I had the good fortune to attend and speak at the APLD Conference 2 weeks ago in Dallas, Texas. I was pleasantly surprised that Dallas was even better than I expected, but that was based on a trip over 10 years ago to deal with a commercial interior design high-tech client. We saw more freeway and open dry space than inner city.
The inner city areas we visited were graced with magnificent old trees lining the streets, providing copious amounts of shade. Fortunately, it was not that hot, so the shade was nice but not necessary. We saw some gorgeous gardens that were inspiring for landscape designers or gardeners. I’ve attached only a few photos this time – more next time. I was very pleasantly surprised to see good rain storage techniques, use of low-grow & low-mow lawns, native or adaptable plants, and green roofs.
One night some of my fellow APLD members and I wandered outside of our hotel to the nearby IM Pei building and the amazing water gardens designed by Dan Kiley. Descriptive words that come to mind for my experience are ‘glorious’, ‘stunning’, ‘amazing’ and ‘mind-blowing’. I was bowled over by the size and character of this water feature. There were occasional trees in strategic locations, but those seemed to be the extent of the plants in the area I saw. During another day, I saw that there was another area other than what we saw at night, but they had drained the pools for cleaning that day.
The day I left, I visited the Dallas Museum of Art. They had some splendid displays – one on African masks that was very colorful and a great display of material combinations that make gorgeous art. Another display centered on the concept of ‘space’. It was fascinating and spoke to all artists and designers about the importance of what is in between objects in a room or on a canvas.
Each time I have attended the APLD International Conference I have come away inspired. It was a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious experience.
Below are photos from conference gardens.
Clever Central Pivot Gate
- Recycled Fencing
