264 Principles of Floral Design
Freestyle
Freestyle designs are 20th-century designs
attributed to the Sogetsu school of ikebana. The
Sogetsu school allows greater freedom for interpreting
the rules of traditional ikebana, Figure 10-22.
Although still highly stylized, these arrangements
may have more than one focal area. Negative space
remains an important element of a freestyle design.
Abstract
A fl oral object or fl ob refl ects the Abstract
Movement in sculpture. Flobs may contain natural
and artifi cial materials presented in unnatural ways.
In fact, the key element of an abstract design is that
it is completely unnatural or unrealistic. Common
materials may be used in uncommon ways, and lines
may be used to form unusual shapes completely
unlike the usual geometric shapes. Examples of fl obs
include a stack of bricks with fl owers inserted in
the cracks, and a wall hanging of wire fencing with
foliage woven into it, Figure 10-23.
Parallel Systems
The parallel systems design is a European style
developed in the 1980s in which stems are placed
parallel to one another. The lines of the fl ower stems
do not cross. Each placement has its own point of
origin, as opposed to radial designs in which all
stems emerge from the same point. All of the stems,
or groupings of stems, are the same distance apart
from each other and are placed in the same vertical
direction. The arrangement is created in a low, wide
container, usually rectangular, Figure 10-24.
Alan49/Shutterstock.com
Figure 10-22. The arrangement shown above is done in
freestyle. As you look at the design, you can see more than
one focal point and the general use of negative space.
Sharon McGukin, SAF
Figure 10-23. An abstract fl oral object, or fl ob. Note how
the designer uses the roots as well as the fl owers and stems
as part of the design.
Bryan Swan, Karin’s Florist, Vienna, VA, Society of American Florists
Figure 10-24. This piece displays basal interest with roses and pepperberries while predominantly
using vertical placements of cones and groupings of Norfolk Island pine in parallel systems.