Synopses & Reviews
The new industry standard on landscape architectural detailing
Detailing for Landscape Architects takes the reader on an educational journey across three major areas of landscape architectural detailingaesthetics, function, and constructibilityto demonstrate how powerful design patterns can transform thematic ideas into awe-inspiring built realities. Richly illustrated examples accompany concise discussions of a varied blend of landscape design/detailing issues such as water movement, soil environments, articulating structures and construction assemblies, life cycle costing, sustainability, health and safety, and more. This book approaches the subject of detailing in a systematic manner, and provides a balanced framework for design and workmanship that conveys the essence of the built landscape.
Detailing for Landscape Architects shows how details can:
Reinforce design ideas through the continuity and discontinuity of patterns
Actively contribute to the overall form or geometry of the design
Be designed to be durable and flexible while enhancing the entire design
Gracefully accommodate the natural growth and change of plant materials
Anticipate maintenance needs to minimize future disruptions
Maximize their cost effectiveness through understanding their function while designing to meet those functions
Including chapters that apply detail patterns to the design of an urban plaza, a roof deck, and a residence, Detailing for Landscape Architects offers guidance on solving specific technical requirements, while preserving and enhancing the visual qualities that celebrate innovation, and carry forth a timeless quality of building.
Review
"This eminently readable, profusely illustrated book is obviously designed as a professional reference, but its effect is more like consulting with a passionate expert than merely receiving a listing of standard recommendations. This pattern-based approach, in lieu of a mechanical categorization based on materials (wood, metal, stone) or application (paving, walls, canopies), focuses on conveying general principles, as well as specific details, across a range of conditions, which is impressive. This emphasis on aesthetics — and not just visual, but aesthetics that appreciate elegance, simplicity, and timeless details — permeates the book, and is part of what lifts it above other catalogs of technique." (Landscape Architecture Magazine, Oct 2011)
Synopsis
Based upon the best-selling book Architectural Detailingby Edward Allen and Patrick Rand, Landscape Architectural Detailingapplies the same organization to the three major concerns of the landscape architecture detailer—function, constructibility, and aesthetics. Richly illustrated, this book approaches landscape architecture detailing in a systematic manner and provides a framework for analyzing existing details and devising new ones. Landscape Architectural Detailingincludes material on details related to aesthetics, water drainage and movement, structures, construction assemblies, sustainable resources, and more.
About the Author
Tom R. Ryan, FASLA, is Principal of Ryan Associates, Landscape Architecture and Planning. He has more than thirty years of experience as a practicing landscape architect, and has taught in the landscape architecture departments at the University of Pennsylvania, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
Edward Allen, FAIA, has been a member of the faculties at Yale University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has frequently taught as a guest at other institutions across the United States over the past thirty years. He is also the best-selling coauthor of Fundamentals of Building Construction and The Architect's Studio Companion (both with Joseph Iano), Form and Forces (with Waclaw Zalewski), and Architectural Detailing (with Patrick Rand), all published by Wiley.
Patrick Rand, FAIA, is a Professor in the School of Architecture at North Carolina State University, where he teaches design studios, construction systems courses, and detailing seminars. He is coauthor of Architectural Detailing along with Edward Allen.
Table of Contents
Introduction.
PART I DETAIL PATTERN.
SECTION 1 AESTHETICS.
CHAPTER 1 Aesthetics.
Contributive Details.
Timeless Features.
Hierarchy of Refinement.
Intensification and Ornamentation.
Active and Recessive Details.
Continuous and Discontinuous Details.
Formal Transitions.
Composing the Detail.
SECTION 2 FUNCTION.
CHAPTER2 Controlling Water Movement.
Drainage Diversions.
Redundant Drainage Systems.
Foundation Drainage.
Wash.
Overlap.
Overhang and Drip.
Drain and Weep.
Roof Drainage.
Capillary Break.
Joints and Gaskets.
CHAPTER 3 Controlling Subsurface Water Movement and Sedimentation.
Control Velocity.
Sumps.
Progressive Filtering.
Separation.
Reinforcement.
Level Drainage Surfaces.
Water Level Reduction.
Overflow.
Structural Tree Planting Soils.
CHAPTER 4 Accommodating Movement.
Seasoning and Curing.
Vertical-Grain Lumber.
Relieved Back.
Foundation Below Frost Line.
Edge Restraint.
Staggered Joints.
Structural Joints.
Abutment Joint.
Expansion Joint.
Control Joint.
Sliding Joint.
Hinge Joint.
Building Separation Joint.
CHAPTER 5 Accommodating Growth.
Root Zone Growth.
Trunk Growth.
Branch Growth.
Succession.
Maintenance Practices.
CHAPTER 6 Providing Structural Support.
Small Structures.
CHAPTER 7 Providing Passages for Pipes and Wires.
Vertical Chase.
Horizontal Connections.
CHAPTER 8 Health and Safety.
Safe Footing.
Fall Protection.
Safe Edges.
Safe Glazing.
Appropriate for Users.
Nontoxic Materials.
Site Specific Hazards.
Barrier-Free Design.
CHAPTER 9 Providing for the Life Cycles of the Landscape.
Seasonal Cycle.
Planting Life Cycle.
Material Life Cycle.
Expected Life.
Surfaces That Age Gracefully.
Repairable Surfaces.
Cleanable Surfaces.
Maintenance Access.
Dry Wood.
Similar Metals.
Less Absorbent Materials.
Robust Assemblies.
Building and Landscape Armor.
SECTION 3 CONSTRUCTABILITY.
CHAPTER 10 Ease of Assembly.
Uncut Units.
Minimum Number of Parts.
Parts That Are Easy to Handle.
Repetitious Assembly.
Simulated Assemblies.
Observable Assemblies.
Accessible Connections.
Installation Clearance.
Nonconflicting Systems.
CHAPTER 11 Forgiving Details.
Dimensional Tolerance.
Sliding Fit.
Adjustable Fit.
Reveal.
Butt Joint.
Clean Edge.
Progressive Finish.
Forgiving Surface.
CHAPTER 12 Efficient Use of Construction Resources.
Factory and Site.
Rehearsing the Construction Sequence.
Off-the-Shelf Parts.
Local Skills and Customs.
Refining the Detail.
All-Weather Construction.
Pride of Craftsmanship.
Accepted Standards.
CHAPTER 13 Sustainability.
Minimize Site Impacts.
Maximize Site Benefits.
Moderate Peaks.
Efficiency.
PART II DETAIL DEVELOPMENT.
SECTION 1 APPLYING THE DETAIL PATTERNS.
CHAPTER 14 Detailing a Traditional Plaza.
CHAPTER 15 Detailing a Rooftop Garden.
SECTION 2 GETTING STARTED.
APPENDIX A: The Detailer's Reference Shelf.
APPENDIX B: Formulating Exercises for Self-Study or Classroom Use.
INDEX.