(Part 3) Best landscape architecture books according to redditors
We found 257 Reddit comments discussing the best landscape architecture books. We ranked the 76 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 41-60. You can also go back to the previous section.
Great question, and great idea! Off the top of my head:
The Basics
Landscape Architect's Portable Handbook - This one does get a bit technical, but it's a good guide.
Sociology/Psychology
Social Life of Small Urban Spaces - Just a good book about how people experience spaces
Design with People in Mind - An older film, but a classic. Funny and with great observations about how people use spaces and interact with their environment
Design Theory
Architecture: Form, Space and Order - This is a great guidebook for architects and landscape architects alike
History of Landscape Architecture
Illustrated History of Landscape Design - A great intro to the history of landscape architecture.
Urban Planning/Design
Death and Life of Great American Cities - It's a classic and should be a required read for anyone in landscape architecture or architecture
This is the short list - I'll add to it as I think of more!
Picked up this book used for 75 cents. Just sold 2 days ago.
https://www.amazon.com/Site-Analysis-Contextual-Approach-Sustainable/dp/0471797987/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1506710160&sr=8-3&keywords=site+analysis
https://www.fastcompany.com/90202222/heres-how-much-space-u-s-cities-waste-on-parking
I think Donald Shoup has it in his updated Parking and the City -https://smile.amazon.com/Parking-City-Donald-Shoup/dp/1138497126/ref=pd_sim_14_2/135-2077917-1168469?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1138497126&pd_rd_r=0b61e93d-62d6-11e9-b421-cdcde3290510&pd_rd_w=MvVK6&pd_rd_wg=vTuAD&pf_rd_p=90485860-83e9-4fd9-b838-b28a9b7fda30&pf_rd_r=TKR23B3MPC5S7RHH8C1H&psc=1&refRID=TKR23B3MPC5S7RHH8C1H
We don't really need to speculate endlessly, there are entire books written about how the disparities in our community came about. We need to continue using the data and scholarship we have, including publications from professors at local universities and longstanding members of the community. It isn't simple and it is complex, for sure. But it's not a situation where we just throw our hands up and say "oh well, just send in people with guns, it's too hard to think through this situation."
Go to your local library and check out any books by Tim Newbury. He has spent a lot of time thinking about these long narrow gardens. You can also buy used books on Amazon.
Garden Design Bible
Interaction Design
Interior Design
Landscape Architecture
Lighting Design
Product Design
Product Design
Sound Design
Urban Design
* Cities for People by Jan Gehl
Web Design
Mostly they are there so you don't have an ungodly water bill. If you do want grass in the yard I'd suggest picking up a Palo Verde at a nursery. I wouldn't say I'm anti grass but I am for sure anti-new construction poorly thought out giant yard with no shade. There are a ton of plants that are hardy that work well in the natural soil of the Tularosa and nearby areas. If you're interested in landscaping your yard you may want to check out this book [Native Landscaping from El Paso to LA] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0809225115/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_K6p-Bb4RJXT7Z)
Relevant
This is how we did it back in the day lol.
Seriously though they upgrade them every couple yrs or so. Great resource, I still have my first set from way back in the day. Its actually amazing how some shit hasn't changed.
Or there's this. http://www.amazon.com/Home-Improvement-1-2-3-Expert-Advice/dp/0696201682
I'd never heard that, but I have heard several times that the U.S. trans-ships more freight from the West Coast to the East Coast, by rail, than goes through the Panama Canal.
The megafreighter/rail combo is so efficient that it's preferable to ship stuff to Europe from Asia by sending it to the West Coast, hauling it by rail to the East Coast, and then taking it to Europe on another ship, than to put it on a smaller ship and send it through the Panama or Suez Canals. And it's faster than sending it around Cape Horn.
I thought that was pretty surprising the first time I read it. Some huge percentage of Asian-manufactured consumer goods in Europe pass through the U.S. rail-freight system on their way to store shelves.
(Source on that is "Intermodal Freight Transport" by David Lowe, IIRC. Kind of a cool book if you're a train geek. Amazon)
I used to install landscape lighting professionally. Couple problems in that picture.
There is no depth, no color, no emphasis nothing. It's a bland portrait and the designer clearly just picked out a couple places for lighting he though was ok. I have to say it. This is bad lighting. It may look good from the untrained eye but this is an example of trying to do too much with too little so they placed the lights to wash over everything. If I was ripple electrical I wouldn't put this on my website or my blog, for customers looking for good lighting they are going to quickly skip this company.
Here is what I would have done.
Uplighting instead of downlighting. On the right side of the house 2 8 watt 2700k spot uplights mounted to the right of the windows to accent the white window frames all the way up, angled to catch the eaves as well.
By the entrance, replace the porch lights with 2700k lamps, light each column.
On the second story mount three wall wash fixtures to the gutter with 6 watt lamps and a diffusor. Two on the eaves one on the windows. This will provide a subtle contrast to the bottom floor but still allow the white eaves and window frames to pop. It will also eliminate the hotspotting.
For the garage, more than likely they didn't have the opportunity or consent to mount well lights in the ground facing up on to the garage door and eaves that would be ideal. Otherwise I would have just put one downlight at the center and matched up the garage carriage lights with the same color temp.
And then some damn lights on the foliage and gate. None of the stone had any light on it, stone has a great texture for lighting it's a shame none was hit.
Ripple electrical you need to buy this book. This is who I learned from.
The Lighting Bible: The Professional Guide to Architectural landscape Lighting the Creation of a Lighting Portrait https://www.amazon.com/dp/1541107365/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_SehYCbXP6Z299
The world heritage of gardens by Dusan Ogrin is a great one. Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/World-Heritage-Gardens-Dusan-Ogrin/dp/0500236666
It takes a historic perspective and goes through all of the important eras of garden design, describing how basic design principles such as contrast, harmony, rythm etc. were used to convey different messages. It won't provide you with any recepies for designing but it is still great to understand historical significance of landscape structures. Highly recommended to anyone dealing with landscape design.
Another one I would recommend, but which is more general is The cultured landscape. https://www.amazon.com/Cultured-Landscape-Designing-Environment-Century/dp/0419250409
This one is a bit more philosophical but great to understand where landscape architecture is moving in general.
Enjoy your reading.
Two very prominent planning researchers (who also happen to teach/research at the U) just published their transportation planning book. It's a great 200 page crash course into the topic.
Link
I don't have too much experience with Landscape Architecture besides about 6 months interning at a firm, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
Books, I honestly don't know "the best"
I did however read these 3
http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Elements-Landscape-Architectural-Design/dp/0881334782
http://www.amazon.com/Basics-Landscape-Architecture-01-Design/dp/2940411123
http://www.amazon.com/Basics-Landscape-Architecture-02-Ecological/dp/2940411441/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y
They should get you started on Landscape stuff
For general architecture knowledge (if you don't get the other 3 get this one....if you do get the other 3, then get this one too)
http://www.amazon.com/Architecture-Francis-D-K-Ching/dp/0471752169/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2
Tips for the first day.
same with any job, do what needs to be done and try to look happy doing it
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0471555126
There's this one [Carolina Edens] (https://www.amazon.com/Carolina-Edens-Cindy-Spicer/dp/0895871351/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496761910&sr=1-7&keywords=Carolina) a photography book of North and South Carolina's gardens, arboretums, and nature preserves, published in 1995. The cover has white flowers on it, but not super prominently.
Amazon link.
So glad this is taking off! I just came across a bunch more resources I'd love to share/discuss (including lots of Dutch landscape stuff) -- should we pool all of our contributions into a Google Doc? Maybe a mod can help out with how the best way of going about this is??
Might be a bit off topic, but I keep coming across landscape philosophy texts like Raymond Williams The Country and the City and Jay Appelton's The Experience of Landscape -maybe a sequel project :)
Nice useless links. First link mentions nothing about returning grass clippings, so you've missed the point entirely. Publications from Minnesota and Penn State both clearly state you can return grass clippings without increasing thatch production. Read through Turgeon's or Christians' books and you'll notice neither of them recommend adding kitty litter to a sodded area. I don't know why I waste my time with you. I guess I enjoy the extreme level of bullshit that you present as scientific.
> When Edison invented the lightbulb
Oooohh wrong example.
Edison, who patented his bulb in 1879, merely improved on a design that British inventor Joseph Swan had patented 10 years earlier. Swan sued Edison for patent infringement, and the British courts ruled against Edison
In contrast the American space programme was a substantial leap beyond what any of the component parts contributed, to the degree that a new discipline, systems engineering management, needed to be developed for the projects to succeed. (e.g.)
> absolutely an American achievement
Everyone in the world knows this so it may only be Americans who notice that their flag isn't there even though American excellence and endeavour is writ large across the whole story.
Neil Armstrong's wife is played by British actress Claire Foy, so Ryan isn't the only foreigner involved, but American accents are ubiquitous in the trailer I've seen.