Featured

We all know biodiversity is important. Much has been written about it in both scientific literature and public media. But how important is it? What role does biodiversity have to play in our cities? To answer those questions, we must differentiate the arguments for environmental protection. Differing arguments result in different approaches. For example, depending on if you want to protect local ecology, provide ecosystem services, or climate-proof an ecosystem, you may choose to use only native plants or also add those from outside of your region. According to research by Ph.D. D.C. Dearborn and Professor S. Kark, there are 7 main motivations for conserving urban biodiversity. In this article, we examine the most important motivations for protecting and increasing biodiversity in cities. ...Read More

There’s no question that the COVID-19 pandemic has made us question how resilient our cities are, both when it comes to the needs of their citizens and their preparedness for future crises. COVID-19 has forced us, and by extension, landscape architects and urban designers, to re-evaluate how and where we need to build community resilience to natural hazards and climate crisis. Resiliency in urban environments is of the utmost importance—allowing both the city and its occupants to survive, adapt, and even thrive in times of stress and crisis. Designers at firms like global architecture firm CallisonRTKL must be focused on resilient planning and design solutions that provide flexible solutions that can continually adapt to our future needs, even as times and technologies change and develop. ...Read More

As we approach the end of 2020, we celebrate the people and movements that are driving change to achieve more just futures for ALL. From the people who have been hard at work mobilizing voters—to our steadfast community leaders and their everyday work to cultivate communities of care. Like these change-makers who inspire us, The Urban Studio also strives to be the change we want to see in the world. We do this through projects and programs that leverage art and design tools to ensure that those communities who are most affected by design are seen and heard as critical stakeholders in shaping their OWN neighborhoods and their OWN futures. The Urban Studio (US) is thrilled to announce Pardon Our Disruption, a three-part-virtual event series kick-off to our end-of-year fundraising campaign. E...Read More

The onset of COVID-19 in cities throughout the world led to cities shutting down, becoming ghosts of their former selves.  What followed in the ensuing weeks was a metamorphosis within our streets and parks on a scale that was previously unimaginable. The pandemic precipitated a utopian glimpse into urban centers around the globe where streets have been closed to accommodate al fresco dining, bike lanes have been expanded, parks are full, the air quality is improved, and more pedestrians are seen walking the streets and trails of their neighborhoods daily. Dig Studio’s mission and culture is to teach, mentor, and support equity and diversity within the practice of Landscape Architecture.  Exploring an urban trend that was being played out in real time seemed like the perfect opportunity to...Read More

The month of March marks the end of our campus recruiting season each year. We wrap up our visits to universities across the country and prepare for an incoming class of student interns. We dust off our teaching skills and look forward to the fresh perspective students offer. This year, planning quickly changed course when COVID-19 prompted all 120 of our professionals to begin working safely from home. While many firms were forced to pull the plug on internships altogether, the challenging circumstances fueled our drive to find a way to provide a meaningful internship experience. Fortunately, we were able to double down on our commitment to putting our people first and advocating for the profession by hosting 8 students from across the country in a nine-week virtual internship program. It...Read More

In landscape architecture, many of the available software options seem to specialize in individual areas, requiring an investment in add-ons to enable more holistic workflows. This comes as a sticking point for many landscape architecture firms whose work spans beyond 2D drawings and plans. Vectorworks Landmark is known for being an all-in-one solution, which means landscape architects can work without having to invest in additional software. In this article, you’ll hear from three landscape architects who’ve switched to Vectorworks Landmark and are now benefiting from more streamlined workflows. The first firm is SiteWorks, who are based in New York City and provide a variety of landscape architecture services, including project scheduling/budgeting and construction implementation. Next i...Read More

This year has certainly been unprecedented. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to change the way we conduct our daily lives and interact with one another. Work has shifted to home offices, kids are learning online and mask wearing, sanitizing and social distancing are all new practices integrated into our daily routines. During this time of disruption and uncertainty, people are re-evaluating where they live and re-defining what ‘quality of life’ means to them and their families.  The concept of an Agrihood, which is a blend of town and farm, is starting to become a more relevant idea throughout America. While the idea of an Agrihood may be new to some, the ideas was actually created long ago, in a time when people lived off the land and relied on each other for their sustenance, happines...Read More

Built environment professionals have an opportunity to influence not only the physical environment but also the societies that use the spaces we create. Much has been written in recent popular media regarding social segregation of play spaces in developments. Developers have been accused of creating play spaces that exclude certain portions of residents in their designs. In this article, we look at what landscape architects and architects can do to increase social integration through play provision. Social segregation in the past Arguably, segregation has been a significant problem for a long time. Who can forget the appalling racial segregation in South Africa under apartheid that lead to whole urban areas being declared off-limits to black South Africans? While such stark examples may be...Read More