Sketchy Saturday l 009

We have got an excellent, fresh set of sketches from our readers for this weeks Sketchy Saturday, to pick our top 10 for this weeks Sketchy Saturday. Be it colour or black and white, technical or artistic, work or pleasure based, we know a good sketch when we see one! Drawing is one of the best ways of improving your work and should never be fully replaced by tech shortcuts! So without further ado, here’s this week’s selection. No. 10 by Tomislav Krnač, Slovenia ‘I drew this sketch in the Mediterranean village of Izola in Slovenia on a beautiful sunny day. We had an excursion with prof. Drašler who taught us drawing in 1st and 2nd year of landscape architecture. I was sitting on a bench in a picturesque little square surrounded by old houses and Mediterranean plants, so I decid...Read More

For me, the LARE’s Section 1: Project & Construction Administration was one of the most daunting parts of the exam due to the fact that I don’t handle contracts on a regular basis. Consequently, Section 1 is also one of the hardest sections for new professionals to tackle because the topics deal with business and legal matters that they often have not yet experienced. An understanding of project management, however, proves incredibly beneficial and I was able to sufficiently prepare myself for the exam by supplementing my real life experience with the following study materials and tips.   OVERVIEW OF SECTION 1 The focus of Section 1 of the LARE is Project and Construction Administration with ‘Project Management’ covering 62% of the topics and ‘Bidding and ...Read More

Women are influencing the profession of landscape architecture more today than ever before. Women in the Dirt highlights the work of seven award-winning women who have made their mark in the field: Mia Lerher, Andrea Cochran, Cheryl Barton, Isabelle Greene, Katherine Spitz, Pamela Palmer, and Lauren Melendrez. Though each has a unique body of work, their concerns overlap in the realm of sustainability and enduring design.   Director Carolann Stoney conceived of the idea for this documentary while she herself was studying landscape architecture. Her short film on the subject received the 2009 American Society of Landscape Architects Student Honors Award in Communication. — Women in the Dirt Website   Have you seen this film? Let us know if you have an upcoming screening! Women in the ...Read More

After the success of his last article  “10 Ways Design Students Fail Projects and How to Avoid Them” designer and lecturer Barry Lupton joins us again at Landscape Architects Network to give us his thoughts as to what qualities a great designer possesses: Designers are complex beings occupying an increasingly complex domain. The skills, traits and characteristics which define the greatest designers are equally complex. To provide some insight, I’ve undertaken some reflective analysis of my own skills, traits and characteristics. I then used a useful antonym website to compile the list below. 1. Sorry, come again? Verbal communication is both a science and an art, and great designers can usually orate and articulate with the best of them.  Designers must be adept at readin...Read More

In today’s day and age, with our natural environment ever diminishing, every potential green space in the concrete jungle of our cities becomes increasingly important. Green roofs and living walls are one of the most important ways of making our cities greener – and they are also incredibly fashionable! It is vitally important for every landscape architect to realize the value of green roofs and living walls and gather as much information as possible about their uses, benefits, and construction. This book is a great place to start! Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls What you get from this book An excellent introduction to the idea of green roofs and façade greening A perfect guide to the construction practices An explanation of the genesis of the green roofs and walls movement Amp...Read More

The undulating deck of the Maritime Youth Center located in Amager Strand in Copenhagen invites rolling, climbing and exploration of the sloped surfaces. Credit: Jordan Lewis A sign declaring, “Please Don’t Touch” sits in front of an indestructible 12 meter tall steel sculpture in Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park. Oblivious to the warnings, kids run up to play on the massive red steel structure until, inevitably, someone points to the sign instructing them not to touch the artwork. This sign, and other familiar signs such as “Please Don’t Walk on the Grass” characterize a common understanding of the urban landscape and its features as something to visually admire from a distance rather than interact with. While play and physical interaction with our surroundings is an intuitive social beha...Read More

Every student thinks: “What will I do after school?” For most students, getting a job in the field of design is the highest priority. The 2013 ASLA Recent Graduate Survey indicated that 89 percent of graduates will seek employment and hope to enter the field immediately after college. We have 10 tips to help you get a head start allowing you to network with professionals while increasing your odds of landing a job right out of school. 10. Stop by their offices and introduce yourself The internet has come to dominate our communications world. Remember that nothing goes further than a handshake and a smile. While many offices have the ability to work from remote locations and can hire from afar, small businesses are still the majority. 9. Join your professional society Professional societies...Read More

  It’s only been two months since the annual conference in Boston, but ASLA is already gearing up for the 2014 Conference in Denver. If you live in The Mile High City, there are many ways to get involved and I highly recommend it.  As a Landscape Architect in Boston, I found it to be very rewarding and a great experience to be involved in ASLA 2013. The following are just a few ways to contribute.     Image Courtesy of the Author Submit a proposal for a Field Session Denver Landscape Architects, you know your city the best. So take the time to share what you know with the rest of us and put together a Field Session! For ASLA Boston I took the lead to round up a great team of designers, planners, and non-profits involved with the design and construction of the Rose Kennedy Greenway.  ...Read More

It was a crisp sunny day with clear blue skies in November when I last visited Governors Island.  I was cordially invited to participate in the event to commemorate the completion of 30 acres of new park on Governors Island and to plant the 800,000th tree as part of the MillionTreesNYC initiative that Mayor Bloomberg started in 2007.  It was a real pleasure to see the newest area of the park, which will be accessible to the public on May 24, 2014. If you plan to visit to Governors Island in the spring, you will see 2,000 of the MillionTrees newly planted on Governors Island, including Sassafras, Sourwood, Redbud, and Tulip trees.  Mayor Michael Bloomberg along with other notable dignitaries affiliated with the park wielded golden shovels full of soil to symbolically help plan a new Gingko ...Read More

Bamboo, one of the fastest-growing plants in the world, has gained its cultural and economic significance in Southeast Asia not only due to its speedy growth, but also thanks to its marvelous strength, which allows it to be often used as building material instead of steel. This peculiar monocot plant is also a popular ingredient in Asian cuisine and can be used to create fine, long-lasting furniture and other diverse structures. And bamboo was also the centerpiece of an international festival initiated this year in Lombok, Indonesia, in the hope of making it an annual event. Image credit: www.budipradono.com Lombok Bambu Festival Through the slogan We Care Bamboo, the Indonesian Institute of Architects-West Nusatenggara Region introduced LIBAF — the Lombok International Bamboo Archit...Read More

Post-industrial Philadelphia is on the cusp of a green revolution. A team of landscape architects, planners, and community members are working together to transform an abandoned rail viaduct into a rail park that they hope will turn the “seriously under-parked” city into a more vibrant, sustainable and healthy place to live. Stretching over three miles, the proposed green spine will weave together multiple cultural and artistic landmarks and introduce additional green recreational space into the backyards of fifty city blocks.    From the description:   “A mini-documentary about the proposed “Philadelphia Rail Park”, a three-mile long rail park that would run through some of Philadelphia’s most populated (but under-parked) neighborhoods. Featuring interv...Read More