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The latest survey from ASLA, the American Society of Landscape Architects, reveals that the 188 landscape architecture firms that responded to the survey are planning to hire fewer people and seem to have fewer stable billable hours than they did the previous quarter. Only 78.38 percent of... View full entry
An unmistakable irony creeps vinelike through Olmsted’s landscape theory: It takes a lot of artifice to create convincing “natural” scenery. Everything in Central Park is man-made; the same is true of most of Olmsted’s designs. They are not imitations of nature so much as idealizations, like the landscape paintings of the Hudson River School. Each Olmsted creation was the product of painstaking sleight of hand, requiring enormous amounts of labor and expense. — The Atlantic
For more on Olmsted and his parks today, check out some past articles:First commemorative statue of Frederick Law Olmsted to be unveiled in North CarolinaObama chooses Jackson Park as the site for his Presidential CenterAlbright-Knox Gallery announces short list of firms for $80m expansion... View full entry
The diversity of landscapes is fascinating. The northern edge is a meadow with wild grass, nut trees, poplars and elms, but venture deeper into the park, towards the three interconnected lakes at its heart, and the vegetation becomes denser and more characteristic of wetlands: various types of willow, Johnson grass and water lilies. — the guardian
"The wild wetland of Văcărești is a symbol of nature’s resilience. Without human interference, wildlife has reconquered this abandoned lake and transformed it into a green oasis in the middle of one of Europe’s densest cities" View full entry
The Pershing Square Renew initiative revealed Agence Ter and Team as the winners of the competition to redesign Downtown L.A.'s oldest public park, exactly two weeks after the four finalist teams delivered their final presentations. The winning consortium is led by French landscape practice... View full entry
The first statue commemorating landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted will make its public debut in time for Earth Day at The North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville next Friday, April 22. One would assume that Olmsted already has statues of himself in public parks across the U.S., considering... View full entry
One thing, though, is different this time around. These days the city and county are busy investing money and lavishing attention on public spaces across L.A. — and even producing some from scratch...In a range of ways, Southern California is beginning to make up for neglecting its public realm for the bulk of the postwar era. — L.A. Times
With two park design competitions currently underway (linked below), Downtown L.A. is eager to boost its amount of green space. But will those ambitious plans pan out in a tricky cityscape? Christopher Hawthorne gives his two cents on the potential of each park. Previously on Archinect: Take... View full entry
Constructed in an area which experiences frequent flooding, the Greenhouse That Grows Legs incorporates a novel approach to flood protection. The building is fabricated on a bespoke steel frame with four hydraulic legs, capable of lifting the building 800mm from the ground on command. — Bat Studio
According to the designer, Bat Studio, the greenhouse stands on hydraulic legs that can lift it up in case of flooding – a common occurrence in the area. Built in glue-laminated timber sections, the greenhouse is meant to be both visually-pleasing and functional. The most prominent façade... View full entry
Nature is poised to reconquer Madrid. Faced with rising summer temperatures, Spain’s capital has announced plans, reported in today’s El Pais, to seam the city so thoroughly with new green patches that its face could be quite transformed.
City parks will be expanded and restored, and 22 new urban gardens created. Vacant public land will be freed up to create community gardens while the banks of the city’s scrappy Manzanares River will be thickly planted with trees...
— City Lab
According to the report, other components of the initiative include funding and encouragement for green roofs and façades. Plants beds would be added to paved squares and ponds may be created to catch excess stormwater like in Copenhagen. Madrid's location – perched high on a plateau that... View full entry
Within the green open spaces of Grace Farms in New Canaan, Connecticut stands the new arts and community center, the River, which finally opened its doors to the public today. The Grace Farms Foundation selected SANAA to design the building in 2010, not long before Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa... View full entry
You don’t have to be religious to appreciate the Tree Church in Ohaupo, New Zealand. A heavenly 100-seat chapel set among a 3-acre landscaped garden, the church boasts walls made of living trees planted around an iron frame. In 2011, Barry Cox, who runs a tree relocating business, decided that his backyard was missing an old stone church like the ones he had studied and admired on travels to Europe. — Slate
Get a glimpse inside the Tree Church in the video below.And here's more tree love and cool churches on Archinect:Tree-hugging in the modern ageIt's official: trees are good for your healthNew photos of E. Fay Jones' Thorncrown Chapel unveiled to mark 35th anniversaryGreat Synagogue of Edirne in... View full entry
The boom in China stock prices that has created more than 100 new billionaires and billionaire families in the past month is continuing this week. [...]
Tu Shanzhong, chairman of Pubang Landscape Architecture, became China’s newest landscape architecture billionaire after shares in his 31%-owned Pubang Landscape Artchitecture closed at a record high of 38.53 yuan [...]. Our estimate of his fortune, at $1 billion on Wednesday, includes discounts for collateralized shares and includes dividends.
— forbes.com
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect... View full entry
Nicholas Korody profiled the work, of Greek-born architect Andreas Angelidakis.Therein Angelidakis explains "I guess the only thing I really 'design' is narratives for objects I find and put together, and this process does not need to be defined as completed by a realized object. You can keep... View full entry
“The Landscape Architecture Legacy of Dan Kiley,” an exhibition at the Center for Architecture, shows how modern landscapes often make a better case for modernism than the architecture itself.
Over a span of 60 years, Kiley (1912-2004), a founding father of modern landscape design, worked for the best architects around, among them Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. He was fully versed in architecture’s modernist strategies and overriding focus on form and abstraction.
— wsj.com
Our vision is to transform the underutilized land below Miami’s MetroRail, from the Miami River to Dadeland South Station, into an iconic linear park, world-class urban trail and living art destination. — The Underline
The Underline is a proposal to activate the 10 mile space underneath Miami’s elevated metro rail into an urban trail. This initiative was a collaboration between the organizers of The Underline nonprofit, The University of Miami School of Architecture, and Miami Dade County. Recently, James... View full entry