James Garland

President, Fluidity Design Consultants

“The scale and pressures of urbanization can be antithetical to humanist values. Water is expressive and emotional, and can engage with issues of humanism when it’s done right. It is up to the designer to embrace those challenges – and solve them on a project-by-project basis.”

James Garland founded Fluidity Design Consultants in 2002, after 20 years of practice in water design, architecture, and urbanism. Jim began working in water at Wet Design as a consultant in 1986 while maintaining a private practice, then switching to full time in 1994 to ultimately become Wet’s Director of Design. Fluidity was established to create a new generation of water features conceived, crafted, and engineered for a more sustainable century with a fresh, invigorating aesthetic. Concurrently with directing Fluidity’s design efforts, Jim is writing two books about fountains: one covering a 2,000-year history of best examples, and the other on Fluidity’s projects and speculations about the future of water design.