Landscape Architecture

James Brasuell celebrates the perseverance of one of LA's "most important urban projects," the remaking of Figueroa Boulevard, one of the city's major spines, linking downtown to the campus of the University of Southern California.

April 25, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

Kaid Benfield laments the capital's "blah"-inspiring National Mall, and discusses three design competitions underway that could give it a second life.

April 20, 2012 - Switchboard

Rebecca Messner looks at the groundbreaking work being done by the present generation of landscape architects, and wonders why the only one most people can name died more than a century ago.

April 17, 2012 - Grist

Ariel Schwartz reports on an art project turning Seattle's trees an electric shade of blue in an effort to raise awareness of them.

April 12, 2012 - Fast Company Co.Exist

Nate Berg reports on several recent pilot studies that have quantified the economic, aesthetic and energy saving benefits of urban trees and why the costs for replacing them can be formidable.

April 12, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Damien Cave reports on Mexico City's ambitious efforts to reduce pollution and beautify the city through the planting of vertical gardens, and other progressive pollution reducing measures.

April 11, 2012 - The New York Times

Tyler Silvestro reports on the release of new designs for the SEPTA Spur by Studio Bryan Hanes and Urban Engineers, a significant step in realizing Philadelphia's Reading Viaduct revamp.

April 9, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

Pittsburgh is smoothing over the residue of its industrial past, turning an abandoned railway into a waterfront park, Paige Miller reports.

April 6, 2012 - Smart Growth America

Plans to transform New York's Tappan Zee Bridge into a park have captured the public's imagination, but some speculate it's just a pipe dream, Peter Applebome reports.

April 6, 2012 - The New York Times

Kate DeFronzo reports that an ambitious 44-acre freeway cap park envisioned for Hollywood took an important step towards reality last week, with the blessing of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

March 31, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

In light of the recent controversy surrounding the Eisenhower Memorial in Washington DC, and observations from a recent trip to Japan, Christopher Hawthorne pens an opinion piece on memorials - the "eternally fraught corner of design practice.

March 21, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Amanda Hurley examines the furor that has developed in the four months since a design by Frank Gehry for a memorial to President Dwight Eisenhower, destined for a four-acre site just off the National Mall in Washington D.C., was made public.

March 20, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

Dan Reed cautions against an elitist aversion to sterile and inauthentic "town centers" – for all their supposed faults, they offer a stepping stone for the uninitiated masses to get interested in "true" urbanism.

March 16, 2012 - Greater Greater Washington

Web Urbanist has published a fun post featuring examples of unconventional urban furniture. If you're tired of the same old boring bus benches and park picnic tables, these interactive, comfortable, and visually interesting pieces should inspire you.

March 14, 2012 - Web Urbanist

Yesterday James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro unveiled their designs for the third and final phase of the High Line, and The Architect's Newspaper has a plethora of tantalizing renderings.

March 13, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

Lisa Donovan reports that the city of Chicago has plugged a $9 million shortfall in funding required to begin construction on the long-anticipated Bloomingdale Trail project.

March 13, 2012 - Chicago Sun-Times

Nate Berg reports on the opening of L.A.'s first effort at a street-to-plaza conversion project in the city's Silver Lake neighborhood, which was inspired by similar street plazas created in New York City and San Francisco.

March 6, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

The American Society of Landscape Architects examines the implications of squeezing teens out of the public sphere.

March 4, 2012 - THE DIRT

February 27, 2012 - Jonathan Nettler

As the population of Downtown Los Angeles has grown dramatically over the last decade, the need for park space to serve that population has grown along with it. A new pocket park being built along Spring Street helps meet that need.

February 27, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper