Blog

Wadi Al Azeiba, by Atelier Jacqueline Osty & associés, in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. Let’s be honest: You know you’ve walked past a vacant or rundown lot at some point in time. Maybe it was near your home, in your neighborhood, or by your school or workplace, but we have all seen a piece of land that is unkempt, neglected, or left for nature to take care of. Designed by Atelier Jacqueline Osty & associés, the Wadi Al Azeiba project is an interesting take on how to better utilize spaces we may otherwise find unappealing or vacant of design promise. A wadi, in some Arabic-speaking countries, is a term used to describe a gateway for water during storm events, not unlike a valley or ravine. The wadi channels water when during storms, but otherwise stays completely dry outside of the ra...Read More

Shrewsbury International School “Play Field” for Kindergarten Children, by Shma Designs, in Bangkok, Thailand. Shrewsbury “Play Field” is a shining example of a sensory-stimulating environment for kindergarten children. Going beyond the typical all-in-one play equipment — which suggests limitations for the growth of a child — Shma has created an all-encompassing play area where young children are able to experiment, explore, observe, and manipulate their surroundings. So, just how exactly is this executed? Multi-sensory play makes up a big part of the design. Stop and think about what you are doing right now or what you were doing a minute ago. Can you identify the senses you used that allowed you to gain an understanding or perform a function? Through this short contemplation,...Read More

Zamet Centre, by 3LHD, in  B. Vidas Street, Zamet, Rijeka, Croatia. Have you ever played handball? I did, but only as a child. So when I discovered that the project I am writing about played host to a handball championship, I was a bit surprised. I wondered, is handball the Croatian national sport? And then my mind went to the Olympic games and the large number of buildings that lose their sense after the event for which they were built is done, and I started to become distressed. But the more I read about Croatia’s Zamet Centre, the more astonished I became. When architecture speaks for itself and when it works — as it does in this case — it integrates into the environment in a very sharp way, satisfying many demands at once with a strategic multi-functionality. But let’s star...Read More

Are renderings all they are cracked up to be or do they just cover the cracks? We explore renderings and the different mediums used to help us draw our conclusion. The field of landscape architecture uses a diverse mix of tools to create, design, and communicate ideas. We solve problems through design and make spaces better for the people who inhabit them. The design and construction of a project is made possible through the help of computer software and hand drawing or drafting. Photoshop perspectives, plans and sections, 3-D models, and hand drawings all help communicate a design to the public, the client, or the contractor. However, this does bring up an interesting issue: Are renderings true to the design and its construction? We make pretty pictures, but are some of them doing more ha...Read More

Is it possible to design out crime with landscape architecture? We take a closer look at what can be done. It is a well-known fact that the role of landscape architecture goes far beyond aesthetics. Creating functional and dynamic spaces, improving access to the outdoors, making streets and squares more friendly for the disabled, and inspiring sustainable measures in a city are but a few of the many opportunities this field has to offer. But did you know that landscape architecture helps in fighting crime, too? From “Eyes Upon the Streets” to Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Design has always been associated with security and safety in terms of natural conditions such as fire, flooding, and all kinds of unavoidable happenings. But the understanding of how the shaping of open s...Read More

A book review of “Designed for the Future: 80 Practical Ideas for a Sustainable World” by Jared Green. In Designed for the Future, Jared Green tackles the topic of contemporary design ideas that are creating a more sustainable world. The format of the book is a direct result of his approach to research for the publication. In asking eighty designers, landscape architects, planners, and engineers what they believed was moving the allied design professions to a more sustainable future, he compiled eighty ideas and project case studies which are featured in the book. Green starts the dialogue about the need for green and environmentally conscious design with professionals and then transfers that to a reader friendly format appealing to a wide audience. Not only is the book a useful tool for p...Read More

A look at 5 ways to increase biodiversity in urban landscapes and embrace nature into our designs. Biodiversity — the diversity of life in a habitat or ecosystem — is a sure sign of the health of that habitat or ecosystem. A diverse array of bacteria, insects, birds, mammals etc. makes a system more robust and able to withstand stress. Diversity, in this case, has a few layers; the number of varied species within an ecosystem, the number of individuals within a species and genetic diversity within the species (Rottle & Yocom). It means more than having lots of butterflies in the garden in spring; healthy biodiversity affects everything from the number of bees and pollinating birds, to compost-eating bacteria cycling nutrients, to having enough bats consuming metric tons of ...Read More

Community Common Park, by Janet Rosenberg & Studio, in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. When we hear the word pyramid, we instinctively associate it with Ancient Egypt, the Great Sphinx of Giza, pharaohs, or even mummies. And although our leading lady in this article isn’t Cleopatra, it doesn’t mean that the content you are going to read will be any less exciting. Imagine that instead of in Egypt, our story is set in Canada. The main characters are not pharaohs, but landscape architects. And the pyramids on which we will focus are not enormous and made of stone, but are much more welcoming, grassy, and — above all – designed for the community. Our story begins with the studio behind Community Common Park, continuing on to explore in detail the philosophy of the design. If you are ea...Read More

LAN writer Velislava Valcheva, gets the chance to interview Ph.D. Landscape Architect and Lecturer Veselin Rangelov. Why do we want to be successful? Is it because we want to prove to the world that we are capable of achievements or is it because we want to prove it to ourselves? Unfortunately, most of the time, neither is the answer. One huge part of why people want to be successful is just because everybody wants that. We have gotten used to the idea of success as something thoroughly positive and unilateral. But the truth is that there are two sides to every coin. And one of the sides of success’ coin is its price. So before you go chasing waterfalls, ask yourself, what does success mean to you? And will it bring you satisfaction? If you are willing to find out what a young but very exp...Read More

Mathildeplein, by Buro Lubbers, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. In urban environments, there is a constant battle between the need for functional public space and the social desire for intimate, semi-private spaces. Living and working in the city sounds like the ideal economic and sustainable solution, but the reality often fails to provide spaces that connect with human scale and the natural environment. Buro Lubbers aimed to address this issue through his design of Mathildeplein by providing a square that connects to the public realm while creating a green and intimate semi-public space. Mathildeplein occurs at an important traffic junction in the heart of Eindhoven, beneath the iconic Light Tower. The Light Tower is a striking building that was formerly home to the Phillips factory; its dis...Read More