Feature

Retaining Walls

Contemporary kitchen garden with stone paths, raised planting beds, sheltered working area, and a mature courtyard tree.

Journal Article

The Architecture of the Kitchen Garden: Paths, Beds, Water, and Seasonal Space

A kitchen garden is an outdoor room shaped by paths, growing beds, sunlight, water, and the rituals of daily tending. Exploring compact herb courts, walled productive gardens, and terraced planting, this essay examines how spatial planning, durable details, and seasonal change make cultivation both practical and architecturally rewarding.

Contemporary hillside residence stepping through planted terraces and stone retaining walls above a broad landscape view.

Journal Article

Building Into the Slope: Terraces, Retaining Walls, and Topographic Continuity

Sloped sites become most compelling when architecture follows the land instead of erasing it. This essay examines how sectional planning, terraces, retaining walls, drainage, circulation, planting, foundations, and pool placement can transform grade change into spatial richness while preserving access, comfort, durability, and a convincing relationship between house and terrain.