The Art of Critique.

From its Greek roots the word ‘critique’ means discerning.

The first time I engaged in a meaningful critique was in an academic setting.
Our assignment was to redesign Harvard yard and present to the class our reasoning of the social impact and it's aesthetic value for the redesign.

It was during these two days of critique review that I began to understand the intrinsic value that a critique can bring to the learning process and the psychology of the human mind.

Boiled down to it academic essence a good critique will engage in communal discussion , critical thinking , tangible relevance and the exploration of theory.

What it won’t do is tear a persons efforts down, demoralize them and their work, ridicule , mock or jeer for the sake of cheap shots and cheap laughs.
That is not critique, that is a form of bullying or a sad psychological state of an over inflated ego that feels the need to put down people in order to make themselves feel superior.

Below is a project I worked on many many years ago.
When I first completed it I didn’t see many of the flaws that I see in it now and feel that time has given me some new perspective to critique it .

The back yard was a clean slate. A pie shaped lot with a massive drainage problem.
This pix shows how I started to deliniate the space and remedy the flooding.

From Before and After Projects

The bones of the garden takes shape. Various garden rooms are starting to be established. In retrospect I would have liked to used horizonally stacked ledge stone as the lawn / path borders to match the water feature for a more consistant design element. An open trellis structure mimicking the homes architecutre could have been used instead of trees to create a screen behind the sitting patio.

From Before and After Projects

Two years later the trees have started to grow into the design creating a series of walls and partial ceilings

From Before and After Projects

From Before and After Projects

From Before and After Projects

Perimeter shrubs now have enough growth on them to be hedged into specific forms

From Before and After Projects

Garden rooms withing the landscape have grown into the hardscaping

From portfolioMay08.jpg

The extensive drainage system below the dry creek has kept the property from flooding since its installation. Aesthetically I feel it works well within the site, but I could have used some larger boulders down stream.

From portfolioMay08.jpg