Landscape Architecture

Upending the adage that nothing gets done in D.C. these days, last week the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) released their long range plans for remaking the Southwest area of the capital, capping two years of intense debate.

July 16, 2012 - THE DIRT

As the number of completed parklets in San Francisco nears three dozen, after debuting only two years ago, "the latest trend in urban placemaking" has entered the planning mainstream without losing its grassroots origins.

July 16, 2012 - San Francisco Chronicle

Only a decade after the last family farm in the city closed, commercial agriculture is mining "the last slice of untapped real estate in the city" to reap a bounty of benefits - from locally grown basil and bok choy to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

July 13, 2012 - The New York Times

Leda Marritz notes that renderings of proposed landscape improvement projects often feature beautiful mature trees intended to spruce up streetscapes. But the associated plans regularly overlook a crucial element: room for the trees to grow.

July 10, 2012 - Next American City

A new park and plans for increased waterfront access seek to reintroduce Newark's residents, and even tourists, to the Passaic River, the longtime industrial dumping ground that flows through the city, writes Sharon Adarlo.

July 10, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal

Seattle's innovative Residential RainWise Program provides tools for stormwater management at home, in the hopes of reducing flooding, safeguarding property, and restoring the area's waters for people and wildlife.

July 8, 2012 - Global Site Plans - The Grid

The Dirt looks at some new European public plazas that use interlocking paving materials with success.

July 7, 2012 - ASLA's The Dirt blog

A new anthology gathers writings on New York's Central Park, which includes an observation by the artist Christo that the park is "the most unusual and surrealistic place in New York City."

July 7, 2012 - The New York Times

Benjamin Wellington reviews a new book by Mark C. Childs, which paints a picture of the city as the product of a complex and highly detailed design hierarchy, from regional topography all the way down to the arrangement of indoor spaces.

July 5, 2012 - THE DIRT

In order to save Coney Island from dwindling unemployment rates and high poverty levels, developers rezone the 46-year-old amusement park, but the plans may never actually leave the paper.

July 3, 2012 - The Brooklyn Bureau

The City of Pittsburgh, PA has announced an "urban forest master plan" to add more foliage to the 2.5 million trees already covering the city.

July 1, 2012 - The Pittsburg Post-Gazette

Winnie Hu reports on a new effort in Macombs Dam Park in the Bronx to encourage adults into healthy activity.

July 1, 2012 - The New York Times

James Trainor looks back at the history of New York's "adventure playgrounds" of the 1960s and 70s, tracing their origin back to the original Central Park dust-up between Robert Moses and local housewives.

June 30, 2012 - CABINET

Benjamin Wellington, Student ASLA, favorably reviews Peter Del Tredici’s field guide to naturally-growing plants in urban areas.

June 26, 2012 - THE DIRT

In this excerpt from the new book, "City Rules: How Regulations Affect Urban Form," author Emily Talen outlines the ways in which zoning ordinances, building codes and other bureaucratic restrictions negatively affect urban areas.

June 26, 2012 - City Limits

Less than 25 years ago, Nantes was an old port town languishing in the wake of failing industry. But thanks to a commitment to public art, it has since become a cultural mecca and thriving tourist destination, Frank Browning reports.

June 25, 2012 - The Huffington Post

The City of Villahermosa, Mexico, an oil industry town in Tabasco, is reclaiming space from the auto, rejuvenating their urban spaces, and on a more basic level, cleaning the water supply and modernizing their sewage systems.

June 25, 2012 - The New York Times - Global Business

The city recently launched SFBetterStreets.org to be a central source of information to help residents with street improvements like traffic-calming, parklets, bike corrals, plantings, art installations, and sidewalk fixtures.

June 25, 2012 - Streets Blog San Francisco

Julie V. Iovine laments that while walkability is the watchword of the day, architects have to design what they're hired to design -- and that often means designing iconic buildings that turn a blind eye to pedestrians.

June 24, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

As cities across America seek to replicate New York's celebrated new park, Charles A. Birnbaum distills the secrets behind the High Line's success.

June 22, 2012 - Huffington Post