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New York City’s best display of public art is in a fight for its life. The 5 Pointz, located in Long Island City, Queens, has long been a haven for artists to express their work and even build a career. The building’s exterior is covered with aerosol art dating back to the early 1990s, earning it the distinction of New York’s “Graffiti Mecca.” On the inside, it has provided studio space to up to 200 artists at a time, giving them a place to grow their craft at below market value. The turning point On August 21, 2013, the New York City Planning Commission unanimously voted to approve plans to build condos on the 5 Pointz site. In a recent hearing, owners of the site got a judge to delay the demolition of the converted warehouse by 10 days with their first restraining order. This should buy ...Read More

Land8 is kicking off November with the launch of Film-tastic Fridays! Every Friday, we’ll start your morning off with a short and inspiring landscape architecture-related video. Hit the jump for the video!   Architectural Digest and Delta focus their spotlight on Walter Hood. From their description: “Number two in a series for Architectural Digest magazine and Delta. Focusing on Walter Hood, a landscape architect who transforms public spaces into community gathering places.” Architectural Digest & Delta Present Walter Hood from Guggenheim Productions on Vimeo.   +Hood Design Studio

In remembrance of Superstorm Sandy’s one year anniversary, ASLA unveiled a collection of talks focusing on greater urban resiliency as scheduled in the upcoming 2013 Annual Meeting. As coastal cities face increasing frequency in extreme weather events, landscape architects are paving the way towards greener, more resilient urban design. Read on for the full list of talks! From November 15 to 18, the 2013 ASLA conference will gather over 6,000 landscape architecture professionals and students to Boston, MA for an exciting four-day discussion of important issues from sustainability to stormwater management. This year’s 2013 ASLA Annual Meeting & EXPO will be guided by the theme “Gaining Ground,” a message that reflects landscape architecture’s growing recogn...Read More

Formed in 1964, the New Jersey Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects will be celebrating its 50-year anniversary in 2014.   In an effort to reaffirm the history of our Chapter, we would like to introduce you to some of our founding members. Attendees at the first meeting held in 1964 included:  Don Richardson, Paul Krarup, Ross Pell, Larry Dumont, Lu Miceli, John Weed, Richard Cripps, Elizabeth Pattee, Russ Butler, Al Dilischer, Max Heim, Roy H. DeBoer, Oliver Deakin, John Haleck and Jeff Hall.   Roy H. DeBoer (FASLA , Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture at Rutgers University) was the New Jersey Chapter’s fifth President. Roy earned his undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 1955 and his Master of Science in Horticulture, Planning and Microclimate ...Read More

Many debates abound regarding the current legitimacy of drawing in landscape architecture. The onset of numerous computer programs has challenged traditional methods of drawing and sketching to communicate ideas. Which skill is more valid for today’s designer and design consumer? Which more effectively demonstrates the design in a clear way? Can these two styles exist in the same dialogue? A general overview Drawing for Landscape Architecture by Edward Hutchison, stands as a middle ground for these two similar skills and joins them together. Published in 2011 by Thames & Hudson Inc., this seminal writing engages readers deeply into the act of drawing and explores a variety of representation techniques which are transferable to either skill set. Hand drawing is presented as an essential...Read More

Has the above question ever crossed your mind? Often, we stick to the existing models and it is difficult to imagine things in a different way. That is why we as designers, architects, and planners should discover what stays hidden at the first look. But first, why do we need to consider female users of the city different than males? To answer this, we should ask ourselves about the proportion of women and men using municipal services, such as public transit and recreational activities. One almost rhetorical question is what proportion of women and men feel unsafe when using the cities? What makes a city better for women? In city planning  Pedestrian mobility and proximity of services One city in Europe has given this attention to women since the 1990s. The project, Frauen Werk Stadt ̵...Read More

Whether you’re an upperclassman or a freshman, this list outlines mistakes that landscape architecture students make and more importantly how to avoid them. It is likely that you have made one or more of these mistakes, but don’t worry — learn from the experience and capitalize on the missed opportunity next time. 10. Caring too much about what your professors think   While professors often carry advanced degrees and have spent time in the professional world, they do not have all the answers. Learn how to think critically for yourself and don’t be afraid to challenge ideas that you think don’t work. 9. Caring too little about what your professors think As mentioned above, professors have advanced degrees and work experience. They often know what they are talking about ...Read More

Just in case you forgot why you started here are 10 great reasons to remind you. Landscape architecture is what you encounter once you walk out of your front door. It is the rural environment, the urban environment and the profession acting as the interface between earth’s natural ecosystem and its people. Landscape architects are broad thinkers addressing global issues such as climate change, water shortages, sustainable communities and the prevention of hunger. They are natural leaders with the ability to communicate through different professions and lead multidisciplinary projects. Those within the industry will tell you landscape architecture is certainly a great career choice, however what are the top 10 reasons to become a landscape architect? From forming a strategic response to the...Read More

If you are looking for an ordinary gardening book, sorry, this is not for you. Anne Wareham reveals in “The Bad Tempered Gardener” how she took on the challenge of designing and maintaining a quite large parcel of land, turning it into one of the most acclaimed gardens in Wales — the Veddw. Bored with the predictable garden reviews in newspapers and magazines, Wareham decided to engage in critical writing, as well. “I began to get tired of hearing every garden described as ’lovely’,” she said. Today, she is a respected critic and the founder of Thinking Gardens, a group with the support of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) that encourages serious discussion of gardens. The book Driven by a compelling wish to have a real garden, Wareham and her husband,  photogra...Read More

It is not a science book, it is not a tourist guide, it is an art project! Map Your Memories is an ongoing collaborative project that asks people to fill in an extremely schematic map of a city with what is meaningful for them. The project was created by Becky Cooper in 2007, featured in the Wall Street Journal and Time Out New Yorker, and so far expands to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Portland, Maine. The story behind the project The writing of the book starts at 231st Street in Bronx with the author armed with hundreds of blank maps of the city and ends at the southern tip of the island looking towards the Statue of Liberty. During the journey, Becky Cooper met police officers, homeless people, fashion models, all kind of people that have lived their lives in Manhattan. Later she asked ...Read More

A HUGE thank you to all of the teams that submitted a design for the CitiesAlive Student Design Challenge for a new Tenderloin Community Center! The design submissions were viewed over 13,000 times with 2,361 votes cast and the winning entry with 1,043 votes goes to Ellis’ Grove, submitted by the team from Universidad Francisco Marroquin.   By the quality of designs, it is clear that the student teams spent the time to thoroughly examine and develop innovative design solutions which blend operational functionality with optimized ecological and community impact on their concepts. The thoughtfulness, sensitivity, and understanding of the challenge is evident in each submission!     All teams will receive complimentary exhibition passes to CitiesAlive and will have their designs on disp...Read More

Visiting the eloquently designed National September 11 Memorial was a sobering and emotional experience. The almost overwhelming sense of loss is magnified by the massive reflecting pools marking the voids where the twin towers once stood.  Designed by architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker, the 9/11 Memorial is a site of tribute and remembrance to the nearly 3,000 lives that were killed in the September 11 terror attacks. The eight-acre quadrant features twin reflecting pools–each nearly an acre in size–that also hold the largest manmade waterfalls in North America. The names of every person who died in the 2001 attacks and 1993 WTC bombing are engraved along the edges of the Memorial reflecting pools. A lush and minimalistic landscape design supports the ...Read More