This week I had the pleasure of working on a lawn maintenance crew for the company I free lance design work for. That might sound a little odd, had the pleasure of, but it was a little different than simply cutting the grass. Most of the clientèle we perform our service for are people that I designed the landscape for. Most of these people I have not seen since I presented the design. I was struck by the beauty of the properties, and I say that not to boost my own ego but to formulate my point. The beauty of these landscape was, by my own harsh opinion, not represented in the actual design presented. Why is that?
As I pushed the mower I began to explore this question in depth. Fredrick Law Olmsted is called the father of modern landscape architecture. He changed the way we view the landscape. His most noted work, and well respected, is central park in New York. Most do not know that the entire park is created and planned. New York, geographically speaking, was a waste land of swamp and squatters and it was not until the rigid street grid layout was established did New York flourish. I am rambling, so I will get back to the point. I had the honor to visit Olmsted's office in Brookline Mass. last fall. Here was an office, just like central park, totally created to suit needs. There was not Computer Aided Drafting, or color scanners, or photoshop when Olmsted was working but he created some of the most beautiful designs I have seen. He even developed the technology to make copies of his rendered plans (a processes completely created, designed, and built by Olmsted himself). It was this lack of technology that made is work so creative.
Man Ray, a cubist turned Dadaist, has created some of the most provocative photos I have ever seen, as raunchy as they sometimes get. He created the art of double and over exposure and other photo "tricks". Here is another example of how someone needed to invent the process to create his work...
So as I blew off the driveway I had a realization: the explanation and presentation of an idea is what matters, not the simple use of modern technology. Simple idea I know, but when I think of how the computer has watered down the creativity in the world it make me sad.
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We did a renovation for a church a few years back. Part of the renovation was re-lighting the sanctuary (wood trusses and plaster). We came up with a design that worked well and was not obtrusive. The architect and owner blew it off, saying they had hired a lighting designer to work this out. A month later, this lighting designer gave a very smooth presentation with hand drawn sketches and rendering... of our basic design. The architect and owner sat and drooled over it. The simple fact is: perception is reality.
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