Foreword by catherine wagner chapter 1‎:‎ urban play‎:‎ a project from start to finish what does a landscape architect do exactly‎?‎ Here‎,‎ we peel back the finished project‎,‎ which has won several design awards‎,‎ to show the major steps in the making of the garden‎.‎ We start with the clients‎'‎ wishes for an outside play area for their young twin girls that will be visually pleasing when viewed from the living rooms several stories above‎.‎ And the condition of the site‎:‎ an odd‎-shaped and impossibly steep and tilted small plot covered in brambles‎.‎ We present a ‎'‎before‎'‎ picture‎,‎ early drawings‎,‎ problem solving‎,‎ the gradual articulation of the design‎,‎ how the blasens work together‎,‎ choice of fabrication materials‎,‎ planting design‎,‎ the construction period‎,‎ and the final finished garden and how it is used‎,‎ with illustrations throughout‎.‎ Chapter 2‎:‎ gardens‎:‎ from the mountains to the shore this photographic presentation of a dozen gardens is the bulk of the book‎.‎ Some projects are covered in 2 spreads‎;‎ others in 3 spreads‎,‎ one in 5 spreads‎.‎ The gardens range from a city courtyard to a beach garden‎,‎ to an 22‎-acre estate with a california wildflower meadow‎,‎ and an extensive green roof on a herzog & de meuron‎-designed house that‎'‎s set into a natural hillside‎.‎ Some have been published in top design magazines‎;‎ a few particularly exciting new large projects are now being published for the first time‎.‎ Each project is introduced with a‎)‎ descriptions of the garden and how the clients use it‎,‎ and b‎)‎ a paragraph about the planting design and key plants‎.‎ Chapter 3‎:‎ lexicon‎:‎ the blasens‎'‎ aesthetic this chapter‎-‎-an alphabetical list of terms/phrases that appear often in the blasens‎'‎ conversations about their work‎-‎-investigates the blasens‎'‎ aesthetic‎.‎ We hear what they most deeply care about‎,‎ often in their own words‎:‎ for example‎,‎ seamlessness of design‎,‎ color‎,‎ geography‎,‎ lightness‎,‎ plants that thrive where they are‎,‎ rhythmic sequencing of experiences in a garden‎,‎ retaining ‎"‎What already is‎.‎‎"‎ and also their influences in the art‎,‎ design‎,‎ and architecture worlds‎,‎ and what‎'‎s catching their attention right now‎.‎ This collage of fragments builds a fascinating picture of their sensibilities‎,‎ and how they earned the title of ‎"‎The new tastemakers‎"‎ in house and garden magazine‎.‎ Small photographs‎,‎ for many entries‎,‎ give examples‎.‎