Author: Land8: Landscape Architects Network

Article by Radenka Kolarov – Total reading time 5 minutes. We already saw that China definitely has amazing projects in the article by Lidija Šuster. There is also one small but no less important project right in the center of the city of Chengdu. This Campus houses the office buildings and research facility of the company, Symantec, which has created leading technology innovations. SWA team is one of the world’s design leaders in landscape architecture, and their projects have garnered over 800 awards. That certainly tells a lot. TEECOM’s role was to design a converging network as a common platform for all systems and this brilliant data center design helps to reduce power and cooling demands. In the following article, I will do my best to present to you, this really special campus design.

It is important to emphasize that this design reinvigorated a formerly inactive area and links the components of the building program inside the campus. It represents a small oasis in the urban environment and focuses on sustainability as a guiding idea. The topic of ‘sustainability’ has been of great importance in recent years as well as today.

Symantec Chengdu Campus

Modern Design – Old Design Have you ever actually thought how interesting and different Chinese gardens, and alltogether its landscape design, are? At first sight, we can see that this campus doesn’t have much in common with historically famous Chinese gardens, but when you look at it closer, you will realize that all of those elements are perfectly inherent and integrated.

Let me show you some parallels that will easily give you an idea of exactly what I’m thinking about. In days of yore, the main objective of the ancient Chinese gardens was to establish a sense of isolation and privacy on small holdings. This principle is also respected in this project by putting it on only one hectare. The pictures belie the scale of the site, as it is much smaller than it appears. This is one of the reasons why this campus is so exciting and magical. The main design is based on the scheme which creates a “brocade” by weaving together the building, vegetation and paths. When all these things permeate each other, it forms an oasis amid the dense, urban location. This garden’s vegetation is very beautiful and unique; it is based on a woodland community of different types of conifers which are young trees, and deciduous trees characteristic of Southwest China, such as bamboos, trees, and shrubs, which have very light leaves and give nice contrast within the composition. It provides us the feeling of finding ourselves in some kind of natural environment, with very little human impact, far away from the city. Everything is perfectly connected, even the stones that are the essential material in creating the gardens and its design, look like they have been there forever. Instead of some small lake or perhaps a stream, which were very characteristic for the gardens in the past, this campus has water mirrors between the paths and vegetation. The depth of only a few inches is enough for these water mirrors to provide us an outstanding view and an experience of relaxation within our personal space. Functionality and Terrific Ambience It is known that green oases in urban environments have purposes like reducing the summer temperatures, cleaning the air, reducing harmful pollutions created by traffic, and perhaps in some cases mitigating the blowing of the wind. The above-mentioned characteristics are exactly the ones that Symantec Chengdu campus provides. Also, the esthetic experience of a space like this can and will give us a complete feeling of relaxation and resting, or maybe a sense of feeling better after merely walking by various trees. Besides the really strong graphic quality of the ground plane, this campus has highly integrated programming on the rooftop space with an extensive site-wide storm water discharge garden, all with the purpose of draining the extensive amount of runoff that comes from the stormwater and irrigation systems. It connects the buildings and site, and creates functional and environmentally sensitive urban outdoor space. Yet, it looks like a space for itself, cut from a small hill, or monticule, and wreathed with paths made of wood. Those paths are very characteristic, especially for this campus, because of their curvilinear position which enables walking in both directions and the pastel color, which adds even more to the harmonious ambiance. If I would have an opportunity to walk through this campus every day, I’m sure that I would never miss that part! Would you? For sure, it also breaks the monotony of its environment and, as seen through the building’s windows surrounding the campus, it represents the main point of view, the focus, from any angle, of one very practical and lavishly planned place. And Suddenly When Night Comes… …our campus gets even more charming and magical. In a very simple but interesting way, soft LED lights are installed inside the wooden paths. In contrast with the conifers and small bushes, this LED lightning solution creates an atmosphere and ambience of pleasant relaxation during the nighttime. Symantec Chengdu campus is a project by the SWA land architecture team in the city of Chengdu. By its local position, it represents a mini-oasis in a very urban and developed city. It is made of natural Chinese elements that were also used in the gardens of China’s past. That is exactly the main reason why this campus is so good; functional and beautiful at the same time. With the very modest influence of new materials and the wise choice of new technologies, alltogether this represents a very clever and promising campus design. Would you like to have a campus like this, perhaps in your city? Let us know in the comment section below! Go to comments

Full Project Credits For the Symantec Chengdu Campus:

Project Name: Symantec Chengdu Campus Location: Chengdu, China Area: 1 hectare Completion: January 2009 Landscape Architects: SWA Photos: Tom Fox Recommended Reading:

• Becoming an Urban Planner: A Guide to Careers in Planning and Urban Design by Michael Bayer
• Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature by Douglas Farrs

Article by Radenka Kolarov

Article by Domenico Pistone – Total reading time 5 minutes. Terra Nova Rural Park, by Hapa Collaborative, City of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada Dams, intertidal coasts, residual mud, and a 27-hectare agricultural landscape located on the northwest tip of Richmond Island make up the canvas on which Hapa Collaborative has scattered its colors and forms. Terra Nova Rural Park is a splendid example of participatory planning among Hapa landscape architects, city administrators, consultants, specialists, and citizens. It is a new and innovative way to design that embodies the ultimate sense of the project: the sharing of space and ideas. The designers’ intention was to create a symbiosis of man and nature, without upheaval or force. The design succeeds in reconnecting visitors with the out-of-doors, at a time when more and more people live out of contact with nature – a situation that Richard Louv, journalist and author of nine books about the contact between man and nature, discusses in his book “Last Child in the Woods”. He defines this disorder as a “nature deficit.”

Terra Nova Rural Park

Innovation in Every Aspect Hapa and Lynne Werker adopted a public design process that included Big Kids Group — a team of consultants that led the designers through the preliminary process of investigation and analysis of the site — and Little Kids Group — consisting of students at two local schools who offered their ideas and talents to the design process. The project provided an opportunity to use design and public art to preserve and reinterpret the rich history of the region’s pioneers and settlers. The design focused on the main aspects of their lives, such as fishing and farming, to preserve the identity of the place and its people.

While looking to the past, the designers also turned to the future, creating many of the park’s games and structures through sustainable design practices rather than using “off the shelf” products. Homestead and Paddock The park is divided into two zones. The “Homestead” — the site of a former farmhouse — includes a custom-designed, 10-meter-tall treehouse with four platforms, a central rope ladder, and a 6-meter-tall stainless steel spiral slide designed for kids ages 8 and older. The Homestead also includes the Log Jam (a climbable timber structure), an aerial rope walkway, and The Spinnery for kids ages 5 and up. There is also a farm-inspired water and sand play area and a timber swing for the youngest ones (ages 2 and up). The “Paddock“, which was once home to horses and stables, now includes tandem 35-meter-long zip lines (ages 8-plus), three-meter-high big swings (8-plus), a pivot swing (5-plus), a twisting stainless steel hillside slide (5-plus), a meadow maze (2-plus), and a rolling hill to hop, skip, and bound down (2-plus). The trademark structures of the park — the treehouse, the log jam, the aerial walkway, the slides, the hill fort, the zip lines, and the big swings – were built using cedar native to British Columbia. This type of wood — a warm and cozy material — is carved locally and serves to affirm the identity of the place and make nature tangible to the children. The symbolic element of the place is the treehouse, a tangled web of maple trunks around circular platforms that are structured along a scale, like a nest that protects eggs waiting to hatch. The nest leads into a spiral chute for when these lucky children are ready to fly. Walking in Nature Has Never Been Easier Even the paths that cross Terra Nova Rural Park are respectful of nature and the orography of the terrain. They connect the designed and pre-existing spaces in a simple and effective way. Wooden walkways that border and follow the surface of the water foster contact with native trees, flowers, and other plants. Rectilinear walkways allow visitors to pass through the educational farms and accompany children to the play areas. The playground itself, which extends into large open fields for sports and games, is also designed to educate people to respect and conserve the site. The park serves as a path of self-improvement and education for children and adults who pass through the non-profit farms, the community gardening, the pet therapy areas, and the natural pathways. Putting Children First Hapa Collaborative has surprised us by including many actors in the creation of this splendid spectacle that portrays nature. The Richmond community is fortunate to have a wonderful example of landscape architecture within its boundaries. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran theologian and leader of the German resistance to the Nazis, once stated that “the morality of a society is measured on what it does for its children.” If Bonhoeffer was right, then Terra Nova Park denotes Hapa’s and the community’s beliefs about the importance of educating children. I think the world has an increasing need for spaces like this. Do you? Go to comments

Full Project Credits For Terra Nova Rural Park:

Project Name: Terra Nova Rural Park Landscape Architecture: Hapa Collaborative Location: West end of River Road at the north end of West Dyke Trail, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada Client: City of Richmond Design Year: 2011 Completed: 2014 Recommended Reading:

• Becoming an Urban Planner: A Guide to Careers in Planning and Urban Design by Michael Bayer
• Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature by Douglas Farrs

Article by Domenico Pistone

Article by Joanna Łaska – Total reading time 4 minutes. Palma de Vecchio Pop-up Square by Studio Fink, Bergamo, Italy How would you describe contemporary art? Controversial? Loud? Cheap? Expensive? Insensitive? No matter what art means to us and how we’d describe it, we always think of museums and art galleries when speaking of it. But what would happen if art could be taken outside to surround us within urban spaces? What if art is now starting to take a huge part in urban design and it is much more easily accessible than we would actually expect? Studio Fink is here once again to prove to us that modern art not only can become a part of urban design but also to show us how easily it can be blended with traditional forms of art. Peter Fink, a founder and designer at Studio Fink, has collaborated with countless cities and architectural institutions before – every time aiming at the same goal – to animate cities and to highlight the role of art and artistic creativity in cityscapes. His colourful designs have brought life and colour to cities all around the world, including Italy’s picturesque city of Bergamo.

Art to be Lived In the temporary transformation of the outdoor space of the Modern Art gallery in Bergamo – a city with a long medieval history, where Renaissance art still can be seen in its streets – has become the home of a 100-Day Pop-Up Square full of art splendour and extravaganza to accompany the first large retrospective exhibition of Palma il Vecchio paintings. The creators of the square have opted for a strong contrast between the gallery’s setting and the general atmosphere of the city itself, in order to create a comfortable and memorable external room and a place encouraging social interaction, conversation, and contemplation before and after seeing the exhibition. In the blank and unassuming concrete courtyard in front of the gallery, a colourful, lively, and bright 100-Day Pop-Up Square has been created to give Renaissance art a new meaning and use. Peter Fink himself started to think about the motto of the show, which in the end turned out to be: “An exhibition not only to be seen, but to be lived”. The Art of Conversation Vivid, contrasting colours have been chosen to act as exclamation marks, highlighting the importance of the art being exhibited. The Art itself has taken the form of drapery depictions, taken from Palma il Vecchio’s paintings and fixed to geometrical flower beds. The paintings chosen have been shown as enlarged pieces of certain paintings – mostly the faces – as seen in the favourite subjects of the so-called “Holy Conversations”. In fact, “Holy Conversations”, depicting their mythological and allegorical subjects as conversations in extraordinary landscapes, have become the hidden theme of the whole square. People visiting the square have had the perfect occasion to encounter art from a never-before-seen point of view. The historical and subtle art has been given a new life and meaning thanks to its fantastic surroundings, giving the visitors an exciting topic to talk about. The conversations and human interactions have been made easier by the placement of several tables and chairs in the square. And for this, the colour white was chosen in order to make a harmonic connection with the plantings used in the square. Plants used to decorate and to soften the whole interior were designed and selected by StudioGPT’s Lucia Nusiner who opted for white and yellow spring flowers and grasses. Involvement of Museums all Around the World For one hundred days, this extraordinary place was made possible thanks to the gigantic support of the greatest museums all around the world, including the National Gallery in London, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Gemäldegalerie in Dresden, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Staatliche Museen in Berlin, and major Italian museums including the Uffizi in Florence, the Galleria Borghese in Rome, and the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice. Art Made Easy Peter Fink, who hopes that his design of the pop-up square will encourage people to explore through their own conversations how Palma il Vecchio’s art develops poems of glances, stories, nostalgia, discoveries, and glimpses through the conversational landscapes of his paintings, also hopes that this project will change the way we consider traditional art. His creation at the Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Bergamo is an excellent example of art being made accessible and comprehensible for its audiences around the world. The 100-Day Pop-Up Square also shows the countless possibilities of modern technology, leaving us no choice but to get creative and imaginative in our projects, creating pieces of true art for all to enjoy. What do you think of the Palma de Vecchio Pop-up Square? Go to comments

Full Project Credits For the Palma de Vecchio Pop-up Square:

Project Name: Palma de Vecchio Pop-up Square Location: Bergamo Italy Date: 2015 Client: GAMeC Lead Design: Studio Fink Peter Fink + Richard Marfiak Planting: StudioGPT Lucia Nusiner Lighting: Maurizio Quargnale Photography Credits: Leonardo Tagliabue Recommended Reading:

• Becoming an Urban Planner: A Guide to Careers in Planning and Urban Design by Michael Bayer
• Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature by Douglas Farrs

Article by Joanna Łaska

Article by Sophie Thiel In our fifth article about landscape architecture tourist destinations, we take a closer look at landscape architecture in South America. In South America, there are only a few countries where landscape architecture as a profession is well established. Indeed, landscape architecture in the European sense is much less prevalent in South America. Brazil, which was influenced early by Roberto Burle Marx and Rosa Kliass, seems to be one of the rare exceptions. However, those cities or regions that have a more profound understanding of landscape and garden design are still hard to find throughout the continent. The following list includes ten different examples of such rather hard-to-find landscape architecture projects of South America. Although there are many other reasons to visit the various countries of this continent, visiting new and exotic landscape design sites is often what landscape architects need, to regain inspirational power.

Landscape Architecture in South America

10. Hotel Unique and its Garden– Sao Paulo, Brazil, by Gilberto Elkis As the name suggests, this postmodern hotel building by Brazil’s foremost architect Ruy Ohtake breaks with known standards. Its exceptional design reminds one of a dazzling ocean liner standing in the middle of a residential area. Landscape architect Gilberto Elkis designed the riveting surrounding garden as an equal accompaniment to the Hotel Unique. When viewed from different perspectives – whether from the ship-like portal of a suite, from the ground floor, or from the rooftop bar and pool deck – its landscape varies dramatically. From above, the winding water channel evokes an abstract drawing, but from the ground plane, where the coursing line is barely visible, the architectural cut of the vegetation dominates the view as the trees seem like outcrops of the crescent-shaped building. If you stay in Sao Paulo, the Hotel Unique with its commanding landscape is a must-see landmark.

9. and 8. Mano de Punta del Este – Punta del Este, Uruguay, and Mano del Desierto – Atacama Desert, Chile. Both by Mario Irarrázabal The Mano de Punta del Este – shortly called “La Mano” or “Los Dedos”– is the first of three sculptures by Chilean Artist Mario Irarrázabal. He sculptured the “drowning” hand as a warning to swimmers due to the rough waves of the Brava Beach. It took the artist just six days to form the five human fingers that partially emerge from the sand, during the first annual International Meeting of Modern Sculpture in 1982. Since then the hand has become one of Uruguay’s most recognizable landmarks and is popularized by tourist photographs. If you stop at Punta del Este, plan to stay a day or two to relax on the beautiful beaches or go surfing since this resort town is known as “The Monaco of South America” according to Wikitravel. The Mano del Desierto is another large-scale sculpture by Mario Irarrázabal, located in the Atacama Desert in Chile, nearly 3000km away from the original Mano in Uruguay. This piece of art was inaugurated in 1992, 10 years after the completion of La Mano de Punta del Este. It has since become a well-known point of interest for travellers on Route 5, which forms part of the famous Pan-American-Highway. Despite having the same creator, both Manos look very different from each other due to alterations in materials and design, as well as a completely different landscape setting for each. Hence, just because you’ve seen one, doesn’t mean you don’t have to visit the other sculpture; so go and collect your pictures with the giant hands of South America! 7. Ladeira da Barroquinha – Salvador, Brazil, by Metro Arquitetos When visiting Salvador as a tourist, you will definitely notice the redesigned Ladeira da Barroquinha – literally; the slope of Barroquinha. The new design for this central street considers the tranquil flow of customers that attend the local street market, as well as the intense pedestrian flow towards the nearby bus terminal. As a tourist, I would suggest you take the time to stroll around, discover the different sized steps and plateaus and take a seat on one of the many new benches that are smartly incorporated into the slope design. The old Barroquinha Church, from which you have wonderful views of the sea and beach, is located directly in this area, too. 6. Plaza Victor J. Cuesta – Vargas Machuca, Ecuador, by DURAN&HERMIDA arquitectos asociados On this continent, a designed open space such as Plaza Victor J. Cuenca is a rarity that arises unexpectedly between a plethora of unsustainably designed cities. This medium-scale plaza forms the historical centre of Cuenca. Its contemporary urban design still prevails on the value of the plaza’s historical context as well as showcasing many harmonious details. Unlike the traditional way of creating open spaces in South America, which often results in fenced green areas, this project proposes a homogenous surface that integrates greenery and pedestrian flow. Plaza Victor J.Cuesta turned a neglected, unsafe place into a multi-functional space that is well integrated into the social and built surroundings. This project in Ecuador is one of the few top landscape architecture projects that we would love to see more of in South America, and worldwide. 5. The Sitio – Roberto Burle Marx‘ Garden – Barra de Guaratiba, Brazil One of Brazil’s most famous gardens is Roberto Burle Marx’s Private Garden called The Sitio, which is a one-hour drive west of Rio de Janeiro. The world-famous landscape architect resided at this estate from 1949 until he died in 1994. Burle Marx left an important botanical collection of tropical plants behind, in his beautifully arranged garden, along with his original farmhouse and studio where Marx’s paintings, furniture, and sculptures are displayed. An abstract wall and pool form one of the most famous parts of his garden’s context-sensitive design. Visit Burle Marx’s private home at Sitio and enjoy his artful, dynamic, landscape creation. Read about Roberto Burle Marx’s life in these two articles by Alexandra Wilmet and Julia Lucchese:

• Top 10 Most influential Landscape Architects of All Time
• 8 Amazing Facts About Burle Marx That You Didn’t Know 

4. Orquideorama – Medellin, Colombia, by Plan B Architects + JPRCR Arquitectos With the Orquideorama , the city of Medellin gained a design attraction that inspires both residents and visitors alike. Orquideorama is a large timber and steel canopy located in the Botanical Gardens of Medellin. The 50-foot-high canopy not only creates a shading extension of the surrounding forest, but the trunk structures also form various functional spaces such as a café for visitors, a feeding facility for birds, and a butterfly breeding area. Be prepared to go on an educational trip, since the Botanical Garden of Medellin is home to more than 4500 species of plants and more than 1000 species of animals. Take this opportunity to see and learn about the natural environment found only in Colombia and South America; you won’t want to leave. The Botanical Garden of Medellin is ranked number 7 of 142 things to do in Medellin, on TripAdvisor.

If you’re loving this article, don’t forget to bookmark these for later:

• 10 of The Best Tourist Spots for Landscape Architecture in Europe
• 10 of The Best Tourist Spots for Landscape Architecture in Asia
• 10 of the Best Tourist Spots for Landscape Architecture in Australia 

3. Rua Gonçalo de Carvalho – Porto Alegre, Brazil Seen from above, the Gonçalo de Carvalho street in Porto Alegre looks like a soft but thick green carpet between the adjacent buildings. When entering the street on ground level, you will be overwhelmed with the feeling of diving into a different world. The reasons for this are the countless rosewood (Tipuana tipu) tree lines that tower over the 500-meter-long, ancient cobbled street on both sides. The trees were planted in the 1930s and have grown into a shady neighbourhood canopy that creates a pleasant climate to be found whenever you might take a walk at Rua Gonçalo de Carvalho. The street became famous worldwide in 2005 when a resident initiative fought to preserve the gorgeous redwoods. Take the time for a long stroll under the leafy canopy and get inspired to create your own Gonçalo de Carvalho in the future.

2. Quilotoa Crater Overlook – Zumbahua, Ecuador, by Jorge Javier Andrade Benítez, Javier Mera Luna, and Daniel Moreno Yet another exceptional tourist spot can be found in South America. The Quilotoa Crater Overlook is a viewing platform that enables visitors to step out over an active volcano at nearly 4000 meters above sea level. To reach this place, you could go on a hiking trip on your own, or you may decide to ride comfortably on a mule and be guided by true indigenous people of the Ecuadorian Sierra through the sensitive Andean Paramo ecosystem until you reach the overlooking platform and its breath-taking views. One thing is for sure: the Quilotoa Crater Overlook project, also called Mirador Shalala by the indigenous people, teaches everyone the lesson of how to meet human needs without compromising a perfect natural site. 1. Cockfight Coliseum Garden – Lima, Perù, by 2.8 x arquitectos Have you ever relaxed or even meditated at a cockfighting arena? Guess what, this exceptional landscape architecture project in Lima will allow even beginners to meditate. The former cockfighting arena – a place of tradition but also cruelty – was transformed from a memorial of death to a place for life. Through the resolute circular form, the simple elements and the use of two calming colours (grey and green), the design of the Cockfight Coliseum Garden is, overall, characterized by peacefulness. The addition of a small waterfall evokes a thriving but also a calm and balanced feeling, which is perfectly fitting to this meditation spot. Enjoy the calm oasis when sitting on the grass and improve your meditation skills – this is the perfect place to do so in South America. Despite a handful of great landscape architecture projects, vast parts of South America are still in urgent need of professional landscape design influence. Though by no means should there be Europeanization taking place; rather a strong support of traditional materials and ideas, mixed with new approaches, would be desirable for the many, still underdeveloped, parts of South America. Always keep your eyes open and enjoy your trip to South America. What designs do you think are missing from this list? What else can landscape architects learn from the more traditional design of South America? Let us know in the comment section below! Go to comments Article by Sophie Thiel

Recommended Reading

• Natural Swimming Pools: Inspiration For Harmony With Nature by Michael Littlewood
• You Can Draw in 30 Days: The Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less by Mark Kistler

Article by Samia Rahman Urban Spa, by students of ISAD, along with PKMN architects helps to bring life to the city, in Chihuahua, Mexico A community is the extended family of a society. And that extended family dreams of being surrounded by verdant, interactive spaces rather than a concrete jungle. Many times, landscape architects create new public places with green areas, seating, play spaces, and walking trails. But sometimes the revitalization of “dead spaces” with a simple installation can prove to be more beneficial by providing amenities in a previously boring life. These kinds of projects bring the community together to maintain the public realm. How do we bring an impossible dream to life? The students of the Instituto de Arquitectura y Diseno de Chihuahua in Mexico, along with the community and PKMN architects, did so by forming a temporary installation around a dead fountain. WATCH >>> TALLER DEL DESIERTO 2015 _ ISAD

Bring Life to the City

Bringing the Community Together In the north of Mexico, the city of Chihuahua has faced some problematic issues linked with drug trafficking, lack of urban facilities, derelict streets, and abandoned parks where mishaps are a daily phenomenon. Held each summer by the ISAD, the “Taller del Desierto” workshop anticipates breathing new life into these neglected public spaces. This year, the aim of the “Taller del Desierto” workshop was to involve citizens as much as possible in creating a community-inspired project to revitalize the center of Chihuahua. People living in a community know better than anyone about what they want in their urban space. That’s why it is good practice to allow them to participate in designing these spaces.

Students from ISAD in Chihuahua, along with Madrid-based architects PKMN and local residents, designed the Urban SPA, a temporary interactive installation at Parque Urueta in the city center. The chosen space was built in 1930 and abandoned in recent decades because of excessive misuse that gradually turned the space dead. At first, the students wanted to design the park as an imaginary future public space, trying to fulfill the residents’ expectations as a part of their workshop. Urueta Park, which has an improper pathway lacking in identity, is divided into two areas: a small woodland and a sports area without facilities. From their observations, the students also identified a dead public water fountain beside the park that, while no longer usable, was still cherished by the locals. The participatory workshop yielded many ideas, including adding benches and shaded structures for sitting, but the community strongly demanded reactivation of the fountain as the heart of the park for increasing activities. The students wanted to give a new identity to the old fountain and its neglected surroundings. They and the community members were focused on making a temporary installation around the fountain. They designed the revitalization proposal in a week, then assembled the Urban SPA using 40 scaffolding units, several dozen pallets, some remnants of shading mesh, and a few gallons of paint. After hearing the proposal, the city was interested in joining the initiative and agreed to install a water pump that has brought a new life to the fountain. Breathing New Life into an Old Space The installation is difficult to overlook, as it is built from a series of wooden surfaces that transform the unused fountain into a flourishing public space. The multipurpose bathing decks invite people to sit, sunbathe and enjoy a small garden with a ramp that provides universal accessibility. The design offers a platform to all who want to play by the sprinkling water, surrounded by nine large scaffolding towers that provide shade. The towers hold some hammocks, small viewpoints, and a resting platform that make them dynamic. The project takes advantage of its location and boosts the existing activities. The inspiration behind the work is an attraction or circus tent. Morning shadows from a neighboring giant tree flit back and forth between the park area and nearby tennis courts, as well as the enhanced activities taking place around it. The perimeter of the stands is oriented toward zumba and yoga classes in the afternoons, and bustles with shopping kiosks, corn stalls, and palettes. At night, the whole arena is used as a setting for performances and concerts. The place is not desolate for a moment, because it welcomes versatile activities with various people walking, playing, and gossiping around the water source, which creates a vivid environment for sharing daily life experiences with lots of hope and expectations. Because of the success of this amazing transformation, the university is raising funds to establish the installation permanently. Describing the project, PKMN architects say Urban SPA “is born as a unique proposal but at the same time, it’s being reconsidered as a concern for the reactivation of unused water sources in the city of Chihuahua”. They also refer to the potential use of this model in other cities. The installation is an ideal example of interactive architecture that not only rejuvenates a space, but also successfully creates an attraction for all by uniting a neighborhood. Could this type of simple idea bring all of our neighborhoods closer together? Go to comments

Full Project Credits For the Urban Spa:

Project Name: Taller Del Desierto / Urban SPA Location: Parque Urueta, Colonia Obrera, Chihuahua, México. Developer: ISAD [Instituto de Arquitectura y Diseno de Chihuahua] / www.isad.edu.mx/ Workshop Leaders: PKMN Architectures Year: 2015 Recommended Reading:

• Becoming an Urban Planner: A Guide to Careers in Planning and Urban Design by Michael Bayer
• Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature by Douglas Farrs

Article by Samia Rahman

Article by Nour Adel NICHE, by Pantoja Arquitectos is bringing back Colombian art, in the Square Jairo Varela, in the center of Cali, Colombia. Whether you are a fan of classical Colombian music or just a random passerby in the streets of Cali, Colombia, the “Niche” project is bound to appeal to your senses. It’s a work to see, hear, and absorb. Designed by Pantoja Architects, the project highlights the features of the identity of the classical Colombian musician “Niche” and his talent for composition. The project, located in Cali’s Plazoleta Jairo Varela, is an urban piece that engages viewers with the Colombian art on a whole new level and provides them with a unique spatial experience. WATCH >>> Here is a glimpse of the Columbian artwork in action

Bringing Back Colombian Art

“Niche” is an abstract artwork where the forms of trumpets and trombones are articulated to form a landmark that interrupts the public space and at the same time attracts people from different backgrounds to enter. It interacts with the public in multiple ways. Users can use it as a shed, a resting area, a social interaction space, or even as a salsa dancing floor and allow themselves to experience Colombian culture within just a few minutes. Specifications Unveiled on Dec. 25, 2015, “Niche “is a monument designed as a tribute to the artist Jairo Varela. The famous musician from Cali has been the driving force behind the group Niche, which has given an identity to the Salsa of Cali.

The designed sculpture is 10 meters high, displaying the word ‘’Niche’’ in galvanized steel painted with gold synthetic enamel. The trumpets and trombones were the main inspiration for the form, as they are considered essential musical elements in the group’s music. Whether you pass by Plazoleta Jairo Varela on your way to work in the morning or are just hanging out in the beautiful city by night, the monument is bound to catch your eye. A line of lights surrounds each letter, resembling the aesthetic of the signs of concert halls, bars, and nightclubs, making the project look extra appealing by night. To make the sculpture further interact with pedestrians, the designers have created original audio recordings of the band’s music to play inside each ‘’bell’’ at the feet of the letters. The compositions of the group are divided into three sections — rhythm, harmony, and melody — and all three are played in the bells. The monument is a time machine that takes you back to an age of simplicity, a time when good music was much more common than it is now. All people — music lovers and scholars or bystanders — are invited to move closer to the musical legacy of Jairo Varela and the group, as the sculpture celebrates the songs that are a part of the identity of the city of Cali. The audio design of the songs played in the sculpture required the actual participation and collaboration of the members of the current Grupo Niche and of its musical director, José Aguirre. The musicians recorded songs such as ‘’Cali Pachanguero’’ exclusively for the artwork, to create each musical track and remind us of the unique art of the Colombia Southwest. This also ensures that the acoustics are efficient and provides high sound quality so it does not sound like one of the ancient, squeaky, cassette tapes our grandmothers used to listen to. Integrating with the Public The artwork is an intervention in the public space that can be seen from vehicles passing through one of the main avenues of Cali. It also welcomes passersby to Plazoleta Jairo Varela, standing at the top of a shaft of pedestrian traffic that crosses the city. It is not only a work to see, hear, and penetrate, but it also serves a function where the forms act as actual urban furniture, allowing the user to sit, lie down, and dance, participating in and reflecting on the essence of the World Capital of Salsa. It is a meeting place where random people can get to know each other and maybe reminisce about the good, old, original classics of Colombian music. “Niche” as an Urban Anchor Point “Niche” does not only revive Colombian art, it also plays a major role in giving definition to the urban space. It helps pedestrians and drivers draw a mind map of the city, as it makes the whole area more memorable. This unique work of art allows residents to perceive their city with a whole new perspective. “Niche” will always serve as a reference point and landmark like no other; you will find people constantly referring to it spontaneously whenever they are describing directions to someone, just because such a distinctive sight is so difficult to forget. Would you forget if you saw a random old man bouncing under a golden trumpet in a public square? Go to comments

Full Project Credits For NICHE:

Project Name: NICHE Location: Square Jairo Varela, in the center of Cali, Colombia Artists: Fredy Pantoja, Lucia Alba Sound Engineer: Marcela Mejía Architects: Pantoja Arquitectos – Sebastian Castaño, Alex Rodriguez, Nicolas Rosales,Leonardo Fontalvo, Juan Camilo Montero, Edward Nuñez Assembly Engineer: Jhon Henry Aristizábal Graphic Designer: Jhon Vargas Manufacturing Engineer: Juan Manuel Duque Structural Engineer: Iván Vergara Electrical Engineer: Carlos Castaño Project Date: December 25^th 2015 Recommended Reading:

• Becoming an Urban Planner: A Guide to Careers in Planning and Urban Design by Michael Bayer
• Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature by Douglas Farrs

Article by Nour Adel

Article by Paul McAtomney We take a look at 5 things that happen when you become a landscape architect. Despite its increasing scope and relevance in 21st-century society, landscape architecture continues to act as a largely unseen profession. It attracts an assemblage of people to its learning; more often than not, individuals coming from diverse backgrounds, later in life. Having recently completed my undergraduate studies as one of those individuals from a diverse background, commencing work in practice, and ruminating on my experiences thus far, I realise I lacked a sound grasp of the physicality of the world as an unversed student. This is not to suggest I am now versed; far from it, in fact. However, there are numerous things I find I do in interpreting and responding to the natural and built environment on a daily basis now as a practicing landscape architect that as a student I was not so attuned to, and to the non-landscape architect might sound quite bizarre. The following commentary, I hope, will encourage people considering entering the profession, be comically recognisable to other landscape architects, or simply give interested readers a sense of how landscape architects interpret the world around them. 1. You Eat the World with Your Eyes Wandering through the urban fabric becomes an entirely different, sensual, experience, and one that offers a plethora of insight if you are willing to look and observe. The transition from student work (speculative and often large-scale) to real-world, built work provides a pleasant jolt, and quickly you find yourself becoming highly attuned to how the physical environment is put together, layer by layer, piece by piece—be it a detail of how two materials coalesce, a type of paver, a concrete finish—for example—Beekman Plazas by James Corner Field Operations (Figure 1). These and many others are the things that I feast on daily now, having had no such level of attentiveness as a student. Looking at the built environment also entails a critical sense of thinking about the raw materials wrought from the earth and where they come from—the origins of the gravel, concrete, steel, and timber that comprise the built environment. As we continue to witness the complete urbanisation of society, the general populace is in large part spatially removed from the landscapes that are exploited to yield such materials.

2. You Realise Plants Matter In university, course material on plant matter is pretty light. Through my four-year degree, I had one subject on plants, and it was heavily horticulturally-based. Rather than exhibiting a mastery of horticulture, I believe it is much more important to learn about plants endemic to your local area and how they can be applied through the lens of experience, the life cycle of plants, and the ecological function that they provide. You will rapidly discover that to gain plant knowledge, it is essentially up to you. To do so, I generally photograph any interesting groundcover, shrub, or tree that catches my eye and either attempt to use a plant finder website, ask someone at work, or simply search for local government data on plants in a particular suburb and begin a process of subtraction until I can make an identification. Doing so the latter way seems to ingrain the species into my mind as it involves more research, as does sketching the plant in question into your sketchbook, labelling it, and describing it. (Figures 2 and 3). If you think you’re not versed in verdure as much as you’d like to be, be sure to check out all 10 of the 10 Most Common Mistakes People Make in Planting Design and How to Avoid Them. Figure 3: Leaf explorations identifying new species. Image: author’s own. 3. You Survey the Land I look at hills, valleys, and slopes, and see contours. This is a great way to learn to read the landscape through natural and cultural visual clues, and a perfect example of the critical interpretation of the land that happens in the mind of a landscape architect. Perusing the built and natural world by foot, I try to sense and estimate the gradient of a given slope, and also visualise drainage patterns in the landscape (Figures 4 and 5). As the bread and butter of landscape architectural practice, being dextrous at grading and drainage is an essential skill to develop. Having the ability to visualise landforms and contours is aided a great deal by books such as Landscape Site Grading Principles: Grading With Design in Mind (Figure 6). 4. You People-Watch More than Ever People watching is a thoroughly splendid way to pass the time in public space. Of course, not only landscape architects do this, as the general populace also gravitate toward idly observing the urban spectacle of public life. However, as landscape architects, we are attuned to picking up individual or collective idiosyncrasies, as it is an inherent part of analysing space and the way people appropriate, activate, abandon, or territorialise space. Take New Road by Landscape Projects and Gehl Architects, for example (Figure 6). Jan Gehl is a huge advocate of urban quality and walkability, and describes how in spaces such as this, the edges hold a magnetic attraction for people known as the “edge effect”; perfect for people watching and a trait the Top 10 Public Squares of the World no doubt possess. 5. You Comprehend Past, Present, and Future Rarely is a site ever a blank slate, a tabula rasa. No landscape is void of historical traces and layers. Thinking critically about places and how they have come to fruition—developing an understanding of the observable conditions of the past and present—is a part of the landscape architect’s deftness in making educated guesses about future trajectories and interactions at a systemic level (Figure 7). As an individual, I have found that you develop your very own “language of landscape”, as Anne Whiston Spirn so eloquently put it, in your own unique fashion and at your own pace, with no determinant modus operandi. Here, curiosity is key. Landscape architects’ generalist tendencies are often considered our major downfall; to the contrary, I believe they are our greatest means of agency as our remit continues to broaden in scope. These are five of the most noted changes in the way I personally see and experience the world around me as a landscape architect, and truly believe it’s a very special way of seeing and knowing. If you are a fellow landscape architect reader, please comment and add to this list! Go to comments Recommended Reading:

• Becoming an Urban Planner: A Guide to Careers in Planning and Urban Design by Michael Bayer
• Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature by Douglas Farrs

Article by Paul McAtomney

Article by Irmak Bilir The Deck (Patong Beach), by Shma Company Limited, in Phuket, Thailand Who wouldn’t want to spend their vacation in a residence that has a fascinating roof garden with a fantastic swimming pool? Our guess: No one. The Deck Condominium is a low-rise residential development designed by Shma, very near to Patong Beach. It is located in one of the most popular tourist destinations in the southern part of Thailand. Visitors are attracted by the clear, blue skies and white sand beach, as well as the many aquatic activities, which include snorkeling and speed boating. The Deck’s location allows guests to access all the amenities of this vacation resort, but it also has some special qualities of its own.

Roof Top Landscape Design

Singing the Blues Blue is the dominant color in The Deck’s architectural design. It is most prevalent on the balconies, making them compatible with the perfect view of the sky and the sea. The use of blue is inspired by the natural geography of the site, which is embraced by mountains and the unique landscape that suggests Phuket’s natural identity. This inspiration continues through to the landscape architecture, which utilizes the natural beauty of the area to create a relaxing environment for residents. In addition, the project has two big swimming pools that contribute to this blue harmony. The Perfect View from the Roof Terrace The roof terrace of The Deck includes a 28.8-meter swimming pool that is the most outstanding part of the project. The seventh-floor terrace opens up to a 180-degree view of the surrounding landscape and is carefully positioned to be oriented toward the sea and the infamous Patong Beach. In order to achieve this, the railings along the rooftop are depressed to allow for undisrupted views from the wooden deck. Glazing is used instead of the railings, so while the visitors are swimming, they can feel like they are hanging in the perfect, blue sky with a beautiful view. It must be so relaxing! The sunbeds and seating elements are embellished with small rocks, especially along the edges of the roof. The planting is designed on some raised concrete elements, and on the back side of some of the sunbeds there are smaller planting areas whose shape is inspired by the natural identity of the area. The Entrance Impressed by the rooftop terrace? Don’t let that overshadow the rich design of the Deck’s entrance. The overall landscape is designed to be encircled by various green mounds and the shade of tall trees planted along the winding walkway, resembling the natural scouring of waterways. The walkway is gradually elevated through the luscious green mounds, which roll from side to side until they finally converge on a 50.5-meter swimming pool. The pool has an organic shape that follows the building’s length and infiltrates into the private balconies of each residence, allowing residents to conveniently use the pool. Tiny fountains are disposed in the shallow part of the pool, making underwater seating possible. A big plant island graces the middle of the pool, and the same small rocks found on the rooftop are used here for drainage and decoration. The daybeds provide a comforting view of the pool and the nearby barbecue area, which caters parties in the evening. The outdoor design harmonizes with the Deck’s interior design. The exterior walkway between buildings is connected to the communal area, inviting residents to come outside and relax. The lobby and the fitness room also offer views of the garden. All in all, the Deck’s landscape design is a nice reflection of the natural identity of Phuket. With its inviting blue color scheme, fascinating swimming pools, and wonderful view, it is a residence that makes people want to stay forever. Would you like to visit? Let us know in the comments below! Go to comments

Full Project Credits For the Deck (Patong Beach):

Project Name: The Deck (Patong Beach) Location: Phuket, Thailand Landscape Architecture: Shma Company Limited Design Team: Design Director — Prapan Napawongdee Landscape Architect – Tarntip Tantprasert Horticulturist — Pornsiri Rodkul, Wimonporn Chaiyathet Construction Completion: 2015 Landscape Area: Ground Floor — 3,980 square meters

Roof Top — 970 square meters Client & Developer: Sansiri PCL Architect: Somdoon Architects Co., LTD M&E : V. Group Engineer C&S Engineering : Project Type: Residential Photograph Credit: Wison Tungthhunya Recommended Reading:

• Becoming an Urban Planner: A Guide to Careers in Planning and Urban Design by Michael Bayer
• Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature by Douglas Farrs

Article by Irmak Bilir

Article by Irene Crowo Nielsen The Rehabilitation of the Zsolnay Factory, by Ujirany/New Directions Landscape Architects, Pécs, Hungary Imagine an abandoned factory complex dating back to 1853 in the city of Pécs, Hungary. It is situated next to a railway, contained within a wall. See the big, empty buildings with random broken windows, paint peeling off the walls, and cracks in the pavement, with pioneer willow plantation growing up from them. Not really inviting, right? This describes the post-industrial landscape of the Zsolnay Factory, a symbol of development in the modern age in a city renowned for its Zsolnay porcelain and ceramic-decorated buildings. It has suffered the same fate as so many other factory complexes: abandonment. But, unlike so many other post-industrial landscapes, the future looks bright for the Zsolnay Factory. It was saved by a major rehabilitation in connection with the European Capital of Culture 2010 project.

Rehabilitation of the Zsolnay Factory

The municipality of Pécs aimed to establish a cultural and artistic zone in the deserted, non-functioning buildings that would serve and extend the possibilities for public education and the supply of cultural tourism for the inhabitants of the city and the region. Ujirany/New Directions Landscape Architects was hired to design the landscape around the area that became the University Quarter, where the Faculty of Music and Visual Arts of the University of Pécs moved in.

So, how do you set out on this mission? How do you use landscape architecture to save an abandoned factory complex and also connecting it to a University Quarter? Southern Territory’s Landscape Design – Industrial Area The Zsolnay Factory can be divided into a southern and a northern part, where the southern part used to be the industrial area that took care of the operations of the factory. Impermeable surfaces, raw materials, and manufacturing processes can be used to describe this area. This is also the part the Ujirany/New Directions landscape architects set out to rehabilitate. The Concept: Abundance The new design holds many traces of the factory’s history. Ujirany/New Directions Landscape Architects describes the project on its website this way: “The concept of the park derives from the abundance of the site, hence as design proposal the visualization of the process of succession was envisaged to take over the industrial site. The whole park aims to give space for the everyday life of the students and will become a whole as the process of dwelling will complement the garden.” The design can again be divided into two parts: The natural landscape part, which is the larger part and referred to as the university garden, and the smaller part, the “open auditorium” referred to as the university courtyard, the students’ personal area. The University Garden – Naturally The university garden is situated between the rail tracks and the parking house. It held a lot of potential in keeping bits of its industrial past intact. However, due to technical difficulties and costs, it did not quite turn out that way. The traces of the past are still there — the pavement became a path with crushed stone from the old asphalt pavement, and the outline and levels of the old industrial waterway were transformed into an artificial grassy terrain, where students can relax between classes. The remains of a covered pergola were reduced to white columns standing regularly in space. The old loading ramp is still intact. The university garden is mostly an open, grassy area. Vines are planted by the white columns and will resemble the old pergola in a few years time. An alley of trees was planted by the paved “timeout” area. There are a few shrubs planted as a buffer toward the railway. A landscape of trees and shrubs is situated on the other side of the railway, framing the university garden perfectly. The University Courtyard – Personal The university courtyard emphasizes the various levels that have been created over the years by natural forces. The levels have been turned into terraces of differing heights. The landscape architects explain that “the composition of the courtyard was created by the abstraction of the natural environment of the university garden.” Staircases meandering through the area of the terraces span the courtyard, and there is a 1.5-meter vertical difference between the two sides of the courtyard. The main courtyard features a grassy slope and a snack bar pavilion. The design gives the students a feeling of a square where they can get together and organize events. As with the university garden, this area is also mostly grassy. There is a row of trees planted in between the mobile seating elements. There are some bigger terraces for relaxing connected to the grassy slope, and a variation of paved and grassy terraces is divided into smaller, more intimate areas by ornamental grass plantings. History Repeats Itself Gone are the big empty buildings with broken windows, cracks in the pavement, and paint peeling off the walls. Gone is the feeling of abandonment. The Zsolnay Factory has become a busy hub for “workers”, only this time in the shape of creative art students who will let the design of the park inspire them to finish the “openly left sentences” through the means of art projects. With the rehabilitation and the tracing of its past, the Zsolnay Factory has once again become a symbol of development in the modern age of the city of Pécs. The Zsolnay Factory has returned to being a lively, everyday hub, just how it was planned to be in 1853. How would you trace the past of an abandoned old factory? Go to comments

Full Project Credits For the Rehabilitation of the Zsolnay Factory:

Project Name: The Rehabilitation of the Zsolnay Factory – Southern Territory’s landscape design Location: Pécs, Hungary Budget: 11 billion HUF (this includes the whole Cultural Quarter investment of the European Culture of Capital Pécs Programme) Landscape Architecture: Ujirany / New Directions Landscape Architects (Árpád Kovács, Katalin Lukács, Gábor Szohr, Dorottya Thurnay, Dominika Tihanyi) Architects/ general planners: MCXVI Architects Design year: 2009 Date of Construction: 2011 Size: 5,300 square meters Client: Municipality of Pécs Photos: Ujirany / New Directions Recommended Reading:

• Becoming an Urban Planner: A Guide to Careers in Planning and Urban Design by Michael Bayer
• Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature by Douglas Farrs

Article by Irene Crowo Nielsen

Article by Moreira Filho KALA – Playground and Green Space in Berlin-Friedrichshain, by Rehwaldt LA, Dresden, Berlin, Germany. There is no time to have fun. Squares are supposed to be places where fun flows naturally. Almost all the projects of squares are directed to teenagers and adults. But what about children and elders? The KALA – Playground and Green Space in Berlin-Friedrichshain project was specially designed for them by Rehwaldt LA, Dresden, and of course, everybody can go there and have fun together.

KALA – Playground and Green Space

Putting the Site into Context KALA Square is situated in Berlin, among Hildegard Jadamowitz Street, Lasdehner Street and Kadiner Street, close to Frankfurter and Karl Marx Avenues, in the midst of the Friedrichshain district, composing two mini-parks. There is an elementary school called Ludwig Hoffmann nearby. That site used to be the residence of industrial employees before the Second War. It was partially destroyed in the war and some of the damaged buildings were demolished, giving way to wastelands, and some of them were transformed into small squares. After decades of reconstruction, a plan of revitalization was adopted in 2009. Nowadays, all of the inhabitants and visitors of the surroundings can enjoy this spot.

Rescuing Values That’s what this special square in Berlin, Germany, brings into play. It’s not only a beautiful place, but also a place of acquaintanceship. The intention is to make children active, developing their citizenship and self-consciousness, help them find friends, to learn with their own hurts and joys in funny playgrounds, and get tuned in with their environment and neighborhood. Simplicity is the Key to Reach Sophistication Simplicity doesn’t mean lack of design. With a special theme, a playground becomes a big world of fun. The square is cracked into two parts. Meeresinsel; that means Island in the Sea, and Erdeninsel; meaning Isle on the Earth. A group of children quickly enter into those “worlds”. Meeresinsel Meeresinsel has penguins and polar life motifs in the design, composing a big sandy zone as if it were a big sea or ocean, rounded by broken ice sheets. It allows children play in many different ways: climbing ice sheets (made of concrete), where they can slide, too, or another one where they balance, dive, hide etc.; everything their imagination can invent. There is nothing as humorous as a child playing that he is a seal, is there? Or even following the penguins’ footsteps, or hiding and appearing from a hole in an ice sheet. A paved area in the south makes a small square where a water pump was installed, to the children’s joy. They get dirty with that messy mud of sand. Good for their growth, bad for their mother’s laundry. Erdeninsel On the other side, across Lasdehner Street, is the other part of KALA’ Square, called The Erdeninsel (Isle on the Earth). Although this area also works as a passageway, elders maybe prefer to spend time there. It’s cool and calm to take a sunbath, play cards or musical instruments, read the news or just stand, talking with friends for a while, without thinking about work or boring things. It’s right beside the elementary school and its green sensation gives a very pleasurable walk. Elders can have a sit on a bench which is not only a normal bench. Completely charming, the bench is highlighted! Its design is beautiful and exorbitant, and it has multiple functions; as a bench only, or a picnic table, resting area, stage for anything, or as a big “bridge” for the childrens’ frolicking. Made of wooden pieces of different sizes and painted in ocher shades, it stimulates the vision by its own profile of “curve lines” moving out from the junction of rectilinear blocks. Materials like concrete, sand, wood and water were applied. Blocks, sheets, meshes and ground vegetation were arranged in strategic positions, giving space for children to play, to allow for public passage, and for the rest and picnicing of elders and familes. Each thing in its own space. Modest, easy and it works. Vegetation The existent vegetation was maintained in the project, with few modifications only; the addition of some new trees and shrubs. Its effects allow some shadows in the summer and gives a green background to the landscape in a charming way. That’s because some of the trees are from Platanaceae, Altingiaceae or Fabaceae families, meaning that their leaves are green in the spring and summer and are dropped in fall and winter. Because of this point, the landscape changes with the weather and the seasons. They are tall, straight, thin, elegant; similar to some that you probably draw in your sketches. Shrubs and groundplants give, in their profiles, a visual mix of leaves and shades; almost like they were in a forest. As the backgrounding to the square, the swishes of the wind in the green elements gives a calm sensation and barricades the noises of day-to-day. But don’t expect to find lots of different colored flowers. We are talking about a greenspace, not exactly a garden! Simplicity – All that we Need KALA is inside a neighborhood constructed and reconstructed, which served as employees’ homes before the Second War and which now is inhabited by average families. It doesn’t contrast with the big box buildings in the surroundings, but you know that there is an interesting thing in there, because of the showy green open area. Family conceptions have changed through the years. Even if you do not have one or don’t live with them, going to parks and squares is still a good way to enjoy family life. As we learn with children, simple toys and playgrounds can be amazing and take us to different imaginative worlds. Elders can tell us how to improve our quality of life after years of hard work. And all these stories can take place in such well-designed squares like KALA. So, go out with your folks and follow the penguins’ footprints at KALA playground and greenspace. Do you usually enjoy having fun with your family like they do at KALA? When was the last time? Tell us; how do you spend your time in public spaces? Go to comments

Full Project Credits For the KALA – Playground and green space in Berlin-Friedrichshain:

Project Name: KALA – Playground and green space in Berlin-Friedrichshain Completion: 2011 Location: Kadiner st./Lasdehner st., Berlin-Friedrichshain Designer: Rehwaldt LA, Dresden Country: Germany Photographer: Rehwaldt LA, Bautzner Str. 133, D-01099 Dresden – Tel. ++49 / 351 / 8119690 – www.rehwaldt.de Area: 0.36 ha, Budget: 400,000 EUR Competition: 2009, 1st prize Client: Borough Administration Berlin Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Recommended Reading:

• Becoming an Urban Planner: A Guide to Careers in Planning and Urban Design by Michael Bayer
• Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature by Douglas Farrs

Article by Moreira Filho

Following on in our world series we have selected 10 awesome projects that perfectly represent landscape architecture in France today. The French history of landscape architecture is very influential and famous. It has been formed and changed throughout centuries. You certainly have heard about the French formal garden, or jardin à la française – this style was inspired by idealized romantic landscapes and the paintings of celebrated French painters. No wonder France reminds us of love and romance. But, what about today? What has changed in the present gardens? Let’s see in our selection of 10 contemporary projects from France.

10 Awesome Projects From The France

10. Central garden block B4, by TN Plus, in Boulogne Billancourt, suburbs of Paris Thinking about the future when working on a project is a vital trait of every landscape architect’s mind. The TN Plus designers „took a peek“ into the future of the Central garden block B4, and came up with the solution for every problem that appeared. They wisely decided to reduce the number of plant species, choosing ones that grow naturally and spread by themselves over time. This automatically reduced the cost of maintenance, and with an extraordinarily shaped platform, this block is just going to flourish over time.

9. Parc du Mont Evrin (Mont Evrin Park), by Urbicus, in Montévrain When designing a park, accomplishing the „natural“ look can be very tricky. The designer should be careful in every stage of planning, because everything needs to seem effortless. This especially applies to large parks, like this one in Montévrain. Its surface covers 20ha – which makes it pretty big in relation to some city parks. The landscape architects successfully dealt with this challenge by creating a quiet and natural park. Rural characteristics, like woodlands and a storm-water basin, are a perfect oasis for people who are looking for place to contact with nature. 8. Les Berges Du Rhône (The Lyon River Bank), by IN SITU Architectes Paysagistes, in Lyon There are countless cities that are concentrated around rivers. People have always been attracted to them, and this is probably the reason why many riverbanks are successfully developing. The designers of the Lyon River Bank knew the key to success, and before starting the process of planning, they asked people what they wanted there. The final result was a 5km long neatly arranged riverbank, without car parking. Just people and the river, together enjoying in their forever-lasting relationship. 7. Place de la République, by Trévelo & Viger-Kohler, in Paris When creating a public space, the inclusion of national symbols of the country can be equally important to other landscape elements. The history of the state should be respected and exhibited, and we know a lot of places with these kinds of landmarks. Place de la République is one of these places, proudly showing a national symbol – the statue of Marianne. The TVK designers reconstructed a former traffic area into an important piece of pedestrian space, filled with people, water, and vegetation. 6. Wet meadow site and source of the river Norges, by Territories Landscape Architects, in Norges-la-Ville One of the most important things when designing a landscape is to take care of the ecosystem. This is always the sensitive part of any space, and the designers thoughtfully managed to bring the nature of the wet meadow to its fullest potential, whilst at the same time increasing the accessibility to the area. Combining geometric shapes of the built elements with the natural curves of the river, this project, besides being ecologically responsible, gracefully fulfills its aesthetic role. 5. Town Center „On the Edge“, by Urbicus, in Inzinzac-Lochrist People love to combine nature with the urban world, because it always has been important to our lives. For that, the world has the right people, who know how to do it with style – landscape architects. The restructuring of Town Center brought to life an area that was overgrown with brownfields. The designers researched the area and reconciled the city and the river, while providing the usable and beautiful place for rest and relaxation. 4. Espace Bienvenüe: Paris Est. Scientific and Technical Pole, by Jean-Philippe Pargade Architecte, in Marne-la-Vallée The planners of this project have taken sustainability to the next level. As we all know, sustainability is nowadays a very important factor in design. What they did here is a brilliant mixture of stunning landscape with incredibly beneficial sustainable techniques, that serve multiple purposes for the users. This project has a variety of social features, and is oriented towards bioclimatic strategies, which makes this project an outstanding success. 3. Clos Layat Park, by Base Landscape Architecture + Arcadis + Les Eclaireurs, in Lyon Fitting a new project into an existing landscape isn’t always as easy as it may seem. The area of the Clos Layat Park was laying empty, until the authorities decided to recruit the BASE designers for its reconstruction. By extending the forest on the project’s border as it gradually becomes a meadow, confidently inviting people in for exploration – all in a natural manner – this park became an urban landscape that offers true communication with nature. 2. A Toddlers Playground, by Espace Libre, in Alfortville Every landscape architect knows that designing a space well means that you must really understand who will be using that space. In that manner, the users will be strongly attracted to the area. Before planning of the Toddlers Playground, the designers assembled detailed research on children’s psychology. With this, they actually comprehended what is necessary for toddler’s proper development of sensory skills, and made a two-in-one combination – real functionality with pleasant landscape. 1. Martin Luther King Park, by Atelier Jacqueline Osty & associés, in Paris Living in the big city would be very tough if there weren’t any parks and landscapes. Built over 13 years and in atwo phases, the Martin Luther King Park plays a major role in the Clichy Batignolles area of Paris. Each part of the project has a different purpose, and the planners cleverly put teh natural energy of the sun and wind into action. Considering that precious rainwater is recycled, and that landscape architecture is in the forefront, this park certainly deserves to carry the title of a supreme landscape. According to these 10 outstanding projects, we can see that modernization is taking its swing. The styles of the French landscapes have perhaps changed, but contemporary and „old-school“ gardens kept one common characteristic – their respect towards nature. Landscape architects are becoming guardians of the planet, looking for every opportunity to come up with new solutions and to make friends with the environment. France is progressing in the field with every new project, so besides these 10 masterpieces, do you have other favorite landscape projects in this country? Tell us in the comments! Go to comments Recommended Reading:

• Becoming an Urban Planner: A Guide to Careers in Planning and Urban Design by Michael Bayer
• Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature by Douglas Farrs

Article by Lidija Šuster

Article by Rose Buchanan We take a look at 6 landscape based memorials and what they commemorate and how. Memorials function as places or objects which speak of the memory of an event or person. The most common form is to use a statue or plaque placed at a strategic location. While these memorials provide us with a tangible element of memory, they fail to engage with powerful elements of experience and emotion. One might briefly respond to the image of a fallen soldier cast in iron and take the obligatory snapshot posing in front of it, but moments later that feeling and memory is gone. This is where landscape becomes a powerful element in creating a memorial experience that not only allows the user to become aware of the past, but creates a tangible experience within the present. Landscape Architects Network has featured a number of these memorials and in this article we look back at six landscape-driven memorials that provide a new way of approaching memorial design.

Landscape Based Memorials

1. Gordan Lederer Memorial, by NFO, in Čukur Hill in, Croatia This powerful memorial commemorates the death of a Croatian photographer and videographer who was killed by a sniper while filming soldiers in the Cukur Hills on August 10 1991. The memorial was designed by NFO as a winning submission in a design competition and is located at the exact position where Lederer died. What makes this memorial unusual is the manner in which visitors are taken through an experience which speaks of Lederer’s life and death while using the breath-taking landscape as a backdrop to the story. The design uses hard, human-fabricated materials which contrast to the natural landscape, highlighting the beauty within the tragedy. Visitors are taken up to viewpoint by a concrete pathway symbolising his life. At the end of the path is a glass frame encased in stainless steel, resembling a camera lens and punctured with an imitation bullet hole. As the visitor looks through the glass to the view of the Una River Valley below, they are confronted with the memory of Lederer’s death, creating a memorial experience.

2. Memorial to Victims of Violence, by Gaeta-Springall Arquitectos, Mexico City, Mexico Mexico City is well known for the drug war which has accounted for more than 60,000 deaths between 2006 and 2012. Thus, this memorial, which was opened in 2013, needed to tell the story of the victims of violence while striving to bring the community together. The memorial is located in Chapultepec Park and the designers, Gaeta-Springall Architects, used the park landscape to create a memorial which also functions as a public space. This was achieved through the use of 70 towering steel walls which stand as reminders of the victims. Lit eerily from below and reflected in pools of water, these walls speak of the multiple conflicts and struggles while acknowledges the continuing struggles of the present. Visitors are invited to engage with the walls by expressing their own struggles with chalk. 3. Saiki Peace Memorial Park, by Earthscape / Noom Architects, in Tsuruyamachi Saiki-city Oita, Japan Memorials are usually symbols of great tragedy, but by placing them in the landscape they can become part of the culture of a city, providing functional space and hope for the future. Saiki Peace Memorial Park by Earthscape/Noom Architects achieved this by drawing on the Japanese connection with nature to create a space that stands as a symbol of peace as well as a space for people to relax and enjoy. The design of the park-like space is simple yet beautiful and consists of a large open grassed area with geometric white pathways and elements. The forms quietly symbolise the memory of the past with functional spaces that inspire people to move along them and stay active. 4. Gebran Tueni Memorial, Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture, Beirut, Lebanon Gebran Tueni was a former journalist and politician who fought for independence in Beirut during the time of civil war. He was tragically killed in a car bomb in 2005 and the memorial designed by Vladimi Jurovic was opened in 2011. The memorial is unusual as it commemorates the life of Gebran in a manner which uses the landscape of the city to symbolise his life as opposed to the usual static memorials. This approach uses granite bands of different widths, inscribed at one end with his oath, which was delivered shortly before his assassination. These words are lit up at night in symbolic defiance of the threats and the ultimate violence of his death. Surrounding the granite are olive and oak trees with loose pebbles engraved with Tueni’s name, providing visitor with tangible mementos. 5. Poppy Plaza by Marc Boutin Architectural Collaborative and Stantec Consulting, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Poppy Plaza is a memorial landscape that has developed over time and has recently been revived to bridge the gap between affirming old connections and creating new memories. It started in 1922 where an unused open space allowed families to plant a tree for every fallen solider who did not have a grave. Up until 1928 a total of 3278 trees were planted, many of which are now nearing the end of their life cycle. In order to maintain the sense of memory, Marc Boutin designed a public space which included the planting of new trees as well as creating a sense of place through Cor-Ten steel memorial walls, inscribed with poems and speeches. The space also provides a new connection to the Bow River, drawing on the river’s emotive quality to enhance the feeling of contemplation and remembrance. 6. Reaching Out, Letting In” is the title of Gustafson Porter’s memorial fountain to Princess Diana Gustafson Porter approached the memorial to the Princess of Wales as a means to create a memorial which could be occupied as an everyday space. In this way she used the concept of a circular fountain to embody the qualities of Diana that made her so loveable: her inclusiveness and her accessibility. The sculptural quality of the white granite within the park draws people to the space, yet has a gentle expansive energy that radiates outward into the landscape. Water flows at various speeds and over different textures, representing the figure of Diana: tangible, cozy, never still, and, in a way, troubled. These six projects are beautiful examples of how memory, landscape, and public space can be combined to enrich their environments and create memorable experiences. They do not call for touristy photos or lengthy explanations but allow visitors to create their own meaning. Are there any memorials you would add to the list? Go to comments Recommended Reading:

• Becoming an Urban Planner: A Guide to Careers in Planning and Urban Design by Michael Bayer
• Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature by Douglas Farrs

Article by Rose Buchanan