Landscape+Urbanism

  • Europe Journal – Green Wall Art

    Sep. 17:  On a rainy day next to Trafalgar Square we discovered a somewhat odd installation of a living wall adjacent to the National Gallery which I of course had to sprint over to check out.  Closer inspection shows it to be a living representation of Van Gogh’s ‘A Wheatfield with Cypresses’ painted in 1889…

  • L+U Travels – The Prelude

    England, Spain, Italy.  While a couple of weeks is not long enough to spend in any one of these countries (or cities for that matter), the agenda is set.  Thus I’m considering an upcoming trip to Europe and actual vacation (what the hell is that?) and a scouting trip for further visits.  The itinerary starts…

  • The Real

    In contrast to the previous post of the ethereal, an amazing collection from Nigel Christian’s blog ‘This City Called Earth‘ which, in his words:  “combines my sociologist’s interest in theories of urbanisation, globalisation and post-nature with my photographer’s love of street portraiture and the hard beauty of the built environment.”   The expansive group emerges by…

  • The Ethereal

    Always a fan of great lighting, I find these photographs by Barry Underwood absolutely amazing.  Check out the entire group and interview via Juxtapoz Magazine.  In brief from the interview, “Humankind has left a variety of footprints on this planet. Barry Underwood examines the effect of light pollution on natural landscapes in a series of photographs…

  • Black Rock City

    An interesting article making some strange connections between the land of free spiritedness that is Burning Man, specifically the arrangement of the temporary settlement ‘Black Rock City’ with the ideology of New Urbanism.  I can’t think of two uniquely different mind-sets and approaches, so find the connection to be somewhat comical – but am keeping…

  • 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 the Landscape: Landscape as Urbanism

    The next essay in the Landscape Urbanism Reader, following ‘Terra Fluxus‘ and the initial ‘Reference Manifesto‘ is a longer essay by Waldheim exploring the idea that landscape is most suited to the modern metropolis, being “uniquely capable of responding to temporal change, transformation, adaptation, and succession… a medium uniquely suited to the open-endedness, indeterminacy, and…

  • Chutes and Ladders

    Hear this transit authorities, we need more of these in the urban realm… the ‘Transfer Accelerator’ is real life chutes and ladders, in this case a slide as a bypass to crowded stairway at the train station of Utrecht Overvecht designed by Utrecht-based firm HIK Ontwerpers.  Function and whimsy.  Gotta love it. :: image via…

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