Landscape Design - Site Planning - Part 1

Summary

In this insightful video, landscape designer Eric Arneson shares his design process, starting with a bubble diagram to block out site elements for a client's outdoor space. He emphasizes understanding site conditions and sun exposure, creating multiple compositions to find the best layout. Arneson refines the design through iterative drawings, using colored pencils to differentiate hardscape and softscape elements, and aims for a balanced relationship between the two. The process concludes with fine line drawings and color rendering to finalize the landscape design.

Takeaways

• 📐 Eric Arneson, a landscape designer, shares his design process in a video.
• 📈 He starts by blocking out site elements with a bubble diagram to loosely configure the site's composition.
• 🏠 The client's project includes a fire pit, outdoor pool, privacy screen, outdoor deck, and kitchen area.
• 🔍 Understanding site conditions, climate, and sun exposure is crucial for appropriate item placement.
• 🎨 Arneson creates multiple compositions to find the best arrangement of site elements.
• 🖌️ He refines the design using a thick pen for a loose initial drawing on trace paper.
• 🖍️ Colored pencils are used for differentiating hardscape (red) and softscape (green).
• 🎨 Rendering techniques vary for hardscape and softscape, aiding in visual distinction.
• 🌈 The use of colors helps visualize the balance between hardscape and softscape, essential for a symbiotic design relationship.
• 🖋️ The final line drawing is created with a fine line pen before moving on to color rendering.
• 🎥 The video provides an insight into the iterative and detailed approach of landscape design.

Q & A

What is Eric Arneson's profession?

Eric Arneson is a landscape designer.

How does Eric start his design process?

Eric starts his design process by blocking out site elements with a bubble diagram to loosely configure the composition of the site.

What are the specific site elements the client wants in their landscape design?

The client wants a fire pit, an outdoor pool (12 by 24 feet), a privacy screen around the perimeter of their yard, an outdoor deck, and an outdoor kitchen area.

Why is understanding site conditions and climate important in landscape design?

Understanding site conditions and climate is crucial to appropriately place items and ensure the design is functional and sustainable in the given environment.

How does Eric refine his initial design?

Eric refines his initial design by creating an iterative process with drawings on layers of trace paper, using a thick pen to loosely refine the composition.

What materials does Eric use to differentiate hardscape and softscape in his design?

Eric uses colored pencils, with red for hardscape (constructed elements like concrete paving, tiles, and gravel) and green for softscape (living elements like trees, shrubs, and ground cover).

Why is visualizing the balance between hardscape and softscape important?

Visualizing the balance is important because it ensures a harmonious and symbiotic relationship between the two elements, which are both crucial for a successful landscape design.

What is the next step after finalizing the line work for hardscape and planting material?

The next step is to create the final line drawing with a fine line pen, followed by starting the color rendering process.

How does Eric use colored pencils to aid in the design process?

Eric uses colored pencils to differentiate and visualize the balance between hardscape and softscape, and they also help with tracing as they are different colors and render the materials differently.

What is the significance of the iterative design process in landscape design?

The iterative process allows for continuous refinement and adjustment of the design, ensuring that the final outcome is well-thought-out and tailored to the client's needs and site conditions.

What is the purpose of the bubble diagram in landscape design?

The bubble diagram is used to block out and visualize the placement of site elements, helping to create a preliminary layout and composition for the landscape design.

Outlines

00:00

🌿 Introduction to Landscape Design Process

Eric Arneson introduces himself as a landscape designer and outlines the steps he takes to begin the design process. He emphasizes the use of a bubble diagram to block out site elements and configure the composition of the site. The client's requirements include a fire pit, an outdoor pool, a privacy screen, an outdoor deck, and an outdoor kitchen area. Arneson stresses the importance of understanding site conditions, climate, and sun exposure in the design process. He aims to create multiple compositions to find the best arrangement of site elements, ultimately narrowing down to one design that suits the client's needs.

🖌️ Refining the Design with Pen and Pencil

Arneson describes his method of refining the landscape design using a sign pen to create a loose drawing, employing an iterative process over trace paper. He then moves on to refine the design with colored pencils, using red for hardscape elements like concrete paving and green for softscape elements such as trees and shrubs. This color-coding helps in visualizing the balance between hardscape and softscape, which is crucial for a harmonious design. The use of different colored pencils assists in rendering the materials differently and tracing with a black pen becomes easier due to the color distinction.

Keywords

💡Landscape Designer

A landscape designer is a professional who plans and designs outdoor spaces, combining artistic creativity with an understanding of horticulture, site planning, and environmental concerns. In the video, Eric Arneson, a landscape designer, shares his process for creating a conceptual landscape design, which includes site analysis, client requirements, and design composition.

💡Bubble Diagram

A bubble diagram is a visual tool used in landscape design to represent and organize the various elements of a site plan. It helps in the initial stages of design by loosely configuring the composition of the site. In the video, Eric uses a bubble diagram to block out site elements such as a fire pit, outdoor pool, privacy screen, outdoor deck, and kitchen area.

💡Site Conditions

Site conditions refer to the physical and environmental characteristics of a location that influence the design and planning process. This includes factors such as soil type, drainage, climate, and sun exposure. In the context of the video, Eric emphasizes the importance of understanding site conditions to create a functional and aesthetically pleasing landscape design.

💡Composition

In landscape design, composition refers to the arrangement and organization of design elements within a space to create a visually appealing and functional layout. It is a crucial aspect of the design process that involves balancing various elements to achieve harmony. In the video, Eric talks about creating multiple compositions to find the best arrangement of site elements.

💡Iterative Process

An iterative process is a repetitive approach to problem-solving that involves refining and improving a design through multiple stages or cycles. In landscape design, this often means making adjustments and modifications to the initial concepts until the final design meets the client's needs and site requirements. Eric uses this method in his design process, refining his drawings over a series of layers on trace paper.

💡Colored Pencil

Colored pencils are a drawing tool used in landscape design for refining and adding detail to a conceptual design. They allow designers to differentiate between various materials and elements, such as hardscape and softscape, by using distinct colors. In the video, Eric uses colored pencils to visualize the balance between hardscape elements in red and softscape elements in green.

💡Hardscape

Hardscape refers to the inorganic, constructed elements of a landscape design, such as concrete paving, tiles, gravel, and other non-living materials. It is a critical component of landscape design that provides structure and functionality to outdoor spaces. In the video, Eric differentiates hardscape using a red colored pencil to visualize and balance it with the softscape.

💡Softscape

Softscape encompasses the organic, living elements of a landscape design, including trees, shrubs, ground cover, and mulch. It adds natural beauty and ecological value to outdoor spaces. In the video, Eric uses a green colored pencil for softscape to help visualize and balance it with the hardscape elements.

💡Balance

Balance in landscape design is the harmonious arrangement of design elements to create a sense of equilibrium and visual appeal. It is important to maintain a balance between hardscape and softscape to ensure that the design is both functional and aesthetically pleasing. In the video, Eric emphasizes the importance of visualizing the balance between hardscape and softscape to achieve a symbiotic relationship between the two elements.

💡Final Line Drawing

A final line drawing is the detailed, refined representation of a landscape design that includes all the necessary elements and their precise locations. It is created after the conceptual design phase and serves as a blueprint for construction. In the video, Eric moves on to creating the final line drawing with a fine line pen after refining the design with colored pencils.

💡Color Rendering

Color rendering is the process of adding color to a design to give a more realistic and visual representation of the final outcome. It helps clients and stakeholders understand the look and feel of the proposed design. In the video, Eric indicates that after creating the final line drawing, he will start the color rendering process to further develop the design.

Highlights

Eric Arneson, a landscape designer, shares his design process in a video.

The design process begins with blocking out site elements using a bubble diagram.

A client's project requirements include a fire pit, an outdoor pool, a privacy screen, an outdoor deck, and an outdoor kitchen area.

Understanding site conditions and sun exposure is crucial for appropriate placement of elements.

Creating multiple compositions helps in finding the best arrangement of site elements.

The chosen design composition is refined using a thick pen in an iterative process.

The iterative process involves drawing loosely and refining over several layers on trace paper.

Colored pencils are used to differentiate between hardscape and softscape elements.

Hardscape is represented by red, including constructed elements like concrete paving and tiles.

Softscape is depicted in green, covering living elements and non-walkable surfaces.

Colored pencils aid in visualizing the balance between hardscape and softscape, which is essential for a symbiotic relationship in design.

The final line drawing is created using a fine line pen after the coloring phase.

Color rendering follows the creation of the final line drawing.

The design process emphasizes the importance of balancing hardscape and softscape for an effective landscape design.

The video provides a step-by-step guide for conceptual landscape design, offering practical applications for viewers.

The landscape design process is showcased as a combination of artistic arrangement and practical considerations.

Transcripts

[Music]

hello my name is eric arneson i'm a

landscape designer

and in today's video i'm going to go

through how i begin the design process

and what techniques and tools i use to

create a conceptual landscape design

so how i like to begin my design process

is by blocking out these site elements

with a bubble diagram

which helps me loosely configure the

composition of the site

for this project client wants

a fire pit an outdoor pool that's 12 by

24 feet a privacy screen or around the

perimeter of their yard to block the

view from the neighbors and they also

want an outdoor deck and a outdoor

kitchen area

and in order to place these items

appropriately we need to understand the

site conditions as well as the climate

and sun exposure

so this design process i like to create

as many compositions of

these arrangements of spaces as possible

so i've narrowed my design options down

to one due to the best arrangement of

the site elements

and this i will now find further and

really finesse to really nail down the

design that works best for the client

all right so now that i've chosen a

design composition for the bubble

diagram so i'm going to really refine

this drawing but very loosely with a

thick pen such as this sign pen

and what this is all about is creating

an iterative process where we draw very

loosely and refine the drawing over a

series of layers on trace paper

[Music]

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so now that i've created a series of

iterative design concepts and trace

overs i can now refine the design

and the way i like to do that is with a

colored pencil

so for this trace layer i like to use

red for hardscape which is anything that

is constructed such as concrete paving

tiles

gravel and i like to use green colored

pencil for softscape such as trees

shrubs ground cover mulch

anything that is either living or that

you don't walk on would be considered

softscape and these really help me in

this process because they differentiate

the two materials because i render them

differently and they also help me trace

with my black pen over it because

they're a different color which helps

distinguish it another great thing about

the two colored pencils is that it helps

you visualize the balance between

hardscape and softscape which is really

important in design because you want it

to be a very balanced and

symbiotic relationship between the two

because they're both equally important

elements in a landscape design

that's now that we have all the

line for the hardscape and planting

material

we're going to move on to the next step

in creating our final line drawing

with a

fine line pen

and then beyond that we'll start the

color rendering

[Music]

foreign

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