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The green landscape of our cities is all too often under threat, falling prey to builders, tight development budgets or lack of maintenance. Join leading landscape architects, writers and specialists as they explore the urban landscapes of the last century.  And, at a time when everyone is talking about sustainable development and green space what can the experts tell us about the challenges of creating urban landscapes in the 21st century? The series, programmed to accompany the exhibition From Garden City to Green City at London’s Garden Museum, will cover the shift from the ideal of every family being able to grow their own food to factory farming and back again, from the reinvention of the pleasure garden for the Festival of Britain to modern sports parks.  Book now: http://www.g...Read More

           Your World. Designed   The world needs to know about landscape architecture, and 08.17.11 is the day it all begins. At NOON all across the country, thousands of landscape architects will gather in designated places (all events shown on the map: Click Here) What if, for just one day, we all decided to let everyone know what the heck landscape architects do. That we create the very places used to live, work and play. That we connect cities. That we create experience. That landscape architecture is your environment, designed. 08.17.11 is that day. It’s the day the profession reintroduces itself to public. It’s the day where, for only your time spent during lunch, you’ll join the beginning of a new movement – a movement to step out of the Understory and tell your story to the world....Read More

If you are a student in landscape architecture, don’t go back to school without this invaluable resource, available at a discounted price on Amazon.com: Landscape Architectural Graphic Standards, Student Edition (Ramsey/Sleeper Architectural Graphic Standards Series) Landscape Architectural Graphic Standards, Student EditionLeonard J. Hopper, Editor-In-Chief, published by Wiley, September 2007 Designed to give students the critical information they require, this is an essential reference for anyone studying landscape architecture and design. Like Landscape Architectural Graphic Standards, this Student Edition provides essential specification and detailing information on the fundamentals of landscape architecture, including sustainable design principles, planting (including green roof...Read More

Cahors, France: 2005 A Travel Diary  Under The Cahors Sun…Not!  Actually, the sky as been cold gray more than half the time while Iv been here but that was to be expected this time of year. However, we had a brilliant morning last Tuesday. I threw open my shutters that day to find there was snow on the tops of the houses that had fallen the night before, the sun was out and the sky was deep blue without a cloud to be seen. Sent: 2/28/2005 7:36 AM Actually, the sky as been cold gray more than half the time while Iv been here but that was to be expected this time of year. However, we had a brilliant morning last Tuesday. I threw open my shutters that day to find there was snow on the tops of the houses that had fallen the night before, the sun was out and the sky was deep blue without a clou...Read More

Dear Colleagues and Friends, I am pleased to announce that an excellent, international (Brazil and USA) landscape urban design opportunity is available! The winning team will be hired to develop construction documents and supervise project construction. The challenge is to create a Urban Plaza in the historic town of Penedo, one of the colonial jewels of Brazil, located in the northeastern state of Alagoas. Please participate! For complete details, please see the attached documents as well as the ANP link with a video of the project site: http://www.anponline.org.br/conteudo/agenda/concurso.htm 3rd National ANP – Associação Nacional de Paisagismo Urban Landscape Architecture Design Competition 2011 The Honorable Mayor of Penedo, Alagoas, Brazil Mr. Israel Saldanha Neto, The President of AN...Read More

The use of computer technology in landscape architecture promised to allow for more time for landscape architects (LA) to do what they love to do, design. However, due to the highly competitive nature of the profession, the primary result was that we have less time to do more work. We are now at a point where it is possible to turn over a large number of projects in a very short time. Most of the computer technology is geared to increase the efficiency of the user. What used to take a week now can be done in a day, or even an hour. Now, I am not saying that this is not a good thing, but by focusing so much on speed and efficiency and very little on the design process the end results generally are very beautiful looking designs on paper but not so inspiring designs on the ground. This type ...Read More

THE LANDSCAPE CHANGES OVER TIME…….. When a landscape design is initially installed, is is sometimes hard for the homeowner to envision how it will drastically change over time. Trees and shrubs will grow, stone and other hardscape items will weather and new shade patterns will be introduced by the larger trees. In this Lexington Hills Project (Eagle, Idaho), large amounts of Table Rock Sandstone was used to build a  privacy wall / water feature for a new sunken patio. Initially the stone was bright, but over time it weathered, and the plants started to soften the stone. This project was installed by Franz Witte Landscape in 2004 with the shade structured being phased in 2005. The following pictures were taken right after the installation in 2004 and in 2011 to show how the land...Read More

Tonight is my fifth and final night here in Seattle. Early tomorrow morning we will depart for Enumclaw and begin to make our way towards Washington, D.C. My time in the west coast city has been short lived but I can definitely say that I have learned a lot and taken in even more. It is so hard sometimes to sit back and enjoy one’s surroundings but I believe that is something that a landscape architect has to be able to do best. In this profession one truly has to be a jack-of-all-trades and be able to take everything into account, and sometimes is starts in the places that people see everyday but just don’t know how to look at it. The main difference that I can point out between Seattle and the midwest is the way that roadways are constructed. Washington obviously has a lot mo...Read More

  The aim of the competition is to promote discussion and research through which to generate insights and visions, ideas and proposals that help us envisage what the city and the habitat of the 21st century will be like. The competition is open to architects, engineers, planners, designers and artists who want to contribute to progress in making the world more habitable by developing a proposal capable of responding to emerging challenges in areas such as ecology, information technology, architecture, and urban planning, with the purpose of balancing the impact real-time data collection might have on sensor-driven cities.   Via Arq4design  

As I flew over the rockies today I felt as if I was being teased with what I am going to be right in the middle of within the next couple weeks. The clouds would add to the suspense because the gaps between the very thick blanket would show bits and pieces of the snow-capped mountain tops. I was reminded of the Karesansui Sand and Stone Garden of Portland, Oregon. That garden was designed to be the mountain tops peaking over the clouds, a truly fantastic design. While the plane was making its decent I made the comparison in my mind to the same feeling as diving into a pool. Above and below the surface of cumulus is two totally different worlds, just as submerging one’s self in water. It was a great inspiration to an above and lower level design, I will for sure be taking this idea an...Read More

As the British government prepares to invest more than £400 billion in major infrastructure projects including High Speed 2, the building of new nuclear power stations and the creation of renewable energy plant, BIG LANDSCAPE 2020 looks to the future both for landscape schemes and for today’s students who as tomorrow’s professionals will be shaping that future. Starting on Friday evening with seminars and a reception, the programme on Saturday looks at a wide range of themes affecting students over the next twenty years.   Speakers include John Hopkins from the Olympic Development Authority who commissioned the soon-to-be-completed Olympic Park. Sunday is devoted to a street-wide event in conjunction with Living Streets. The conference is open to all students and  is an excelle...Read More

http://www.landreader.com/2011/04/17/thomas-church-remembering-influence-career/