Water in the Landscape

OEHME, VAN SWEDEN │ OvS

Water transforms the environment, expanding and enriching the natural world

Water allows for garden discovery through visual, auditory, and tactile experiences.

A small amount cools an outdoor space, making the air lighter, reflecting movement and color, and leading the eye into and around the garden.

Water plays a significant role in any sized landscape, small or large. It magnifies the beauty and allure of even the smallest garden.

Consider the Context

When working with a larger site, let the water relate to it's immediate surroundings. A pond that is further from a house should appear free-form and natural. When close to a structure, it should have a more geometric and finished look.

Maximize the Space

Curved lines make small spaces look smaller. Symmetrical shapes such as squares and rectangles better serve intimate gardens.

Consult Local Building Codes

Most jurisdictions have codes that regulate water feature placement, depth, adjacent fencing, drainage and other safety and operational matters.

L et OvS enliven your outdoor space with the transcendent properties of water.

Upcoming Events

The New American Garden: The Landscape Architecture of Oehme, van Sweden remains at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust through August 26, 2016. Featuring 52 contemporary and newly commissioned photographs, the exhibition illustrates how OvS Founding Principals Wolfgang Oehme and Jim van Sweden revolutionized landscape architecture with the creation of the New American Garden style. The exhibition is produced and curated by The Cultural Landscape Foundation.

On Saturday, August 27th, Eric Groft , OvS Principal and Vice President, will be a part of The Garden As Art, a benefit for Guild Hall in East Hampton, NY. The event features rare access to five private, residential gardens, including the OvS-designed garden of Carole and Alex Rosenberg. Eric will be on hand at the Rosenberg garden to lead tours.

On September 17 in Stonington, CT, Eric will take part in Garden Dialogues: Connecticut, a signature program of The Cultural Landscape Foundation, of which he is a board member. Garden Dialogues provides access to notable residential properties in the presence of their owners, architects, and landscape architects, who discuss the vision, design, and the stewardship of each property. Tickets and the tour and luncheon are available here.

This autumn, Eric will participate in a tour of the UK that visits English estate gardens designed by Sir Lancelot "Capability" Brown . The tour, hosted by the American Museum in Britain , celebrates Brown, Great Britain's most famous and influential landscape architect. OvS recently developed a Master Plan for the American Museum in Britain and is currently designing Phase I: The New American Garden.

Lisa Delplace , OvS Principal and CEO, will lecture a t the I Maestri del Paesaggi's International Meeting of the Landscape and Garden in Bergamo, Italy this September. Wild Landscape is the focus of the meeting, which brings together the most well-known landscape architects and garden designers.

OvS Principals Sheila Brady, Lisa Delplace and Eric Groft will discuss the firm and its work during Inside the LA Studio at the American Society of Landscape Architects Annual Meeting and Expo in New Orleans on October 22nd. Charles Birnbaum, President and CEO of The Cultural Landscape Foundation , will moderate the forum.