Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/67357
Haute Property news, stArs, And trends in reAl estAte A stone-wrapped saline lap pool by Aspen's Bluegreen echoes the serene surroundings. natural reflection "W ater is the voice of the garden." With that simple thought, Kirk Alexander sums up one of the foremost trends in landscape architecture in and around Aspen—water features. "The sound of water is everything," he explains. "What you're trying to achieve is idealized nature, fantasy, and bringing those elements that are memorable from nature into your own garden." Alexander, a Carbondale-based landscape architect by trade and an art- ist-sculptor by instinct (kirkalexander.net), believes that when it comes to incorporating water into a garden, anything goes. "A garden is an open place of expression," he says. "You can create a waterfall with boulders, or build a natural watercourse or pond. You can build fountains or birdbaths from simple sculptural pieces. There's no real controlling factor other than bud- MESMERIZING WATER FEATURES ENHANCE THE BEAUTY OF ASPEN'S LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE. by linda hayes get, and keeping it believable." Brian Judge, who recently brought to Aspen his architecture and plan- ning firm, Judge + Associates ( judge-associates.com), took the concept of water as a natural sound element to extremes. His clients wanted to engage their sloping home-site in a creative way. "The home was fashioned after the great architecture of national parks, with massive stonework and over- size timber," he says. "The underlying premise of the architecture was to create light interaction and noise." Light was achieved by pulling sections of the house up out of the site, which allowed for additional windows; noise by the creation of a dramatic, 75-foot- long, moss rock streamway, complete with an eight-foot-tall waterfall that rushes loudly between the sections and under a series of bridges. Impressive contined on page 140 aspenpeak-magazine.com 139