Bernard Trainor: Simple

‘I see simplicity not so much as a disregard for complexity but as the clarification of the significant.’

Australian architect Glenn Murcutt

After almost a year and a half, we break ground in Pullman.

We finally broke ground on a project in Pullman, WA that we've highly anticipated and that's been a long time in the works. Tim, the homeowner has been very involved in the design process and in the selection of materials and even in the labor and I'm grateful to him for all his input. To be honest, he's a huge reason the project has turned out so well.

From the start, Tim wanted a planting design comprised almost completely of evergreens. In the selection process, I've become very aware of what's available to designers here in the west and have found some favorites that I'll definitely use again including the Low Glow Japanese Red Pine, the Thunderhead Japanese Black Pine, the Joe Kozy Japanese Umbrella Pine and the Motala Norway Spruce.

It's not a surprise that many of these plants bear oriental origins. The low lines of the house readily lend themselves to a zen like landscape with mid-modern accents and industrial hues.

I'll provide updates as the project progresses.

Here's some progress pictures:

Front Stairs

Moscow Water Department is planted!

Jon went down to the City of Moscow Water Department several weeks ago to lay-out the plants for his Water Wise planting design. We are quite pleased with how it turned out!

Palouse Residence

Jefferson St. Residence

This beautiful modernist home which has been renovated to fit Green Building standards faces many of the same exterior challenges that most Palouse residents face: steep slopes, erosion, and storm water mitigation. We have been working on the design for several months and are eager to begin installation of the design in June. Keep coming back for updated pictures!

Graduation!

Mosaic Land Design is offically a family affair! Do you think these kids will want to join in in a few years? I graduated May 2009 from the University of Idaho Landscape Architecture Department. Its amazing how fast three years can go by, and I owe my success to the support of my family. I am thrilled to have learned how to create the places that I love to go, the places that we wish for our children. I am excited to use my skills to create a better world where people and nature can come together in a complimentary fashion.

Palouse Prairie Charter School

I love children and I love seeing my own children play outside experiencing nature. For this reason I chose to study Outward Bound Expeditionary Learning for my senior thesis. Fortunately for me I have a local application for my design thesis; the Palouse Prairie Charter School. I have an interest in this as a parent and designer, there is a plethora of evidence that access to nature is at least as important to children as math and language arts. In fact, exposure to nature helps children with these subjects! I highly suggest reading, Last Child in the Woods, and doing your own research. Expeditionary Learning is gaining attention all over the United States and I am thrilled that my children have an opportunity to be involved and that I have an opportunity to be involved in the design of the play area.

The site for Palouse Prairie Charter School offers challenges and opportunities. The building which previously housed Brown's Furniture Store, offers a wide open feeling with plenty of space for children to play and learn. The challenge however is how to provide outdoor play opportunities for children at a location next to US 95 and a gas station. Additionally, the city has allocated the best possible play space for parking. As a student of landscape architecture I am taking into consideration the needs of the children vs. the utilitarian needs of parking. This is one of the largest challenges for designers in the United States, how do we move the focus from the automobile onto people. American's have embraced the car culture and we see evidence of this everywhere from unnecessarily wide suburban roads to acres of parking lots.

Parking is just one of the challenges onsite...I am also taking into consideration the northern aspect of the building which initially was assumed to be the play space. This location faces the gas station and abuts the highway. This is concerning to me as a parent AND land designer, how do we weigh the need for children to play outside and keep them safe from traffic, air pollution from passing vehicles and the nearby gas station. On top of this the location is very shady much of the year, leaving serious concerns about winter use of the play ground. Also this would limit the school's ability to use planting opportunities as part of the children's learning experience.

The design of the play area is still in the works. We are constantly bouncing new ideas off of each other, trying to think outside of the box. Ultimately the city will determine where parking will go, and the school will be left to work with whatever is left over. Hopefully, using the skills I have learned as a student of landscape architecture we can convince them that we can balance the needs for parking and access, with the needs of the Palouse Prairie Charter School students.

Check out the Palouse Prairie Charter School website and a blogspot: http://palouseprairieschool.org/

http://whypalouseprairie.blogspot.com/

Here is the Expeditionary Learning website: http://www.elschools.org/