the lasting and best examples of Michelangelo's talent for designing space. Campedoglio, situated at the top of Capitoline hill in Rome, shows his ability for spatial design and the creation of unity. Using a modified system of geometry from the classical ideal, Michelangelo, through his use of the oval and trapezoid, was able to create a dynamic and engaging space at Campedoglio. The Porta and Strata Pia showed Michelangelo's versatility in designing open public space. The design showed excellent definition of space, and use of scale to create a sense of monumentality, as was seen as well in Campedoglio. Both the spaces serve as reminders of Michelangelo's versatility.
Even though Michelangelo was primarily an artist, his work as a designer cannot be overlooked. The qualities he brought to his art, originality, monumentality, and overall sense of style, can be seen at a much larger scale in his few design and architecture projects. Michelangelo was always busy with work and always moving from project to project as a life of incredible art consumed him. He showed an overall skill and individuality that has never been matched and probably never will.
Campidoglio, Rome. Michelangelo systematizes the irregular site with an egg-shaped oval paving pattern. Engraving by Étienne Dupérac (1525-1604), 1568. (Image from Wikipedia)
Sources:
Sharp, Dennis. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Architects and Architecture. New York: Quatro Publishing, 1991.
Hartt, Frederick. Michelangelo. New York. Abrams Publishers. 1964.
The Japanese rock garden is like a poem, free to interpretation by anyone who cares to venture an opinion and in this aspect lies part of its strength. A child may see a sandbox, an intellectual, the metaphor for perfection in the universe, the Zen philosopher may see just rocks. Most critics consider Ryoan-Ji as the prototype for the rock garden. All of 15 rocks and 330 square meters create the masterwork of Japanese Kare-sansui, or dry gardening. This reinforces the fact that Japanese rock gardens are not gardens of massive size or physical complexity. Their overall significance lies on a transcendental plane.
The contrast to western styles and meaning may also shed some light as to their popularity. The typical garden design philosophy of most western gardens is that of central meaning and conceptual philosophy. The Japanese garden reflects more of cryptic and deeply philosophical thought. There is no greater statement than saying nothing at all, for it allows the mind to complete the scene. The rock garden is an allegory, yet one with a meaning that is as elusive as the meaning of life itself.
Another interesting caveat in Japanese rock gardening is the symbolic raking of sand as a symbol for water. This aspect has allure in its interactivity and in its interesting patterning. What’s particularly interesting about this element is its entry into American culture through small Zen rock kits. A piece of cardboard, some sand, a few small stones, and a rake is all that is needed to achieve ones own inner enlightenment. While there is commercialism and often a lack of full understanding that often accompanies the use of these kits, they show the general appeal of the concept and basic philosophy.
The rock garden then is a place of thought and a place for reflection and meditation. Through its simplistic forms it provokes thought, reflects the design concepts of an entire genre of gardens, and gives a clue into Japanese Zen and naturalistic philosophies. Dynamic yet simple, full of contrast, the rock garden speaks volumes with every grain of sand. Unique in character and quite recognizable, it has maintained its appeal as garden form, and continues to fascinate people, as it will for generations to come.
Kyoto's Famous Ryoan-Ji 
Sources:
Moore, Charles, William Mitchell, William Turnbull Jr. The Poetics of Gardens. Cambridge. MIT Press. 1988.
Bring, Mitchell, Josse Wayembergh. Japanese Gardens. New York. McGraw-Hill.
1981.
A continuing entry in our Masters Series
One of the most intriguing and certainly one of the most influential California landscape architects was Thomas Church. Church represented a critical bridge from an older school of traditional landscape design to a newer more modern "California School" of landscape design. What distinguishes Church from the masses of other gifted and note worthy landscape architects was his straight forward and effective approach to design. He is an interesting designer because of his intensive work in small scale residential design, his personal relationship with and care of his clients, and his practicality and effective use of modern design form.
Unlike many other famous designers Thomas Church made a name for himself in the residential arena of landscape design. His designs and design theories at this scale are perhaps his most notable and best work. His book Gardens are for People, is especially compelling because of its basic tenet of the garden being a logical extension of the house. Church's work and ideas are appealing because they deal with the often dismissed or under appreciated realm of residential design. It seems that in the landscape architectural field today a tremendous deal of emphasis and focus are give to larger scale landscapes; parks, urban projects, and large public places seem to at times dominate the focus of the profession, when the residential garden or landscape can be as compelling and as difficult to design as many of the other large spaces. In his residential designs he was able to articulate and create amazing and unique landscapes within a small and rather limited residential setting. A noteable classic example of this design work is the Donnell Garden in Sonoma county.
Church also had interesting relationships with his clients. A spirit of cooperation and mutual input is something Church was noted for, and something that provides a great model for all landscape architects. This ability underscores the immense importance of the designer's relationship to the client. A designer may be the best designer in the world, but if one can't relate and work with the client then there designs are only going to achieve limited effectiveness.
For more:
Church's work on the Stanford Campus
Seminar on Chruch inspired garden design
Visit Cornerstone's Website for more information on the Gardens and their
designers.
See noted business author Tom Peter's commentary on the Sprint-Nextel merger