Blog

Article by Gwgw Kalligiannaki– A Review for Lizard Log Playground and Park, Designed by McGregor Coxall, Western Sydney, Australia. “Design a park”. This task is a challenge for all architects. Well, it’s not easy, because what, actually, is a park? I am sure that we all think about parks as big green spaces distributed around the city, in order to have some “nature points” between the buildings. However, Lizard Log Playground and Park is not an ordinary park. It is not just a green area. Lizard Log is designed by McGregor Coxall to reflect all the pros and cons of the Australian rural land. The master plan of the park is, in fact, a renewal of the Pimelea parklands, a design that was made prior to the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Coxall’s design includes new toilet blocks, BBQ and picnic area...Read More

Article by Giacomo Guzzon – A review of the Parkstad Rotterdam Project, by DELVA Landscape Architects,  in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Parkstad, a residential project covering three building blocks, is part of a larger master plan for the redevelopment of a derelict area in the southern part of Rotterdam. This project challenges the conventional way people live in the city, and seeks alternative solutions to encourage residents to interact with each other and to use space in a more efficient way. Having lived in the Netherlands, I had the opportunity to become familiar with this country, its inhabitants, and the way they live. The Netherlands is one of the countries with the highest population density in the European Community (396 people/km²) and therefore I am not surprised that, especially ...Read More

LABash 2017 is already just around the corner, with less than 2 months left! If you needed any convincing and haven’t gotten your registration yet, keep on reading! 1. You will learn things outside of your regular curriculum. Get messy in a soils workshop, learn about how travel can change your career, explore how the largest estuary in the nation affects the work of a landscape architect, and learn how employers view millennials in the workplace. This is just a sampling of the topics that will be covered at LABash 2017. Even better, you get to build your own schedule! Attend only the sessions that sound interesting to you – you’ll have a lot to choose from! Session from LABash 2015 at San Luis Obispo. 2. You will discover a new place. College Park is within the DC Metropolitan...Read More

Do current events have you feeling ready to act but not sure what to do? Start by signing the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s (LAF) New Landscape Declaration.  This bold vision is a 21st century call to action for landscape architecture and serves as a potent reminder of the common values that we share.  “As landscape architects we vow to create places that serve the higher purpose of social and ecological justice for all peoples and all species. We vow to create places that nourish our deepest needs for communion with the natural world and with one another. We vow to serve the health and well-being of all communities.”  The Declaration is the synthesis of the ideas from LAF’s historic Summit on Landscape Architecture and the Future, which brought 700 landscape architects from ar...Read More

Innovation is time consuming, mentally challenging, and potentially unpromising. So why do some designers put in so much of their time and effort without a promise of success? What drives design innovators and what are they looking for? Innovators are unique individuals. They are often driven by an internal desire to press forward into the unknown and take calculated and, at times, foolish risks with the hopes of making life more prosperous, cities more intelligent, tools more functional, and humanity happier. They are individuals that “trace the edges” (Cantrell) of contemporary and emerging technologies, theories, and practices. As our cultures continue their ever maddening and relentless march onward, the individuals highlighted in Innovations in Landscape Architecture are on the frontl...Read More

For this issue of our “Got Talent” world series, we have selected 10 amazing projects that represent Landscape Architecture in Singapore. Singapore is one of the leaders of modern architecture nowadays. For decades it has been transforming its cities with distinguished structures and it has been recognized for originality and design all over the world. So, let’s take a look at some projects… Landscape Architecture in Singapore 10. Patterson Collection Located in the River Valley Planning residential area, in the main district, this exotic residential development consists of two towers, each with 19 stories of flats. ONG&ONG was the firm who took charge of the landscape design in this place, with responsibility and consciousness toward the environment, where the residents ca...Read More

Article by Tahío Avila – Water Retention Boulevard landscape urban design, by ELYPS Landscape + Urban Design, in Belval, Luxembourg, Europe. Belval is the first major city in Luxemburg to integrate rainwater management with a proper landscape design, providing a higher quality of life and an improved ecological environment for its inhabitants. The city of Belval is an industrial territory, and the contrast between natural and man-made is undeniable. For this project, the designers decided to mend the urban landscape through the integration of a natural and “active” environment into the edifications and a water-retention management solution that serves the residential “Belval North” area and its surroundings. This will guide the city to grow in a new ecological and sustainable way. Wa...Read More

Article by Nour Adel – Renaturation of the river Aire, by Georges Descombes and Atelier Descombes & Rampini, in Geneva, Switzerland. Designing river gardens and natural scenery is a unique aspect of our profession as landscape architects, because it allows us to not only focus on hardscaping and landscaping specs, but also to deal with an intriguing ecological dimension in which there is an an opposition between nature and culture. This challenging renovation project in Geneva attempts to propose an alternate path, in which the urgent ecological shifts are incorporated into a larger cultural change. The complex organization of the design associates the new river space and a linear series of gardens in the former canal. It is a great example to analyze in order to understand what ...Read More

Article by Irene Crowo Nielsen  – We take a deeper look at planting plans and discuss 10 mistakes you really don’t want to mane when creating a planting plan. For a landscape architect, the planting plan is like the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae: It makes the design and concept come together. A good planting plan creates a framework allowing people to interact and thrive in different environments. But creating a good planting plan can be tricky. There are a few things you should be aware of before setting out on this task. We are going to help you along the way by listing a few bullet points you definitely should avoid: Get Your Planting Plan Done Right 1. Choosing Poisonous Plants It is easy to be deceived by plants; one part may be edible while another is poisonous. O...Read More

Article Bhanu Mahajan – Into the Wild shows us landscapes designed for children, by Openfabric and DMAU, in Grevelingenveld, The Hague (Netherlands) Outdoor play is about an experience, skills, health, stamina and everything else that is part of a kid’s development. But why outdoors and not indoors? While formal sporting activities strengthen them physically, playing in the wild/natural settings nurtures their creativity. But what to play, and how? The formal, hard play courts are generally the sole landscapes designed for children to try their hand in outdoor activities, and most of these activities are related to pre-structured sports, right? But what to play, and how? The formal, hard play courts are generally the sole landscapes designed for children to try their hand in outdoor ...Read More

Article by Cristina Ferrara – Yeppoon, by TCL (Taylor Cullity Lethlean), in Yeppoon, Queensland, Australia. People and places facing a natural cataclysm have to deal with negative consequences. These events leave both psychological aspects and constructive challenges; reconstructive, indeed. Floods, thunderstorms, cyclones, and heavy snowfalls are always more and more frequent, bringing possible damage to natural habitats, constructions, buildings and inhabitants’ habits. A rapid restructuring and renovation of damaged places is one of the best ways to react to the negative impact on the psychological field and a good strategy to improve and ameliorate the relationship between inhabitants and their towns, their public spaces and their lives. See Also:  What To Think About When Design...Read More

Article by Frank Bourque – The Park, by !Melk Landscape Architecture & Urban Design, in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Let’s face it — landscape architecture isn’t just a growing revolution. It is the reality in which we live, and one that is pioneering the way to a better future. Many metropolitan cities have embraced landscape architecture and have shifted from simply accommodating it to actively integrating open space in strategic ways to elevate our urban environments. From Marina Bay Sands in Singapore to the Dubai Tower, there is a lot of good landscape design going on around the world. Many cities have embraced landscape architecture as an integral part of their built environments; Las Vegas, as unexpected as it may seem, is definitely one of them. One proof...Read More