Sustainable Impact
Playing with contrasts and proportions creates a compelling garden design.
Should the garden echo the house? Not necessarily. When it does, the overall composition risks falling flat. Far more compelling is a design that honors the building's architectural vocabulary while introducing distinct, independent elements. "The real magic happens when you blend the house's formal architectural language with a free, rhythmic approach to the landscape," explains Peter Berg, owner of GartenLandschaft & Co., who designed the outdoor spaces surrounding this striking, almost futuristic residence.
The home's defining feature is its rounded corners—a detail echoed in the lawn edges and terrace design. Each stone was carefully templated and cut to specification at the natural stone workshop. "Close to the house, we maintained a structured approach," Berg notes. "As you move outward, the design becomes progressively freer, creating a seamless transition to the landscape." Beyond contrasts, scale and proportion are essential tools for generating visual interest. Berg meticulously calibrates plant relationships from the start, employing trees and shrubs of varying heights to establish a rhythmic, dynamic composition. These larger plantings serve a dual purpose: they provide essential privacy while functioning as living screens. Pruned in the Japanese style to remain semi-transparent, they allow ample light to reach lower plantings while creating striking patterns of light and shadow that amplify the sense of depth and spaciousness. There's an added bonus: large woody plants deliver exceptional ecological value, making them a smart choice for sustainable design. The same orchestral approach governs the stonework—large, medium, and small stones working in concert. The large stones are particularly prized: they require minimal maintenance and, with their presence as natural outcroppings, introduce calm into the garden. Notably, all stone settings are laid without concrete, a choice that aligns with both environmental responsibility and the firm's commitment to creating an authentically natural aesthetic.
Photography Credits:
Ferdinand Graf Luckner
www.graf-luckner.de
(Published in CUBE Cologne Bonn 03|23)
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