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Garden Bridge, by Heatherwick Studio, London, UK. A new approach to designing bridges and traffic routes leads to one of the most controversial projects in London: a garden bridge over The Thames. A project that will increase the global attractiveness of the city as a tourist destination, say officials. The blueprint of this project has been approved by Boris Johnson who has served as Mayor of London since 2008 and is championed by British national treasure Joanna Lumley. The London Garden Bridge project has been designed by Heatherwick Studio, and is intended to be a new pedestrian bridge that links the Temple Underground Station with the South Bank over Thames. This idea follows Transport for London’s trend for projects that improve pedestrian links across the river. London is already on...Read More

The Baltic Sea Art Park, Pärnu, Estonia, by Kilometrezero. Waterfronts are naturally enticing places. In the urban setting, they provide residents with a nearby place to escape the pressures of the city and commune with nature. As cities grow, so do these waterfront leisure spaces – and the need for someone to design them. Over the last few decades, waterfronts have become the frequent subject of design competitions. A design for the Baltic Sea Art Park in Pärnu, Estonia, was born from a 2013 competition for a site on the banks of the Pärnu River. Designers were asked to create a park encompassing a ground program and floating buildings. Kilometrezero, a Paris and Barcelona-based architecture studio founded by Jan Kundlicka and Alvaro García Mendive, was up to the challenge, creating dynam...Read More

A book review of Landscape Site Grading Principles: Grading With Design In Mind by Bruce G. Sharky. Traditionally, the use of grading textbooks by landscape architecture students has been limited to those produced by engineers, who tend to approach the subject, not in visual terms, but in terms of mathematics and problem-solving. These teaching mechanisms prove problematic, often neglecting or omitting the inherent design implications associated with grading — essential constituencies given that landscape architects learn and think visually and spatially. The impetus of “Landscape Site Grading Principles” is to provide landscape architecture students with a visual, practical approach to site grading concepts that advocates and illustrates the interconnectedness of grading and design,...Read More

Apply these 5 tips to get your head around technical drawing. We all at one point dread the day when our social lives will turn into weekend parties with T-squares and inking pens. Those of us who studied technical drawing look back and cringe at the thought of having to go through that one day-long exam again. But I will quit being so apocalyptic now and tell those who are going to take this course soon that, fortunately, there are several steps you can take to make the best out of your technical drawing class — and even enjoy it! 5 Technical Drawing Tips 1. Ditch the comfort of home for the studio group dynamic Back in high school, I didn’t very much like the idea of studying in a group. It seemed too distracting and like an easy ticket for procrastination. But as soon as you get i...Read More

A useful AutoCAD tutorial to help you with detailing your sections in AutoCAD. Plan drawings could be considered the most important graphic of a landscape architecture project. Sections and elevations, however, also explain a lot and are important during the design process. Drawing natural elements in elevation requires a different approach than drawing them in plan. Take grass, for instance. In a plan drawing, grass can be represented as a dotted hatch or maybe even a green solid hatch. This doesn’t work in section. In this article, you’ll see some cool and quick ways to draw nature in no time. The problem of the traditional method A lot of AutoCAD users draw grass in sections with a block. Of course, this is an option, but it has some downsides. A block always has a particular size. Let’...Read More

Nouvelle at Natick, by  Martha Schwartz Partners, Natick (MA), USA. The concept of modern urban living is based on the idea of comfort wrapped up in luxury. Nouvelle at Natick is the best proof that urban living has evolved to a point where it can offer luxury, privacy, and breathtaking views. The project was started by General Growth Properties, and it involved the creation of Parc Nouvelle, a splendid roof garden. The designer was Martha Schwartz, one of the top names in the field of landscape architecture. Nouvelle at Natick extends over a surface of 34,850 square feet and was completed in 2008. When looking at how the roof garden turned out in the end, it should come as no surprise that the project received the BSLA Award (Boston Society of Landscape Architects) in 2012. Nouvelle at Na...Read More

Are your professors really telling you everything they know? When I first stepped into the university, I was convinced that I would learn almost everything I would need for my professional career there. I quickly realized I was wrong, and that the university is just the starting point for a lifelong learning process — and that the most valuable learning comes from experience. Every time you do something for the first time and every mistake you make will make you a better person and professional. However, university professors are there to open your mind — not only to provide theory and practice, but to a whole professional world, as well. Here are nine ways to get the best out of the time you spend in the university and get the best out of your professors. 1. Attend classes Fir...Read More

Greenhouse, CF Moller Architects, Aarhus, Denmark. Did you know that the world’s first ministry for the environment was established in Denmark in 1972? Since then, Denmark has achieved several environmentally sustainable goals and has been well known for creating a green and a sustainable society. So it is not a surprise that nowadays this country has the greenest city in the world — Copenhagen — and that it is among the top five “greenest” countries according to the 4th Edition of the Global Green Economy Index. Other Danish cities also innovate in creating and implementing new sustainable initiatives. The city of Aarhus – the second most populous city in Denmark, after Copenhagen – has 134 parks, and its Botanical Garden is the oldest and one of its largest, as reported by Aa...Read More

A list of the trends that are hitting the profession of landscape architecture. Typically a trend is something that is considered a passing craze, but the actual definition according to Oxford Dictionaries is “a general direction in which something is developing or changing.” Such is the case with landscape architecture and some of the “trends” of the 21st century. Below are the top 7 landscape architecture trends of the 21st century, listed in alphabetical order. Landscape Architecture Trends 1. 3D Modeling While 3D Modeling Software has been around since the 1980s, these programs have really started to shine in the last decade. AutoCAD and SketchUp are seen as must know programs in almost every design office and many also require Vectorworks and Revit. And now, with 3D printers, these 3D...Read More