Chances are, when you arrive at the airport, youre more worried about forking over obscene amounts of cash for a checked bag than whats over that grassy knoll beyond the runway. The airfields of JFK or LAX certainly wouldnt be anyones idea of a picturesque landscape.

Charles Waldheim, co-curator of a new exhibit at Harvard University entitled Airport Landscape, has a different take. Our basic argument is that the airport sits in a kind of blind spot, culturally. Its been dealt with in a technical way, he tells Co.Design. Its a site for engineering, but the design disciplines have paid less attention,

Designing an airport is a monumental puzzle for an architect to solve. Consider how the terminals need to accommodate increasingly larger planes and shifting security requirements, confused tourists and wayward baggage, air control and transit connections. After taking care of the myriad functional aspects of air travel, airport plans have generally left little room for natural beauty.

Yet Waldheim and his co-curator, Sonja Duempelmann, both landscape architecture professors, argue that airports are complex ecological design projects. And as older airports are increasingly decommissioned and, oftentimes, turned into public parks and wildlife habitats, the links to landscape design become even clearer.

Airports have often been built on the outskirts of cities, as was the case in Denver or Chicago, but as the city grows, it rises to meet the airport, which once seemed distant. We believe airports are more central to the life of cities than they have ever been, Waldheim says.

They also tend to be fairly complex sites in terms of the mix of species and biological management, according to Waldheim. Airports are frequently built on top rich wetland environments, where wildlife, including birds, thrive. Though much of the land has been engineered to divert water and paved over for planes, the open space set aside as a safety measure for landing planes looks attractive to animals--an uncultivated plot in the middle of the urban environment. Yet bird strikes can pose a deadly threat to aircraft. Thus, airports walk a fine line between managing wildlife, controlling water runoff and pollution, and making the runway surroundings both aesthetically pleasing and safe. Its easier for us to describe it as a complex piece of landscape architecture, Waldheim says.

Airport Landscape examines these issues through the lens of photography, like Yann Arthus-Bertrands images of runways, and through case studies, many of them surrounding the issue of decommissioned airports, like San Franciscos Crissy Field, a former military airfield and hazardous material dumping ground that has been rehabilitated as a public park in recent years. Its an issue faced by cities around the world--what to do with these enormous, often contaminated airfields from the early 20th century that no longer fit the regions needs. Many cities are now choosing to slowly adapt them into public parks, as has happened in places like Berlin, and Orange County, Calif.

Im interested in a kind of emotional honesty about [airports], Waldheim says. Theyre not going away. Rather, we should be thinking about airports as a complex public landscape, one that should be designed to fit into both the city and environment around it.

The exhibit ends this week at Harvards Graduate School of Design.

Here is the original post:
What Should We Do With Abandoned Airports?

Chappaquiddick erosion issues dominated the agenda of the Edgartown conservation commission this week, from the extensive landscape restoration project at the Schifter property to the fate of the house owned by Jerry and Sue Wacks that must be at least partially torn down before it falls into the sea.

At a site visit Monday the commission viewed both properties which lie at the Atlantic-facing edge of Chappy where significant erosion has returned as the Norton Point breach recedes.

The Wacks home now sits just 20 feet from the edge of Katama Bay, with erosion occurring at the rate of about a foot a day. On Wednesday the commission agreed to send a letter clearing the way for emergency demolition of most of the house.

Edgartown conservation commission reviewed landscaping and erosion control plan for Schifter house. Mark Lovewell

To prevent the house from ending up in Katama Bay, out into Nantucket Sound or washing up on adjacent beaches, the commission wrote in part. The letter went out yesterday. It is understood that the Wackses plan to demolish all but two bedrooms and a utility room in the modest house, built 30 years ago in a spot that at the time was on high ground overlooking the bay.

Also on Wednesday the board reviewed a landscaping and erosion control plan for the Wasque home owned by Richard and Jennifer Schifter. The plan calls for restoring trees, shrubbery and sandplain grasses that were stripped from the land when the 8,000-square-foot house was relocated over the summer. The plan also includes installing a new system of straw logs, called wattle logs, and hydromulching to strengthen the embankment where the house now sits.

Trees, shrubbery and topsoil that were removed last summer in preparation for the house move are still stored offsite on property owned by Gerald Jeffers. The commission said this week its time to restore the property to its previous state.

Yes, we okayed the pile of sand [that was used to stave off more erosion while the house was being moved] but why cant we just go back to the contour and trees and bushes that were there before the pile of sand, commission member Christina Brown said. Those contours had a thick understory and some significant bushes and trees. Why cant they have it again?

Stripped of all vegetation, Schifter property will be replanted in spring. Mark Lovewell

But commission member Bob Avakian said the site visit was eye-opening for him. I think we learned a hard lesson, he said. We should have had this discussion before you can say, okay you can cut down trees.

Read more from the original source:
Next Phase Begins for Schifter Property: Restoring the Land

The parents of Clifton murder victim Joanna Yeates have revealed that their beloved daughters bedroom remains untouched, three years after she went missing.

While David and Teresa Yeates cleared out the landscape architects flat in Canynge Road, Clifton, last year, they cannot bring themselves to clear out the room in which their daughter grew up at the family home in Ampfield, Hampshire,

Joanna, 25, disappeared on December 17, 2010, after a works night out on Park Street.

Her snow-covered body was found on Longwood Lane, Failand, on Christmas Day

She had been strangled to death by next-door Vincent Tabak, who was jailed for life and a minimum of 20 years at Bristol Crown Court in 2011.

Speaking to The Sun newspaper, Mr Yeates said: We are as well as we are going to be. What has happened has happened and we try to make the most of what we have left, which is what Jo would have wanted.

The two of us dont visit Jos grave regularly, but go now and again. She is still so much a part of us, going to her grave to remember her is not necessary.

We get through life but everything has adjusted. When the phone rings now I dont expect to hear her at the other end.

But as families across the country prepare for a Christmas get-together, the day will pass as any other for Mr and Mrs Yeates because they remember Joanna every day.

Of course it is special, said Mr Yeates. As is today, the anniversary of the day she disappeared. But we think of her all the time. We remember her all the time. Christmas Day is no different.

Go here to read the rest:
DanielEvans1 published Joanna Yeates' bedroom is frozen in time, three years after her...

Mandela's final resting place ready

Don't expect the man who fought to end apartheid and then led South Africa as its first black president to spend eternity pushing up just daisies.

That's because he was buried in a garden carefully cultivated by landscape architect Greg Straw, who has filled it with plants native to Mvezo, the village on the Mbashe River in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, where Mandela was born.

The garden was designed as a perennial journey through the life of Madiba, the clan name for Mandela.

Straw, who gave CNN an exclusive peek at his work, said he tried to create a garden consistent with Mandela's values and to keep from attracting attention from the reporters who have been cruising the area: "Obviously we had to keep it as rustic as possible so that we didn't raise any eyebrows. We had to just do the basics, earthworks, no finishing."

On Sunday afternoon local time, Mandela was buried atop a hill in the garden overlooking the Qunu homestead, the ancestral village where he grew up and loved.

Finishing touches were being applied this week to the memorial, which was abloom with symbols of the life of the man who spent 27 years in prison for his anti-apartheid efforts, then became the nation's first black president.

"Everything that we did and designed in the garden always had another little meaning wherever we could find something," Straw said.

Those symbols include more than a few rocky patches.

And the paths meander, as did the life of the man who died December 5 at age 95. "Yes, and it meanders, and then, all of a sudden, when he got incarcerated and arrested, in the corner of the property, that's when it starts to turn."

See more here:
A peek into Mandela's memorial garden abloom

QUNU, South Africa (CNN) -

Don't expect the man who fought to end apartheid and then led South Africa as its first black president to spend eternity pushing up just daisies.

That's because he was buried in a garden carefully cultivated by landscape architect Greg Straw, who has filled it with plants native to Mvezo, the village on the Mbashe River in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, where Mandela was born.

The garden was designed as a perennial journey through the life of Madiba, the clan name for Mandela.

Straw, who gave CNN an exclusive peek at his work, said he tried to create a garden consistent with Mandela's values and to keep from attracting attention from the reporters who have been cruising the area: "Obviously we had to keep it as rustic as possible so that we didn't raise any eyebrows. We had to just do the basics, earthworks, no finishing."

On Sunday afternoon local time, Mandela was buried atop a hill in the garden overlooking the Qunu homestead, the ancestral village where he grew up and loved.

Finishing touches were being applied this week to the memorial, which was abloom with symbols of the life of the man who spent 27 years in prison for his anti-apartheid efforts, then became the nation's first black president.

"Everything that we did and designed in the garden always had another little meaning wherever we could find something," Straw said.

Those symbols include more than a few rocky patches.

And the paths meander, as did the life of the man who died December 5 at age 95. "Yes, and it meanders, and then, all of a sudden, when he got incarcerated and arrested, in the corner of the property, that's when it starts to turn."

Read more here:
Garden is designed as walk through Mandela's life

But the ideas Nolen presented are as relevant today as they were then, argues Bob Callans, a Little Rock landscape architect. For years, Callans has pushed for Nolens vision to get more recognition and for one idea in particular to be realized. Nolens plan saw Capitol Avenue as a ceremonial boulevard and called for an iconic structure at its eastern end to compliment the state Capitol building on the west end. For nearly 30 years, Callans has called for that iconic structure to be some kind ofgateway to the city, something you could identify Little Rock with from a distance that, as you come into town, you then actually go through it.

It wasnt the right time, Callans said, but with everything going on in the River Market and on Main Street, now is the right time.

Today 100 years to the day and in the same building Callans and the StudioMainbuilding and landscape architects cooperative announced to a gathering in the rotunda at City Hall the winners of their collaborative Envision Little Rock 2013 Ideas Competition.

"It's been a long time coming," Callans told the 30 or so people assembled in the rotunda. He then quoted a line from Nolen's proposal: "A certain complement of fresh air, of open space, of touch with nature, proves in the experience of cities vitally essential for wholesome development." Each of five winning designs took the landscape architect's vision to heart.

The overall professional winner was Fayetteville architect John Krug, whose "Gateway Twin Towers" features tall curving commas on either side of I-30 that would frame the Capital on the west and a roundabout centered with a sculpture on the east.

The overall amateur award went to two UA third-year architecture students, Adel Vaughn and Mary Patterson, for "Silver Spire," which would place a looming, twisting spire in a park just east of Interstate 30 on Capital Avenue as the iconic balance to the Capitol. The aluminum structure would reflect the lights of the city and could be ascended for a view of downtown Little Rock.

A total of 5,800 people participated in a people's vote, choosing Krug's "Gateway" (Envisioning an Icon category), Chris Sheppard's "Urban Greenway" (Establishing Connections) and Maury Mitchell's "Agri-city" (The Wild Card). Each won $250. The public voting prizes were funded by the Arkansas chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

James Meyer, of Witsell Evans and Rasco architects and a member of StudioMain, said the idea for the contest which ran from May 15 until July 15 was to get people thinking about the gateway idea and other ways to beautiful the city in what he called "performative" ways that is, functional.

There were 11 final entries. The design points the jurors were looking for included "recognition of John Nolans 1913 Plan for the city of Little Rock, a large/iconic solution; something characteristic/endemic of Arkansas, think sense of place; represent the face of Little Rock, become memorable; terminal point of Capitol Ave, visual/metaphorical dynamic with the Capitol, multi-use structure and high functionality is always good!"

Here is the original post:
Envision Little Rock winners announced

When trees were cleared along Route 80 in preparation for a road-widening effort and a 300,000-square-foot retail development on the 53-acre property behind Ocean State Job Lot, neighbors had plenty to say about it.

They complained that the clearing went too far. And the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) agreed with them, stating that both the town and the developer leveled too many trees.

The fact that two projects were going on side by side further confused matters. The town was clearing land to widen this stretch of Plympton Road just as the developer, High Rock Cranberry Crescent, was clearing land in preparation for the retail project.

High Rock appeared before the Zoning Board of Appeals Wednesday night with landscape plans that showed tree plantings, increased berms (or hills on the side of the roadway) and undulating walls to help buffer the development.

Two Jamies Path residents expressed concern that the developer would mow down trees buffering their homes from the site, and received assurances the trees wont be touched. ZBA Chairman Peter Conner urged High Rock to make good on that promise, in light of the projects history, and ZBA member Michael Buster Main suggested the board include a condition that, should those trees be cut down, they must be replaced by trees of the same size. Replacing trees in this manner is extremely costly, Main said, and the condition ought to ensure the promise is kept. ZBA member Ed Conroy jokingly suggested they have armed guards protecting the trees.

Local attorney Bob Betters, representing High Rock, maintained that his client did not in any way violate the land clearing provisions of its permit.

In an interesting twist, ZBA alternate James Simpson said he felt creating such a comprehensive buffer was counterintuitive. Obscuring the visibility of the restaurants and retail businesses on the site is simply not good business practice, he said.

Landscape architect John Hensen, who developed the landscape design, noted that his client must abide by the direction of the towns boards, which have insisted upon a significant buffer to appease neighbors.

They graded exactly what they were supposed to, ZBA alternate Michael Leary, whos a voting member on this project, said. The sign is a little much, but Id approve this with the landscape plan showed.

The board voted unanimously to approve the bulk of the landscape plan, and asked that the developer return with more details on a newly submitted plan showing the undulating stonewall and enhanced buffer.

View post:
Plymouth Zoning Board of Appeals OKs most of landscape plan

A city committee approved the final plans for the new Alumni Park, renovations to the Alumni House and Memorial Union renovations in a meeting Monday night, bringing the city and university one step closer to finishing the projects by fall of 2017.

Nate Novak, landscape architect with SmithGroupJJR, presented the final plans for the projects to the Joint Southeast Campus Area Committee. The construction should begin in summer 2014. The renovation is estimated to cost $54 million, $8 million of which will go to the new Alumni Park.

Alumni Park will be a new green space located between the Union and the Red Gym, in the area which was previously a parking lot. Novak said the park is meant to celebrate the Wisconsin Idea, not be just a donor-funded park.

[The park] is meant to be a celebration in honor of the Wisconsin idea, the University alumni and their contributions to the university, to the state and to the world as a whole, Novak said.

Novak said the park will be very interactive, featuring different displays and panels in an effort to inspire the current generation of students. He said university planners are also proposing a mobile application to give an extra level of detail about the proposed exhibits in the park.

The park itself is structured based on a ripple effect, Novak said, with a center ring of landscaping and outward rings around it, as well as a center walkway through the rings.

The university is considering renovations to the Alumni House to create a direct entrance to the park, Novak said, adding that otherrenovations to the Alumni House include a new meeting area with tables and lounge chairs, as opposed to the reception desk and host of offices there now.

Its meant to be a place for alumni to go, Novak said. Right now theres really not much there. As alumni, its not very welcoming. This gives them kind of that area to help give people a place to go.

Rob Kennedy, a UW transportation planner, said there also will be added bicycle parking around the Union, since there is currently a shortage of bike parking.

Kennedy said planners have worked with a local vendor to invent a new type of bicycle rack that provides 25 percent more parking spots but takes up the same amount of space as traditional racks. These new racks have been tested at the Engineering School with significant success, Kennedy said.

Continue reading here:
City approves plans for Memorial Union renovations, Alumni Park

The entrance to the proposed garage would be at this existing gate in a small parking lot behind the Botanical Building.

The Balboa Park Committee approved the San Diego Zoo's proposed 650-space parking garage plan Thursday, sending it on to the Park and Recreation Board next month.

"I think it's a great project," said member Michael Singleton, a landscape architect.

The approval was not for the six-story garage itself -- which will be used by zoo employees -- but for the access plan along Old Globe Way just north of the Casa del Prado, Botanical Building and San Diego Museum of Art. The garage design is expected to be ready in the spring and only has to meet city building code requirements.

The zoo has long sought ways to relocate its employee cars out of the 2,700-space Park Boulevard surface lot that is full on many weekends and summer days.

This current schedule calls for completing grading and Old Globe Way improvements midway through the 2015 centennial celebration of the park's Panama-California Exposition. The garage would then be built by the time the zoo celebrates its own centennial in 2016.

Zoo employees, starting about 6 a.m., would access the garage from Old Globe Way at about the rate of 180 per hour and then trickle out of the garage in the afternoon. Traffic studies indicate no significant increase in congestion, even on busy summer days.

Committee member Don Liddell cast the only no vote, saying he was concerned about the noise that cars entering and exiting the garage might make, especially during performances at the Old Globe's outdoor theater.

"I don't know what the sound studies say -- sorry," he said.

Chairman David Kinney said the committee technically does not have the authority to approve the garage, because it lies within the zoo's leasehold. But he had the committee add to its resolution a call for high-quality architectural design of the building, close collaboration with the Globe and other park institutions in the garage's operational details and a look at the garage design as it progresses.

Read more:
Zoo garage passes first step

Know The Value Of A Landscape Architect | 503-643-4796
The Value Of A Landscape Architect.

By: David Layden

Follow this link:
Know The Value Of A Landscape Architect | 503-643-4796 - Video