Forgive me Olmsted, for I have sinned. I have strayed. I have coveted. I have had doubts.
I have thought about kicking urban design to the curb like a mangy puppy.
Landscape Architecture
A Life Creating Community
A review of a new book Building Commons and Community by Karl Linn, a landscape architect and psychologist who worked to create vibrant community spaces in abandoned lots and boring institutional settings.
re:place Magazine
Elevated Train Stations Prove Controversial
In Honolulu, plans for 21 train stations on the new Kapolei to Ala Moana rail are raising eyebrows, primarily because of their significant size. Designers have taken steps to hide the bulk through landscaping and camouflage.
The Honolulu Advertiser
$10 Million Individual Donation to High Line Project
Barry Diller, IAC, and his wife, Diane Von Furstenburg, a well-known fashion designer, have donated $10 million to the Friends of the High Line, which is a non-profit group that manages the project.
THE DIRT
Reconsidering Asphalt
Landscape architect Paula Meijerink is calling on designers to rethink asphalt, and she's taking her efforts to the streets.
The Boston Globe
Redesigning Nature to Clean Up Our Messes
A landscape architect from M.I.T. is proposing to create a whole new ecosystem to address water pollution problems in Italy.
The New York Times
Millennium Park Garden Takes Top Award from ASLA
The American Society of Landscape Architects has awarded the Lurie Garden in Chicago's Millennium Park with it's highest honor.
Marketwatch
New Public Park 'Sponges' Up Contaminants
Landscape architecture firm dlandstudio is taking the stench out of the Gowanus Canal by building a new public park that is beautiful as well as functional.
The New York Sun
Skirting Process, Bremerton Makes Beautiful Public Spaces
Landscape architect Gary Sexton worked on a tight budget and dodged commissions and regulations to create a beautiful vision for downtown Bremerton (near Seattle).
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Lawrence Halprin Opines Redesign of His Charlottesville Mall
Many of famed landscape architect Lawrence Halprin's optimistic 1970s public spaces are being updated and reconsidered. Historic preservationists fight back, but supporters say, "It's a living, breathing space, not a museum."
The Hook (Charlottesville, VA)
Watch for Desire Paths
Mon, 06/02/2008 - 16:19
My graduate school education left me with a lot of general ideas and a handful of specific ones. One that stuck with me is a concept from landscape architecture: the desire path. Technically, the term means a path where there isn't supposed to be one, a trail of wear and tear that wasn't planned.
Despite Downturn, Landscape Architects Keep Busy
A national survey shows that despite the depression in the housing market, landscape architects across the U.S. continue to get work.
Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland, OR
Two Things People Hate: Density and Sprawl
Wed, 03/26/2008 - 14:13
We’ve been conducting public meetings for years. And it used to be easier. Present the plan. Discuss the plan. Talk about how your plan is better for the neighborhood/community/city/region and provide the conclusion. But things have changed.
A Guide to Taser-Free Public Meetings
Thu, 09/27/2007 - 06:15
We all saw it on the Internet—the fellow at a public meeting being hauled away from the microphone before getting wrestled to the floor and tasered during a Q&A with John Kerry. Fortunately, silencing argumentative speakers with a taser is not a common occurrence at most public meetings. While I might confess that there have been meetings where, in retrospect, one might have secretly wished one was armed with a stun gun, facilitators generally try to avoid confrontation. Yet there’s no denying that sometimes people show up at public meetings looking for a fight, begging for outrage, and hoping to irritate and inflame.
'Civic Theater' at Its Best
Mon, 08/20/2007 - 11:33
Like many others, I tuned into the CNN/YouTube debate a few weeks ago. As a firm believer in citizen involvement, to the point of recently writing a book* full of case studies of public process in action, I found CNN’s broadcast of real people with real questions in real time to be utterly fascinating. The public taking hold of technology, influencing candidates with their frank questions, and getting answers that sounded less scripted and on message—it was a sight to see. YouTubers’ questions of the nine Democratic candidates were succinct and to the point. And no, I did not hear the other 3,000 submitted questions, but the ones that aired on live TV were brilliant. Anderson Cooper even quipped that it might be the end of newscasters.
