Category: environmental
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Snoqualmie Ice Circle
It’s been unseasonably cold this winter (in Pacific Northwest terms at least), and while my friends to the south in Portland dig out of their recent snowstorm, locally, there are some benefits, such as the amazing phenomenon of ice circles. Captured by local photographer Kaylyn Messer, from North Bend, Washington,this one is a short distance…
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Water and Cities
Interesting exploration from Architect’s Newspaper from October covering a range of water specific projects and proposals in the urban realm. A short description: “For landscape architects today, urbanism and water go hand in hand. Whether dealing with issues of sea level rise, groundwater retention, or just plain old water supply infrastructure, landscape architects are working…
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Micro Landscape
An interesting take on landscape, spotted via Architect’s Newspaper. Artist Spencer Finch has created a micro landscape installation called ‘Lost Man Creek’ for the Public Art Fund as part of a solo exhibition. “Lost Man Creek is a miniature forest. But rather than growing naturally and of its own accord, this undulating landscape populated by…
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Hemp to the Rescue
We’ve heard of many plants that have phytoremediative qualities, that is, the properties that can absorb and neutralize toxic substances in soils. For all the versatility of hemp, I hadn’t thought of it as possessing that ability until I read recent post on Roads and Kingdoms entitled Hemp and Change. The crux of the…
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Austere Gardens
I received a little gem of a book from Oro Editions entitled Austere Gardens: Thoughts on Landscape, Restraint, & Attending. Written by Marc Treib, the book (at a slim and image-heavy 100 pages) is a meditation of a sort. Having been immersed in some much heavier reading recently, I sat down and absorbed (reveled in?)…
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PA35: Going Live
I was really excited to receive the latest version of Pamphlet Architecture, published by Princeton Architectural Press. While I’ve not seen all of them, i do have at least a dozen, and they offer focused snapshots of theory and practice both as well as a longitudinal section of though spanning decades. My first experience was…
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LA+ Journal
A fine addition to the ranks of landscape architecture journals that recently emerged is LA+, The Interdisciplinary Journal of Landscape Architecture, from the Penn. From the website, the journal is billed as the “…the first truly interdisciplinary journal of landscape architecture. Within its pages you will hear not only from designers, but also from historians,…
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Language of Landscape
A great article in the Guardian on an upcoming work (Landmarks) by nature writer Robert Macfarlane on the ‘rewilding of our language of landscape’. I was not familiar with Macfarlane, but the takeaway of the connection between language and understanding of natural systems is captured in the subheading: “For decades the leading nature writer has…
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Guest Post: From Honolulu to Paris MONU #20
by Gabriele Baleisyte “Nature” or nature? Does natural geography still mater much to today’s city? What is the current relationship between our conception of nature and its role in urban life? Which nature is dominating now; the pure or the second one_- man made nature? During my current stay in Rotterdam, I have heard these questions widely discussed at the 6th International Architecture…
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Hidden Hydrology Origins 3: Disappeared Streams Map
Originally published on Terra Fluxus – 01/21/2011 Over the next week, I have been outlining some of the inspirations and precedents related to the idea of Hidden Hydrology of Portland, as this project has been shaped and has evolves across many years to it’s present incarnation. As I mentioned in the preliminary overview, one of…