Creating anything new, particularly a creative collaboration, is an act of pathological hope. It has been said the difference between construction and creation is this: a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists. It was with this sense of hope that this project began—an idea borne not only of the notion that we had something to say, but that we could express it in an engaging, thought provoking, and intellectually rigorous way. — Lantern

The team led by James Corner Field Operations has been selected as the winner in the international Navy Pier Redesign Competition. The Pierscape concept is part of the larger vision for Chicago's famous Navy Pier called The Centennial Vision, which seeks to make the "People’s Pier a truly iconic and world-class destination as it approaches its 100th anniversary in 2016." — bustler.net

A few days ago, we published BudCud's finalist entry to the Kiev Islands Master Plan Competition. Here is now also the winner of the First Prize, the concept THE BLUE LINE by Romanian team Wolf House Productions and Gabriel Pascariu. — bustler.net

Krakow-based architects BudCud have shared with us their finalist entry for the international Kiev Islands Master Plan Competition. The proposal suggests the development of a network of existing islands and artificial mirco islands along the Dnieper river, right outside of Kiev, Ukraine, for recreation and nature exploration. — bustler.net

Des Moines Water Works, working in partnership with Iowa State University Department of Landscape Architecture, recently announced that Sasaki Associates, with RDG Planning & Design and Applied Ecological Services (AES), is the winning team of the Water Works Parkitecture Competition. — bustler.net

Dutch firms LOLA landscape architects, Deltavormgroep, and Piet Oudolf have won the commission for the extension of the historical park Groot Vijversburg in the north of The Netherlands with their submission “Star Maze”. The team has won the commission through a national tender, for which five teams were selected. — bustler.net

Diller Scofidio + Renfro have won the Aberdeen City Garden Project design competition which seeks to transform the center of Aberdeen, Scotland. New York City-based DS+R collaborated with local Scottish architects, Keppie Design and landscape architects OLIN, on this project and emerged as winners from a head-to-head race with another finalist team led by Foster + Partners. — bustler.net

The YUL-MTL : Moving landscapes international ideas competition on the Autoroute 20 gateway corridor linking the Montreal-Trudeau Airport to downtown Montreal recently announced three equal winners. The competition [...] aimed to develop strategic visions for the development of the 17 km corridor mainly composed of transport infrastructures, residential and industrials areas and brownfields in dire need of revitalization. — bustler.net

It is not uncommon today for an architect to give a public lecture about a building and gloss over the parameters of its program or the specific needs of its users, speaking instead mostly about the building's site — its measure, tendencies, desires, structure, mythologies, meaning — as if the problem of architectural design was primarily one of site response. — Design Observer

Munich's Department of Urban Planning and Construction recently announced that Rotterdam-based practice West 8 has won Part B (Housing and Neighborhood Center) of the urban and landscape planning competition for the first phase of Freiham North. Part A (Community Center, School and Sports Center) was won by Ortner & Ortner Baukunst Gesellschaft von Architekten, Berlin. — bustler.net

Oslo-based Eriksen Skajaa Architects recently won the competition for new gateways to the Sjunkhatten National Park in the northern part of Norway with their proposal called SAIVU. The proposal was a collaboration with Pushak and Bjørbekk & Lindheim Landscape Architects. — bustler.net

Leading Mexican architect and landscape urbanist Iñaki Echeverria just unveiled his newest project which when completed, will be the largest urban park in the world. Dubbed El Parque Ecologico Lago de Texcoco (Texcoco Lake Ecological Park), the wide, open development will encompass more than 35,000 acres of space – which is 41 times larger than New York’s Central Park. — Inhabitat

The winning entries have been announced in the Tallinn Architecture Biennale (TAB) Vision Competition STREET 2020. Organized by the Estonian Architecture Centre and the City of Tallinn, this open international competition invited students, architects, landscape architects and planners to focus on the hybrid issue of 'Landscape Urbanism' applied to Estonia's capitol city: battling heavy traffic congestion while improving the quality of urban life for pedestrians and cyclists. — bustler.net

Three in four landscape architecture firm leaders reported steady or improving billable hours and inquiries in the Q2 2011 American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Business Quarterly survey. The national survey findings reflect continuing optimism for recovery in a key sector of the design and construction industry. — asla.org

Renzo Piano recently unveiled plans for a new waterfront cultural center and urban park in Athens that includes a massive opera house and a library that is directly connected to the park by a sloping green roof. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center will also incorporate several sustainable technologies with the hope of attaining LEED Platinum certification. — Inhabitat