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s we’ve all seen recently, public space is a fragile thing. Attempts can be made to destroy it, but as people realize what they take for granted is about to disappear, they react. People reclaim a space. Landscape architects should understand the value of public space and what it can give to a city, its people and future generations. Public spaces, squares and plazas have the power to initiate a city and its community into a renaissance. Here are “10 Squares to Watch Out For” projects that aim to do just that in the next few years. 10. Southern Concourse, Kings Cross Station, London, UK by Stanton Williams A stone’s throw from Granary Square by Townshend landscape architects and part of the beautiful latticing of the new concourse by John McAslan and Partners, the Southern Conc...Read More

The new Section 4 is the Costco of the LARE, where grading and storm water management share the floor with construction materials and methods , and even some construction administration and contract information you thought you put to bed in Section 1. That’s a lot to study. The good news is that it’s over in 4 ½ hours and you get 120 chances to succeed. Every correct answer you need will appear on your computer screen, and you can get a fair number of questions wrong and still pass. After sitting out the last offering of the old Section E, I took the new Section 4 in December and missed by about 5 questions. I passed in April, after rethinking my testing strategy and reviewing all the non-grading topics like crazy. I believe studying in the old way for this section will not yield the best ...Read More

For those of you who remember my previous post showing a parking lot full of containerized shade trees, this is an update to some of the questions that were asked. I finally ran out of my gourmet Italian grated cheese stock and made my way to the particular grocery store in this plaza…and this time I brought Uber-Camera, so no lousy cell phone shots. I also took the time to explore the entire site while evading the rent-a-cops who patrol the plaza and it is much worse than even I, the eternal skeptic, could have imagined. I post this not to ridicule, but to be educational in nature in the hopes that you won’t design something like this, or if you see something like this on plans you encounter or at a public review meeting, you will speak up before it is installed. No doubt, thi...Read More

Created by the same photography who brought us the deliciously elaborate Foodscapes series, Carl Warner ventures into slightly different territory with ‘Bodyscapes,’ a set of photographs that cleverly contorts human bodies into a landscape of rising hills, valleys, and ridges. (Colossal)    LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE   The Kentucky Chapter of ASLA announced their 2013 Design Winners in the following four categories: Constructed Design Work, Non-Constructed Design Work, Constructed Residential Design, and Planning and Analysis. (KYASLA)    The National Endowment for the Arts invests $4.7 million in 59 creative placemaking grants, with three projects that will directly support the designs of landscape architects. Curiously, ASLA doesn’t mention how the House Subcommittee is try...Read More

Karen Landman. Image courtesy of the University of Guelph. After graduating from the University of Guelph (UOG) in Landscape Architecture, I can tell you first hand that all of the professors there are top notch. However, one in particular has helped me grow in my passion for design and urban agriculture. So, let me introduce you to Karen Landman, PhD, MCIP, RPP, who is an associate professor of Landscape Architecture at UOG. Karen has been in the field for over 20 years and has always seen growing food as important as eating the food itself. Since my love for urban agriculture and design stemmed from Karen, I thought everyone should get to know her and see what she is up to in the profession of landscape architecture. Here are a few questions I recently asked Karen… Where did your p...Read More

Prepared by Ilonka Angalet (NJASLA President-Elect), with collaboration from Roy DeBoer (FASLA) and David Earl (ASLA) The New Jersey Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects was formed in 1964. NJASLA will be celebrating its 50-year anniversary in 2014.  In an effort to reaffirm the history of our Chapter, I 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, Lou Miceli, John Weed, Richard Cripps, Elizabeth Pattee, Russ Butler, Al Dilischer, Max Heim, Roy H. DeBoer, Oliver Deakin, John Haleck and Jeff Hall. Oliver A. Deakin (FASLA) was the first New Jersey Chapter President. He also served as President of the NY Chapter of ASLA between 1958-1961. He was a Rut...Read More

Phoenix-based product designer, Larry Kornegay, found inspiration for these containers from colored quartz crystals that he inherited from his father.  Introduced in 2010 to the Kornegay Design’s product line of finely crafted pre-cast concrete site furnishings, the Quartz Series containers are quirky and fun yet bold and sophisticated.    Dynamic intersecting planes comprise the six faceted sides of each of the four containers in the series which are highlighted by the interplay of light and shadow – producing an alternating display of crisp and soft edges. To complement the nature of the Quartz Series, Kornegay custom-mixed integral concrete pigments in crystal-inspired hues. These containers are heavy, with weights of up to 2200 pounds, a characteristic Larry Kornegay doesn’...Read More

David Tulloch, Associate Professor of landscape architecture at Rutgers, shares some great pictures of public art in city landscapes to draw attention to proposed 49% funding cut to the National Endowment for the Arts budget. The photo above is from El Parc de l’Estació del Nord.  (Places and Spaces)   LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE   Adriaan Geuze joined Mayor Bloomberg last week to officially launch The Trust for Governors Island’s campaign to privately fund the construction of The Hills, the centerpiece of the Governors Island Park and Public Space Master Plan, designed by West8. The large hills, which draw design inspiration from Olmsted’s Central Park, will be completely constructed from recycled construction material and provide panoramic views of the Lower Manhattan skylin...Read More

There are hills rising in New York City harbor!  On July 25, Mayor Michael Bloomberg broke ground on the latest phase of construction for the West8 design of Governors Island.  A flat area on the southern end of the island, which was once occupied by vacant and derelict buildings, is currently being transformed into a lush, undulating terrain.   A new video presented by West 8 provides a cinematic tour of the future park, capturing the sublime landscape that can be experienced when the hills are opened to the public.  The dramatic video montage also demonstrates how the landforms are being constructed, using a simple cartoon-like animation that may appeal to the engineer in all of us.   Not long ago I visited Governors Island to witness the progress of the construction and the new topograp...Read More

Take a look around you in any urban area – on any street, bus or train, in any mall, park or cafe – we’re all at it; tapping and sliding and thumb-flicking. The smartphone is changing the way we interact with the world, changing the way we communicate with one another and changing the way we behave in public places.  But what does this mean for the dynamic of our built environments? A recent event hosted by the Urban Design Group in London aimed to explore this question. Based on the premise that ‘smart phones will have as much impact on towns and cities as the motor car’, the event examined the possibilities and limitations associated with an increasingly technologically-driven society.  According to Ian Ralph of Alan Baxter Associates, worldwide sales of sma...Read More