Blog

Article by Kamil Rawski – We take a moment to explore 10 of the best ecological designs in the world and look at how they merged with their environment.  It is hard to choose only 10 designs from among hundreds, even if we are just considering the most ecological ones. First, we have to think about what it means to be ecological. I have tried to choose projects that represent aspects such as increasing biodiversity, protecting the environment, changing (or healing) polluted sites, using sewage systems intelligently, supporting water retention, and connecting people with nature. How many of these can be combined in one project? Aesthetical features also must be taken into consideration. Human interference in nature is not always a catastrophe. When the designers have skills and care a...Read More

New Orleans is one of the few distinctly diverse places in the United States where there exists a rich sense of place. From a history rooted deeply in its multi-cultural backgrounds derived from French, Spanish, Haitian, African, German, and Irish peoples. This bouillabaisse, of sorts, has come together over the past few centuries to become a place that many people love to call home and to travel. There might have been a few places so fitting to host this year’s ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects) Annual Meeting with the tagline ‘A Celebration of Place.’ Attendees began arriving as early as Wednesday and Thursday to spend time traveling the city sampling and tasting the local Cajun food and po’ boys and to visit the lush landscapes and habitats that make up a small portion of t...Read More

Article by Eleni Tsirintani – Tram Square area in Purmerend by NEXT Architects & Rietveld Landscape, in Purmerend, Netherlands. Tram Square, or Tramplein in Dutch, is located along one of the main accesses to the town of Purmerend next to one of the canals crossing the city, the Noordhollandsch Kanaal. The Square has been designed by the Amsterdam-based office, NEXT Architects. Purmerend is a town in the North of Holland. It is surrounded by *polders, the characteristic entities of Dutch landscape indicating reclaimed land surfaces. Therefore water has always been present as a limit/defining element of the landscape. This condition has also affected the Tram Square design. *A polder is a tract of low land, especially in the Netherlands, reclaimed from the sea or other body of wat...Read More

Article by Cristina Ferrara – We explore 10 of the best green roof designs in the world, looking at what makes them so special and how they impact their environment.  As well as protecting buildings and adding character to the urban environment, green roofs can help to manage rainfall and create diverse new habitats for plants, wildlife, and people. Green roofs help to cool urban environments, improve air quality, and provide biodiverse habitats for wildlife. They manage rainwater by reducing run-off and filtering out pollutants and can also insulate buildings, reducing heating and cooling costs — this is how they can help mitigate the urban heat island effect. But they are also aesthetic frames for urban surroundings and social and meeting places for people who live inside buildings...Read More

National Military Museum, by H+N+S Landscape Architects, in Soesterberg, Utrecht, the Netherlands. The Netherlands have already shown us that they clearly know what landscape architecture is about and the National Military Museum (NMM) in Soesterberg is not an exception. The former Soesterberg Airbase that was officially out of service on 12 November of 2008 was brought back to life in 2015 as the National Military Museum (NMM), as a result of the integration of the Army Museum and the Military Aviation Museum. The complex is composed of a 100 x 250 m building, an arena, and a surrounding natural landscape full of military, war and aviation relics and landmarks. The firm in charge of the mission was H+N+S Landscape Architects, based in Soesterberg. National Military Museum The placement of...Read More

We take a look at green solutions that may indeed end up saving you money, so you can spend it on what really matters. Green Solutions Solar Revolution Solar panels are more affordable than they’ve ever been. The key is utilizing them to their fullest ability. A single solar panel doesn’t give a lot of energy. But if it’s hooked into a source of energy storage, suddenly it becomes exceptionally effective. All you really need is a good-sized car battery. If you can sequence several car batteries together, you can increase your storage capacity such that one panel may see to a single individual’s needs for a twenty-four hour period. If you can get a large enough energy storage station, relatively few panels could provide the electricity needs for an entire operational...Read More

Article by Maria Giovanna Drago – The Westergasfabriek Terrain, by Kathryn Gustafson and Francine Houben from Mecanoo, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The Westergasfabriek Terrain by Kathryn Gustafson and Francine Houben from Mecanoo, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The Westergasfabriek was the largest factory which produced coal gas in the Netherlands during the nineteenth century. It’s just outside the centre of Amsterdam and towers over the landscape with its red and yellowish bricks in the Neo-Renaissance style of the time. It used to provide energy for street lighting; that is why it’s strategically located between the railway, the waterways and the major streets. With the end of the industrialization boom in 1967, its activity terminated, giving way to emptiness and abandonment. The...Read More

Remarkable Objects, hosted by Leda Marritz, Creative Director at DeepRoot, is a new podcast about the intersection of nature and urban design. In each episode, we will hear from leaders and innovators whose work aims to influence the way we think about, design, and build the urban environment. (Lead Photo: Jane Warner Plaza by Seth Boor) In Episode 3, Hacking the City, we discover how San Francisco residents have been able to reimagine the potential of their city streets through the use of parklets. Robin Abad Ocubillo, urban designer with the San Francisco Planning Department, explains how parklets have generated meaningful public spaces for people, and lead to a transformation of the city.  The concept of parklets began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio, converted...Read More

Article by Cristina Conciatu – Museum Park Louvre Lens by Mosbach Paysagistes, Lens (Pas-de-Calais), France In the following we explore the Museum Park Louvre Lens, a landscape park which resulted from modern design combined with traces of mining history. An immense work of art of 25 ha surrounds Louvre Lens Museum in Pas-de-Calais, France. A landscaped extension with no walls: a place for culture, animation and popular gathering, which combines modern design with traces of mining history. It is, with no doubt, a poetic destination for those who are passionate about landscape architecture, and we would like to tell you why. Museum Park Louvre Lens The museum is an important attraction, as it has many visitors annually. But the Park is also an appealing place, a destination in itself,...Read More

While the vast majority of our content is FREE, this interview composed by Win Phyo is exclusive content for Landscape Architects Network’s VIP Subscribers only – Pok Kobkongsanti, founder and lead designer of T.R.O.P. terrains + open space answers some question for Landscape Architects Network.  Pok Kobkongsanti is the founder and lead designer of T.R.O.P, a company from Thailand that is slowly making its mark. The “Tropster” graduated with a Masters of Landscape Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, before venturing onwards to work with two of the legends of landscape architecture; George Hargreaves and Bill Bensley. He has been in search of “New Ground” in landscape architecture since his departure from these experiences. His search...Read More

In this article, we explore exterior lighting ideas to help you transform your outdoor space and make it a multi-layered experience. If you are someone like me, you really enjoy the outdoors. I mean, by day, you can have the warm sunshine on your back and the soothing wind refreshing your senses. However when the night starts to set in, the garden seem as though it’s turning into a dark, uninviting area like those places your mother used to tell you to stay away from when you were younger. It doesn’t have to be this way. You can easily turn your night garden from a sleepy-hollow to an uplifting, hip and cosy area that your friends and family will want to hang out. By the end of this post, you will start arranging mid-week barbecues and weekend get-togethers to show off your new chillout zo...Read More

We explore securing investments through property upgrade and discover how it can help you to achieve more secure living. A Housing Market In Flux Since 2008, the financial crisis has forever changed the housing market in the United States. Ripple effects have even reverberated worldwide. Property investiture is becoming risky business, and if you’ve got assets tied up in yours, it makes sense to protect them. Upgrade Your Premises There are a number of ways you can increase the value of your property, both inside and outside. Think of it like taking a shower: if you’re going to clean up your insides, it helps to clean up your outside. Consider the lawn, and the state it’s in. If it can be saved, or is in good shape, make sure it looks its best. Keep in mind that whatever ...Read More