Category: ecology
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Tree Art Revisited
I did a series of posts back a year or so related to tree art – as I find these explorations terribly interesting to provoke understanding or look at different ways on perhaps one of the ubiquitous and overlooked workers in our urban landscapes. Here’s a selection of some newer additions to this eco-artform. ::…
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Mapping Green
An interesting post from Treehugger points out the power of ‘maps’ as inventive ways to capture the complexity of ecological systems and provides education and support for ideas. An article mentioned (via core77) in Communication Arts entitled ‘Mapping Power’ references this idea in detail (and worth a careful read). :: image via Treehugger One example…
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Pringle Creek + the Gravel Verge
Building on some recent posts on the SEA streets in Seattle, and Crown Street in Vancouver, BC, a few images of Pringle Creek – the uber sustainable community in Salem, Oregon. A significant feature is the use of the gravel verges – popularized by Patrick Condon these curbless sections allow infiltration on the edges of…
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Ecological Urbanism – Podcasting Now
I was really excited to see that the Podcasts of the Ecological Urbanism conference at the GSD (from early April) are now available… for those of us unable to make the trek to check it out live. While a 100×200 pixel image isn’t the same as a conference, I hope this trend continues with other…
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Plant Propaganda
A recent visit to the Clean Water Services Field Operations Center in Beaverton offered the added bonus of some interesting signage about native plantings… While I’m not a native purist by any means, I like the inventive way of conveying the idea. :: images by CWS – photos by author Stay tuned for some pics…
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Wilderness, Continued…
Book Review continued from Part I: Reading List: Wilderness and the American MindAldo Leopold’s ideas of a ‘land ethic’ and ‘ecological conscience’ offered a touchstone for a new movement – giving birth to the idea of instilling Americans with a love and respect for their land. While mostly known for the amazing work ‘A Sand…
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Reading List: Wilderness & The American Mind
Taking a break from the computer and the endless array of blog posts gives one an opportunity to reconnect with the written word in a different way. (For full disclosure, I hate reading on the computer – so really have to slog through text heavy posts and articles…) A couple of interesting books that I’ve…
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Bad Idea of the Week
This interesting product appeared last week from Inhabitat, consisting of small squares of grass for your desk or home. “These grass squares were designed at the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, Israel, in 2009 as a way to combine nature and architecture.” While a laudable concept in theory, the idea of bring in grass…
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Bad Timing? Pig City
MVRDV’s proposal from a few years back (2001) for ‘Pig City’, a set of towers with pigs raised in the ultimate high density strikes a more recent chord with our current fascination with all things urban gardening and vertical farming – and perhaps a dischord in the recent Swine Flu pandemic. While the tongue-in-cheek nature…
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Crown, King of the Streets
A comment from Desmond to the post on SEA streets led me to a great ‘country lane’ prototype in Vancouver, BC – located on Crown Street. :: image via City of Vancouver From the site: “This stormwater management and traffic calming project was completed in February 2006. Instead of the standard curb and gutter, this…