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Smart Highway by Studio Roosegaarde. Energy efficiency and sustainability are some words that we use in almost every sector of our life now-a-days. Our planet has become vulnerable and her residents are already started to take care of her. We are conscious, yes, but are we smart enough? This is the very question the concept of “Smart Highway” brings before us. Smart highway is an innovative concept that targets the time yet to come. It is a result of the “brain” of Daan Roosegaarde, the designer and the “hands” of Heijmans, the builder and developer. We need collaboration between different fields to find the solutions of problems and difficulties of the contemporary world. Smart highway is a groundbreaking example for this kind of inter-expertise collaboration and effort. The Smart Highway...Read More

Find the perfect plants for your projects with this unique online plant finder. Have you ever sat in front of your project, wondering which plants would be the best options for it? Even the most expert landscape architects have to stop to think before making this essential decision. As living things, plants have their own needs in terms of soil conditions, temperatures, or sun exposure, and designers also have their expectations about the landscape. Putting them together is a key factor in the success of any garden or landscape design. Fortunately, there are several awesome tools available to make this easier. This week, we want to introduce you to one of them — PlantSelectr.com, an online search tool created by Sven Henrik Karlsson. An Easy Tool to Use for Finding Plants At first si...Read More

Starry Bicycle Path, Studio Roosegaarde, Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The city of Eindhoven, in the south of the Netherlands, is the hometown of Vincent Van Gogh, one of the most well known Dutch painters. The opening of a solar bicycle path inspired by Van Gogh’s most recognizable painting, “Starry Night,” this November marked the beginning of an international year celebrating his work and legacy, with activities spanning three countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Daan Roosegaarde, a Dutch designer who explores the relation among people, technology, and space and the author of the Lotus Dome project, has created this magnificent, glowing cycle path. This one-kilometer path is Roosegaarde’s second achievement in the Smart Highway project, through which he...Read More

The Pool, By Nippaysage, Emile Gamelin Plaza, Montreal, Canada Illusion and whimsy combine to create a cool, blue oasis in Montreal’s Emilie Gamelin Plaza in the center of the city. Architect Nippaysage has used paint and geometric designs to give a rectangular slab of hardscape the optical shimmering feel of a real swimming pool. Draw closer, and you will see that the pool is a place to play: Hopscotch grids, chessboards and giant tangram puzzle pieces invite users to take a break from their busy urban lives. The Draw of Water in the Landscape Humans and water are inextricably linked. In the landscape wherever you find water you will find human settlement. In designed landscapes users are similarly drawn to water. In their design for Emilie Gamelin Plaza, Nippaysage has used the blue pain...Read More

11th Street Bridge Park, OMA + OLIN design, Washington, D.C. In metropolitan areas, land comes at a premium and outdated infrastructure can be abundant, so when Washington, D.C., was seeking a plot of land on which to install a new civic space, the city decided to host a competition to transform an aged-out freeway bridge over the Anacostia River. At the end of the seven-month competition, the unanimously winning team for the 11th Street Bridge Park was OMA + OLIN design. “The 11th Street Bridge project is a special precinct in the structure of the city,” said competition juror Harry G. Robinson III, FAIA, professor of urban design and dean emeritus at Howard University. “It is at once both a crossing and a place. In its purest role, it is a hyphen that connects and celebrates the physical...Read More

A selection of some of the most major cities in the world that will inspire any landscape architecture student. One needs to be clear about one thing. There is no city a Landscape Architecture Student should not visit. Intriguing Landscapes are everywhere. However, There are some basic destinations for students that could become valuable lessons. Cities a Landscape Architecture Student Should Visit • Tivoli, Paris and London, in that order The great Italian Villas have had the most extraordinary gardens. The Villa d’ Este in Tivoli by the Italian Landscape Architect Pirro Lingorio is the best known example. A clear geometry, sense of perspective and the element of illusion are the important characteristics of this landscape masterpiece. WATCH: Villa D’Este a Tivoli ripresa con un dro...Read More

Akasya Acibadem Central Park, by SdARCH Trivelli & Associati & Alhadeff Architects, Istanbul, Turkey. As Istanbul is considered by many to be one of the best capitals of art and culture, parks in the city are just as spectacular and in the following project lies the evidence: Akasya Acibadem Central Park located in Acibadem district. An area of high quality housing projects in the Asian side of Istanbul. In recent years, a new road network and new residential buildings came up. This Park appears to be the green center or the “green lung” of this new urbanization. The park surrounds the new shopping mall in Akasya, designed by DDG Architects. WATCH: Akasya Master Plan by DDG Architects The landscaping team, standing behind the “green lung”, is SdARCH Trivelli & Associati. They t...Read More

Mekel Park, by Mecanoo in Delft, the Netherlands. The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), one of the most prestigious of its kind in the Netherlands, aimed in 2004 to transform the busy and broad Mekel Road, which splits the campus in half, into a spectacular park. The goal was to bring to the campus the high quality of life in the city of Delft. Located in the heart of the campus, the park bridges the buildings of all the faculties and, because of this, it symbolizes the university’s international and interdisciplinary character, bringing together in a pleasant way people with different cultural and academic backgrounds. The Green Heart At 80 meters wide and 800 meters long, this park contributes to the university’s reputation and provides an attractive meeting point for stud...Read More

This week’s Sketchy Saturday top 10. Welcome to this week’s exciting edition of Sketchy Saturday. This week’s sketches may have been the toughest in our Sketchy Saturday history to judge the top 10. There is a fine line between what is excellent work and what is suitable for Sketchy Saturday. With Sketchy Saturday we always stretch the definition of the word sketch and display some questionable entries, but we’re always searching for a high raw element to the work and a direct relevance to landscape architecture. Enjoy this week’s Sketchy Saturday top 10! 10. by Luna Refaie , (Architect) , Jordan   “Our earth is getting covered with buildings , Every small empty space is being built without consideration for the outdoor spaces. We became imprisoned in our houses, We start...Read More

Innovation in cycle lane technology from Sola Road. On 12th November 2014, the first cycle lane made up of solar panels was laid out for a trial situated in Netherlands. The 70-meter stretch of cycle path lies between two suburbs of the Amsterdam city (Krommenie and Wormerveer) that generates solar power from rugged, textured glass-covered photovoltaic cells. Despite the weather, the current cycle lane services as many as 2,000 cyclists per day hence it is the perfect place for testing. The cycle lane will stretch to its full extent of 100m by 2016 and is said to be able to generate enough energy to power three houses. Over the next two to three years, the pilot project will be monitored to see how much power is generated and how the public will respond to it. A Path of Solar Panels Module...Read More

Şışhane Park by SANALarc, Istanbul, Turkey  Şışhane Park is a refreshing take on new urban public space. It oozes quality without being pretentious. Its clean geometric edges, clear open spaces, and mix of plantings beautifully frame the park while simultaneously integrating it with the surrounding city. It provides what all inner city spaces should: opportunity for a multitude of events, social encounters, relaxation, or expression. There are some notable draw card features, such as the silhouette walk, a walkway that sits above the city to the west and provides views across to a sunset backdrop. As a truly modern sustainable urban park, the space may lack wide open lawn areas, but it is inviting, encouraging visitors to stay by creating a genteel ambiance, offering reclined sunset decks ...Read More