andrea cochran: landscapes
DESCRIPTION
"Studies in repetition and order, orchestrations of movement in the landscape, and elements placed in geometric conversation," is how author Mary Myers describes the twenty-five-year career of San Francisco-based landscape architect Andrea Cochran. Poetic language suits these functional and often lyrical works of art. They are sensuous, captivating oases that absorb the eye in a totality of spatial composition.TRANSCRIPT
Andrea Cochran: Landscapes
Mary Myers Foreword by Henry Urbach
Princeton Architectural Press
New York
Published by
Princeton Architectural Press
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Editor: Laurie Manfra
Designer: Jan Haux
Special thanks to: Nettie Aljian, Sara Bader, Nicola Bednarek, Janet
Behning, Becca Casbon, Carina Cha, Penny (Yuen Pik) Chu, Russell
Fernandez, Pete Fitzpatrick, Wendy Fuller, Clare Jacobson, Aileen
Kwun, Nancy Eklund Later, Linda Lee, Aaron Lim, John Myers,
Katharine Myers, Lauren Nelson Packard, Jennifer Thompson, Paul
Wagner, Joseph Weston, and Deb Wood of Princeton Architectural
Press —Kevin C. Lippert, publisher
Front cover image by Vicky Sambunaris
Back cover image by Marion Brenner
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Myers, Mary, 1952-
Andrea Cochran : landscapes / by Mary Myers ; foreword by Henry
Urbach. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-56898-812-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Landscape architecture —Unites States. 2. Cochran, Andrea.
I. Cochran, Andrea. II. Title. III. Title: Landscapes.
SB469.33.M94 2009
712.092--dc22
2008040538
CoNTENTS
FoREWoRD
Henry Urbach
INTENTIoNAL LANDSCAPES:
THE DESIgNS oF ANDREA CoCHRAN
Mary Myers
7
9
PRoJECTS
Walden Studios
Brookvale Residence
Children’s garden
Perry Residence
Curran House
Hayes Valley Roof garden
Ward Residence
Portland Art Museum
Ross Residence
Peninsula Residence
Stone Edge Vineyard
30
44
56
66
78
88
98
110
120
130
142
Acknowledgments
Appendix A: Plant Index
Appendix B: Materials Index
Project Credits
Selected Bibliography
Image Credits
Staff Members, 1998–2008
164
167
170
183
187
190
192
WALDEN STUDIoS
Location: Alexander Valley, California
Site area: 6 acres
Completion date: 2007
Cochran finds raw beauty in agricultural landscapes where the purposeful arrangement of a few
simple materials conveys a sense of order. Soil, grapevines, and trees are the essential elements
of the Alexander Valley, where Walden Studios is sited. Stone terraces lift the garden above the
floodplain. Conceived as plinths and carved as bas-relief-like planes, the terraces appear to pivot
around the fulcrum of the existing building, formerly a prune packinghouse. The property was
purchased with the intention of creating a studio for artists in residence to develop and display
their work. The terraces include an outdoor dining area, reception space for art openings, and a
bocce ball court.
The experience of pure geometric space is heightened by a reductionist palette: stone,
steel, gravel, lawn, and trees. Shrubs and other middle-height plants are eschewed. Instead,
plinths floating bargelike above the vineyard emphasize the ground plane, while stonewalls
contain carpets of lawn or gravel. Views are generally open and responsive to the external valley-
foothill vista. Carefully placed rubble at the base of the walls appears animated, like breaking
waves. The horizontality of the composition is balanced by the strategic placement of trees. great
gnarled olives, positioned at the corners, anchor the rectangular spaces. Their organic contorted
forms contrast with the terraces’ geometry and the regularity of distant vineyards. A bosque of
pear trees hearkens to the days when the valley was replete with orchards. Their autumn color and
spring blossoms bring a sense of ephemerality and change to an otherwise timeless landscape.
PLANTS
Beschorneria yuccoides
Festuca mairei
Furcraea foetida
Morus alba ‘Fruitless’
Muhlenbergia lindheimeri
Olea europaea ‘Sevillano’
Parthenocissus tricuspidata
Platanus x acerifolia ‘Bloodgood’
Pyrus calleryana ‘Aristocrat’
Pyrus fauriei ‘Korean Sun’
Stipa gigantea
BRooKVALE RESIDENCE
Location: Hillsborough, California
Site area: ¾ acre
Completion date: 2003
In the Brookvale Residence, a series of thoughtfully considered gestures orchestrate movement
through the landscape. The visitor’s journey begins with a sense of disorientation, as the predictable
suburban environs are left behind with the click of the garden door. You meander up an entry path,
through blocks of densely planted horsetail. Tall reedy stems surround you, obscuring views of
the arrival courtyard and front door. Cochran’s intent was to create a mazelike experience, where
you must find, almost feel, your way to the destination, focusing closely on the smooth white
pavement underfoot and brushing against the dark upright plants. Unaware of being led by the
path, you arrive at a small courtyard planted with Japanese maples, the heart of the interior, to
find water bubbling up through a cube of cool limestone. The courtyard’s height and depth are
roughly equal, resulting in a calmly reassuring space, like the rooms of a Palladian villa.
The datum of the house is set by the elevation of the courtyard and extends outward,
encompassing the large pool terrace, which floats approximately twenty inches above grade. By
holding the exterior terrace at this consistent elevation, the viewer is positioned high enough to
see into the distance, eclipsing views of the middle ground and capturing views of the neighboring
golf course.
The design eliminates the need for steps between the front entry, courtyard, and pool
terrace. A gently sloping path and the repetition of limestone pavement inside and outside of the
house result in a seamless integration of interior and exterior. The easy flow allows attention to
focus on the sensory and compositional aspects of the garden. The journey prompts an unusual
sequence of feelings: disorientation, calm, and finally, meditative absorption in the distant
prospect seen from the terrace.
PLANTS
Acer palmatum
Anemone x hybrida
Chimonobambusa quadrangularis
Cyperus papyrus
Equisetum hyemale
Euphorbia amygdaloides ‘Mrs. Robb’s bonnet’
Ginkgo biloba ‘Fairmont’
Hakonechloa macra
Helleborus argutifolius
Juncus patens
Lonicera hildebrandiana
Magnolia x soulangeana
Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’
Miscanthus transmorrisonensis
Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’
Phormium tenax ‘Atropurpureum’
Phyllostachys nigra
Pleioblastus pygmaea
Quercus agrifolia
Zelkova Serrata
opposite: The pool terrace was designed to preserve the existing oak tree.