This Week In Landscape | 3 March 2013

This Week In Landscape | 3 March 2013

Vancouver | Coal Harbour | Flickr User alans1948

Landscape links from around the world during the week of 25 February to 3 March 2013

Landscape Performance Research: The Economics of Change | Jason Twill, LEED AP and Stuart Cowan, PhD | Landscape Architecture Foundation
The overarching goal of The Economics of Change is to shift mainstream real estate practices to document the full value of a built environment that is compatible with healthy, natural systems.

The Most Important Urban Design Decision Vancouver Ever Made? | Brent Toderian | Huffington Post
“In 1997, the city approved its first transformative Transportation Plan. Co-written through a first-time (and not easy) partnership between city planners and transportation engineers, the plan was a game-changer for our city-making model in many ways….”

The Green Team Part 10: POPS for the People…and the Developer | Zeina Zahalan | Metropolis Magazine
“The primary goal of POPS is to unite function with aesthetics—to create public spaces that provide respite in the city’s dense urban fabric.”

Urbanization of the People Must Follow That of the Land | Lan Fang | Caixin
The core of urbanization lies not only in large-scale city building and expansion of industrial parks, but also in the great migration of people from farm villages into cities.

Pedestrian Friendly Streetscape in Santa Cruz | William Langston | A Landscape Architect and a Passport
“So when we were in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island I was immediately taken by the impressive streetscape improvements to the main streets in town.”

Sequestration Frustration, Close to Home | OLIN Blog
“Clearly the politics of this question run deep, and as advocates of the urban public realm, we can’t hope to remain unbiased. But maybe if we, as advocates and citizens, can join the conversation, we can encourage the power players in Washington to start talking as well.”

A Blog’s Adieu | New York Times
Sadly, the New York Times Green blog has been shutdown to focus on other areas.

IMAGE CREDIT | Flickr User alans1948

This Week In Landscape | 17 February 2013

Cummins Inc | Columbus Indiana | Design by Dan Kiley | Image Credit | berriehol

Landscape links from around the world in the week that was
Dan Kiley: A great yet little known Modernist | Charles A. Birnbaum | Huffington Post
“Kiley was also among the most important, influential and personally idiosyncratic landscape architects of the 20th century and designer of more than 1,100 projects – yet today he is not well known.”

Now Atlanta Is Turning Old Tracks Green | Robby Brown | NY Times
“The BeltLine would be the most expensive rails-to-trails project, urban planners say. It would add 40 percent more parks to Atlanta. Only 4.6 percent of Atlanta is parkland….”

The World’s Largest Firms Have Been Ranked… But Does It Matter? | Vanessa Quirk | ArchDaily
“This Top 5 gives us a sense of the major players in the architectural world, but with the subjective ranking of their efficiency”

How to Make Suburbs Work Like Cities |  Trisha Riggs | Urban Land
The steady movement toward more compact suburban growth is being driven in part by generation Y, an 80 million–member demographic group that is entering the markets for housing and jobs.

Urban sprawl affects inner-ring suburbs, too | Don Jacobson | Star Tribune
“….residents of closer-in areas also say they “feel” those characteristics of sprawl in their neighborhoods despite their higher population densities, and a University of Minnesota researcher says a study she performed indicates their perception in many cases is indeed more than just a feeling.”

IMAGE CREDIT | Flickr user | berrihol | Holly Higgins

This Week in Landscape | 23 December 2012

Fresh Kills Park | Image Credit gsz


This week of landscape links as we head toward 2013

Staten Island Landfill Park Proves Savior in Hurricane | Michael Kimmelman | NY Times
During Hurricane Sandy, the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island absorbed a critical part of the storm surge.

Urban renewal for the planet | Adrian Higgins | Washington Post
From a wasteland of empty lots and rundown buildings has sprung whole blocks of plush apartments, hotel suites, offices and bistros.

Living with Sandy: New York and Our Very Real Climate Change Future | Urban Omnibus
Superstorm Sandy and its continuing messy aftermath have provoked many serious conversations about New York City’s future. These range from private concerns about flood insurance and temporary housing to more public anxieties about the city as a coastal metropolis.

2012′s Notable Developments in Landscape Architecture | Charles A. Birnbaum | Huffington Post
With that said, here’s my list of 2012′s notable developments in landscape architecture

Metro Vancouver tree damage worst since 2006 storm | CBC
A week of heavy rain, snow, and wind have wreaked havoc across the Vancouver and at least 200 trees have fallen in Pacific Spirit Park, which separates Vancouver’s western edge from the UBC campus.

New Website Puts Spotlight on Blue Carbon | UNEP
Marine ecosystems, such as mangrove forests, seagrass meadows and saltwater marshes, can capture and store a significant amount of atmospheric carbon.

A Biodiversity Map, Version 2.0 | Rachel Nuwer | NY Times
“We’re not inventing anything here, we’re just implementing Wallace’s vision at an age where we have tons of DNA and more information on where species are on the planet.”

IMAGE CREDIT | Flickr user gsz (Garrett Ziegler)

This Week in Landscape | 4 November

This Week in Landscape 4 November

Fallen lindens at the Great Lawn in Central Park | Image Courtesy Central Park Conservancy

This weeks landscape links from across the world

A New Philanthropic Threshold — The Significance of Central Park’s Gift | Charles A. Birnbaum | Huffington Post

Philanthropy and public-private partnerships should not be faulted but encouraged, especially following Hurricane Sandy’s damage to the parks when it’s most needed.

Over 250 trees damaged in Central Park by Hurricane Sandy | Central Park Conservancy
Hurricane Sandy destroyed more than 250 mature trees in Central Park as well as infrastructure, including fencing and benches, throughout the Park’s 843 acres.

A post-hurricane argument about New York’s waterfront infrastructure | Dana Rubenstein | Capital New York
One of several strategies the RPA suggested exploring is tidal barriers, of the sort used in London and Rotterdam.

How to make a landscape edible look incredible | Mary James | UT San Diego
….integrate edibles within an ornamental “backbone.” This way there will always be something to look at, even when edibles have been harvested.

Iskandar – Asia’s newest megacity or a cookie cutter template for cities? | Damian Holmes | LAND Reader
There seems to be this constant rush for ‘experts’ and urban planners to create a ‘template’ for the green, low carbon, sustainable, (insert latest buzz word) city, and ignoring the reason many cities attract people.

 How cyclists and pedestrians can share space on canal towpaths | Laura Laker | Guardian
You are welcome to cycle here but you have got to do it with respect for others. That is what all cyclists need to hear loud and clear.”

Hurricane Sandy on Bikes in NYC from Casey Neistat on Vimeo.

This Week in Landscape | 24 June 2012

This weeks round-up of landscape news from around the web.

 Sustainability without fanfare | Thomas R. Tavella, FASLA | Sustainable Industries
Landscape architecture has quietly employed sustainable principles for decades.

The Real High Line Effect: A Transformational Triumph of Preservation and Design | Charles A. Birnbaum | Huffington Post
Charles A. Birnbaum (The Cultural Landscape Foundation) blog post.  ”Several cities are looking at their own long disused sections of track, hoping they can literally replicate New York’s success. Perhaps, but that narrow interpretation ignores the confluence of unique factors that made New York’s High Line an instant classic.”

Can You Get People To Walk More, Simply With Smart Signage? | Jordan Kushins | Fast Co Design
The successful Kickstarter campaign hopes handy signs will get people walking.

A lesson from a great architect | Seth Godin
If you don’t get it built, the work doesn’t matter.

 MONO LAKE | Michael Light | Venue
…fly around the shores of Mono Lake, California, with celebrated aerial photographer

Send us your links during the week to [email protected]

1 2