Top 10 Online Resources for Landscape Architecture

Parks, squares, waterfronts, gardens, water features, art, creative and natural playgrounds, industrial, installations, residential parks, private gardens, restorations and many more directories for landscape architecture can be found  in this selection. The latest news,  best practices from professionals and students all around the world are available on the internet. This is the quickest way to find them now. But be careful and try not to overdo it. It is addictive! With this warning, here are the best online resources for landscape architecture. 10. Pinterest It is a huge resource of outstanding landscape architecture pictures. It can help you  browse for inspirational ideas, impressive designs of all kinds, parks, gardens, details and plants. 9. GAP photos, Garden and Plants Similar to...Read More

Shake off the winter doldrums with a behind the scene’s look at Piet Oudolf’s bright and bold planting designs. The influential Dutch Master Plantsman has worked around the world, from Chicago’s Lurie Garden to Scampston Hall in North Yorkshire, England. Famous for his bold drifts of all-season grasses and herbaceous perennials, Oudolf is considered one of the first planting designers to popularize large-scale perennial plantings in the public landscape.   From the description: Piet Oudolf is a renowned landscape architect whose designs can be found all over the world. Oudolf’s distinctive style has been described as: a thoughtful evocation of nature that emphasises the form, texture and natural harmony of plants and the result of decades of observation and work wit...Read More

(Experiential Mapping, student drawing from Design Principles Studio at RISD) As a former student (MLA II) and now adjunct faculty I wanted to share our new and in progress department website aimed to create a window into the life of the Masters Landscape Architecture program at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). I came to RISD as an MLA II because of the unique opportunity it allowed me to explore other art and design disciplines through the lens of a Landscape Architect. I was able to take a Sound Studio in the Digital Media department that informed ideas about the spatial significance of sound in the landscape, a hybrid printmaking class allowed me to explore different means of representation in my landscape courses, and witnessed friends take courses in ceramics, textiles, and m...Read More

Since the industrial age’s passing through the last century, the migration toward cities has increased headlong and keeps on going. According to statistics, in 2050 more than 80 percent of the urban population will be living in the urban areas (World Bank 2013). Considering the peak oil prices and the unbearable cost of gasoline lately, that increases the price of everything we consume because it all must be transported to our cities, giving rise to urban agriculture . Do we have to rethink our lifestyle to adapt to the new urban conditions and be able to deal with all these factors that would continue to cause more problems? The main issue of the population in general is to produce enough food for all. How to do it if we all want to live in the city? Urban Agriculture: A potential solutio...Read More

Stormwater management as art? Absolutely. Artful Rainwater Design, a green infrastructure design event that celebrates rain, brought together faculty, students and eco-enthusiasts for a symposium sharing innovative ideas for capturing stormwater runoff. The event was hosted by Penn State University’s Stuckeman School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.  ‘Artful Rainwater Design’ (ARD) is an approach to stormwater management that combines the best of green infrastructure with placemaking that celebrates rain.  ARD employs the latest ideas in stormwater treatment to ensure that runoff is cleaned, controlled, and reused; and it does so in a landscape that educates, entertains, and enlightens, making sure that people recognize rain as a resource, not a waste product.  What’s not to lov...Read More

November’s ASLA conference turned a spotlight on soils this year and offered several educational sessions on developing and promoting healthy soils.  Two of my favorite sessions included Phytotechnologies for Landscape Design: Using Plants to Clean Up Contaminated Sites, and Path of the Pioneers: Cultivating Native Prairies and Native Lawns and Soil Biology. Both sessions spoke about the importance of soils, from its environmental benefits to its essential functions as a structural material. Image Courtesy of  American Society of Landscape Architects Phytotechnologies for Landscape Design: Using Plants to Clean Up Contaminated Sites (Link) Presented by Niall Kirkwood and Kate Kennan, Phytotechnologies for Landscape Design walked attendees through the usual contamination suspects as w...Read More

We’re rounding out the month of November with an appreciative salute to one of the most stunning landscapes in the United States: Yosemite National Park. Keep reading to watch a gorgeous time-lapse video that’s sure to send shivers down your spine!   Of the 3.5 million people who visit the park annually, most stay in Yosemite Valley, an area that represents only one-percent of the total park area. Unbeknownst to many, landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Lawrence Halprin played a large role in sculpting the visitor experience. Halprin, for instance, was commissioned to redesign the approach to the awe-inspiring Yosemite Falls–a project that took three years to complete and $13.5 million in funding. Having trouble viewing the video? Try this video link. Missed a ...Read More

I arrived in Boston during the early morning hours of Friday, Nov. 15, hopped a cab to the hotel, and took a quick nap prior to the launch of the 2013 edition of the ASLA Annual Meeting & EXPO. I have attended this conference since 2009; each year has been more enjoyable than the last. This year was no exception. Upon entering the main entrance doors, I was greeted by a gigantic, widescreen Jumbotron happily scrolling ASLA Professional and Student Award winning projects from 2013.  Crowds of conference goers waited in line to obtain their badges, and the anticipation grew.  For first-timers, the initial experience can be daunting — it certainly was for me in 2009 — however, the best approach is to place your uneasiness aside and “dive in.” A Few Tips When Attending I’ve lea...Read More

Happy Thanksgiving Land8! Get a head start on your big day of food by feasting your eyes on artist Carl Warner’s intricately detailed “foodscapes.” Built from edible ingredients, Warner spends weeks playing with food to recreate painstakingly detailed landscapes from the scrumptious London skyline to the Great Wall of Pineapple. Keep reading to see our favorites! Warner, who cites Ansel Adams and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory among his main design influences, draws upon his imagination and photography skills to compose each carefully framed shot. With his talent for creating surreal and fantastical food scenes, it’s no surprise that Warner has been dubbed the ‘Willy Wonka’ of art. From boulevards of broccoli to cheese-covered mountains, these mouth-w...Read More

I tell people that being the first landscape architecture graduate in my country was incidental, but landscape architect and mentor Hitesh Mehta said to me: “It’s not happenstance, you were hardworking. Remember it is said that when preparedness meets with opportunity that people term it happenstance.” Leading a climate change seminar in high school Looking back at my days in Graduate school, I am tempted to agree with him. This is because I did work my fingers to the bone. We started with a class of seven students that shrunk to only four. And of these four, I was the only one ready to present my Thesis Defense before the jurors in my third year. Little did I know that when I graduated, I would become not only the first landscape architecture graduate in my university (Univers...Read More

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) recently announced the winners of its annual awards program, honoring the best of the best (at least in the juries’ opinions) in both professional and student work. My guess is the glossy, beautifully photographed images showing built work designed by professionals attract the most attention. But for me, even though I appreciate design eye candy as much as anyone, my focus inevitably shifts to the planning and analysis category and, in particular, the student work, because it is here, in the unrealized work, that we catch a glimpse of where things are headed or, perhaps, should be headed. The planning award winners include a waterfront makeover for Seattle, a couple of major urban improvement projects in China, a cool proposal for incorpo...Read More