Detailing Time and Place

Rewarding indeed are encounters with site detailing that reinforces a sense of place and reminds one of differences in taste and technology as influences on campus design. Green grass, stone curbing, cast-iron drainage inlet, pebbled walk - the sequence and scale of materials in the St. Albans's quad (Merton College) demonstrate an art never to be taken for granted. The resulting imagery, subtle as it may be, helps define a quintessential traditional collegiate landscape. At the College of Sante Fe, the crushed stone, pavers, rectangular stone bollards, backing to a blank wall with an eye-catching weep hole, are clear signals of modernity. In this instance the selection of textures, shapes, and colors reinforce a campus landscape design concept evocative of life in a sere climate. Both examples are intentional creations, not the casual leftovers from design processes concerned with the commanding and more visually evident surrounding architecture.

Richard P. Dober