Blog

16-March-15 In this week’s Latest News in Landscape Architecture we share an interesting interview with Martha Schwartz, highlight an amazing residential apartment complex modeled after a treehouse, and announce Rome’s plans to design an elevated park of their own. Did you know that when you Google “elevated park” you’re presented with about 102,000,000 results! (Click the headline for the full story) Design Professionals Should Be Leaders, Not Followers: Sourceable As the headline says, design professionals should strive to be leaders. However, what does this mean for landscape architects? In a bold op-ed, Daniel Bennett, Vice President of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, makes the claim that in order “to achieve a more integrated approach, designers, including landscape ...Read More

Aqua Magica Park by Agence Ter Landscape Architects, Between Bad Oeynhausen and Löhn, Germany. There is a distinct style of expression in the art of landscape architecture that refers to our sensory perception. These are the so-called ephemeral means. Despite their transient character, the presence of ephemeral means in parks and gardens is essential for the successful formation of realistic natural surroundings. Light, shadow, sound, scent, and fauna in the park are among the many vehicles used to achieve the most significant purpose of our art – the establishment of a connection between humans and nature. An excellent example displaying the expedient use of such means of expression is the Aqua Magica project, designed by Agence Ter Landscape Architects. The project won an international c...Read More

TUMO Park by  Bernard Khoury/DW5, Yerevan, Armenia TUMO Park, designed by  Bernard Khoury/DW5, is an outdoor extension of the TUMO Center for Creative Technologies in Yerevan, Armenia. The park creates a “geometrical three-dimensional abstraction of the existing topography by connecting the abstracted vertices, forming inclined triangular solid planes.” (Bernard Khoury, 2011) It consists of a series of pedestrian paths and variations of oblique surfaces that connect the TUMO building with an existing public municipal park. Because of its scale — a 6,000-square-meter open area — TUMO Park becomes an urban park that is so big and complicated in its form and program that it faces a lot of landscape challenges. One of the most wonderful design solutions this park gives us is its ab...Read More

On The New Shores – The Lahnaue Framework Plan by A24 Landschaft and Landschaftsarchitektur Gmbh, Gießen, Germany. “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone”.This ballad from the late 1980s came across my mind and is so true when we see the appalling states of waterfronts in countless cities around the globe. More than seams between water and city, waterfronts are metaphorical links to our past, present, and point the way to our future. Over the years, we have neglected these waterfronts without knowing the potentialities they could offer in the urban realm. It has been the recent public demand for waterfront accessibility that has triggered the transformation of once-neglected river edges into the heart of the city. From an industrial heritage of the Lahnaue ...Read More

Grorudparken by LINK Landskap, Link Arkitektur, Oslo, Norway Grorud Park is a newly constructed neighborhood park in the periphery of Oslo, Norway. It’s aim is to tie together this part of the city separated from a main road. The atmosphere is wild even though it is situated in the heart of urban center. What makes this place unique and valuable is the thoughtful design and creative solutions used by LINK Landskap, from which everyone could learn. Grorudparken in the city context There are 10 rivers running through the urban body of Oslo. In the past they were considered problematic because of sewage systems as well as were seen as obstacle for efficient use of the land. However, in the recent years, The City of Oslo had shifted attention to preserving its blue-green structures. The main o...Read More

As cities are growing and a lot of people being displaced, one of the strategies that can be used to prevent displacement and unwillingness to relocate, especially those who are economically struggling, is to look at affordability of and accessibility to basic life necessities–housing is one of them. In order to make housing affordable, one of the ultimate goals is to reduce associated development costs as much as possible while maintaining the good quality. Costs can be eliminated in a number of ways, for instance, by streamlining regulatory and financing processes, and by the architectural approach itself. This post provides an example of the “architectural approach” component (including design concepts and construction techniques) and how it can reduce costs. Design flexibility is...Read More

Qunli Stormwater Park, by Turenscape, in Haerbin City, Heilongjiang Province, China. These days, with cities growing, life taking on a faster pace, and resources strained by the demands of the developing human race, it can be difficult to determine the importance and ability of natural ecosystems to fit into the urban context. Nature takes its time to grow and develop, and seems to be nowhere as demanding as people. When it comes to dealing with water, urban environments can lack resilience. In China’s Haerbin City, 30 hectares of wetland was on the brink of extinction. With a little bit of help, Turenscape was able to turn a bleak situation into a green oasis filled with the abundance of nature and life, while addressing the problem of stormwater management and providing aid in the city’s...Read More

We preview the Thai Landscape Architecture Award (TALA) 2015. The Thai Association of Landscape Architects (TALA) is a group that, according to its own objectives, “aims to raise the standards of landscape architecture and to promote the fellowship of ethics and honor.” One way the association is doing this is through the TALA Awards, which are aimed at honoring the excellence of Thailand’s landscape architects with hopes of promoting the many landscape innovations within Thailand’s landscape and architectural design industries while inspiring the next generation of Thailand’s landscape architects. Each nominated project stands out for its innovation in lighting, planting design, and overall beauty and functionality in the space. Each project also represents the landscape of Thailand and a...Read More

Zoetermeer Vivaldi Care Home, Zoetermeer, Netherlands, by HOSPER. Nowhere could be more pleasant and re-energizing than a residential complex that reminds us of an island. That is the type of landscape in the place where the Zoetermeer Vivaldi Care Home is located in the Netherlands. The home provides a safe environment for its residents away from the stressful routines of the city. While this stress-free environment is healthy, the isolation may prevent residents from enjoying the benefits of keeping connected with the neighborhood. When asked to create the outdoor spaces for this care home, HOSPER designers envisioned an environment that balances isolation and connectedness, aiming to merge them with the surroundings while preserving the residents’ privacy. To achieve this result, they t...Read More

The concept of natural play has been steadily gaining popularity in recent years and is now one of the main “buzz words” bandied around by architects, planners, and developers. But what are the main principles of natural play, why is it considered better than conventional play equipment, and what role does landscape architecture have to play in the creation of natural play areas? What is natural play? Natural play refers to interacting with natural elements of the environment in an imaginative way. Broadly, natural play includes activities such as climbing trees, building dens, and cooking outdoors. Today, children are becoming ever more environmentally insular, often spending many hours a day in front of televisions and computer monitors. The natural play movement aims to encourage childr...Read More