Dune Hai draws influence from artifacts, heritage, fashion and culture with an inherent responsibility to sustainable practices.

WOU-KI & FRANKENTHALER

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Abstract expressionism is the painting equivalent of the phenomenons present in nature: splashes of color, the gesture of the human body and the primal painting of artistic emotion can be reminiscent to the intensity of after-rain sunsets or the water’s edge at low tide. Abstract expressionist’s use of paint and form on the canvas are both organic and controlled with highly sophisticated color palettes, immersive compositions and unexpected play with negative space. This style of painting, we argue, represents ‘nature’ in its controlled wildness, and deeply influences our way of planting design. Abstract expressionists like Zao Wou-Ki, who studied painting in China before moving to France at the age of 27, plays in that liminal space of familiar but completely new. His abstracted color stories feel three-dimensional in their dark to light color value and one can almost read them as depicting a scene of ethereal moments in the landscape. Wou-Ki’s brash (in a good way) linework and color palettes hold an embodied energy that we feel also exists in planting design. When you study a Wou-Ki, the colors and evident movements in brush strokes, could be mistaken for completely organic or uncontrolled. However, and in the same way we approach our planting design, that looseness and energy is highly researched and purposefully composed. Helen Frankenthaler, a well-known 20th-century American artist takes a different approach by controlling the chaos and introducing a level of restraint as colors wash over her large-scale canvases. Frankenthaler’s paintings, many of which as mentioned are large in human-scale, contrastingly portray a subject of paintings that feels more zoomed-in. As if a microscopic moment, or to us a smaller group of plantings, is blown up to be studied and celebrated; [the plant grouping] is as important as some larger scene of a whole. The power of her work, for us, lies in the exciting juxtapositions of form and color on the canvas and the bleeding of one color to the next. Can we use these principles in planting design? Yes! And we do.

Artwork: Helen Frankenthaler's 'Flood' in 'Abstract Climates' 1967

Pope Valley

CONTEMPORARY ORNAMENTATION

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Ornamentation is a collection of symbols, icons and forms. All art, design and landscapes are products of the society and culture that produced them. Putting a historical perspective on contemporary landscape allows us to honor multiple heritages and traditions. Ornamentation in a contemporary application is still about telling a story or alluding to principles just as it has historically served as allegory in ancient edifices and art. In its contemporary application, we believe ornamentation is best when bold and simple. To Dune Hai, ornamentation is super important to telling the story of a garden or space even when done in its contemporary fashion: strong yet restrained. We like to employ the tool of ornamentation to honor or serve a garden’s narrative or purpose. To us, this combination of bold and simple ornamentation is best when representing simplicity and a language of regional connectivity through natural materials.

Photo Credit: Serpentine block photographed by Caitlin Atkinson

Serpentine

Burle in Eagle Rock

LAND ART

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A deep and still evolving artistic movement studied through Western artists like Robert Smithson, Christo and Jean Claude, Andy Goldsworthy, and Maya Lin. The movement hopscotches in and out of landscape architecture and garden design. Where function ends and where art begins is the fine line that landscape architects play in every project. So here, we will define the qualities often associated with land art in its essence that Dune Hai sees as the most ripe to introduce into spaces for people. 1) Awe 2) Site-specificity 3) Celebration of ephemerality/seasonality 4) Unexpected juxtaposition 5) Documentation.

Andy Goldsworthy Storm King Wall, 1997–98

Serpentine

MUGHAL MINIATURES

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Rich in context, depth of culture, symbolism in the garden abound.

Artwork: Krishna and the Gopas (Cow Herders) Enter the Forest, Possibly by Kota Master A from Mughal Miniatures by J.M Rogers

Landscape in Relief

Lo-Fi

THE GARDEN STEP

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An extremely underrated feature…the garden step. This humble element is an important portal between previously untraversable spaces. We like to envision the stairway, this portal, as an experience in and of itself. In a Dune Hai garden it’s about cultivating a dreamy daze of walking up or down a set of wooden risers to a whole new planted world.

Landscape in Relief, photographed by Caitlin Atkinson

Garden Mythos

MULCH

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Any gardener can tell you, It's not a revolutionary idea to argue in favor of mulch. The garden benefits are many and undisputed, soil health, bug health, plant health, weed protection, moisture retention… the list goes on. We are trying to bring this wonderful material into the spotlight as a design tool and use less materials that tread heavily on the earth. We like how mulch is soft underfoot, decomposes and can be replenished easily, is lightweight both physically and in its impact on the environment.

Turkey Road (growing in)

Landscape in Relief

MARIGOLDS

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A symbol, a healer, a culturally intense plant specimen to transport the mind and soul across time, region and the afterlife. It is in this fall season, the Cempasuchil aka the Marigold aka Gande ka Phool has it's last blooms in areas with cool winters and hard frosts. There is so much to be said about the cultural significance of this plant. A native Aztec cultivar of medicinal and religious significance with an origin story describing true love gets named "Mary's gold" by Christian colonialists. It is brought to South Asia during the Colombian Exchange to replace another Tagetes species as the plant of choice for festivals, marriages and religious ceremonies. A solid seasonal outro is given to the flowers as people of Mexican heritage celebrate Dia de los Muertos and their ofrendas are adorned to honor those in the afterlife. It seems that across time, history and region, everyone who has looked at this flower has seen something powerful. To us, this richness is somehow physical and can be felt when we plant this plant in gardens. It is a portal that connects the garden to all of these emotions, memories and futures.

Marigolds at Landscape in Relief, Photographed by Caitlin Atkinson

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SUMMER SENSATIONS

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Garden sensations occupy our thoughts this and every summer: the sun hot on your skin, juicy fruits and the deep scents of perfumed plants waft in every breeze. It is no secret that it is during this luscious time, the garden truly communicates. We are building gardens to heighten this experience as it so desperately occurs in our native environments. Building the sensorial experience is a careful meditation on lifestyle enhanced through design: Water trickling to mark a sense of arrival, or the smell of a chamomile groundcover crushed under your sandals as you walk out to sit in the sun or the rows of berries to welcome you home after a long day. Delving into a summer relationship with your garden will turn a summer into a lifelong connection.

Artwork: Garden Gathering, Iran (1640–50)

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Dune Hai draws influence from artifacts, heritage, fashion and culture with an inherent responsibility to sustainable practices.

Learn more about our design process, or reach out to work with us.