There are numerous studies that demonstrate the healing properties of nature and landscaping. “Views of a Courtyard Affect Recovery Time” by Roger Ulric, for example, provides empirical evidence that views of landscapes, as opposed to views of barren space, benefits hospital patients by decreasing their recovery time, decreasing the need for pain medications, and more. Awareness of this effect and the holistic welfare of patients are engrained into the culture of Sharp Healthcare in San Diego, California. Yet, the new hospital wing at Sharp Memorial created views from patient rooms to a barren emergency room rooftop. Their response was to commission the design of a green roof to create a more pleasant view from patients’ rooms; our firm was lucky enough to be selected for this project.

In response to the linear nature of the space and the fact that the roof is not be accessible to patients (instead they will look down onto the space from their rooms), we decided to depict a staff of music as our design theme, and let both landscape and music be our inspiration. We utilized Trex composite lumber for the frames and large planters to depict both treble and bass notes. After quite a bit of research we selected the first few bars of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony “Ode to Joy” as our inspiration. The ode, written in 1785 by German poet Friedrich Schiller, is “celebrating the brotherhood and unity of all mankind”. It was put to music by Ludwig van Beethoven as the final movement of his Ninth Symphony in 1824.

Soon after the roof garden’s installation, a seriously injured woman was wheeled to her room’s window as she began to regain her strength. She looked down at the green roof and with a smile said, “That’s ‘Ode to Joy’; did they put that there for me?” This was a very gratifying story for us to hear. As it turns out, she is a retired music teacher.

Attached is a story from NBC San Diego focusing on one patient’s reaction to the green roof at Sharp Memorial Hospital.

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How can we communicate to the general public the benefits of quality design within outdoor environments, as well as the environmental benefits of green infrastructure? The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has taken on the task of spreading that message with an installation called the “Ten Tree Project”. The concept is to place ten large boxed shade trees into a configuration that encourages social interaction and human comfort. Installed in an underutilized urban plaza or open space, the ten trees are placed in a rectangular configuration and then left alone with ten movable chairs.

This part public art, part promotional project was first installed in an open plaza at Cuyamaca Community College in San Diego in May 2011. Within fifteen minutes of installation, students were clustered under the shade of the trees on that warm day. Since that time, the space created by the trees has been heavily used by students and faculty to take a break, read, study, relax, and socialize. The transformation of the plaza was impressive.

The trees are scheduled to be moved in early July 2011 to the University of California San Diego campus. In the fall of 2011, it is the intent of ASLA San Diego to install the project in downtown San Diego to celebrate the ASLA Annual Meeting & Expo that will take place at the San Diego Convention Center (October 30 – November 2, 2011).

In 2007, the Cardiff Botanical Society funded and commissioned a bronze sculpture of a surfer to be located near the ocean in Cardiff by the Sea in north San Diego County. The piece by Mathew Antichevich of Hemet is called “Magic Carpet Ride”. As soon as the Cardiff Botanical Society proudly unveiled the sculpture, they were faced with a negative reaction and heavy criticism from local surfers and residents. The distaste for the sculpture was widespread with most feeling that the sculpture does not adequately represent surfers and the rich history of surfing.

The public criticized the feminine body type and awkward pose which they didn’t think it represented the grace, strength, and endurance that surfing requires. They also criticized the artist for not using a local surfer as his model. In playful retaliation, locals began playing late night pranks on the statue, dressing it in bikinis, dresses, and other adornments. They nicknamed the sculpture the “Cardiff Kook”. Kook being a less than flattering surf jargon name for a beginner surfer. The anger and criticism was significant for some time.

But what has happened over the course of several years is that the sculpture has actually become a focal point for whimsy and delight. Locals express themselves by adorning the sculpture for every occasion. An elf suit for Christmas, a wedding dress for the royal wedding, in pink for breast cancer find a cure, and a pumpkin head for Halloween, to name just a few.

Probably the most heralded spoof was when a giant paper mache shark appeared to rise up to swallow the surfer. Pictures of the giant shark made national news publications and attracted hundreds of visitors each day it was left up for viewing. I’m sure Mr. Antichevich and the Cardiff Botanical Society hoped that his work would delight and inspire in other ways. But the art piece has had a significant positive impact on the sense of community in this coastal town. It delights people far more as the Cardiff Kook than it ever could as “Magic Carpet Ride”.

I would say that in this case bad art is actually a good thing…a very good thing.

Long live the Cardiff Kook!

Graphic Designer Ron Miriello (www.miriellografico.com) has a unique perspective on practicing Graphic Design in both the United States and Italy. In a recent Pecha Kucha talk in San Diego, Ron made an interesting observation regarding how we treat our designers and craftsmen in the United States. In Italy, he shared, the artisans, craftsmen, graphic designers, and architects are all artists. The formal preoccupation with titles and labels doesn’t exist as it does in the States. Here we feel the need to put a label and/or title on a landscape architect, architect, or graphic designer and that is his role, never to be confused with an artist. But I often struggle with this and ask the question, “Can great landscape architecture also be considered good public art?” And conversely, “When is good art in the landscape a great piece of landscape architecture?”

To illustrate this point, let’s compare three works of artful designs in the landscape:

All of these are beautifully detailed and artful designs; which do you think were created by a public artist and which by a landscape architect?

The answers: Museum of Modern Art Roof Garden, New York, Ken Smith, Landscape Architect; The Grand Canal, Dublin, Martha Schwartz, Landscape Architect; Los Angeles County Museum of Art Palm Garden, Los Angeles, Robert Irwin, Public Artist.

There are obstacles and turf battles to overcome, but I suggest that we take a look at our friends in Europe and place less emphasis on our titles. If we allow the line between ART and DESIGN to blur more readily, we might find that perspective would enrich our world.

Superman’s secret identity, Clark Kent, was an unassuming, often awkward reporter.  No one suspected him as having the power to leap large buildings in a single bound, bend steel, or save the world.  Like Clark, landscape architects have been quietly working behind the scenes, invisible to many.  Times have changed, though, and landscape architects are emerging to become more evident.  “Whether it is designing the green infrastructure to help mitigate climate change, improving water quality, reducing the effects of Urban Heat Island, creating opportunities to connect with nature, or improving health and welfare in the way in which our communities and open space are designed, landscape architects are there.”  This is a poignant message from current American Society of Landscape Architect (ASLA) national president, John Mueller.  John’s theme for the upcoming ASLA Annual Meeting in San Diego is Landscape Architecture Rising, Knowledge – Vision – Leadership.  We join John’s excitement to be a part of the profession that truly is saving our world.

Attached are two related videos, one of Glen Schmidt’s live Pecha Kucha presentation on this topic, and the other is a lighthearted interview with Glen on the NBC 7/39 San Diego morning news.

Welcome to the Schmidt Design Group’s blog, Groundswell.

Definitions of Groundswell include:

• A broad deep undulation of the ocean caused by an often distant gale
• A strong public feeling or opinion that is detectable even though not openly expressed

The speed of change in our world has never been greater as large, often spontaneous, groups of people come together through the web to share knowledge, information, commerce, and ideas.  Groundswell is our small role in this renaissance of communication and collaboration.  We look forward to sharing our ideas and thoughts mostly (but not always) on landscape architecture, design, the environment, and art.  We welcome your thoughts and ideas.