modern beach

The Stinson Beach House by Blasen Landscape Architecture is a lovely example of a contemporary landscape that balances clean, simple lines with softness and warmth. I love the rich materiality of the built features juxtaposed with the soft texture and movement of the grasses. Although this project takes place in the California landscape, this style would transfer quite nicely to coastal Nova Scotia.

the mid-winter reflections of a landscape architect...

Lately I've been thinking about how this blog reflects my state of mind, my pursuits and my current areas of interest. I've considered how it's evolved over time, sometimes with a focus on design in general, sometimes with a more urban agriculture focus and recently, perhaps, with more of a focus on landscape architecture.  

I've always had a voracious appetite for learning and new things and I'm sure that is being reflected here. Sometimes I feel like I need to reign it all in and focus on one thing at a time, but that's really just not me. I'm a generalist and I think that's a really nice quality for a landscape architect. I once heard someone say that engineers need to know a lot about a few specific things and landscape architects need to know a bit about everything, which is probably why we are such great project managers.

I have finally come to accept that my range of interests - art, gardening, dance, herbal medicine, agriculture, fashion, food, travel and on and on -  inform my process and designs and contribute to my wholeness as a designer. It's about time I embraced that!

ps. This photo makes me so very happy. I'm dreaming of a peaceful home studio with such beautiful light...

outcrops.

Molly's Cabin

 I currently have a bit of an obsession with cabins built on outcrops, as you can see from my Pinterest board Cabin (have I mentioned how much I love Pinterest?). I came across photos of this cabin last night and almost went out of my mind. 

Molly's Cabin

Molly's Cabin, by husband and wife architecture team AGATHOM, is located in Pointe au Baril, an archipelago in Georgian Bay. The 1000 suare foot cabin is a simple, yet rich, reinterpretation of the architectural vernacular found in this area that responds quite beautifully to its context.

Architect Albert Frey's home in Palm Springs

I am curious to know more about the connection details involved in attaching to the bedrock. I still have time before I decide on a piece of land and attempt to build a cabin of my own (perhaps on one of the plentiful outcrops here in NS). Time to research, plan, dream and of course time to clip images of simple, beautiful and inspiring homes.

fall show

Autumn seems to be moving through rather slowly this year - which is fine by me! I love long, leisurely walks through Halifax's older neighbourhoods which afford glimpses of vibrant foliage (like this hydrangea) juxtaposed against colorful, historic houses.

evening stroll

A few pics from a late summer stroll up the path behind my cabin shortly before I left Oregon. Magic?

cardboard vaulting

I have spent the last couple of weeks working on very technical grading plans and feeling like an engineer- this is incredibly inspiring! This guest bedroom is carved out of the side of a mountain in Vals, Switzerland and the vaulting represents the contours of the mountain. The 400 mm cardboard was computer cut but begs for a little diy re-interpretation. Check out more of Studio JVM here . (via Apartment Therapy )