We take a look at modern landscape design. Looking at how they inspire us and bring us to new horizons in landscape architects. From museums and parks to art installations and memorials, the best landscape architects in the world have proven that it is entirely possible to combine art and environmental custodianship. With climate change and all the environmental concerns the world is facing today, these modern landscape designs show us that we need not sacrifice beauty when we decide to go green.
Modern Landscape Designs
Below are 5 of the most modern landscape designs that you can check out:
1. National 9/11 Memorial, New York, USA
After the horrors of 9/11, the world was never the same again. And what better way to honour the lives of those who were lost than with this beautifully designed 9/11 Memorial? Set where the original Twin Towers were, this is one of the most eco-friendly plazas in the world. It has two enormous (about an acre each) waterfalls and reflecting pools, surrounded by 400 trees.
9/11 Memorial site design with Peter Walker; credit: Scott Renwick
2. Pink Balls, Quebec, Canada
Every summer since 2011, the 1-kilometre stretch of St. Catherine Street East in Montreal’s Gay Village is transformed into a pedestrian-friendly mall. Quebec’s most renowned landscape architect, Claude Cormier, then sets up his world-famous art installation, ‘Pink Balls’. A colourful art display that’s basically made up of 170,000 pink balls strung through the trees lining the avenue, this modern landscape design has made the neighbourhood even more magical. Aside from the display, this neighbourhood is also home to restaurant terraces, a 40-hectare parkland, and some of the best Montreal Condos, including Octave – your new dream home at the heart of the village.
3. Cheonggyecheon River Project, Seoul, South Korea
Before it was restored, the Cheonggyecheon River was a covered wastewater canal that was highly polluted and hardly beautiful. The 11-kilometre redevelopment project not only removed all traces of the river’s past, but it also beautified Seoul and allowed the people to rediscover the beauty of nature in the middle of a bustling city.
“Korea-Seoul-Cheonggyecheon-2008-01″ by stari4ek – originally posted to Flickr as fest2-01. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons
4. Tree Museum, Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland
A museum dedicated to trees? Why not? Just outside of Lake Zurich, you’ll find the masterpiece of Swiss landscape architect Enzo Anea, and it’s definitely unlike any other museum you’ve been to before. Sprawled over 2.5 acres and containing about 2,000 species of trees, this ‘museum’ showcases trees from all over the world and is beautifully punctuated with stone columns and other works of art. Some of the trees are more than a century old, simply leaving you breathless. Combining the elements of botany, landscape, art, and architecture in one place, this museum is the perfect ode to one of nature’s timeless masterpieces: the tree.
Tree Museum. Credit: Enea GmbH
5. California Academy of Sciences, California, USA
Located right at the heart of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the California Academy of Sciences is remarkable not just because it’s a world-class planetarium, aquarium, and natural history museum in one. Designed by Renzo Piano, this massive building has a ‘dynamic green roof’ at the top, dotted by several skylights that give light to the all the plants, animals, and humans below. Recommended Reading:
- Becoming an Urban Planner: A Guide to Careers in Planning and Urban Design by Michael Bayer
- Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature by Douglas Farrs
Article by Veselina Dzhingarova Featured image: By Saschaporsche – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, source.
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