For Sale/Rent

If you're looking to kick back by the beach, this Bauhaus-style Cape Cod home was built for relaxation.

Photo via Keller Williams

115 Pond Ave., WellfleetPrice: $1,399,000Size: 2,162 square feetBedrooms: 1Baths: 3

If this dwelling looks like it belongs to the landscape, thats very much by design. Architect and owner Duane Smith chose to use cast concrete for the lower half of the home to mimic the concrete sea walls you see all around Wellfleet, while black-stained mahogany siding on the upper part pulled color inspiration from the bark of the surrounding pine trees. As for the homes form, Smith drew on his time studying at the Bauhaus in Germany and his affection for the experimental creations of the post-WWII Case Study House program (an effort to design efficient homes for millions of returning soldiers) to build this open, exploratory escape that looks nothing like your typical Cape Cod home.

Rather than rely on traditional doors to get from room to room, the layout leans on sliding walls. There are only two interior walls that actually intersect the exterior walls of the house, which creates a great openness and wonderful sight lines throughout, Smith says. That, and the many sheets of floor-to-ceiling glass that open the interior up to the beachside scenery.

Simple finishes such as butcher block counters, jam jar pendant lights, and polished concrete floors (with radiant heating) deliver a serene interior environment. Even the elongated staircase, affixed with metal pipe and stainless cable railings, were conceived to encourage a calm pace of life. Just coming upstairs in the morning or descending the stairs in the evening there are lovely moments to appreciate the views, the sun, the rain, and encourage you to slow down, explains Smith. Its difficult to rush in this house!

Outside, meanwhile, stalks of bamboo curate a zen look in the concrete courtyard, to which all rooms on the lower level have direct access. As for the rest of the yard, the owners decided to let nature work its magic. After building the house, they waited for growth to take back the land and then simply groomed it, planting a few specimen trees for privacy and interest. If tranquility is what youre after in the new year, youll surely find it here.

For information, contact Brian Allen, Keller Williams Realty, cape-cod-and-the-islands.kw.com.

Photo via Keller Williams

Photo via Keller Williams

Photo via Keller Williams

Photo via Keller Williams

Photo via Keller Williams

Photo via Keller Williams

Photo via Keller Williams

Photo via Keller Williams

The Boston Home team has curated a list of the best home design and home remodeling professionals in Boston, including architects, builders, kitchen and bath experts, lighting designers, and more. Get the help you need with FindIt/Boston's guide to home renovation pros.

Read more here:
On the Market: A Modern and Serene Escape in Wellfleet - Boston magazine

When nature meets design, living architecture happens. There is an emerging trend in the architectural industry to create buildings that integrate nature into the design, producing a living, thriving masterpiece.

Atlassians new global headquarters, coming soon to Central station with gardens that blur the separation between indoor and outdoor spaces or the Southbank by Beulah in Melbourne, featuring a green spine twisting up the tower faades are just some of the projects where the concepts of living architecture are being put to good use.

While architects have been introducing foliage and vegetation into buildings through green walls, green roofs and green facades over the past few years, what was once a niche element in building design, has now gone mainstream. Integrating nature into the fabric of buildings is the future of our cities because we recognise we need nature to be part of our daily lives.

However, bringing these designs to life requires thoughtful planning and consideration. Leading living infrastructure expert and founder of Junglefy, Jock Gammon says executing living design is like the strokes on a fine oil painting; the artistry lies in the sum of the skills, not one without the presence of the other.

Junglefy has delivered some of the most innovative living infrastructure projects in Australia.

One Central Park in Sydney, for instance, is renowned for its plant covered exterior, which still appears as verdant seven years after completion. This seemingly impossible project was achieved thanks to the collaboration between Junglefy, Aspect and Oculus, Turf Design Studio, Ateliers-Jean Nouvel, PTW Architects, Patrick Blanc, Frasers Property, Sekisui House, WATPAC, ARUP, WSP Lincolne Scott and others. One of the earliest examples of living infrastructure, One Central Park paved the way for the living building designs that followed.

For the Barangaroo project in Sydney, Junglefy worked with architectural practices including Hassell, Collins and Turner, FJMT, Rogers Stirk Harbour, Tzannes & Associates and PTW, along with landscape architects from Aspect Studio and Oculus. Barangaroo House by Collins and Turner extends over three levels, with the restaurants and bar taking the form of stacked timber bowls, complete with hanging gardens of natives and edible plants spilling over the edges.

This award-winning design called for bespoke solutions. The charred timber cladding, wrapping the outside of the bowls uses a Japanese technique, Shou Sugi Ban, to create the soft smoky look. The planter boxes with cascading plants were numbered by Junglefy to ensure the installation followed the precise order to preserve the gentle arc shape.

The plant selection was based on the species resilience to wind and salt, given the buildings foreshore location.

Junglefy know what plants will perform. If plants dont perform, the concept is eroded, says landscape architect Sasha Coles, director of Aspect Studio, who worked closely with Oculus and Junglefy. Junglefy also understand the importance of getting the soil right, as well as the infrastructure to support this in the long term, says Coles.

Landscape architect Roger Jasprizza, associate director of Oculus worked alongside Aspect Studio and Junglefy at both Barangaroo and One Central Park. Everything starts with the site and its unique qualities such as solar access and wind, as much as the finer grain of the site, says Jasprizza, who included a mixture of exotic and native plants at Barangaroo House.

Junglefy has the experience and innate knowledge of what plants will work and in what conditions. And if anything needs to be tested in advance of planting, it is. That experience feeds into our design, as well as the long-term maintenance which is a key consideration.

To ensure the success of a living architecture project, collaboration of expertise across fields is vital. The renovation of the University of Melbournes School for Ecosystems and Forest Sciences in Burnley by Hassell included three green roof spaces one for demonstrating plant species, another dedicated to research, testing water runoff and temperature monitoring, and a third that focuses on biodiversity. Each green roof had its own purpose and conditions, requiring the appropriate skill sets.

The idea was to put this school on the map, both locally, and internationally, says landscape architect Stephen Tan, senior associate with Hassell in Melbourne.

Junglefy is ambitious in the way it operates, pushing boundaries with research and development, says Tan.

It (Junglefy) has the ability to solve problems, given it comes from a strong horticultural base, he adds.

To tackle the inclement weather during construction, Junglefy manufactured many of the components for the rooftop gardens, such as the steel frames and grating, offsite. The collaboration between Hassell, the university and Junglefy enabled them to quickly adapt to project constraints resulting in a functional, beautiful space and a legacy for learning.

Collaborating throughout the lifecycle is so important each team has its own unique skillset and we understand how to bring these skills together to deliver the best result, says Gammon.

We have learned so much when it comes to the successful execution of living infrastructure design. The careful selection of plants, the right installation methodologies and product choice, combined with well executed maintenance systems that allow for safe, easy access must all be considered during the design phase. Not understanding these elements can be impossible to resolve post completion and the client may end up with a costly maintenance bill and plants that wont survive, he said.

More than a decade on, Junglefy has been successful in taking the concept of living infrastructure mainstream. The company continues to innovate and introduce better ways to integrate plants into the design and construction of our cities in the hope that in another ten years, our cities will indeed be living within nature.

Read more:
Is living architecture the future of building design? - Architecture and Design

From the very beginning when the Hermann Park Conservancy launched its highly fashionable Hats in the Park luncheon at the Historic Clubhouse two decades ago, guests began imagining the charming 1933 stucco hacienda as an ideal place for weddings, birthdays and other celebrations. Fast forward two decades and the clubhouse, now named Lott Hall and completely refurbished, is ready for hosting special events beginning in late January.

In fact, Lott Hall, named for Sherry and Tommy Lott who provided the lead gift of $2 million for the $6 million project, already has a wedding on the books for November 2021. One hopes that long before that a vaccine will have diluted COVID-19 fears.

Up until 1999, the Clubhouse served as the center for the Hermann Park Golf Course, which provides a verdant oak-shrouded backdrop to the building and its reimagined back garden. Once a simple grass-covered lawn, extensive landscaping and the addition of stone walkways and two stone plazas add to Lott Halls entertainment space.

Landscape architect Jack Ohly of New York-based Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates led that aspect that saw 2,000 plants and trees added to the property.

The renovation included the addition of an architecturally sympathetic porte-cochre, which so fits with the original design by Arthur Nutter that without careful examination, one would not discern the old from the new. Curtis & Windham Architects was responsible for the addition and sensitive renovations of the clubhouse which were strictly dictated by tax credit regulations.

While the construction phase of Lott Hall has taken about a year, conservancy president Doreen Stoller tells PaperCity that the planning took five years of working through the rigid requirements necessary to earn the 45 percent historic tax credit. Details on the renovation are available here.

Hermann Park Conservancy members are invited on tours of the new facility this month and what they will find is a splendid renovation.

The Lott Hall entrance has been moved to the north where the porte-cochre opens into a formal foyer. Intricate beam work and antique chandeliers overhead, slate flooring beneath and the pristine stucco walls provide a warmly historic ambience to the spaces within.

The original loggia entry has been enclosed and is, at least temporarily, labeled the brides parlor while the former ladies locker room has been transformed into the brides dressing room. The much larger mens locker room has been converted into a second entertainment hall opposite the great hall which features a fireplace and ornate iron chandeliers original to the downtown Esperson Building, which was built in 1927.

The conservancy website notes that Lott Hall can accommodate 150 seated guests at tables, and 250 guests for standing cocktail-style events. The space includes a catering preparation area, restrooms, personal spaces for the bridal party and private areas for vendors.

Reservations for Lott Hall can be requested here. The conservancyexpects to realize $500,000 in rental fees over the course of a year.

Excerpt from:
Hermann Park's Historic Clubhouse Gets a $6 Million Makeover Houston's New Wedding Wonderland? - PaperCity Magazine

NSW has chosen 100 design experts to help improve the quality of the built environment across the state.

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes says the new State Design Review Panel pool has been appointed to provide independent expert advice on State Significant development and infrastructure projects and precincts.

The new State Design Review Panel will build on the great work of the pilot program launched in 2018, which guided the development of more than 100 public and private projects worth almost $9 billion, Stokes says.

In an attempt at humour, Stokes also noted that, NSW residents will also be relieved to note that the Treasurer Dom Perrottet has not been selected for the Design Review Panel.

NSW Government Architect Abbie Galvin says the expanded panel will play a vital role in shaping the design of the State at a critical time.

The unprecedented investment in infrastructure and the Governments commitment to create greener places and great public spaces create an exciting climate for panel members to play a role, says Galvin.

Its fantastic to see such a diverse panel with a wide range of skills and expertise, including six Aboriginal design and cultural experts who will help ensure Aboriginal culture and heritage are integral to the design of places in NSW.

The panel is made up of 88 independent members with expertise across a range of areas including architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, Aboriginal and European heritage and sustainability, and 12 State Government design champions.

NSW SDRP Panel Members:

State Government Design Champions:

Caption: Architectus is working on the Art Gallery of NSW Expansion Sydney Modern Project as Executive Architect in support of Pritzker prize-winning Japanese architectural and design firm SANAA. SANAA was awarded the project following a two-stage invitational design competition.

Image:https://architectus.com.au/projects/art-gallery-nsw-sydney-modern-project/

Read more:
NSW picks 100 luminaries to improve the built environment - Architecture and Design

according to the architects, meaningful social change can be achieved by following four main principles: 1. building economically, to the benefit of the client; 2. earmarking a bigger share of the budget to labor costs rather than expensive imported materials, (this also benefits the local population by empowering them with construction skills); 3. an adaptive and future-proof spatial scenario that can respond to unpredictable needs, to the benefit of the client and the island; 4. using materials and human resources from iran, to reduce construction and transportation costs and increase the GDP, to the benefit of the whole country.

image by tahmineh monzavi

architecture has the capacity be a mediator in the middle ground that converges the interests of different groups, from the state and investors to various classes and groups of people, concludes the design team. majara does so in bringing together the owners of land from the neighboring port of bandar abbas who organize an annual landart event in hormuz, the investors from the capital city tehran, and the local people of hormuz as partners in the project. see ZAV architects previous work on designboom here.

image by tahmineh monzavi

image by soroush majidi

image by tahmineh monzavi

image by tahmineh monzavi

image by payman barkhordari

image by soroush majidi

video by somayeh saeidi

image by tahmineh monzavi

image by tahmineh monzavi

image by payman barkhordari

image by payman barkhordari

image by tahmineh monzavi

image by tahmineh monzavi

image by tahmineh monzavi

image by tahmineh monzavi

image by tahmineh monzavi

image by tahmineh monzavi

image by tahmineh monzavi

image by tahmineh monzavi

diagram image courtesy of ZAV architects

diagram image courtesy of ZAV architects

diagram image courtesy of ZAV architects

diagram image courtesy of ZAV architects

diagram image courtesy of ZAV architects

topographic plan of majara residence in its context image courtesy of ZAV architects

space usage plan image courtesy of ZAV architects

section AA image courtesy of ZAV architects

section BB image courtesy of ZAV architects

section CC image courtesy of ZAV architects

project info:

name: presence in hormuz 02location: hormuz island, irancompletion year: 2020gross built area: 10,300 sqmarea: 4000 sqm landscape area: 6,300 sqm

design team architecture firm: ZAV architects website | instagramlead architects: mohamadreza ghodousi, fatemeh rezaei, golnaz bahrami, soroush majididesign assistants: sheila ehsaei,sara jafari, payman barkhordari, mohsen safshekan, kaveh rashidzadeh, hossein panjehpourlandscape: maryam yousefi, morteza adibinterior design: sara jafari, taraneh behboud, sara nikkar, mohsen dehghanlight consultant: tajang lightsupervision: soroush majidi, payman barkhordari, sheila ehsaeimodeling: somayeh saeidipresentation: fereshteh assadzadeh, somayeh saeidi, arshia hashemipour, dorsa tavakoli, sara fallahzadeh

owner: ali rezvaniclient: ehsan rasoulofstructural design: behrang baniadam, rouhi touskicivil engineering: farhad beigielectrical engineering: pejman moradian mechanical engineering: saeid afsharianculinary manufacturer: matbakh araenvironment consultant: salman rasouli, roya yazdizadehaccommodation consultant: nasim mosavarphotography: tahmineh monzavi, soroush majidi, payman barkhordarivideo: somayeh saeidi

construction team project constructor: amir tehrani nobahariconstruction manager: hormat ghasemiconstruction vice-manager: ramin koulaghani, amin timasmechanical constructor: javad irandegani, hamid haji posht-e-golfloor constructor: davoud etemadifenestration builder: mehra companyinterior plaster: gholamali abbasiexterior plaster: esmaeil salimiconstruction painter: farzad moharamilogistics: nabiollah timas, borhan pouyan, ali ghanbari, ayoub owj hormozi, khalil owj hormozi, abdolhamid hormozi, davoud hormozi, ali ghalandari zehi, farhad shadan, assad gedri, abbas gedri, ali ghazi, majid bazmandeh, ali nasernia, rahmat ghalandari, davoud mohtaji, morteza mohtaji, mohammad vahedi, mosayeb zarei, kambiz naroui, yasser naroui, nassir narouii, din mohammad naroui, mojtaba farhadi, abbas nasaji, esfandiar khorshidi, khoubyar khorshidi, jalal bameri, ghassem bameri, enayat karami, reza amirian, eshgh ali, nabi akrami, mohammad moallemi, sajad gholampour, seyfollah rasouli, ali golzari, soheil khedmatkari, hosein zohouri

philip stevens I designboom

dec 07, 2020

Visit link:
ZAV architects builds a village of domes on iran's hormuz island - Designboom

This Trinity Bellwoods couple spent $75,000 transforming their new backyard into a cozy retreat

Fraser Fullard, an investment banker, and Martha Ziolkowski, an interior designer and ceramicist, bought their Trinity Bellwoods house in February, just before the pandemic kicked into high gear. Once it became clear that theyd be stuck at home for the foreseeable future, they embarked on a drastic backyard renovation, turning a sad patch of grass into a cozy 400-square-foot, cedar-filled escape with a stone fountain, fire pit and plenty of hidden storage. Heres how they did it.

Fraser: Martha and I met on Bumble in 2018. I loved how happy she looked in all her photos, and her fantastic sense of adventure.

Martha: I was drawn to Frasers sarcastic humour. We bonded over our shared experience in the corporate grind, since Id worked as an engineer and management consultant in my late 20s.

Fraser: Our relationship progressed quickly, and we bought a house at Yonge and St. Clair four months after we started dating. After two years, we started hunting for a new place in January.

Martha: We werent feeling the neighbourhoods vibe. Were in our early 30s, and we wanted to live somewhere more lively.

Fraser: We settled pretty quickly on Trinity Bellwoods. Martha grew up near High Park and has always loved the west end. We have lots of friends in the area, and we loved the idea of living closer to nightlife and great restaurants. Plus, access to the park would be great for our one-year-old Labradoodle, Oscar.

Martha: The housing market was pretty lean back in January, so it was a scary time to be looking. Anything that came up was selling fast and attracting bidding wars. We knew we had to move quickly if we wanted to get a place.

Fraser: In early February, we saw a a semi-detached, three-storey home with a basement unit and tenant. We fell in love with it the second we saw it. The house dates back to 1880, and the owners recently renovated it down to the studs, with a mix of heritage elements and modern comforts. Then they flipped the property as an investment.

Martha: It had a lot of warmth. We loved the charming wall of exposed brick on the main floor and the original railing upstairs. We also loved the master suite on the third floor, with a bedroom, walk-in closet and bathroom.

Fraser: We decided to put in an extra-strong offer so we could add a condition to walk away penalty-free if we werent able to sell our St. Clair home. There were about five other bids on the house, which was stressful. We traded the condition for a higher price, and they accepted our offer of $1,825,740, with an end-of-May closing date. The previous owners hadnt touched the backyard, but that didnt bother us. At first, our only focus was putting up some sort of gate so Oscar could safely run around. We planned to add a little more design and flair inside but leave the backyard as is.

Martha: Before we moved in, we painted everything white, updated all of the bathrooms with custom marble vanities, added a wood-burning fireplace to the living room, replaced all the lighting fixtures and installed a Sonos WiFi speaker system throughout.

Fraser: We ended up selling our St. Clair house without any issues and moved into the new place at the end of June.

Martha: Once we realized wed be stuck at home for the rest of summer and likely fall, we decided to go full-throttle on making our outdoor space as livable as possible. There was a small patch of grass, which was sunken in some spots, with a pipeline running through the yard. It smelled terrible, and there were flies.

Working around the Covid restrictions over the summer was trickyespecially when it came to in-person meetings and who was allowed on the property. I worked closely with our landscape architect, Sander Freedman. I was inspired by a fountain I saw on Pinterest and wanted to bring in stone, wood and greenery to create a relaxing space. We also had an outdoor fire pit from Best Buy that we wanted in the centre of the space.

Fraser: There was a lot of work to do. Construction started in late July with Peter Kim of J.B. Kim Landscaping, and his team worked until October. We poured in concrete for the base of the lounge area and along the side of the house.

Martha: The design evolved over the course of the project. I met with Peter practically every day. Originally everything was going to be made out of cedar, but Peter is an extremely creative metal worker, and he suggested we add architectural pieces, like fencing around our barbecue area.

Fraser: It made the space feel contemporary. Theres still a lot of cedar, but the black metal accents throughout add a great contrast. One challenge was creating space for our sporting equipment. We have a lot of bikes, golf clubs and skisitems youd typically store in a garage or basement. But we didnt have either, so we designed a storage area underneath the back porch. We spent a few weeks digging down to make room. Now its a full-height, weather-proof 75-square-foot space and the perfect place to store all our gear.

Martha: I love how peaceful the backyard is. When it was warmer, the sound of the water trickling out of the stone fountain really helped us bliss out after a long work day. And the uplighting adds such a great vibe when we look out from our kitchen in the evenings. The whole space feels airy and chill. We extended the Sonos audio system from the house into the back. I even ordered patio heaters so we can enjoy it throughout the rest of the winter.

Fraser: Before the latest lockdown, we hosted some socially distanced get-togethers, and the backyard felt like a true extension of the house. I love the idea of it being an outdoor room that flows naturally with our open-concept first floor. The additional 400 square feet in the backyard is definitely useful these days, with the two of us working from home.

Martha: We were scheduled to have an 80-person wedding at Langdon Hall in August, which fell through because of Covid. We decided to go up there anyway for four days in October, and eloped with just the two of us, our officiant and photographer. So, in a way, our new house and backyard helps make up for the big celebration and honeymoon that we werent able to have this year. Wed never have spent this much on the backyard renovation if it hadnt been for Covid. The whole project cost about $75,000. But now that its finished, we use it every evening. We bundle up, turn on the Christmas music and sit together with wine.

Excerpt from:
This Trinity Bellwoods couple spent $75,000 transforming their new backyard into a cozy retreat - Toronto Life

Professor Peter Jacobs, AAPQ, FCSLA, FASLA, wins the 2020 Governor Generals Medal in Landscape Architecture from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA).Photo courtesy Peter Jacobs

The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) has awarded professor Peter Jacobs, AAPQ, FCSLA, FASLA, with its 2020 Governor Generals Medal in Landscape Architecture (GGMLA).

The GGMLA is the highest honour bestowed on a landscape architect by CSLA. The medal is intended to honour exceptional landscape architects whose lifetime achievements and contributions to the profession have had a unique and lasting impact on Canadian society.

Professor Peter Jacobs is a true renaissance man: award-winning practitioner, published author, orator, educator, leader, trailblazer, consultant, and mentor. He is best described as having an insatiable curiosity, a clear vision, and an unfailing desire to contribute to a better world. Far from pursuing a predetermined path, professor Jacobs has, during his 50-year career, successfully navigated uncharted waters to mark our world through the practice of landscape architecture, said the jury, composed of Nastaran Moradinejad, BCSLA, AALA, CSLA, and Carol Craig, AALA, FCSLA, and chaired by Glenn OConnor, OALA, FCSLA, ASLA.

Jacobs is landscape architecture professor, cole darchitecture de paysage, Facult de lamnagement, Universit de Montral. He has served as professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and has lectured widely in North America, Europe, and Latin America. He is the recipient of the A.H. Tammsaare Environment Prize, the Presidents Prize of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, the Frederick Todd Prize of lAssociation des architectes paysagistes du Qubec, and the Governor Generals medal on the occasion of the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada. Following his early practice in architecture, he has focused on landscape planning and urban design.

Jacobs has been a member of numerous design juries and acted as a consultant to the City of Montral for the development of urban open space systems, the restoration of Mount-Royal Park; the re-design of Parc Jean Drapeau, the former site of Expo 67; and the design of Place milie Gamlin. He continues to collaborate on planning and design projects, many of which have received professional awards. Click here to learn more.

Follow this link:
Landscape architect Peter Jacobs wins the 2020 Governor General's medal - Construction Canada

Audrey Wilke, Spring 2020 graduate in Landscape Architecture from the University of Maryland, Credit: Zandra Jia

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (PRWEB) October 13, 2020

In time for National Disability Awareness Month, the Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) recently named Audrey Wilke of the University of Maryland Department of Plant Science & Landscape Architecture as an Olmsted Scholar, one of only eight students to receive this top national honor among students in landscape architecture. As a finalist of the Olmsted Scholars Program, Wilke is using her award funds to create a comprehensive guide for disability-inclusive landscape design in the industry. While the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has set minimum standards for accessibility, Wilke is fighting to change the designer mindset from accessibility to a truly inclusive user experience that considers the perspectives of all those using outdoor spaces. She has seen firsthand as a student with dyslexia how her disability can actually be an advantage as a designer, and how a better understanding of all disability types can help future designers produce more inclusive and welcoming work.

I want to have some part in creating landscapes that are more equitable, especially for people with disabilities, says Wilke. I think it is so forgotten because most designers havent had a firsthand experience with disabilities, so its easy to get lost in ADA code. Unless you have that experience of having to go around the side of a beautiful outdoor space to find a ramp and feeling forgotten, it wont be the first thing you think about. I want to draw that to designers' attention more broadly because I dont think it will change unless someone riles up some change - its not just going to happen on its own.

To help inspire this change, Wilke decided that when applying for the Olmsted Scholars Program, she would share her experiences as a dyslexic student to help shed additional light on the issue of inclusivity.

Even just to write about my experiences, it was very personal to me, says Wilke. To put myself out there so vulnerably and so authentically about the challenges I have faced and to have people acknowledge that is truly amazing. I was so overjoyed to receive this award. Disability is actually the largest minority group, but its often forgotten or not thought of that way.

At the same time, Wilke expressed the many strengths that being dyslexic has given her as a designer.

Landscape architecture is not only something I love for the impact on peoples lives and the time outdoors, but it actually works a lot better with my brain, explains Wilke. Dyslexics often struggle with memorization which is the basis of a lot of traditional education programs, but aside from memorizing plants and trees, LARC [the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Landscape Architecture program] teaches concepts and how to apply them, and thats what Im really good at. Another strength from my dyslexia is that I have an easier time with spatial reasoning and visualizing things in my head, and thats been really helpful for design. I remember doing exercises where they give you a shape and you have to rotate it in your mind and draw it, and I was so fast at it I was helping other people in the class. I would struggle in the lower level math classes, but once we get to more conceptual work, I can do it easier than some of my classmates, so its interesting to see that you have to put effort into the opposite areas.

Wilke laughs, I would have more trouble in third grade than in my last year of my undergraduate program. If you had me go back and do spelling tests again and memorize multiplication tables, Id fail that again without spending three times as long on memorization as most people. And I think that the education system doesnt really have a firm grasp on that either because a lot of people just dont even make it past those elementary and high school years to get into college because its so hard for them in the beginning, and dyslexics excel after that.

Wilke says that one in five people are actually dsylexic but may never be diagnosed or get the learning accommodations they need, but also that there needs to be a better understanding of what and why accommodations are needed for those with disabilities.

I think it comes down to lack of awareness, says Wilke. I think a lot of people dont understand disability or accommodations. Accommodation isnt an advantage Im getting, its bringing me up to an equal playing field.

Wilke says that the Social Theory of Disability really helped her reconceptualize her own dyslexia, as well as the disabilities of others. The theory states that disability is not a fault within a person, but is rather the result of a society not being built for everyone. So theres nothing wrong with the way I think or the way my brain functions, says Wilke, but the problem comes when everything is taught to a different way of learning or a different brain structure. That really flipped everything on its head for me outside of just my own disability story. The problem isnt someone using a wheelchair, the problem is the building that doesn't have stairs or the cobblestone paving that is difficult to navigate.

It is this revelation that motivated Wilke to become an advocate for others with disabilities the way she has had to advocate for herself.

Being dyslexic through my lifetime has really taught me that you have to advocate for yourself because no one else is going to, and that you have to put in the time, says Wilke. I dont have a physical disability, but I have the empathy from my own experiences. Its those moments when someone makes a joke about dyslexia and I think, Okay, well I know this is how people with physical disabilities feel when they are excluded as well. So Im going to apply my skills and my experiences to help.

Wilke says there are guides in landscape architecture for ecology and stormwater, so a guide for disability-inclusive design could make a difference in the industry. With her funds from the Olmsted Scholars award, she is currently interviewing people in the disability community to learn from their experiences so that designers can be better informed.

Unless youre experiencing it yourself, youre going to miss a lot, says Wilke. People talk about ADA compliance, but never about user experience. So I decided I was going to walk only non-stair routes for two months to see what the difference is. Ramp routes are so much longer, you cant easily tell if a sidewalk ends in stairs and youll have to backtrack, they often take you by the trash cans instead of the landscape, and a lot of older ramps have high barriers enclosing them to try to hide them, which makes you feel unsafe at night. And that was only one experience - there are so many more disabilities. For example, difference in texture is really good for people with visual impairments, but bumpy textures can be hard for people with knee scooters. And peoples experiences when they are on the autism spectrum are completely different. When plants are really fragrant, it can be overwhelming. Or if the water feature dominates the space, people cant find a less overwhelming spot to take a break. It goes against some of the design principles that youre taught in school because fragrance gardens or water features relax a lot of people, but for some it is their worst nightmare, so how are we accommodating them?

In addition to working as an apprentice landscape architect after graduating in Spring 2020 and working on her Olmsted guide for disability-inclusive design, Wilke is also still an active member of the Presidents Commission on Disability Issues (PCDI) Student Advisory Committee (SAC).

According to Paul Jaeger, professor in the College of Information Studies and a co-chair of the PCDI, PCDI is the primary advocacy organization for disabled people at UMD. It is an all-volunteer organization with about three dozen members representing most units on campus. We consult with campus leadership on disability issues and policies, and provide reports to campus leadership regarding campus needs related to disability. We also provide materials and events to educate the campus about disability. Together, the board is helping raise awareness for disability issues on campus and beyond to create a more inclusive environment for all.

Going from accessibility to inclusion requires a change in mindset from, Lets make things easier for people with disabilities to Lets make things easier for all people, says Adith Thummalapalli, a founding member of the PCDI SAC and recent graduate in Spring 2020 with a bachelors in mechanical engineering. Inclusion is associated with all people, and measures to achieve inclusion can oftentimes benefit those without disabilities as well. For example, installing a ramp doesnt just help people who use wheelchairs or have mobility impairments. It helps the elderly, people with small children in strollers, people who have suffered broken bones, and more. The events this month for Disability Awareness Month [October] all relate to changing the mindset by way of conversation and sharing many different perspectives.

As these issues gain more traction, Wilke and the others feel that things are truly on a path to change. People are genuinely very interested in the work that Im doing, and thats incredibly touching, says Wilke. Sometimes on the disability board, we are fighting this fight and it can feel like change comes so slowly. But to see people in the landscape architecture community taking notice with this award, and having the support of my professors in LARC for this work has been really touching. Its a genuine honor.

To learn more about the events coming up this month for National Disability Awareness Month, visit https://pcdi.umd.edu.

Continue reading here:
Landscape Architecture Student Audrey Wilke Named One of Eight National Olmsted Scholars, With a Goal of Making Landscapes More Inclusive for Those...

A LOVERS DISCOURSEBy Xiaolu Guo

JUST LIKE YOUBy Nick Hornby

Not even the most starry-eyed Europhile would claim that the relationship between Britain and the European Union was ever a love match. But somehow, for over 40 years, they held it together, like a pair of bickering partners who fight bitterly but are still in it for the long haul. Brexit, of course, changed everything.

Two new novels reflect on the meaning of this still-unfolding breakup. They each dramatize a love affair set against the backdrop of Brexit, using the most universal and gratifying human experience to illuminate one of the most arcane and incomprehensible.

Helpfully, the unnamed narrator of Xiaolu Guos novel A Lovers Discourse is an anthropologist. Shes able to cast her ethnographic eye over the mystifying natives and try to make sense of their impenetrable customs in this case, the inhabitants of 21st-century Britain and their disagreements over Europe.

The book reverses the common theme of a perplexed Westerner baffled by the habits and rituals of an Asian country. Transplanted to London, the Chinese-born narrator struggles with the citys transport system, tries to find Brexit in her dictionary and wonders if London Wall is anything like the Great Wall of China. (In fact, its a largely notional vestige of the citys Roman boundary).

Our heroine meets a half-Australian, half-German landscape architect, and a love affair begins. They move passionately and possibly rashly through the early stages of romance to set up home in a very particular corner of London: its floating subculture of itinerant narrow-boat dwellers.

Guo is an unsparing noticer. She paints a vivid but unflattering portrait of her new dwelling in her adopted country: I stared at the canal. This was the English water, cold, gray and full of deadly discharge. Just a few ducks floating by, with their feet trapped in plastic shopping bags.

The truthfulness and accuracy of Guos language gives the book mischief and energy. There are shades of Lydia Davis in her carefully etched sentences as she details the ups and downs of the relationship without sentimentality. Once we got onto the bed, I no longer felt horny, Guo writes. The bed was cold, the duvet heavy. I was distracted by a patch of bird poo, dried on the bedside window. But we made love.

What propels the book forward is in part the sense of suspense that hangs over the nascent relationship: Has our heroine made an enormous mistake getting together with an itchy-footed boat lover? But theres also something compelling about the breadth of the world the narrator inhabits. The book moves briskly from the canals of North London to Scotland, Australia, Germany and China. Along the way, its capacious enough to touch on moments of real darkness, while somehow managing to be mordant, funny and, ultimately, life-affirming.

The English novelist Nick Hornbys best-selling books are rooted in an engaging and funny literary persona. Over the years, his writing has anatomized commitment and relationships with a sharp eye for foibles especially male ones. In his ninth work of fiction, Just Like You, he focuses on a pair of mismatched lovers: Lucy, a 42-year-old English teacher, and Joseph, the 22-year-old assistant in the butchers shop where she buys meat for her two young sons.

Stuck for child care and perhaps taken by Josephs good looks Lucy asks Joseph to babysit for her. This relationship deepens when he fends off her drunken ex-husband and forms a bond with her soccer-mad sons. It soon becomes clear that despite the age gap, theres a sexual spark between the two main characters.

Were in familiar territory for the author: a North London setting, amiable comedy and nebbishy internal monologues about the awkwardness of social interactions. He found himself wondering whether he would ever go to the cinema with Lucy, Hornby writes. It was completely possible, of course, in the sense that very small ambitions can be achieved quite easily, if one can be bothered. He could just ask her, maybe after a couple more babysitting sessions.

However, age is not the only obstacle. Theres another difference tiptoed around in the novels promotional copy in a way that suggests nervousness, at least on the part of the publisher: Josephs of a different class, a different culture and a different generation. Different culture here means that Joseph is Black and Lucy is white.

How do two people from such different backgrounds manage to transcend their differences? Without too much difficulty, it turns out. As we slip between their viewpoints, Lucy worries about meeting Josephs mother and Joseph frets about introducing Lucy to his friends, but the actual relationship progresses with enviable ease. Josephs smart, wise beyond his years, a natural with the kids. The sexual side of things gets underway smoothly: He learned quickly and within a few days or nights or dates or whatever they had entered a Golden Age. No bird poo or asynchronous libidos here. Even their inevitable setbacks are handled with dignity.

In fact, theres no great sense of jeopardy at all, beyond the readers vague anxiety over whether Britains most genial living novelist is going to get canceled by an indignant Twitter mob for straying out of his lane.

The charm of Hornbys previous books has been the way they balance middlebrow uplift with enough emotional truth to make the fantasy feel grounded. Here, theres something underimagined about the two main characters. Tackling the intractable subjects of race and Brexit, the author seems constrained to make Lucy and Joseph exemplary and consequently rather bland.

Though theres a lot of dialogue internal and external were not permitted to see much. It feels as if the leads have yet to be cast and the fictional world awaits the vision of a director. The characters thoughts linger on innocuous subjects and hurry past potentially awkward ones. The sex is obliquely described and the question of whether Lucy is fetishizing her handsome young Black partner is raised for an instant, then dashed. Shes able to recognize the tendency in her friend: Would Emma be licking her lips if he were a handsome young white butchers assistant? she wonders. But the thought an intriguing one is swiftly dispelled, too uncomfortable for the books PG-certificate world.

The novel saves its ridicule for cartoonish minor characters and predictable targets: pretentious art, middle-aged white novelists, elderly theatergoers, racist police officers, libidinous middle-aged women. While its never a disagreeable book, its hampered by a flatness that comes from our feeling that the author has deliberately wired things so the conflict will never rise above a certain voltage. And in the fraught times in which the novel has arrived, its bonhomie comes off as strained and false.

Both A Lovers Discourse and Just Like You suggest that in a time of struggle between seemingly irreconcilable opposites, who hold each others differences to be moral failings, it might be instructive to consider how humans overcome obstacles in other types of relationships.

Guo gives her characters scope to live and suffer, so her books final affirmation has a hard-won quality that carries weight. But, in the end, the child-proofed world of Just Like You cant tell us much about difficult negotiations. Conflict-averse, it seems to endorse Josephs approach to the Brexit referendum: Check all the boxes so no one has a reason to dislike you.

Link:
The Brexit Romance: Finding Love in Irreconcilable Times - The New York Times

Open to all creative professionals, students and those involved in the built environment the competition seeks bold visions for how urban public spaces could better serve people following the challenges and upheaval of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The call for concepts will identify a range of solutions for how pressures resulting from Covid-19 and other major challenges such as climate change could create a positive and long-lasting legacy in which streets, squares and other public spaces are radically improved for everyone.

According to the brief: COVID-19 has had a devastating and unprecedented effect on our lives, economies, the places where we live and our lifestyles. These effects are likely to be long lasting and profound. Yet in the midst of these dark times there have been some glimmers of hope city dwellers have heard birdsong for the first time; urban air is visibly cleaner; Venices water more clear and car use has reduced.

Many of the changes that are needed to help combat climate change were implemented rapidly to minimise the spread of the disease. This presents us with a unique opportunity to use the effects of the pandemic to create a positive and long-lasting legacy to the benefit of our communities, the places where we live, work and play and the environment.

The coronavirus pandemic started in January 2020 and has so far resulted in at least 37.5 million infections and 1.07 million deaths. The spread of the disease often via droplets in the air between people in close proximity has resulted in profound shifts in the organisation of societies around the world.

Temporary and potentially lasting requirements for social distancing have forced a rethink of many public spaces, centres of consumption, workspace, and homes severely impacting economies and increasing structural inequalities.

The latest contest divided into separate categories for students and professionals invites participants to select a place and explore how it could be adapted to respond to these new challenges.

Proposals should consider the benefits of a greener recovery, address the climate and biodiversity emergency, and help citizens to lead healthy and safe lives. Submissions must include two A3 sized digital display boards featuring illustrative images and a 250-word description.

Judges will include Ally Lu, lecturer at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Sheffield; Cathy Parker, co-chair of the Institute of Place Management; and Krystallia Kamvasinou, senior lecturer at University of Westminsters School of Architecture and Cities.

The overall winner of the professional category will receive a 2,000 prize and a student prize of 500 will also be awarded. All entries will feature in an online exhibition.

The deadline for applications is 5pm, 4 December.

How to apply

Visit the competition website for more information

Contact details

Landscape Institute85 Tottenham Court RoadLondon W1T 4TQ

Tel: 0330 808 2230

View original post here:
Transforming the urban landscape - Architect's Journal