Looking to nature for inspiration

A discussion on Garden Web about water feature trends got me thinking what exactly is it that makes a well designed water feature?

I remember Lawrence Halprin from my days in landscape architecture school ... I was impressed by the 100’s of sketchbooks he had filled over the years. Of particular interest to me were his sketch studies of waterfalls, creeks, plunge pools, eddies and other water shapes in mountain creeks and rivers ... he spent countless hours studying the way water acts naturally so he could design the urban concrete fountains for which he is known. Some of my favorites are Lovejoy Plaza and the Ira Keller Fountain in Portland, Oregon and Freeway Park in Seattle. In Washington DC, the FDR Memorial waterfalls are well used. You pretty much have to have studied the natural flow of water to make convincing monumental artificial falls like these, also at the FDR Memorial.

Halprin is by no means the only architect/landscape architect or designer noted for beautiful, appropriate and celebrated water features. But he is one who influenced me, influenced the way I design and the way I look to nature for guidance, for ideas, for inspiration.