{"id":6799,"date":"2011-05-04T07:15:44","date_gmt":"2011-05-04T07:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/?p=6799"},"modified":"2011-05-04T07:15:44","modified_gmt":"2011-05-04T07:15:44","slug":"robert-holden-and-jamie-liversedge-construction-for-landscape-architecture-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/robert-holden-and-jamie-liversedge-construction-for-landscape-architecture-book-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Holden and Jamie Liversedge Construction for Landscape Architecture &#8211; book review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/holden-liversedge-landscape.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-6800\" title=\"holden-liversedge-landscape\" src=\"http:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/holden-liversedge-landscape.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"775\" height=\"633\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/holden-liversedge-landscape.jpg 775w, https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/holden-liversedge-landscape-300x245.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/holden-liversedge-landscape-768x627.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/holden-liversedge-landscape-624x510.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 775px) 100vw, 775px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Holden and Liversedge have produced the best book on landscape architecture construction. It is well written and well illustrated. More important, it is well conceived and based on the authors&#8217; personal experience of design projects and construction sites. The authors describe their book as &#8216;an introductory text&#8217;. It is true that no prior knowledge is assumed but the scope of the book is not limited to introductory matters. Robert Holden is the leading European landscape architecture critic of his generation. The book contains much wisdom and sets a new standard for this type of book by combining:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> technical principles<\/li>\n<li> design judgment<\/li>\n<li> knowledge of materials<\/li>\n<li> sustainability considerations<\/li>\n<li> weathering and life cycle considerations<\/li>\n<li> examples of construction\/site\/weathering problems<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The illustrations, which are excellent, include analytical hand-drawings, photographs of traditional details, modern details and sequential photographs showing stages in the construction process. I particularly commend the annotations on the drawings. Instead of giving near-useless data (eg &#8220;200mm layer of 10mm pea shingle&#8221;), the captions are explanatory (eg &#8220;filter media improves fast filtration&#8221;).<br \/>\nOne aspect of the book deserves a sharp criticism: the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Construction-Landscape-Architecture-Portfolio-Skills\/dp\/1856697088\">front cover shows<\/a> is ugly. It shows an inexplicable CAD drawing tinted in what a friend used to call &#8220;architects&#8217; green&#8221;: an insipid vomity yellowish-green. WHY? Publishers need to be nice to authors: the age of the eBook is upon us and it will be as easy for authors to cut publishers out of the loop as it will be for recording artists to cut the record labels out of the loop. Authors are less dependent on the marketing skills of publishers than musicians. Authors <em>may <\/em>prefer receiving 70%+ of the cover price from Googlebooks to receiving the 10%+ &#8216;royalties&#8217; currently on offer from traditional print publishers. One can&#8217;t be sure.<br \/>\n I look forward to future books on specific aspects of landscape construction and recommend giving priority to a book on the construction design for water and water features.<br \/>\nWhen I was a landscape student we only had one good book on landscape construction: Elizabeth Beazley&#8217;s <em>Design and detail of the space between buildings<\/em>, for which I retain an affection. It combined photographs of high-quality designs with over-detailed technical information. Since then, many landscape construction books have been published &#8211; most of them with too many specifics and too few explanatory principles. Here is a list: <\/p>\n<p>\u2022       David Langdon Everest,  <em>Spons External Works and Landscape Price Book <\/em>2009<br \/>\n\u2022       Pitman, Phil <em>External Works, Roads and Drainage: A Practitioner&#8217;s Guide <\/em>Spon: 2001<br \/>\n\u2022       Stephen Bird External Works (ENDAT standard indexes) : annual<br \/>\n\u2022       Charles W. Harris and Nicholas T. Dines <em>Time Saver Standards for Landscape Architecture<\/em>: McGraw Hill: 1998<br \/>\n\u2022       Alan Blanc <em>Landscape Construction and Detailing <\/em>Batsford : 1996<br \/>\n\u2022       Black and Decker <em>Complete guide to landscape construction : 60 Step-by-step Projects for Creating a Perfect Landscape <\/em>Creative Publishing International: 2006<br \/>\n\u2022       J.William Thompson and Kim Sorvig  <em>Sustainable Landscape Construction: A Guide to Green Building <\/em>Outdoors Island Press: 2008<br \/>\n\u2022       James Blake <em>Introduction to Landscape Design and Construction <\/em>Gower: 1999<br \/>\n\u2022       Derek Lovejoy, C.A. Fortlage,Elizabeth Phillips, <em>Landscape Construction: Earth and Water Retaining Structures <\/em>Ashgate:2001<br \/>\n\u2022       David Sauter <em>Landscape Construction 2e <\/em>Delmar Learning: 2004<br \/>\n\u2022       Harlow C Landphair and Fred Klatt Jr <em>Landscape Architecture Construction <\/em>Prentice Hall: 1998<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Holden and Liversedge have produced the best book on landscape architecture construction. It is well written and well illustrated. More important, it is well conceived and based on the authors&#8217; personal experience of design projects and construction sites. The authors describe their book as &#8216;an introductory text&#8217;. It is true that no prior knowledge is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6799"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6799\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}