Category: ecology
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How to Grow Fresh Air
Check out this short video from TED talks by Kamal Meattle… on the purification potential of indoor plants… not a new idea, but some new attention and some good fodder for discussion. From TED: “With its air-filtering plants and sustainable architecture, Kamal Meattle’s office park in New Delhi is a model of green business. Meattle…
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Fungi Perfecti
Greetings… after a short pause from posting due to conference presentations and work (both paid and yard) – a breather to drop a few lines as a retrospective on the Soak it Up conference from last week. More to post in coming days, but a chance to rave about a pioneer and his book related…
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Soak it Up
I’m currently working away on an upcoming presentation for a conference happening next week down at the beautiful Oregon Garden. Sponsored by Sprout (Sustainable Plant Research and Outreach), the conference “Soak It Up: Phytotechnology Solutions for Water Challenges” focuses on some fo the functional aspects of plants as vital components in addressing small and large-scale…
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Freshkills Park Blog
A recent discovery via blog linking, the Freshkills Park Blog, offers some insight into the workings of the major large-scale and long-term landscape urbanist project of North America. “Freshkills Park Blog is compiled by members of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation team working to develop Freshkills Park. Blog entries represent the…
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Malcolm Wells: Infra Structures
Subtitled “Life support for the nation’s circulatory system”, the 1994 book Infra Structures by Malcolm Wells offers a chance to revisit the integration of our architecture and infrastructural systems – appropriate for our new found interest in the workings of our society and urbanity. The the juxtaposed pipe/greenery on the cover, the thrust of this…
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Veg.itecture: VIA Roofs
As the dialogue around green roofs shows that we’ve come a long way in vision and implementation. There seems a veritable cornucopia of projects and thinking on the subject. Read this interview with green roof plant expert Ed Snodgrass via Skygardens, and some more reinforcement of habitat potential for rooftops via Treehugger for some applied…
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Host Analog
The insertion of ecological artworks into the urban patterns offers opportunities to confront our relationship in nature in new ways. Additionally, the location in proximity to density and multi-modal traffic (versus, something tucked away in a far-off location) also gives artists a significantly larger audience to express concepts to. One very central piece in Portland…
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Reading List: The Infrastructural City
The Infrastructural City: Networked Ecologies in Los Angelesedited by Kazys Varnelis (Actar – 2008) :: image via NetLab If not for the impeccable timing of the release of this book, and the fact that the content within has inevitably been in progress for some time – I would say that ‘The Infrastructural City’ was a…
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Slices of Eco-Art
The connection between environmental art and landscape architecture is dynamic… making it a common theme here at L+U. These ecological artworks and installations provide stylistic and conceptual frameworks that are less possible or legible in the traditional boundaries of applied landscape design (practical art) – this freedom gives rise to limitless potential opportunities. Landscape architecture…
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Ecological Urbanism at the GSD
An upcoming must-see conference entitled Ecological Urbanism: Alternative and Sustainable Cities of the Future will take place at the Harvard Graduate School of Design on April 3-5, 2009. The event will “…bring together design practitioners and theorists, economists, engineers, environmental scientists, politicians and public health specialists, with the goal of reaching a more robust understanding…