Charles A. Birnbaum marks the milestones that have contributed to landscape architecture's growing stature over the past year.
Superstorm Sandy was perhaps the most significant event of the year, yielding headlines for landscape architects and the field's role in helping to mitigate future storms. Birnbaum calls out Kate Orff's "prescient 2010 proposal for mitigating storm surge in Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood (which was badly hit by Sandy) and Gowanus Bay" and landscape architect Susannah Drake's examination of the extent of New York's public housing located in flood zones, for particular praise.
Not all of the significant events in the field were Sandy-related. Several excellent new projects showed off the field's contributions to urban environments, including: Sugar Beach on the Lake Ontario waterfront in Toronto designed by Montreal-based Claude Cormier & Associés Inc., seven (!) projects at San Francisco's Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and Rios Clementi Hale's new Grand Park located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.
As Alan Brake's recent editorial in The Architect's Newspaper noted, "[l]andscape architecture is gaining in public stature and it's because of entrepreneurial students at CCNY and elsewhere, practitioners like Kate Orff and Susannah Drake, organizations like the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and the Presidio Trust, and many others that the profession and its practitioners are being recognized as leaders capable of integrating nature and culture to shape our future."
Read the full story: 2012's Notable Developments in Landscape Architecture
East River Floodgates Rising in NYC
A tour of new infrastructure designed to protect the city’s East Side from catastrophic flooding.
In Battery Park City, Public Infrastructure Meets Climate Resilience
A massive project underway in Lower Manhattan seeks to protect the shoreline from future flooding and mitigate the effects of climate change and rising sea levels.
Net Zero Development Coming to New York City
The project, which relies largely on geothermal energy to minimize its carbon footprint, will bring affordable housing and boost storm resilience to an area devastated by Hurricane Sandy.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Study reveals best places in the U.S. for cycling, walking
New research from Streetlight Data examines bicycle and pedestrian miles per capita in the 100 largest U.S. cities by population.
Austin plans light rail extension — before breaking ground on light rail
The planned extension is three miles long and will take riders straight to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Chicago cuts ribbon on $300,000, self-cleaning public toilet
The public toilet is the city’s first, and may pave the way for a rollout of similar facilities.
Sharp cuts to Oregon public transit, rail on the horizon without additional funding
Transportation workgroup has until Dec. 15 to send its report to Gov. Tina Kotek
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Charlotte
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello