Landscape+Urbanism

Category: history

  • San Francisco Hidden Hydrology

    A project of note that made the rounds over the past month resonated with the concept of Hidden Hydrology.  The project ‘Ghost Arroyos‘, proposed as part of the Market Street Prototyping Festival  paints the town blue, in a sense.  I definitely like this idea, as we’ve discussed doing a similar exploration of Portland’s Tanner Creek.…

  • PE 1: Parallel Genealogies

    As mentioned, it would be worth while to explore some essays of the Projective Ecologies book, and what better way to start than with the introductory essay by Reed and Lister, Parallel Genealogies. The terms ‘ecologies’ and ‘ecosystems’ are co-opted for a variety of uses today beyond event these, which could lead to the eye-rolling…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Hidden Hydrology Origins 2: David James Duncan

    Originally published on Terra Fluxus – 01/19/2011 Another inspiration for the Hidden Hydrology of Portland is the writing of David James Duncan (author of a couple of my favorite books, the Brothers K amongst the best).  In a book of essays from 2002 entitled ‘My Story as Told by Water‘ Duncan tells some stories with…

  • Hidden Hydrology Origins 1: The Yellowwood and the Forgotten Creek

    Originally published on Terra Fluxus – 01/15/2011 As I mentioned in the previous post, there have been a number of inspirations that led to the current work on the Hidden Hydrology of Portland.  I will take this week outlining a few of the past words and images that have led to the current work.  A…

  • Hidden Hydrology Redux

    Last week, I had the honor recently of presenting at a conference with one of my idols of landscape architecture, Anne Whiston Spirn.  Aside from stimulating conversation, she presented the old and new of her work from The Granite Garden through her ongoing work on the Mill Creek Project in Philadelphia, i was reminded of…

  • Old + New – Photos

    An interesting idea from some of the coverage of Memorial Day, which is a good time to remember the past.  The Guardian and the Photography Then and Now, which includes interactive before and after images – essentially exact matching shots of the old and new through historical events.  This weekend, they posted some interesting photos…

  • On Walking

    I’ve been thinking about walking more.  As a way to process the overload of information we deal with on a daily basis.  Or as a way to live with more immersion in nature.  Or to explore my new city.  Or, maybe just because the weather is nicer and it’s not raining all the time. 1.…

  • Watershed Moments

    The previous post outlining the “River Maps” (01.10.14) got me thinking about watersheds and the differences between natural boundary delineation vs. political boundaries.  Long-time readers will note the recurrence of the Powell map on Landscape+Urbanism “Natural Boundary/Political Boundary” (11.24.10), which has gotten some more attention lately. Powell’s map is derived from observation, as mentioned in…