“A garden is explained by its form. This is the way that various elements are grouped in relation to one another. Of all the decisions that one takes when designing a garden, the most critical is the choice of its proportions. Visitors to a garden are unlikely to say how they admire its proportions; but I have heard them say that the garden “feels right”, which amounts to the same thing.” – Christopher Bradley-Hole

Have you ever walked into a garden or building and had that feeling? It doesn’t happen often, and as a designer you only hope to create a space that draws that kind of emotion.

Anyways, that was my quote for the day. Enjoy

Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s ‘Fallingwater’ in Bear Run, PA, this custom home designed by Domus Studio, San Diego is our latest project.

Its great to be brought in on a project like this so early in the design phase. As the project progresses I will post more, and I’m very curious to hear your thoughts or critiques. It seems serendipitous that a ‘Fallingwater’ inspired house should have it’s landscape done by Falling Waters, SD.

FLW’s original intent was to bring man and nature as close as possible, quite literally creating a house on top of a waterfall in rural Pennsylvania. Built in the later part of the 1930’s, ‘FALLINGWATER’ has become iconic with FLW’s work and with influential design around the world. It was with great respect and humility, and a ideal similar to Wright’s that I chose the name Falling Waters. More to come…

I’ve had some requests to post pictures of my Son, Eli. So here ya go. This was from last weekend at the Colony Palms in Palm Springs and at the Parker Palm Springs.  Apropos of nothing… he also said “Dada” that weekend, so yeah, not too shabby

I love projects where the brief is simple:

“Make it beautiful, have fun with it, I trust you”

Gotta love that, right? This project (construction will begin next month) was too much fun to design. The client gave me one word to describe the planting plan… “Dense” and said that word should inform the design of the plant material. Being a small space, we can go dense with the plants and still maximize the water usage. The plan will incorporate a new Ipe deck (to match existing decks elsewhere on the property) a concrete patio with decorative saw-cuts with a gradient-stain pattern, a simple and demure water-feature, retaining walls to add dimension and scale, and generous lighting. Here are a few before pictures, and some renderings. More to come

existing steps will remain

Renderings

    

So this would be my first post in 2010 and I am really going to try hard to post more photos of my projects, more ideas, more photos of stuff I like, etc.

After talking to several friends and clients, people actually read what I write…. who knew?

So, taking all the feedback into consideration I will do my best to make this site even more of a resource in 2010 for designers, homeowners, and contractors. Look for posts about my personal vacations, Falling Waters projects (in various stages of progress), new plants, great local nurseries, designers and Architects that inspire, new books for the industry, friends of mine who are doing amazing work, and of course general information I find useful.

Your feedback is always appreciated:

info@fallingwatersweb.com

Oh, and check back soon for the new and updated website with more projects and more information!

Thank you everyone for your continued support,

Ryan Prange