Blog

Jill Bellenger, ASLA, CPH LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, can still be a bit of an enigma. Depending on who you’re talking to, landscape architects are either considered an integral part of a project’s LEED certification process, or a superfluous afterthought. And ironically, these views seem to come from some of the landscape architects themselves, as they ponder their implications in such a building-based program. Just browsing through the LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC) credit template, it certainly does appear to be heavily weighted towards a building’s interior systems. But a closer look reveals the real impact and may help increase understanding of this ‘green by nature’ profession. Under the new LEED-NC v3, landscape architects are the primary or secondar...Read More

Looking for a job in a tough economy can be a daunting task, especially if it’s been a while since you’ve updated your portfolio. Luckily, with a little computer know-how, a USB full of jpgs, and a few hours to kill, you can create a nifty online portfolio without the costs of printing (and reprinting, and reprinting…). Think of it as if you were creating a portfolio for your own start-up company. What do you look for when sifting through a prospective employer’s website? Bright, colorful images and a clear description of the projects they’ve handled can be an extremely useful and persuasive tool when you’re marketing your business, much is the same on the flip side when marketing your design skills to employers. There are some great sites out there that can really give you a bang for your...Read More

LEED for Neighborhood Development: The New Kid on the Block Jill Bellenger, ASLA, CPH Forget about keeping up with the Jones’, it was the Green’s that dominated residential trends in 2009. With about two dozen pilot projects now certified at various levels in the LEED for Neighborhood Development as of December 2009, the future of neighborhood design and planning is looking even greener. In a way, it’s an attempt to return to the days before the automobile ruled the road and became the most influential component in city and regional planning. Way before it was possible for a New Yorker to sample fruit from South America, spices from India, and fish from the Pacific Ocean without leaving their town. The LEED-ND program is championing the effort to revive concepts of community connectivity, ...Read More

I found this the other day on Landscape+Urbanism and thought it was awesome. Although, I see a slight drawback because it appears that you can only view it from certain angles. What do you think?

Via Design Under Sky {Cover} The final completion of any project is an amazing accomplishment in itself, considering the rigor of work, time, and bureaucratic hurdling that accompanies almost any significant landscape architecture project. For those outside the studio, we are presented with grandiose concepts, then see nothing until the landscape is eventually realized. Sketch Landscape, is a visual narrative of the creative process of landscape architecture. The book is made up of 500 pages of scribbles, sketches, quick model prototypes, and multi-layered trace paper drawings giving insight to how some of the world’s most influential architect’s approach design. (Landworks Studio. Court Square Garden Sketches) {Landworks Studio. Court Square Garden Sketches} {Landworks Studio....Read More

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