1-December-2015 The Latest News in Landscape Architecture 2015 is sponsored by ZinCo – Life on Green Roofs – Ecological and Economical Green Roofs, worldwide. In this week’s Latest News in Landscape Architecture we Take a look at the Landscape Institute Awards in the UK, announce £1.5 million ($2.25 USD million) funding for pocket parks in the UK, a Rainwater harvesting scheme linked to cloud technology in California, and ask if the future of landscape architecture might lie on the surface of Mars. 6 Stories in this week’s latest news in landscape architecture:
- The Great Outdoors: We Unveil the 2015 Landscape Institute Awards Winners
- Brentford High Street – Making the Connection. Winner of the Landscape Institute President’s Award
- £1.5 Million funding available – Apply by 10th December 2015
- Architecture students study Martian landscapes
- L.A. Turns to the Stone Age to Tackle Water Problem
- 19th-Century Parks Drawings for New York City Are Destined for Display
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Latest News in Landscape Architecture
The annual Landscape Institute Awards Ceremony was held earlier this week , celebrating the very best of landscape architecture in the UK. Explored in pictures – this year’s winners, including, but not limited to: Urban Physic Garden by Wayward, Vauxhall Promenade of Curiosities by Erect Architecture and J & L Gibbons, Derbyshire Street Pocket Park, London by Greysmith Associates, South Park Plaza at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park by James Corner Field Operations and LDA Design, Littlehaven Promenade by OOBE, and Brentford High Street ‘making the connection’ by Kinnear Landscape Architects (See below for more detail).
- Brentford High Street – Making the Connection. Winner of the Landscape Institute President’s Award: LI
This complex and interesting project seeks to make the area of Brentford High Street (an historic market center with important water and transport connections) a more ‘socially sustainable and livable space.’ Kinnear Landscape Architects Limited successfully reconciled the different threads of the project: the cultural and economic venues of the market place and the sheds; cycling culture initiatives through Brentford works and Brentford Bikes; and walking connections opened up by the sheds project, all pull towards making Brentford a more socially sustainable and liveable place. For more details from the Landscape Institute on each of the individual winners click here.
The UK Department for Communities and Local Government is making £1.5m available across the UK for pocket parks, and has invited community groups supported by local authorities to apply for a share of the funding. Drew Bennellick, head of landscape and natural heritage at the Heritage Lottery Fund, said: ‘As a nation we pride ourselves on the quality of our parks and green spaces. From our Victorian forebears we have inherited a history of creating wonderful green places vital for our health, wellbeing, culture and nature. This exciting new investment from DCLG offers an opportunity to inspire local people to continue the tradition whilst leaving an even greater legacy of quality green spaces for future generations to enjoy.’ Applications can be made through the UK central Government website. Related Article: 7 Top Pocket Parks: Small Spaces With a Huge Impact
- Architecture students study Martian landscapes: Washington Times
First year landscape architecture students from the University of Tennessee have been given the opportunity to 3D model the landscape of Mars. Adjunct assistant professor in landscape architecture Justine Holzman devised the classes to help students understand the foreign landscape using publicly available data from NASA. Students, Caley Hyatt and Brian Stovall both expressed excitement at the prospect that their careers might see them eventually working on projects on the Mars landscape. Assistant Professor Holzman said “the next step will be to address how the Mars projects might inform designs on Earth for areas like nuclear waste zones or places with extreme weather conditions”.
California’s ongoing drought has been widely publicized. Now, it seems, drastic measures are calling for more drastic measures. Through the StormCatcher pilot program, a number of private homes are receiving cisterns, as well as specialist infiltration planting and rainwater capture retrofits. Rainwater from each property will be diverted into “smart cisterns” connected to a cloud-based software. If rain is in the forecast and the cistern is full, the program will slowly release water into the newly bioswaled yard, making space for the coming storm. Together with storm water capture and retention projects on public land, such as parks, it is hoped that future droughts can be alleviated. Related article: Rain Gardens: The Essential Guide
A veritable treasure trove of 128 construction plans for parks across the city of NewYork has been saved, and to be placed on display. Plans include works from such famous designers as Fredrick Law Olmsted, Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould, and date from between approximately 1850 and 1890. – Have something to say about this week’s news stories Go to comments For all of the hottest news continue to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Have news to share? Send to office@landarchs.com News report by Ashley Penn
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