Modern fountain in Mission Hills

Just in case my love of clean lines isn't entirely obvious at this point, I just have to say that I love this fountain feature! I love the intersection of planes from the tall wall, ground plane, and basin. I like that the moving water, the fountain part of the fountain, is dwarfed by the wall, but the sound still dances around the courtyard. I like the mix of rock sizes in the planters from small gravels to medium sized river cobble. I like the restraint of a single species of plant material (Aeonium 'Zwartzkoff' and please don't quote me on the spelling of that).

This is in a central courtyard of a lovely mixed use building that occupies the entire block of Washington and Goldfinch in Mission Hills. I don't know who the designer is, but if anyone does, please let me know! If you'd like to see it for yourself, you can't see it from the street. You'll have to walk into the courtyard. While you are there, take a look around at the other fabulous plantings!

Fire pits: thinking outside the [fire]box

It is very easy to get sick of seeing the same-old same-old fire pits over and over again. They look like the smaller fire pit photo (left) and they work just fine but they are so dull! Can't we look outside the box a bit more for inspiration?

The fire pit below is a simple indentation filled with rock chips (remember to be careful picking this material- some rocks explode when you expose them to high heat) and the back of it is a panel of CorTen steel with a lazer-etched design of a tree. It would be a great way to reflect the heat into the sitting area. Now, this picture actually isn't real- it is a computer rendering- but as a design concept I like it a lot. What do you think?