The second edition of WLA landscape architecture quarterly magazine is out now with a feature of the National 9/11 Memorial in New York by PWP Landscape Architecture and Michael Arad. The front cover features the Flight 93 Memorial in Shankville by Paul Murdoch Architects and interesting project that touches lightly on the landscape. We have several projects from across the world including Canada, Switzerland, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, China and other locations. We also published projects designed by Workshop:Ken Smith, OKRA, IBI, HASSELL and others. This edition also includes a review of the new book Sunburnt that gives a great insight into contemporary landscape architecture in Australia.
The team of OKRA, Maxwan A+U, and Basler&Hofmann has won the competition for the concept design of the Basel city centre. The proposal provides an overall view on quality of public realm in the city centre for the next decades, and focuses on creating a green and vibrant landscape city, providing spaces that create a ‘shared space 2.0’. The plan provides tools for transformation of a large area in the city centre, expanding from the train station SBB and the railway station Badischer Bahnhof on the other side of the river Rhine. Even more than today, the Basel city centre will be a focal point for the entire tri-national, expanding over the German and French borders.
Last month the International Horticultural Expo opened in Xi’an. This international exhibition is not just about gardening, but also covers the technology of cultivating nature and land use in the broadest sense. For China this is the next major international event after the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.
At the International Horticultural Expo, the focus is on relationship between man and nature. Thus there is a strong emphasis on sustainability. Because of the substantial and rapid urbanization in China, there is emphasis on sustainable urban transformation. Therefore, Xi’An is an interesting choice of location for the International Horticultural Expo. Xi’An is the ancient capital of China. It is known from the Terracotta Army and for centuries a major cultural center. Today, it is an important knowledge city with some 100 universities and research institutes in the vicinity. It aims to be the greenest city in China to be. Xi’An wants to set an example for other cities, and the Expo is a showcase for others cities to study.
Recently the finalists for the ARC International Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure Design Competition were selected to continue into Phase 2 of the competition to develop conceptual designs and 3-D models for a wildlife overpass at West Vail Pass along Interstate Highway 70 near Vail, Colorado. The designs are intended to usher in a new generation of wildlife crossing infrastructure using new methods, new materials, and new thinking to reduce structural costs and increase adaptability and ecological function. The five finalist teams are:
Balmori Associates (New York) with StudioMDA, Knippers Helbig Inc., David Skelly, CITA, Bluegreen, John A. Martin & Associates, and David Langdon.
The Olin Studio (Philadelphia) with Explorations Architecture (Paris), Buro Haphold (London) and Applied Ecological Services.
Janet Rosenberg & Associates (Toronto) with Blackwell Bowick Partnership, Dougan & Associates, and Ecokare International.
Michael Van Valkenburgh & Associates with HNTB Engineering with Applied Ecological Services, Inc.
Zwarts & Jantsma Architects (Amsterdam) with OKRA Landscape Architects, IV-infra and Planecologie
OKRA landscape architects have won the prestigious “International Urban Design Competition for Wellesley Road and Park Lane in Croydon” in London. Lead consultant OKRA participates in this project with Urhahn Urban Design, Peter Brett Associates, Karakusevic Carson Architects and Soundings. The ambition for Croydon is to transform the area, which counts 350.000 inhabitants, into London’s “third city”, complementary to Westminster and the City of London. The transformation of Wellesley Road and Park Lane, the central axis in Croydon, is one of the key projects in Croydon. The assignment is to create a vibrant centre of the monstrous main infrastructure that nowadays divides the centre in two parts.
