Water & Space

A Family’s Space for Outdoor Living in Media, PA

Chris Volk worked with the Cilli family to develop a luxury outdoor living space at their home in Media, PA where the focus is water. “When we started looking for an opportunity to spread out,” Darryl Cilli said, “we knew it wouldn’t be easy, but it had to be in Media.” The town they’d called […]

How Modern Art Brought Us Today’s Hottest Pool Designs

Modern style is the hottest design trend in swimming pools and outdoor living spaces. It’s a style with deep roots in Twentieth Century Modern art. You can see how Henri Matisse contributed to the development and spread this modern style in three museum visits: “The Dance” (1933) at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, “The Swimming […]

5 Steps to Make a Swimming Pool a Luxury Pool

How do you achieve that ultimate value—the luxury pool effect. In previous articles we’ve looked at the well documented benefits—physical, mental, social and spiritual—that water and swimming pools bring into a home. These health benefits—along with the fun, relaxation, and enjoyment—can add up to what I call a “Luxury Pool Effect.” The feel of luxury […]

Connect the Dots to Achieve Unity in Your Landscape Design

This 6th principle of landscape architecture poses a question you need to ask early and often. The Principle of Unity can seem terribly abstract, but it’s really one simple question: Did you connect all the dots in your design? How does your design hang together? This is the question you don’t want to start asking […]

Design for Movement in Your Outdoor Living Space

Eyes move, minds move, and people enter the flow of space. Pools, buildings, and landscapes seem so firmly anchored to the earth that Movement—the fifth of our Six Principles of landscape and architectural design—can be hard to comprehend. Even when you don’t consciously see architectural movement, however, you’ll sense its presence, and you’ll likely find […]

Rhythm Brings Order to Your Outdoor Space

How Landscape and Architecture Set the Tempo in Space Much as Emphasis sets the stage and brings focus to your WaterSpace, Rhythm—the fourth of Six Principles of Design—helps to coordinate all the pieces. Rhythm provides an underlying tempo that people sense. Without rhythm the world around is chaos. Space as a place of comfort and […]

How Emphasis Sets the Scene for a Large Country WaterSpace

Emphasis: Setting the Stage for Outdoor Entertaining You feel the good mood approaching as you enter the covered porch at the rear of this country home. Whether you’ve arrived for a daytime pool party or an evening dinner, you’ll likely be greeted by enticing aromas rising from the food prep area—set below ground level so […]

The Art of Emphasis: How Focus Adds Appeal to Your Outdoor Living Space

Emphasis: It’s like creating a stage for the stars of your WaterSpace Design. If you’ve recently sold or read about selling a house, you’re probably familiar with the growing use of professional staging to lift a property’s value. The secret of staging rests in part on the art of Emphasis, the third of the six […]

Whisper and Shout: Use Contrast to Add Interest to Your WaterSpace Design

Things get livelier when you add contrast to your outdoor living design Wherever you add an unexpected change in color, or shape, size, or texture, you’ve got contrast. In this article on the second principle of architectural and landscape design, we’ll look at how contrast helps us achieve that delicate dance between the comforts of […]

Keep Your Balance: the First Principle of Good WaterSpace Design

Use balance to pull together all the elements in your outdoor living space Just as we can’t stand erect without balance, humans can’t stand an environment lacking a sense of balance. Like our physical balance, we don’t consciously notice balance in built spaces. Until it’s missing. Then it may be too late. Balance in 3-Dimensions […]