they are what they are

The 'niceness' depends on how you lay in the stones. That is what the Maccaferri rep told me recently.

http://www.maccaferri-northamerica.com/

otehr than that, mdler is right.

it's up to you to draw the wire cage and spec the size/type of stone... if in doubt, ask your civil or 'scaper about local practices.

I'm partial for corten or stainless wire with the local stone du jour... galvanized just looks dull.

it's more about the stone than the cage. look at H&Dems winery, the cage disappears almost completely.

wow I've never seen corten gabions - must be sexy. Got an image barry l?

Here are some interesting examples of gabions. I agree the type of stone and how they are stacked is one of the most important aspects of an attractive gabion wall. I was looking for a higher gauge mesh gabion on a project and someone recommend looking at lobster cage makers to make custom gabions. Unfortunately, they were cut from the project, so I did not get very far. The gabion like walls at Parc Diagonal Mar in Barcelona seem to be made of rebar. Here are some examples from Barcelona and Igualada.

Parc De Diagonal Mar


Parc Dreueta del Coll


Igualada Cemetery

maralles created some corten gabbions at Igualada Cemetery:


full panorama


this details is great-

ok- one more:

gabions are a great form of walling, not only is the strength there but also the ability to let built up water from behind the structure come through http://selectmaterialscom.moonfruit.com/# has some pictures and some close ups.

not really a gabion I guess but pretty sweet anyhow:
Casa Rural - RCR arquitectes:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/olotini/367308025

Ohhh, they use these alot here in Denmark and in the Netherlands - there were some badass ones near the Rotterdam beach that contained shells instead of rock/gravel.