Category: planning
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You Down with IPCC?
The connection to the science is vital to and expanded knowledge of climate change, as I mentioned in the post on the Foundations of Climate Change Inquiry. One of those foundations mentioned is the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is the body of the United Nations focusing on the global science…
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Climate Change & Landscape Architecture
Following up on the foundations of climate change, I want to dive into the specific context of landscape architecture, and lay some foundations on applicability to the profession. For these initial posts I am aiming for breadth and summation rather than detail at this point, to sketch out a broader research agenda, map out where…
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The Foundations of Climate Change Inquiry
In an attempt to be intentional and informed in tying landscape architecture to climate change and asking some of the fundamental questions I posed in my introductory post, I starting to develop a plan and amass a wide range of resources. Even now, I’ve barely scratched the surface, although this initial study has been illuminating,…
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Putting the Fun in Urban Funiculars
Prior to moving back to Portland, I was fascinated in thinking about mobility options in Seattle and the idea of a series of funiculars that would connect the waterfront to the areas of downtown uphill towards 5th or 6th Avenues. Walking those hills is a great workout, but even with grand plans to . Perhaps…
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The Shape of Water
An amazing resource posted on ASLA’s The Dirt (here) focuses on Design Guidelines for Urban Wetlands, specifically what shapes are optimal for performance. Using simulations and physical testing to investigate hydraulic performance the team from the Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism (LCAU) at MIT. Led by Heidi Nepf, Alan Berger and Celina Balderas Guzman along with a team…
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Resilience Matters
Fans of Island Press (myself included) know of that, beyond their publication of a great diversity of books, the non-profit has a mission, to “provide the best ideas and information to those seeking to understand and protect the environment and create solutions to its complex problems”. In this regard, beyond publication around these themes, they have…
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Ecologists on Urban Ecology
A great roundtable going on right now from The Nature of Cites asking ecologists “What is one thing every ecologist should know about urban ecology?” Consisting of a range of voices from all over the globe, the conversation discusses the larger contributions of ecology, as well as some of the challenges, as mentioned by David Maddox in…
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Living Shorelines
Amidst the political crazy we like to call our United States government, and specifically what seems like a daily dismantling of environmental policies, there’s at least some folks at work on alternatives. Per a recent ASLA Advocacy brief: “On December 1, 2017, Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. (NJ) introduced H.R. 4525, the Living Shorelines Act of 2017.…
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Rome: Urban Formation and Transformation
I was really happy to receive a copy of Jon Michael Schwarting’s new book “Rome: Urban Formation and Transformation”. As a self-professed lover of Italy and Rome, it is interesting to see the analysis of the form of Rome. A short blurb from Amazon via the link in ArchDaily: “In this book, Formation is ideal and utopian thinking,…
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International Urban Wildlife Conference
In early June I was in San Diego for the 2017 International Urban Wildlife Conference. This was my first time at this particular conference, and it was fascinating to experience the breadth of ideas, and the urban focus on wildlife. It’s something that we as designers care about, but struggle with implementation that truly…