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  • LA CES logoContinuing Education

    Four decades ago our founder, Dick Chaix, established the concept of an independent fountain consultant. He had a genuine interest in exchanging ideas with industry professionals and fostered an educational approach to working with clients. Following this philosophy, CMS offers courses registered with LA CES that are designed to share the technical and aesthetic experience we've gained through 30 years of designing architectural water features.


    Our presentations are typically 35 minutes followed by 15 minutes of Q&A and offer one credit hour of continuing education. The New Aesthetic and Engineering of Water in Landscape Design session is a version of the presentation CMS developed for the 2010 National ASLA Meeting. It provides an in-depth discussion concerning the inclusion of water features in your landscape design by considering sustainability that advances Sustainable Sites and LEED credits, overall feasibility, budget, safety and maintenance.

  • LA CES LogoLess is More: New Aesthetics and Engineering of Green Water Features in Architectural Design

    An ASLA-Approved Continuing Education Presentation

    As cultural paradigms shift from flamboyance to conservation and stewardship, water feature designs must adapt to these rediscovered sensibilities. This adaptation may soon be required to justify the building of new water features. Through engaging case studies, theoretical discussions, examination of "living systems", and from an engineering as well as an aesthetic perspective, we will compare water effects in terms of energy and water consumption, light pollution, chemical use and discharge, SITE credits and construction budgets.

    Speaker Biography

    Nadine Nemec, ASLA, is a Principal at CMS Collaborative, Inc. where she has worked for over 25 years. She explores innovative, aesthetic and technical water feature solutions with clients, and is the lead designer and manager of water effect and lighting mock-ups. She helped refine solutions for such projects as Chicago's Lurie Gardens, the Seattle Civic Center, and The Pentagon Memorial. Nadine is a passionate world traveler and an enthusiastic student of the symbolic and artistic importance of water throughout diverse cultures.

  • LA CES LogoSchedule & Registration

    If you would like to schedule a presentation for your firm, please contact | 831-359-2808


    If your firm has scheduled a presentation and you would like to sign up, please contact | 760-873-4000

  • Good Reads

    Cullen SlotThese links and references are intended to provide avenues for information or further study. If you have suggestions for additions or corrections, please email us by

    Light and Water  Ando, Tadao.
    Monacelli, 2002.

    Life’s Matrix, A Biography of Water  Ball, Philip.
    Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2000.

    Waterscapes – Planning, Building and Designing with Water     Drieseitl, Herbert; Dieter Grau, and Karl H.C. Ludwig, ed.
    Birkhauser Architectural, 2001.

    The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial      Halprin, Lawrence.
    Chronicle Books, 1997.



  • More Good Reads

    Levi Plaza FountainStone and Water. Leccese, Michael. Robert Murase:
    Spacemaker Press, 1997

    Water and Architecture. Moore, Charles W., and Jane Lidz.
    Harry N. Abrams, 1994.

    Fountains: Splash and Spectacle: Water and Design From the Renaissance to the Present. Symmes, Marilyn, and Kenneth Breisch, ed; and Cooper-Hewitt Museum.
    Rizzoli, 1998.

    Aquascapes II: Water in Japanese Landscape Architecture. Hirota, Hauro, ed.
    Books Nippan, 1994

  • Design Links


    Levi Plaza FountainCMS Collaborative site designed by:
    Focus97.com