Cecilia Schafler

Visit new Urban Design Podcast on iTunes and http://bit.ly/277Mrz

Visit new Urban Design Podcast on iTunes and http://bit.ly/277Mrz

The ASLA Student Awards were announced today, and this one looks germane to the topic of Therapeutic Landscapes:

Residential Design Category HONOR AWARD
The Productive Landscape: Urban Housing for Autistic Adults
John Gough, Student ASLA, and Adam C. Nordfors, Student ASLA
Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
Faculty adviser: Kim Steele

I…[Read more]

i am interested to set up online landscape design company for project in middle east and like to invite landscape architect to work online on project base.
mustafa kamal
mail@hortigroup.com.pk

I like new name of the group. Word healing reminds me also of the
intrinsic values of nature, and therapeutic more of practice specific for humans. So it seems this name includes both, healing power of nature by itself and horticulture therapy gardens made by human hands. Bye

Check out Land8Lounge member Jason King’s review of Esther Sternberg’s new book, Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-Being. An excellent review of an excellent new book.

Charles, This is probably easier to deal with in Phoenix as most people don’t really expect anything to live here without water. Even natives. I don’t know how you can expect a plant that is used to regular and frequent irrigation at the grower, to suddenly become a plant that thrives with irregular and infrequent feeding.

Ya Bill, all I know is when a local suburban city requires the planting of natives in parking lot islands that get hammered by not only the heated asphalt but also the vehicle exhaust, I tend to shake my head. With pedestrians tromping through and no irrigation, it is just tough sledding. What we need is to educate the planners who write the…[Read more]

I Navid, the pine like plant looks like a grevilia flower. I’m not sure but it’s similar.

Ya Charles, all the natives around here grow in balls and cubes. You never have to water them and they never grow past the 3′ dia. ball or cube. They even flower in colors that contrast well with the building they are planted next to. I love natives. They’re truely the answer to all your sustainable dreams. You just need more experience, buddy.

We are being asked more and more to do less and less irrigation on our projects here in and around Seattle. One might think, “so what, it is always raining in Seattle.” This is not quite true. We have had a very dry summer here but we are only about an inch below average for the year. Many native and non native plants are suffering, and will not…[Read more]

Here is another recent article from BuildingGreen.com regarding LEED changes : http://www.buildinggreen.com/live/index.cfm/2009/7/28/New-LEED-AP-Exam-Writer-Tells-All.

intheleed.com also has some good explainations:
http://www.intheleed.com/what-exactly-is-the-credential-maintenance-program-for-leed/

Go to the link below to download the “Credentialing Maintenance Program Guide” valid for July 2009 from USGBC – this is the official document addressing credentialling maintenance.
http://www.gbci.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=3665

Just got an e-mail regarding GBCI Credentialing Maintenance Program for those of us that have been accredited without specialization under the old system. Was wondering if anyone has dug deeper into what this really means for us and if upgrading to a specialization will pay off in the end?

Just slid into this group. Many of the Washington State funded building design projects require a LEED certification. I’ve been involved in the number of LEED workshops on projects for community colleges in the state. I am not up to speed on the newer landscape/site related LEED certification. I know from past projects, the landscape/site related…[Read more]

And new InformeDesign article review on Children’s Use of Accessible Playgrounds.

Hi folks, it’s me on my lounge in Cairo, but active now in Abu Dhabi.
This is the place to try all this xerophytic plants and other material.
Whenever I come into a new arid area I try to studdy the the vegetation off the beaten tracks. Potential natural vegetation is the best indicator to meet climat and geology. We only (I guess that is the…[Read more]

Hello- I’m new to the group! Currently our LA firm has been dealing with the recent water restrictions- How do we (as Landscape Architects) get the word out that turf is no longer the San Diego landscape? We are in our 3rd consecutive year of drought and something has to change.

Conference in Dubrovnik: Resocialization-benefits from nature, I put album of photos finally on my folio, so you can see them 🙂 . I find articles send by this group really interesting, bye. Marina