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Polish Street Artist NeSpoon Decorates Neglected Urban Spaces with Lace. For many, the term “street art” still has something of a seedy connotation, conjuring up images of the graffiti tagging and vandalism that occurs in many urban neighbourhoods. However, modern street artists are challenging these notions, and today street art has become an incredibly diverse and unique art form, gaining increased recognition and legitimacy from both the public and authorities. NeSpoon, a Polish street artist based in Warsaw, is one of these modern street artists who are changing the public perception of graffiti and street art. Using her artwork as a tool, NeSpoon transforms and beautifies neglected urban spaces in cities around the world. Ranging from painting to sculpture, from ceramics to textiles, ...Read More

The importance of using trees in the landscape may be unknown to most of us!  There is one element found in almost every single landscape architecture project, and it’s not hardscape, lighting, or a pool. It’s trees and — along with them — the life they imbue into every project they inhabit. But why trees? The following list shows how and why trees are so important for landscape architects and the world around us. 1. Trees Keep Our Water Clean As part of an integrated stormwater management system, streamside forests have important effects on water quality. They remove excess nutrients and pollutants, such as fertilizers, pesticides, and sediments, from surface runoff and shallow groundwater. Trees also shade streams, providing optimal light and temperature conditions that allow...Read More

Cool Pavements: Keeping our cities bearable. Temperatures in cities are rising at a fast pace due to the replacement of natural vegetated areas with artificial waterproofed surfaces. Compared to rural areas, cities have larger swaths of paved surfaces that store more heat – this is one of the causes of the so-called “heat island effect”. One way to solve this problem is to use smart materials known as “cool pavements”. Cool pavement technology can counter the heat island effect and contribute to healthier, more comfortable urban environments. Keep reading to find out how! What is the Urban Heat Island Effect? Urban heat island effect raises temperatures in cities, leading to an increased energy demand for cooling buildings and damaging the population’s health. Its main cause is the replace...Read More

A new bridge for Mont Saint Michel; designed by Dietmar Feichtinger Architects. Anyone who has looked for a touristic destination that gathers unique characteristics probably knows Mont Saint Michel, in Normandy, France. This mini medieval town, combining historical architecture and unusual construction technique has been one of the most visited places in France. Being located in a bay with the highest tides in Europe has contributed to its image of a fantastic boat floating on the sea, with the presence of the one thousand year-old abbey on its top. The lure of this place, declared Unesco World Heritage site in 1979, is being threatened, however, because the island, known for centuries as the “wonder of the western world”, is being transformed into a peninsula. Although this process inten...Read More

The Rocker that makes the most of where you sit! The multidisciplinary SOFT Rockers project, which has been developed by KVA Matx, Boston, under the coordination of Sheila Kennedy and Junqmin Nam, started in 2011 with the installation of innovative rocking lounge chairs at Killian Court, in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They were originally created by MIT students led by Professor Sheila Kennedy for MIT’s Festival of Arts, Science and Technology, featuring organic shapes that embellished the landscape and invited people to rest and reenergise with their rocking movement. This way of cooling down may sound not new but what about resting on these comfortable rockers while charging your mobile devices? And using your balance to optimize the generation of electricity, being part o...Read More

The Landscape Architecture buzz terms that leave us all nodding and smiling along in utter confusion. The importance of an expansive landscape lexicon should not be understated. As landscape architects, I believe the way in which we communicate with words is equally as important and persuasive as communicating graphically, be it with clients, colleagues or classmates. With such a myriad of landscape architectural concepts and terminologies used in our design dialect, it is imperative to know both what these terminologies are and what they actually mean. Think of it as an academic investment that grows with time – here are 5 landscape architecture buzz words and what they mean. 1. Blue Urbanism In a nutshell blue urbanism is about designing for ocean awareness. It is an emerging set o...Read More

This week’s Sketchy Saturday top 10 Welcome to another fantastic edition of Sketchy Saturday, where we have taken everything you have sent us in, filtered through them and picked what we believe to be the top 10. This week we had our first ever Sketchy Saturday video entry which is well worth a watch. This is presentation format that we would love to see more of as it allows another dimension to the presentation of the sketch. I think you’ll agree all the entries offer something different, with a diverse blend of styles and approaches that illustrate the artist’s imagination and perception. 10. by Rigan Satria A. Putra, ST Master of Architecture Design student, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, Indonesia “Rotterdam International Credit and Trading Association buil...Read More

 “The Disconnect” – Crater Lake by 24° Studio In today’s frantic and technology driven society, it is all too easy to become engulfed in social media. Although these virtual spheres present opportunities for people to instantly get in touch and share life experiences, in reality, nothing beats an old fashioned face-to-face conversation.  Let’s face it, do we really need to see an image of the latest delicacy our pseudo-friends cooked for dinner? With their temporary installation project ‘Crater Lake’, Japanese architectural firm 24° Studio have attempted to promote the lost art of social interaction to somewhat alleviate the societal disconnect brought about by social media. This hybrid, public playscape, urban intervention, and sculpture landscape installation sustains s...Read More

LAN writer Cameron Rodman pays a visit to Citygarden. Coming to St. Louis, I expected to be overwhelmingly impressed by the Gateway Arch and the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial grounds. The American monument and National Expansion Memorial have stood the test of time representing the history of America. I was excited to learn more about my country’s history and gain some knowledge of how westward expansion advanced. Instead, upon my visit, I found that the new jewel in St. Louis is Citygarden, a 2.9 acre urban park. Opened in 2009, Citygarden is the newest addition to the city’s “Gateway Mall” which starts at the Mississippi River and Gateway Arch then travels west 16 blocks up into the city. The park, which was designed by Virginia-based Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, was a...Read More

Rain Gardens: Embracing the Environment to Create Thoughtful Spaces. You probably know from our previous article “Permeable Paving: The Essential Guide” that it is possible to allow water to infiltrate paths and roads with the use of permeable paving. But have you ever heard of the possibility of imitating natural forest infiltration within your own garden? What is a Rain Garden? The rain garden, as its name suggests, is a group of planting arrangements that make use of rainwater. The rain garden is usually small and can be incorporated into pretty much any outdoor design. While rain gardens are most commonly found in residential yards, they can also be planted in parking lots and parks. They can even function by themselves as small independent gardens. What differentiates this planting de...Read More

Want to boost awareness and participation in your local landscape architecture chapter but don’t know how? If you were lucky enough to attend last year’s ASLA conference in Boston, you’ve experienced first-hand the energy and ambition of the Boston Society of Landscape Architects. Located in one of the hottest spots in the country for landscape architecture schools and firms, BSLA also hosts an active Emerging Professionals group that’s been spearheading a local community around landscape architecture with fun networking events. I had the opportunity to speak with Nina Chase, BSLA EP Chair, and David Buckley Borden, BSLA EP Event Producer, about their leadership roles in the EP group and their advice for getting more people involved and active in landscape architecture. Can you tell us abo...Read More

Mercer Slough Nature Park and Education Centre by Jones & Jones Architects and Landscape Architects Buildings and nature parks: Do the two mix, or should we avoid development in sensitive landscapes altogether? Perhaps there are practical and considered ways in which we can integrate the buildings needed to encourage people to venture into the natural environment on their doorsteps. After all, persuading more people to interact with the natural world — and providing facilities in which environmental education can be spread — has to be a good thing, right? Mercer Slough Nature Park is a 320-acre park in Washington, just east of Seattle. Taking its name from the Mercer Slough River that runs through it, the park contains a diverse range of habitats, perhaps most notably a lar...Read More