gabions get hip

The humble gabion is having its day. Gabions are wire or steel cages filled with rip-rap or other stone. Long an engineering standard as cheap, reliable retaining walls, as of late they've been commonly used to stabilize highway embankments and other industrial landscapes. Suddenly hip, they are popping up in contemporary residential landscapes, and in the hands of designers they are quite lovely. 

entry walls

gabion terraces

Hill House

Check out my Walls Pinterest board for more ideas.
                                                                    

modern beach

The Stinson Beach House by Blasen Landscape Architecture is a lovely example of a contemporary landscape that balances clean, simple lines with softness and warmth. I love the rich materiality of the built features juxtaposed with the soft texture and movement of the grasses. Although this project takes place in the California landscape, this style would transfer quite nicely to coastal Nova Scotia.

the mid-winter reflections of a landscape architect...

Lately I've been thinking about how this blog reflects my state of mind, my pursuits and my current areas of interest. I've considered how it's evolved over time, sometimes with a focus on design in general, sometimes with a more urban agriculture focus and recently, perhaps, with more of a focus on landscape architecture.  

I've always had a voracious appetite for learning and new things and I'm sure that is being reflected here. Sometimes I feel like I need to reign it all in and focus on one thing at a time, but that's really just not me. I'm a generalist and I think that's a really nice quality for a landscape architect. I once heard someone say that engineers need to know a lot about a few specific things and landscape architects need to know a bit about everything, which is probably why we are such great project managers.

I have finally come to accept that my range of interests - art, gardening, dance, herbal medicine, agriculture, fashion, food, travel and on and on -  inform my process and designs and contribute to my wholeness as a designer. It's about time I embraced that!

ps. This photo makes me so very happy. I'm dreaming of a peaceful home studio with such beautiful light...

integrated landscapes

This Australian residence by CplusC architectural workshop illustrates a seamless transition between interior and exterior space. I really appreciate how the pergola is incorporated into the structure of the house; the steal beam runs between interior and exterior structures. So often landscape is an afterthought to the architecture, is a divergent style or not at all considered and in all of these cases looks the part. It's nice to envision a world where design professionals - architects, landscape architects - work together throughout a project to create a cohesive design.

{via desire to inspire}

repurposed patio

I see these old concrete blocks everywhere - at the curb, in parking garages, there are currently several in the loft of the cabin I am renting. This patio shows a great way to put a common, resource-heavy product to re-use. 

This patio is part of a kitchen garden designed by landscape architect Chris Saleeba of Fresh Digs  for the Pantry at Delancey. Saleeba  offers a service he calls 'DIY Construction Coaching' which gives support to budget-conscious clients so they can install a project themselves with guidance along the way. A fantastic idea! See more of the kitchen garden here.

a day at the office

Yesterday was a nice break from my usual design desk job- I got to visit a site I've been designing in order to check the alignment of a road that will soon be constructed, and to find a place to install a bridge to cross this stream... 

When I left the city it was sunny and mild, but the Annapolis Valley was a winter wonderland. I've been feeling a bit jaded lately with working in a high-pressure firm, but days like this make me appreciate what a great profession I'm in.

This site will soon be a camp for sick kids, and I intend to make sure the camp rests lightly on this forest and keeps all of the magic that drew us in the first place. 

I hope you're having a magical pre-holiday weekend! xo

sustainable sites

The Sustainable Sites Initiative has finally released its Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks for suitable land selection, design, construction and operations, the first rating system for sustainable landscapes in North America. It is similar to the LEED rating system with a series of prerequisites and credits for points. Unlike LEED, it is site-focused and applicable to sites both with or without buildings. Under this system a farm or park could be rated and certified on its sustainability as a LEED certified building would. The USGBC , which regulates LEED, is a stakeholder in this project and anticipates incorporating the Sustainable Site's rating system into future LEED points.The Points Categories include:

1. Site Selection
   
2. Pre-Design Assessment and Planning
3. Site Design- Water
4. Site Design- Soil and Vegetation
5. Site Design- Materials Selection
6. Site Design- Human Health and Well-Being
7. Construction
8. Operations and Maintenance
9. Monitoring and Innovation

I'm really excited about this system- the Guiding Principles are really inspiring, and include:

• Do no harm
  
• Design with nature and culture 
  
• Use a systems thinking approach

These guidelines stress ecosystem services such as:

• Local and global climate regulation
  
• Habitat function and pollination
  
• Food and renewable food products
  

They also have a practical application with specific recommendations for implementation in the Potential technologies and strategies heading for each point. 

At this time, the Pilot Project Phase , the SSI is encouraging voluntary implementation of these guidelines by planners, landscape architects, engineers, developers and government agencies. You can submit projects for Pilot Project Certification, which will eventually move into full certification. 


As land planning and design professionals we need to take the first step. Download the SSI Guiding Principles and Performance Benchmarks here . Distribute it to your coworkers and encourage your company to design under these guidelines. We have the potential to create healthy, productive, sustainable landscapes and this initiative is a major step in the process.

crack garden

The Crack Garden  in San Francisco recently won an Honour Award from the ASLA. This gritty residential garden at a low-rise apartment building represents the spirit of nature breaking free from the concrete and asphalt that cover most of the urban ground plane. The residents of this building created the garden themselves, using jack hammers to remove 'cracks', which were then planted.

I have to wonder if the crack garden was an influence on The High Line , the new elevated park in Manhattan. Its striated concrete planks are a more streamlined version of this idea. I have to gush, I am completely in love with the High Line, can't wait to visit, and will likely be featuring this in an upcoming post.

a mod entrance

This mid-century modern path is really fun! Check out the DIY here . {via Apartment Therapy }

Lawrence Halprin

Perhaps the most influential landscape architect of the last several decades died yesterday at the age of 93. Lawrence Halprin was innovative, inspiring and prolific until the end. I saw him speak in San Francisco 2 years ago and was really moved by his humour and insight. He was a designer who could marry beauty with ecological and social function. 

“My own way has been to design the outward forms of nature but emphasize the results of the processes of nature…This act of transmuting the experience of the natural landscape into human-made experience is, for me, the essence of the art of landscape design.”

He was responsible for the 'alternative' Sea Ranch community plan in the 1960's which was inspired by and responsive to the wind, ocean and cliffs. Its design manual  prohibited perimeter fences and non-native plants. Read his biography from The Natural Landscape Foundation.

the city that never was

I don't have an iphone or live in NYC, but if I did I'd definitely check this out. Phantom City is an iphone application that allows you to walk through the city and see visionary designs of the same space on your phone. It engages the user by giving  the option  to rate the design. {via design under sky }

cairo communities

I just saw this photo over at Polis . How beautiful/creepy/intriguing is the built form of the suburbs against the desert?

Beauty shots- my first pm job

I recently completed  a small design/project management job at one of the local universities here in Halifax. It includes a daycare and a couple of entry plazas as well as circulation and storm upgrades. The design was quite traditional, but it was my first project management job and I learned a lot. I was initially nervous about being a woman in a project management position having to check up on the contractors every morning. I once again had  my belief confirmed,  traditionally feminine characteristics such as receptivity, openness and inclusive decision making transfer well into male dominated professions.

Site-specific studio

I think I was initially intrigued by this photo, not because of the converted Airstream, but because I so long for a backyard garden. I clicked my way through to the original article and actually read it (something I don't always do, as easy as it is to be seduced by pretty pictures). Mid-way through the article I discover the owner/author of the piece is a landscape architect searching for a little more meaning. Don't you love those moments of synchronicity? 

Andreas Stavropoulos, converted this 1959 Airstream trailor into his home and portable studio. He camps out at the site in the conceptual stage to get a feel for the place and its many variables. He's looking for a solution to what he feels is ...

'... the lack of connection between the LAND and the ARCHITECT. Whereas landscape architects once spent significant time on the site, the profession now finds some of the most creative minds shoehorned into cubicles. This seemed like a loss to me, and I wondered how it might be possible to create a space for real understanding within the profession—the kind of understanding that occurs from seeing a day of shadows move across a place, or listening to and observing people in a space.'


Read the full post here  . {via re-nest via dwell }

42 bikes for every car

As I'm struggling to meet parking bylaw requirements for a condo site design I'm working on, 1.5 spaces for every unit, I stumble upon this photo:

Wishful thinking, but if we all switched to the Brompton folding bike , I'd have a much more interesting job designing public space rather than parking lots. (Not to mention all of the other benefits). {via spacingtoronto }

Andrea Cochran: Landscapes

One of my favorite Landscape Architects has recently published a book, Andrea Cochran: Landscapes . I first came upon Cochran's work as a student. The powerful simplicity of her work was exactly what I was struggling to achieve in my designs. I contacted Cochran's studio in San Fransisco with hope of an internship, but true to her regional preferences, they hire locally.

While minimalism can often be cold, Cochran's designs are emotional, evoking feelings of peace, strength and grace. Through her innovative use of  materials, regional sensibility, and adept sense of space she creates places that are beautiful, functional and socially and ecologically sustainable. Cochran has mastered the art of '... as simple as it is, but no simpler'. 

Needless to say... I love her work. When I'm feeling disenchanted with my own designs, looking through her projects motivates and inspires. {via Landscape+Urbanism }

I missed PARK(ing) Day!

 Pioneered in 2005 by Rebar in 2005, PARK(ing) Day is a one day (Sept. 18) event where people take over metered parking spaces and create temporary parkettes or other public spaces. Last year over 500 installations where created worldwide. The essence of the event is to question car-oriented infrastructure. {via Polis}

Speaking of questioning car-oriented infrastructure, Nocturne, Halifax's equivalent to Nuit Blanche, is featuring an installation entitled The Parkades Project. "Exploring the spaces of car-parks this project is inspired by the movement of people, inherent architectural acoustics and environmental considerations. Through rhythm, scent, light and sound this piece creates an aesthetic experience for pedestrians in a building for cars..." This is definitely at the top of my must-see list for Nocturne.