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Archive for July, 2010

New X Prize to Spur Growth of Next Generation Oil Spill Clean-up Solutions

Posted in Environment, Waste, Water Management on 07/29/2010 | 1 Comment »

The X Prize Foundation launched an X Challenge to generate new, more efficient approaches to oil spill clean-up. Like other X prizes, which have spurred major investments in space travel, robotic lunar modules, and cars that can make 100 miles per gallon, this new challenge is meant to create next generation technologies and industries. Wendy Schmidt, President of the Schmidt Family Foundation, has [...]

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Urban Agriculture, Climate Change Ideas Competitions Announce Winners

Posted in Agriculture, Climate Change, Landscape Architecture, Sustainable Design, Water Management on 07/29/2010 | Leave a Comment »

Terreform ONE announced the winners of an ideas competition focused on creating productive green spaces in cities. “Mowing to Growing: Reinventing the American Lawn” called for new strategies for urban food production that can leverage existing infrastructure and work well within local conditions (see earlier post). A high-profile jury considered 202 entries from 850 people in 20 countries, including concepts that offered [...]

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London’s Bike Superhighways

Posted in Smart Growth, Sustainable Transportation, Urban Design on 07/27/2010 | 2 Comments »

London just opened the first two in a series of 12 bicycle superhighways planned for key commuter routes. London Mayor Boris Johnson said the new series of bike highways will launch a “cycling revolution” in the city, writes Inhabitat. The textured lanes are 1.5 meters wide and painted bright blue, providing perhaps a safer space for riding than conventional lanes, which are usually narrower and separated [...]

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In the U.S. Senate, Climate Bill Dead for Now

Posted in Climate Change, Policy and Regulation on 07/23/2010 | 4 Comments »

Even though this year is on track to become the hottest on record worldwide, the U.S. Senate is postponing introduction of a comprehensive climate and energy bill until September, writes Reuters. Instead Senate majority leader Harry Reid will push forward a more narrowly-focused energy bill that will reconsider offshore oil drilling rules and promote energy efficiency. Some argue that delaying action [...]

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Tiny Taxonomy

Posted in Gardens, Land Art, Landscape Architecture, Public Spaces on 07/21/2010 | 2 Comments »

Rosetta Sarah Elkin, a garden designer turned landscape architect, is presenting her installation, “Tiny Taxonomy,” at the International Garden Festival of Les Jardins de Métis in Quebec. The piece focuses in on the “most inconspicuous and often ignored players” in nature — plants on the forest floor. The installation offers a partial inventory of some of these tiny, yet critical operators in forest ecoystems. [...]

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Greening Diplomatic Grounds

Posted in Climate Change, Green Buildings, Landscape Architecture, Sustainable Design, Wildlife on 07/21/2010 | Leave a Comment »

Nine U.S. landscape architecture students will spend the first two weeks of August studying the grounds surrounding the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva and drafting a sustainable landscape design that can be phased in over five years. The students will work alongside three Swiss landscape architecture students, and under the guidance of [...]

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National Park Service Picks Best-designed Parks

Posted in Historic Preservation, Landscape Architecture, Public Spaces, Urban Design, Urban Revitalization on 07/21/2010 | Leave a Comment »

The National Park Service’s first Designing the Parks competition announced that a total of 17 projects won honor and merit awards. The Park Service received almost 70 entries submitted by public organizations and private design firms in 20 states and five countries. To win, parks had to engage people, embody sustainability, break traditional barriers, involve the community in decision-making [...]

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It’s Time to Take Material Reuse Mainstream

Posted in Opportunities, Sustainable Materials on 07/16/2010 | 1 Comment »

FreshKills Park Blog noticed that the Reuse Conference and Expo, the first national reuse conference in the U.S., is coming to Raleigh, North Carolina in October. The conference is organized by the Reuse Alliance. Garth Johnson, author of “1,000 Ideas for Creative Reuse,” will provide the keynote address. According to the E.P.A., only 40 percent of building and [...]

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For London’s 2012 Olympic Games, Man-Made Wetlands and Wildlife Habitat

Posted in Landscape Architecture, Public Spaces, Urban Design, Water Management on 07/15/2010 | 1 Comment »

George Hargreaves, FASLA, a leading U.S. landscape architect, is working with British landscape architecture firm LDA Design to create a $200 million, 2.5 square-kilometer site for the 2012 Olympic games in London. One key goal of the project is to ensure the park will serve the community well once the games are over: Out of the 2.5-square kilometer site, one [...]

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Bay Bridge Gateway Park Plans Move Forward

Posted in Landscape Architecture, Public Spaces, Sustainable Transportation, Urban Design, Urban Revitalization on 07/15/2010 | Leave a Comment »

With the new Bay Bridge expected to open in San Francisco in 2013, city officials are also laying the groundwork for a new Bay Bridge Gateway Park where the bridge touches down. The primary goal is to turn an area that is now a chaotic mess of ramps into a unified public space. The new park will also restore the industrial area [...]

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