Activity

Seems Rockwell (they used to specialize in restaurants) merely created a place to feature this existing model of playground
http://www.imaginationplayground.com/product.html
Plenty of these exist.
I like the idea of kids gathering around something that encourages them to play creatively together.
But the loss is that they could do this inside or…[Read more]

I like the idea of “loose parts” in a playground. It reminds me of movable seating in public spaces. And if children like playing with them is that so bad? And I can’t help thinking if you placed a, ‘glade in a forest’ playground next to the Betsy Head Park and allowed kids to choose, most would go for the Betsy. Yet I realize that many of the ki…[Read more]

While I am softening on this concept, Calico, your interpretation of reality is not the world I live in. LA’s were never squandering away their chance at the design. where in the world did that ever happen?
The story of the stamped out play structure playgrounds  is not one of LA’s being lazy and thoughtless.. Might be a good topic for a thesis,…[Read more]

Yeah, Roland, but  this kind of stuff is for home. Seems like such a dirt and disease attractor, for the public space. I don’t know. Maybe not. I need to go see one. As soon as I win the lottery.  

We sure don’t have any inside track to design playgrounds around my region; I think when you see the product assembly approach it is in fact most likely put together by the product makers’ draftsmen.

As much fun as it is to bash architects for over-stepping their bounds, I think the idea of giant foam bricks might have really appealed to me as a kid. I played with legos a lot as a kid, and enjoyed building blanket forts, too. 

I think it’s good to see some fresh ideas in the realm of playground design, even if the new ideas are coming from architects and involve foam blocks. Competition can be good. For too long, landscape architects have enjoyed a monopoly in playgrounds, and have squandered it by farming the design out to Kompan, Play Structures, and anybody else who…[Read more]

It’s strange, their firm website says they have a large multidisciplinary team, but it doesn’t even mention landscape architecture or design, and almost all the photos are interior focused.

You don’t seem to be lacking in confidence, but I have to say, I  love this topic. Nothing like a; well designed frolf hole – I have mostly played ‘guerrilla’,in Prospect Park. It was wonderful..) But the hills of Winterthur in Delaware have given me my favorite throws – green mounds with steep sides, totally grass covered, with some gorgeous a…[Read more]

some playgrounds are for children, others are for adults to talk about.
 
……… and this one even inspires you to unwittingly get more adults talking about it. Mission accomplished.
 
I’m with you. traditional playgrounds are very successful to foster imagination and activity for the children.

Despite having courses in city parks we still get guerrilla disc golf happening in adjacent national forests. Haven’t seen too much social trailing (yet) but if you’re hiking/mtn biking etc., in the vicinity you better know what ‘fore’ means.

I’m glad you took the extra steps with your digits to view my thesis. I have been considering condensing my findings down to about 5 pages to first publish in a cool Sport & Society Journal and then also to target the general public. As you might guess I’ve spent a lot of time with this material and sort of dread picking through it again to…[Read more]

FYI, the link does not go to the thesis, at least for me. Cutting and pasting the URL into the address bar did the trick.
Interesting work from what I skimmed; see if you can pare it waaaaayyyy down (i.e., get rid of the fluff your committee had you include) and get published outside of academia. I can’t believe you transcribed each interview……[Read more]

I came to LA as a second career after being a PM. In my old job capacity I was required to get a PMP credential. In my work as an LA I have found basic PM skills to be very useful, but I have yet to run into anyone who cares at all that I have the PMP certification. Perhaps if I did international work or worked for a larger firm it might make a…[Read more]

Hi Sean,

I am based in Bkk as well, working for a Thai firm since I can speak Thai as well. I believe it would be beneficial for both of us to trade experiences and so forth.

Sent you a ‘friend’ request so we can communicate further through PM.

Here are a several more thoughts / suggestions to add to the mix.  Some of which probably have been addressed by others, but maybe in a different way:

• Networking:  Another way to meet professionals is through your local design schools and trying to get involved as a TA or serve on design juries.  I imagine its different in NYC, but here in Sa…

[Read more]

I might argue that its implicit to you and I, but there are lots of new grads that may very well think ‘its all about who you know.’ I dont buy into that philosophy. Being really good at what you do, or at least caring passionately about what you do is the real ticket to meeting and knowing more people in your industry, that leads to job…[Read more]

I think landscape architecture is just a difficult field to break into. I am in a similar boat, having graduated this past May with Masters degrees in both landscape architecture and planning, and recently moved to Denver seeking positions in both fields. Throughout the past several months I have followed many of the suggestions from this thread,…[Read more]

Anchorage (pop. 300k) has 3-4 LAs on staff, split between facilities, parks&rec, etc.  I think the superintendent of parks&rec is an LA as well.

Join LinkedIn and start a group – just limit it to city LAs, or you’ll just get the same repetition as the other groups.