Construction has begun on a new sculpture park on the southern edge of the University of Notre Dame’s campus. Situated in a wooded, 8-acre dell that lies between the Irish Green and the Compton Family Ice Arena, the new park is a project of Notre Dame’s Snite Museum of Art and the office of the University Architect. It has been designed by the landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh who discusses in this short 5 minute video the overall design approach and plants used in the design.
Auckland Council is on a journey, which began in 2004, to transform the city centre into an internationally successful centre for business and culture. This includes upgrading key inner-city streets and open spaces to international standards. Over $100 million has been spent to date to creating well-designed, world-class, people-friendly streetscapes.
A design competition was held in late 2011 to create designs for the North Park Hub and Playground, the social focus of the northern part of the future Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and a key resource for local residents after the 2012 Games. London-based firm erect architecture were chosen for their winning design concept to create a community hub building integrated into the parkland and river valley of the north park area.
Working waterfronts are constantly in flux; crusty, utilitarian, muscular and dissolving, with temporal qualities that engage all of our senses. Yet contemporary waterfront redevelopments are often characterised by the removal of the very qualities that attract us to these places. At Auckland’s Wynyard Point redevelopment these conventions are challenged in a development that anticipates transforming a forlorn industrial and maritime precinct into a layered, mixed-use precinct.
Already a celebrated icon in the Kwa-Zulu Natal landscape, the Moses Madiba Stadium and precinct, built for the Soccer World Cup 2010, in the words of the jury “is commended because of its multi-disciplinary design approach that has made the most of urban design, architectural and landscape architectural skills, driven by a visionary client. “
“The urban and landscape design at Moses Mabhida Stadium Precinct allows for ongoing integration with the broader city and coastal corridor. The design is focused on the creation of an accessible, well-made and generous public-space system. The landscape design is contemporary and executed on a bold scale with continuity of approach, aesthetic appeal and response to local place and function clearly visible.”
“The stadium precinct comprises many remarkable spaces and places. These include the uncluttered concourse level surrounding the stadium and the polished concrete podium that serves as a raised plinth with planted embankments resembling a dune. This podium defines public and semi-public movement with the base assigned highest levels of being open to the public. (“publicness”.)
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Architect/ Landscape Architect
