Blog

The President of the International Federation of Landscape Architects released this statement in advance of the meeting of leaders from around the world for the United Nations Climate Change conference in Copenhagen. DOWNLOAD THE STATEMENT Statement by the International Federation of Landscape Architects “The International Federation of Landscape Architects encourages the development and adoption of a Global Landscape Convention to assist nations working to address the impact of climate change on the world’s landscapes and people. They offer this idea for consideration at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, on 7-18 December 2009. ‘The leaders will be talking about the landscapes of the world, as we know them, and the future of people and species that live in them, Dr Dian...Read More

I am happy to promote Chris Heiler’s first book entitled, The Little Green Book of Big Marketing Tips & Tactics. Here’s a description from his website, “Specifically for landscape industry professionals, The Little Green Book describes a fresh, revolutionary approach to marketing yourself and your company.” Chris is a landscape designer and entrepreneur. He is the editor of LandscapeLeadership.com, co-founder of FromDesign2Build.com, and president of Fountainhead Gardens, LLC. Purchase the ebook – $10

Press Release – The European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools, ECLAS, represents the academic community of landscape architecture in Europe. ECLAS exists to foster and develop scholarship in landscape architecture. Its aims are to strengthen contacts and to enrich the dialogue between its members within the wider European social and institutional context. For the first time, on 20th November 2009, the Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Contributions to European Landscape Architecture Education was given to three prominent scholars: Professor Janez Marusič / Slovenia Professor Mihály Mőcsényi / Hungary Professor Dušan Ogrin / Slovenia The awarding ceremonies were held, in parallel, in Budapest and Ljubljana. In Ljubljana, the award was presented to Professors Janez Ma...Read More

Peter Youngman Award. Winner: Olympic Delivery Authority for Olympic Park Via Landscape Institute This year’s Landscape Awards, presented by environmentalist Jonathan Porritt, gave the industry’s top prize to Gillespies and the accolade for outstanding contribution to landscape went to the ODA. This brochure provides a nice overview, although It would have been great if they included more photos of the award winning projects. Feel free to flip through their awards brochure below:

I stumbled upon some interesting videos tonight and it made me start thinking about what I’m doing and where I am at in my career, along with so many others: http://nickaceto.com/IDEAblog/ Michael Van Valkenburgh inteviews Dan Kiley: An Excerpt from the first short article on a piece a professor of mine at CSU wrote on learning: ‘I was fortunate to have some of my owrk published along with a piece written by my former professor in landscape architecture at Colorado State University, Brad Goetz, on his teaching methodolgy….’ http://nickaceto.com/IDEAblog/ Take a look at the blog I really just started keeping up with and let me know what you think.

As promised my blog this time round is all about the installation / of permeable Grassguard….. Properties constructed pre 1920 may not have been built on traditional concrete foundation, therefore, if this is proved to be correct during excavation then the permeable system should not be installed. Scope: These guidelines are for construction of paved areas using Grassguard concrete grass paving system. Grassguard is a permeable ground stabilisation paving manufactured from concrete. It is designed to combat soil erosion caused by weather conditions and traffic. The grid design generates a stable load-bearing surface suitable for traffic and an environment that promotes the growth of grass and vegetation. It is available in three sizes for different loading requirements. Grassguard 130 meas...Read More

Due to being suddenly inundated with design and construction projects I have not been able to post nearly as much as I would like. One thing I would like to share at the moment is an opportunity I recently had to review some materials from Nemetschek’s Vectorworks program. I started using Vectorworks at the beginning of 2009 and thought some of the information might be useful to any professionals in the industry. There were several reasons why our company made the decision to start working with Vectorworks Landmark. Coming from a AutoCAD and Google Sketchup background, I had been quite used to the traditional work flow with most of the design industry. Typically grading and planting plans would come from a CAD format, and some of the more three dimensional features would be roughly modeled...Read More

With the advent of social networks and network virtualization , collaborative design efforts are going online. Designers can now share video, schematics, 3-D renderings, milestone calendars and more with other designers and clients. Satelite internet services allow engineers to broadcast directly from the construction site, saving time and travel costs. We are entering a new era in design and need to adapt quickly to maximize it’s potential. This should be an exciting evolution.

“Urging the world to brace for a “really big reshuffle” in energy expectations, Christophe de Margerie, CEO of French energy giant Total SA, said he expected oil production to plateau in just 12 years at 94 million barrels a day — less then 10 million barrels more than available now. And he warned the forecast was optimistic.” “We will have to fight against the natural decline of (present) oil fields,” he told the same forum Khelil attended. “It will not go smoothly.” The US, its economy, its infrastructure, its cities, towns and countryside have all been built on the concept of an endless supply of cheap or at least affordable oil. Our whole transportation system, the way we get goods and services to communities and the way communities funct...Read More

I am excited to promote Daniel Tal’s new book, Google SketchUp for Site Design: A Guide to Modeling Site Plans, Terrain and Architecture. The above video gives a good inside on what the book has to offer. Here is the written description via the publisher’s website – Wiley (a proud sponsor of Land8Lounge – eh eh) – if the video doesn’t do the trick: “Google SketchUp for Site Design illustrates a holistic approach to SketchUp: how it works and more importantly, what to do with it. Filled with tutorials from front to back, the book focuses on the start and completion of projects that include rich detail and expression. Each part and chapter of the book builds on the previous chapters and tutorial. Also included are links to supplemental on-line resour...Read More

INDONESIA Landscapes & Culture is a book devoted to Indonesia and its breathtaking landscapes, the warm people, and its rich and diverse culture. Rick Wezenaar was born in 1968 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. At the early age of 11 he started with photography and has never stopped since. In 1989 he started making professional photography. One of the things Rick really likes is travelling. Especially Indonesia has caught his photographic eye. Therefore, during a 4 year ‘quest’, Rick has travelled the countryside, villages and cities of Indonesia, capturing its beauty and culture. A small part of all these photographs taken during those journeys have found their way into this book. We really hope the viewer will enjoy this publication of Rick’s stunning and breathtaking ph...Read More

The Dirt (ASLA) covered this story a while ago, but I am still bothered by this solution to an old landfill in Brooklyn. They capped the landfill with a layer of plastic and applied 3′ of good soil over top. Andropogon did an excellent job (and should rightly be praised) for their push to use trees and naturalized meadow flowers and grasses rather than the traditional lawn. However, I would never call this a remediation or a solution. Base flow and ground water is still going to be severely affected by the abandoned and buried trash. The water quality contributing to the local watershed is still going to be compromised and degraded. It’s nice that a habitat was able to form and wildlife is beginning to return to the site, but it’s still just a short-term solution. Landsca...Read More