All images and captions courtesy Kimberly Turner and W.W.Norton

A landscape architect’s charge, according to the American Society of Landscape Architects, is the stewardship, wise planning, and artful design of our cultural and natural environments. As students budding landscape architects are taught the practices of principles such as drainage, grading and spatial relationships. But what the training is most lacking is horticulture or the practice of growing plants. To draw a parallel, architects are taught about structure and building systems such as water and HVAC, but the average architect took only one materials course in school. Just as there are many books today which teach architects the fundamentals of materials, Botany for Designers demonstrates basic horticultural practices for the landscape architect.

Vertical gardens can greatly improve the aesthetics and environmental quality of the built environment.

Hydrangea help soften and define hard architectural edges

Plants are the basic elements making up any landscape design. They frame, enhance, and have spatial relationships with the structures around them.  But unlike other materials designers use, they are also living organisms, which have specific, ongoing biological needs for nourishment and environmental support.  Unlike structures, plants don’t just “age” in a landscape, they mature and grow!  Healthy, thriving plants enhance any design.  But when conceptualizing a design, how much do we really understand or consider what these living organisms need to continue to grow and function, from the ground up?

Roofs require careful plant selection. Photo by Laura Knosp

Thanks to Kimberly Duffy Turner, there is now a go-to guide. After years of teaching and being disappointed by the content of any available textbook, Turner (a Boston-based landscape architect and horticulturist) took it upon herself to create the text she was searching for.  Her new book, Botany for Designers: A Practical Guide for Landscape Architects and Other Professionals, provides a Botany 101 course in and of itself.  The book equips the reader to be both a more informed landscape designer and an effective planting designer.  Not only does it cover everything from plant fundamentals and biology, to characteristics of plants—shape, pigment, texture, fragrance, height, etc—to spatial relationships, drainage and maintenance, its clearly structured chapters and handy appendixes of Greek and Latin names and plant palettes mean it can also be used as an on-the-job handbook.   

Sculptural plants become focal points in the landscape. Photo by Timothy Sheehan

A chapter about green design covers the most current trends, such as urban, roof and vertical gardening, and harvesting rainwater, and then addresses issues facing landscape designers, such as LEED certification, environmental problems with plants and open space, and biomimicry.  With a kaleidoscope of green material options available to the designer, Turner discusses how to make sensitive, sustainable choices that respect and maintain natural cycles, and minimize the depletion of resources and habitat.

Turner has written a highly accessible book that could be used by any design professional or even a layperson, to better understand basic horticulture. With over 150 color photographs and schematic drawings, Botany for Designers is as attractive as it is informative.  Thanks to this book, designers understanding and working with plants can maintain a beautiful, sustainable partnership!

A wall of chevron printed heavyweight cotton upholstery fabrics at Mood Designer Fabrics in New York. Photo courtesy Julie Sandy

Chevrons, Zig Zags and Flame patterns. Do you know the difference?

Thanks to Missoni for Target zigzags have given the trusted, tried and true stripe new life. But not every up-and-down pattern is a zigzag. People use words like chevron and flame. Let’s clear the confusion.

A chevron is a single motif comprised of two slanting lines resembling an upright V or an inverted V. The word chevron comes from Old French and was originally used to identify what we know as a rafter, or where two beams of a roof meet at an angle. Single chevrons are common to heraldic and military insignia.

Swatches of Missoni-esque zigzags from New York Elegant Fabrics. Photo courtesy Julie Sandy

The word is sometimes mistakenly applied to running lines or bands of repeated chevrons. Running bands of chevrons may be called zigzag or flame. Let’s examine these two a little closer.

The word zigzag means having short sharp turns or angles. The letter “z” is itself a zigzag.  A zigzag pattern can be described as a line or band of multiple, connected chevrons. While the exact origin of the word zigzag is unknown it is theorized that it was derived from the reduplication of the German word Zacke meaning tooth or prong.

Two examples of Florentine Bargello stitch patterns. On top is a typical curved stitch, below the “flame stitch” seen on the Bargello palace chairs. Photo courtesy Wikipedia

The term “flame” to describe a decorative motif originated in the practice of needlepoint embroidery. Bargello is a type of needlepoint embroidery technique which employs upright flat stitches which are laid in a mathematical pattern to create motifs. It is commonly thought that the name originates from a series of chairs found in the Bargello palace in Florence, which have a “flame stitch” pattern. While a Bargello pattern may be in a wavy or zigzag pattern when gradient or multiple colors are used it is considered a flame pattern.  For an interesting vintage video showing how to do a Bargello embroidery stitch on go-go boots—from a 1971 episode of Erica Wilson’s  self-named TV show—check out this recent post on Retro Renovation:

Retro Renovation - Erica Wilson

Chevron, zigzag or flame – use any you like! You’ll be spot-on-trend!

Missoni for Target rejuvenated the zigzag fashion trend—shown here are some other products following their example. Photo courtesy Jennifer Rice from www.theprimpandproper.com

Giorgio di Sant’Angelo, ensemble, cotton, suede, shell, feathers, 1968, USA, gift of Marina Schiano. Photograph ©The Museum at FIT.

Get your go-go boots it’s Youthquake! at The Museum at FIT  fitnyc

When did street culture become high fashion? When did youth dictate what the older folks would wear? In the 1960s! The British Invasion was happening and they brought more than music with them. This was the birth of a new “mod” style which included fashion and culture. This was the decade defined by the ascendance of young people – who were warning each other not to trust anyone over 30 – as a political, social, and aesthetic force. The term Youthquake was coined in 1963 by Diana Vreeland who was the editor-in-chief of Vogue at that time.

What were they wearing? Tailored little dresses with rising hemlines executed in bold geometric shapes of two vivid colors. Dark glasses and tight tailored suits with porkpie hats. Dayglo and metallic fabrics.

John Stephen, man’s shirt, printed cotton, circa 1965, England, gift of Valerie Steele. Photograph ©The Museum at FIT.

Youthquake was a 1960s fashion, musical and cultural movement.London was the center of this movement. Teenagers dominated the fashion and music scene and their fashions were fun, energetic, and more revealing. Think miniskirts and jumpsuits and the designs of Mary Quant and Betsey Johnson. Icons of youthquake fashion include Jean Shrimpton, Twiggy, Penelope Tree, Veruschka, and Andy Warhol’s favorite muse Edie Sedgwick.

Dress with photograph of Bob Dylan by Harry Gordon, paper, black ink, 1968, England, gift of Estelle Ellis. Photograph ©The Museum at FIT.

In London, young shoppers began flocking to the new fashion boutiques that energetic, equally young designers seemed to be opening almost daily. A powerful consumer class was starting to take shape, and similar boutiques began opening internationally. Some of the designers whose garments were sold in these shops began developing lower-priced specialty lines in order to reach a broader audience.

Regardless of which youth group was redefining fashion at the moment – the early 1960s Mods or the Hippies later in the decade – their styles were quickly appropriated by mass marketers and couturiers alike. Mass producers made affordable versions of the new designs and hired young celebrities to sell them. The exuberance of youthquake fashions also found expression in the work of forward-thinking couturiers. Designers such as Yves Saint Laurent began producing ready-to-wear lines that helped to ensure their fiscal survival. And as the decade drew to a close, the Mod style ceded to that of the Hippies, who, in accordance with their anti-consumerist beliefs, championed shopping at thrift stores. Nonetheless, Hippie style was quickly commodified, marketed, and sold at various price points.

Paraphernalia, dress, copper lamé knit, circa 1967, USA, gift of Mrs. Ulrich Franzen. Photograph ©The Museum at FIT.

Trimfit, tights “inspired by Twiggy” in original packaging, nylon, paper, 1967-68, USA, gift of Dorothy T. Globus. Photograph ©The Museum at FIT.Paraphernalia, dress, copper lamé knit, circa 1967, USA, gift of Mrs. Ulrich Franzen. Photograph ©The Museum at FIT.

Youthquake! The 1960s Fashion Revolution features clothing and accessories from cutting-edge boutique and mass-market labels, as well as high fashion ready-to-wear and couture. Featuring over 30 garments, accessories, videos, and other related media, the exhibition will show you exactly how much fashion has changed …and exactly how much it hasn’t. This show will be a guaranteed good time!