Landscape Reflections

 

Trees reflections in Seal Beach. Photo by Myriam Mahiques. Personal archives.

Trees and plants reflected on glass and glossy- brilliant materials are so nice to observe, sometimes the reflected view is more artistic (and inviting) than the real landscape in itself. If we work on architectural and landscape design, either outdoors or indoors, we should have the reflections in consideration. I am sharing some examples here.

From all landscape reflections, this Fall season trees above are my favorite ones in Seal Beach. When I go to Main st in Autumn, I always take a picture of this shop display, which varies from year to year, but basically it always has deep red leaves inside, while the glass reflects the sidewalk trees and shops across the street. It is a different way to appreciate landscape, and more entertaining for sure... The real trees are green.

Philip Johnson's Crystal Cathedral has the reflections of the Campanile plus the Palm trees around. Everything looks decomposed, deconstructed, an interesting mix between landscape and blue glass architecture. My picture from 2017.

I took the two pictures above in October 2020. This is one of the galleries inside the Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, CA. I love how the interior space looks so ethereal with the glass around, the glass sculpture, and the garden outside reflecting inside. The space is infinitely multiplied.

More reflections on glass architecture in the three pictures above. I have taken them in Belltown, Seattle, precisely 4th avenue. The trees add a 3 Dimension feeling to the facades. They look beautiful in Summer but mostly in Autumn with the different warm tones. The layers of different heights allow us to perceive a transition in scale and lots of textures. 

I have taken these two pictures above inside the Public Library of Huntington Beach, CA. In the first one, the trees from the park are shown in shadow and reflection on the water fountain of first floor. Together with the guardrail, the interior architecture evolves in complexity.

The second one is from one of the exhibitions rooms, in the late afternoon, just before the Golden hour. I love the deep green of the trees and the overall greenish inside. See the trees are reflected on the chairs. The long shadows add a lot of dramatism.