Landscape Designs by Norma de Langen

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Acid Zen - A Retro Garden
Ellerslie Flower Show 2003
Gold Award

The brief was to design an outdoor space for a busy working couple - my imaginary couple considered themselves adventurous, were not gardeners and had a deep appreciation for 60's design, in particular the 'Pop Art' movement. Characterised by the use of plastic, "acid" colours and the juxtaposition of geometric shapes, the garden has a definite "retro" feel. A feature of the garden is the vibrant yellow and orange plastic floor panels lit from underneath and the contrast set up by the L-shaped black water trough. Although in terms of colour, not for the faint-hearted, the composition overall is governed by mathematical proportions and relationships intended to convey a sense of harmony and balance to the garden as a whole.

Sanctuary
Ellerslie Flower Show 2003
Bronze Award and Highly Commended for Design Award

Working on the premise that we all need to take time out from our busy lives sometimes, this garden was designed as a "sanctuary". Although each person's idea of a sanctuary might differ, simplicity and subtlety rule with a restrained use of natural materials, plants and monochromatic colour. Features of the garden include the towering black bamboo casting wonderful shadow patterns on the gravel and 3 contemporary water sculptures providing a gentle murmur in the background. A place for the "attainment of a peaceful frame of mind in the transience of the temporal world".

Auckland City Council Exhibit
Ellerslie Flower Show 2003
Silver Award

This was a collaborative design effort with Surendra Dass from Auckland City Council, City Parks Division. A striking feature of the design was the metal "plant sculptures" designed to sway in the breeze.

Garden of Repose - Ellerslie Flower Show 2002
Silver Award

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."
St Matthew, ch. 6, v 9.
Inspired by this quote, I set out to compose a space where one would rest - a retreat where quiet contemplation was encouraged. Deceptively simple in its composition, the colour palette was kept to a minimum and water, with its ability to influence our emotions, was an integral element of the garden.

Courtyard Garden - Ellerslie Flower Show 2001
Gold Award

Composition in Blue, Pink and Green Ellerslie Flower Show 2001 Gold Award This garden was inspired by the works of abstractionist painters, primarily Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg. With their blocks of colour and grid patterns loosely providing a "footprint" for the design, this courtyard garden featured a planter bed where the planting became a floral arrangement in a "sea" of fabric and translucent frosted plastic panels which helped define the space and contrasted the foliage of the planting behind.