Landscape+Urbanism

Category: theory

  • Source: Terrain Vague – de Sola Morales

    A formative source in thinking about indeterminant spaces is Terrain Vague, a 1995 essay by Spanish Architect Ignasi de Sola-Morales.  The essay starts with a discussion of the idea of photography, which is mentioned by the author as vital to our understanding, particularly through photomontage and their inventive juxtaposition of forms, aiding our ability to…

  • Source: Whatever Happened to Urbanism? – Koolhaas

    In 1995, Rem Koolhaas & Bruce Mau published ‘S,M,L,XL’, one in a line of oversized volumes so fondly disseminated by the Dutch.  Amazon mentions the work as “extraordinary, massive, and mind-boggling 1,300-page book combines essays, manifestos, diaries, fairy tales, travelogues, a cycle of meditations on the contemporary city–and complex illustrations…” giving shape to a mixed…

  • Reading the Landscape: The Emergence of Landscape Urbanism

    The next essay from the Landscape Urbanism Reader is by David Grahame Shane, entitled ‘The Emergence of Landscape Urbanism’.  This essay builds on Waldheim’s essay and further elaborates on the origins of the theory – with a broad take on the historical foundations and precedents around landscape urbanism as mentioned in the introductory text: “Shane…

  • Reading List: Landscape Infrastructure: Case Studies by SWA

    ‘Landscape Infrastructure: Case Studies by SWA‘ published in 2011, is edited by the Infrastructure Research Initiative of SWA including Los Angeles office principals Gerdo Aquino and Ying-Yu Hung.  This is supplemented with contributions from Charles Waldheim, Julie Czerniak, Adriaan Geuze, Matthew Skjonsberg and Alexander Robinson.  While ostensibly about landscape infrastructure, this type of book is…

  • Source: Axioms for Reading the Landscape – Lewis

    Doing some readings of seminal texts for an upcoming essay/book chapter on landscape urbanism, and want to capture some of the content, at least in fragments.  ‘Source’ will be the code for snapshot of a particular essay – not a thorough review but an abstract and some specific reflections.  In this case the instructive ‘Axioms…

  • Got Something to Say?

     Landscape Urbanism is looking for essays, thoughts, ideas + innovative aproaches to landscape urbanism. We are looking for unique approaches to defining, understanding, communicating, and practicing landscape urbanism. Clarity of writing and communication are imperative. If you had to explain landscape architecture or landscape urbanism to the public, how would you describe it? Why does…

  • Brief Thoughts on Binary Thinking

    The on-going debate on LU/NU is interesting less for any content (of which there has been little beyond posturing and uninformed rhetoric), and more than its continuation of a history of binary discussions between oppositional actors that has occurred in many arenas, including a long history within urbanism and design.  Lest we think there is…

  • Reading, Thinking, Observing: A New Direction for L+U

    Forgive my self-indulgent post, but my lack of blogging is not an indication of lack of thinking (and walking) – as my attention has shifted from following the various blogs (i used to follow many, and now have reduced this to around a dozen) and their myriad paths of discussion towards a more rigorous engagement…

  • Walking the Turtle

    While familiar with the concept of the flâneur, the inquistive wanderer, or  “…detached pedestrian observer of a metropolis, a gentleman stroller of city streets”.  Reading After the City last night, Lars Lerup, in discussing the idea of the ‘speed’ of the modern metropolis, made a passing reference to a 19th century custom of using a…

  • The Urbanism Wars: AD v. CW

    Turns out you have to read and write a bit in doctoral studies – which sometimes cuts down on the time for blogging… who knew?  But glean and collect I still do, and lots of good reading since the last dispatch on the ongoing dispute/feud/discussion/turf-war on who controls urbanism – aka the LU/NU debates (which…