Blog

Article by Farah Afza Jurekh – In this article, we take a look at some gems in the would of YouTube that are perfect Youtube channels for landscape architecture students. For landscape architecture students, everything cannot be taught in the studio, rather it is also self-learning process. While professors can help you learn how to generate a concept before the execution of the plans or how to work on improving your presentation skills, they may not be able to help you improve your drawing skills. All they can do is guide you, judge you, and hopefully make you a better designer. Following, we take a closer look at 10 of the best YouTube channels for landscape architecture students. Starting from generating a concept, architectural drawings, hand renderings, computer renderings and p...Read More

Article by Irene Crowo Nielsen – Watermark Seaport, by Copley Wolff Design Group, in Boston, MA, USA. The Watermark Seaport is located in Boston’s newest coveted neighborhood for the live-work-play lifestyle. It is definitely not your average transformation area. The developer brands it with three words; Unrivaled, Unobstructed & Unconventional. “This is the nucleus of the neighborhood: a marriage between Fort Point Channel and the innovation of the Seaport District,” says Charley Leatherbee, executive vice president at Skanska, who developed the building. Meet the Watermark Seaport, a 17-story luxury residential tower and a 6-story loft consisting of 346 apartments, 25,000 square feet of retail space, and two levels of below-grade parking. A future-oriented project featuring rai...Read More

Article by Maria Giovanna Drago – A review of Stranden by LINK Landskap, 2014 Oslo, Norway. The city of Oslo is located in the innermost point of the homonymous fjord. One of the districts which overlooks the water is Aker Brygge, the most in-style area with its numerous pubs, restaurants, apartments, and shopping centres. Way back in 1854, the shipyard Akers Mekaniske Verksted was located here and the engineering industry expanded until 1982, when it went out of business. From there, the district began a major change with the opening of the first stores and a phase of urban development following that which has made it an important meeting place, teeming with people both day and night, especially during the summer months. Stranden by LINK Landskap Telje-Torp-Aasen Architects had won ...Read More

Article by Alexandra-Elena Ciocan – We take a look at the competition project of Eden Soestdijk and look how new ideas gave back life and expression to old values.  Interested in winning first prize in a landscape design competition and a place in people’s hearts? As challenging as it sounds, it is a ride to enjoy. Take, for example, the submitted work of Mecanoo architecten and its partners in Baarn, The Netherlands on the Soestdijk Estate. The outcome? An Eden-like project that proves one super power of design: unification of the modern landscape and the historic existing framework. The very motto for the proposal is “from palace to paradise”, and in our opinion, it reads success! Competition Project While the results of the competition had yet to be announced by April 2017, we bel...Read More

Review by Frank Bourque – A three-week postgraduate architecture and urban design course that teaches architecture based on its cornerstones in Edinburgh, Scotland. A lot of people would agree that there is something special about modern architecture that honors its roots in the past. This is exactly what the science of urban design is based upon – a rich history of shaping the physical settings for life in cities, towns, and villages through a collaborative and multidisciplinary process. The art of making places and designing them in an urban context has been mastered nowadays, and we can thank many past engineers and architects for setting the historical cornerstones of urban design and planning. One great example of a city that prides itself on the variety and context of its urban...Read More

Article by Amrita Slatch – Vanke Cloud City Phase 2, by Lab D+H, in Guangzhou, China. It is very rare for mixed-use developments to cater to a specific group of people. But the Cloud City development by Vanke (China’s largest real estate developer) has taken the bold step of focusing on the younger generation, who come to live in extravagant first-tier cities such as Guangzhou, but wish to enjoy an affordable lifestyle. This project of 5,000 small apartments, combined with high-end retail areas, required a cohesive street infrastructure that would be interactive and add value to the space, but still be cost effective. It became essential for the developers to come up with an innovative solution. Considering the challenges involved, Lab D+H lab brought into the set-up to develop a str...Read More

We take a look at how the Place des Droits de l’Homme project brought people back to a space that was forgotten about, rejected by time and life. The square, Place des Droits de l’Homme, is located in Tremblay en France. The town is a commune in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris, it has an area of 22.44 Km2 and is 19.7 Km from the center of the capital city; using public transportation, it would be a 1-2-hour trip. The square has a strategic location and has existed since the 70’s; it is surrounded by the town hall, the cultural center, the municipal library and housing, and it is the cover for an underground parking lot. The square has always been viewed as an essential piece of the city center but as time passed the space became neglected and forgotten, slowly becoming a mournful space,...Read More

Article by Claudia Corapi – A walk inside Ubatuba House II by Spbr Architects, Ubatuba, Brazil. Urban planning has to ensure the right use of the land, but sometimes its rules interfere with creating a project that can also be viewed as a piece of art. The task taken up by SPBR Architects with the “Ubatuba House II” project wasn’t easy because of the necessity to preserve the surrounding site, made up of a forest of trees. Nevertheless, referring to the “Ubatuba House I” project experience, designed almost ten years before, they were soon able to turn two limitations – the urban rules and the sloping area – into key factors. “The hill on which is placed the house and the lush vegetation growing, are protected by environmental laws”, Angelo Bucci commented about Ubatuba. Ubatuba House...Read More

Article by Alexandra-Elena Ciocan – Angles of Incidence, by  Warren Langley and Julia Davis, in Victoria Cross, North Sydney, Australia. The 6-meter high, imposing and curious sculptural landmark created by famous artist-couple Warren Langley and Julia Davis in the Victoria Cross intersection, North Sydney, required tremendous thought and sentiment, as well as thorough artistic and engineering study. The Angles of Incidence project is part of the North Sydney Public Art Trail, consisting of this and 17 other pieces scattered in different locations all over Sydney, with the major purpose of providing visitors with a high-quality public art experience. Angles of Incidence shows that artists need to utilize much more than just materials or colours in order to conceive of something eye-c...Read More