Landscape Architecture Design Process

Model Building

The PWP design process involves studying projects in a variety of scales and media. For the Memorial, large models were integral to establishing the scale, alignments, and relationships within the plaza. These models were also used to describe the project to stakeholders, political leaders, and the press.

Mock-Ups

Full-scale mock-ups of each plaza component were integral to understanding details and proportions.

Fountain Testing

The one-acre voids, cut 30 feet into the site, are lined with waterfalls designed by Dan Euser ( a longtime collaborator of PWP. Using full-scale mock-ups to study the performance of the water, Dan developed a tapered, rounded weir that is both water-and-energy efficient as well as highly visible and beautiful. With the addition of lighting designed by Paul Marantz, the waterfalls are also visible at night.

Selecting Materials

The plaza is built of relatively few elements and materials. A single pole, for instance, incorporates lighting and security. One type of granite is used for cobblestones, pavers, and benches. Planted ground coverings are limited to evergreen English ivies and turf grass. A single tree species is repeated throughout the Memorial grove. The limited palette is critical to the notable quietness of the plaza. PWP conducted wide searches and brought great care to the selection of each material.

Jurisdictional Complexity

Despite its apparent simplicity, the Memorial is a massive green roof—a fully constructed ecology—that operates on top of multiple structures including the PATH station and tracks, the Memorial Museum, a central chiller plant, parking, and additional infrastructure. Together with Davis Brody Bond, the associate architect for the project, PWP coordinated with multiple agencies and stakeholders to establish a consistent visitor experience that extends over multiple structures and through several jurisdictions.

Source: www.pwpla.com

Landscaping Tips

Though your home is your castle, there is no necessity to surround it with a moat. Here are 5 tips that will help you to make your landscaping feel more warm, welcoming and cozy.

1. Put some flowers nearby your entrance. Flowers make any area look more welcoming and attractive, so greeting your guests with Petunia, Snapdragon, Lily-of-the-Nile or some other garden flowers is always a great thing to do. What is more, to add some space between your house and the entrance, you can consider adding a little white fence. It will create an illusion that your front yard is bigger than it actually is. What is more, adding fence will create a great space for planting flowers to add some color and coziness.

2. Add rambling vines to make your yard look absolutely lovely. You can not deny that rambling vines always create romantic and even magical atmosphere. So why not to use this tip while decorating your yard?

3. To hide the unattractive driveway, consider adding some color, texture, and height. You can easily do it by adding various sorts of flowers. To start, create an island of green lawn right in the hub of a drive. Then add a couple of low boxwood hedges with flowers toward the back of your island.

4. If you want your yard to blossom and flourish bust still do not have enough time to maintain it, consider planting low-fuss lilies. Such flowers look absolutely gorgeous and come in the variety of rainbow hues, so you can pick the one you love most. What is more, low-fuss lilies do not care about the sort of soil, they love the sun and welcome hot, they do not afraid of drought. In other words, Crinums is an ideal flower for all those who are looking for low-maintenance solutions.

5. The last tip also touches the low-maintenance aspect. To make your life easier, group plantings into beds and islands. This will help you to avoid mowing and trimming around each individual plant, save a lot of time and even money.