CONTENTS A U G Ullil 2 00t

VOLUME t •• N U MBER '

LAND MATTERS 117

LETTERS 118
RIPRAP 120
Spiral gyrationJ, art in the landscape
(architlXturc /inn), a branch edifice in
CentraL Park, and Iculptures will
standing in fire-ravaged Aust,alia.
Eerlted by Linda Mcintyre

DESIGN 126

Catch ille Wave

A redesigm·J entry pww at the
National Aquarium in Baltimore
Jpic('s up fbI' city'l Inner Harbor
and brings the aquarium's miHion
out into the site.
By Danlal Jost , ABU

URBAN PARKS 136

Lost Space Pa rk
Can good deJign make anything out
0/11 leftover bit 0/land next to II
truck route?
By GWenath Newman Lalgh,
Internailonal AIliLA

TECHNOLOGY 142

Hidden Resources
It's time for II sustainable approach to
groundwater resources.
By Jama. L. Sip •• , ASUo

RESIDENTIAL DESIGN 150

Stepping to tJ,e Shore

An island offthe Washingtoll coast iJ
the .Ictting/or t1 woodland garden_
By Clai. Enlow

ON THE COYER
Pool PadU)n f"ml m Napa Va/fry. c,~f<""iIl.
won an A.IlA HOIwr A"",d in Ih, F,p"MIlIi.1l
v,,<1Vt Cl11t"f.0f'J. {Mgr 78.
Ph . t ' I,~ph 0 J.,.. S,h .. ;,j,

4 l llndSCIJH!Architecture AUGU$T 2001

PRACTICE158 BOOKS 1104

The Nexi Cencration PRODUCT PROFILES 110.

Of Your FinTl DISPLAY AD INDEX 110.
Dlle owller luYI out (hc steps/or ensun"ng thllt
your prlKticc wi" (Qminuca/ter you retire. BUYER ' S GUIDE INDEX 1109
II,. Jama ..... van Sweden, '''11..\
CRITIC AT LAROE 1120
GREEN ROOFS 1 84
Tharne-s Washout
Higll-Mainl ('llaJlCf'SUprrSlaJ' Kienast Vogt's lantkcape delign wrgely /aia
The green roo/OIl the Californiallcodemy LOII/wn's Tate Modem Ar' Museum.
o/Sdenccs is a stunning/eat 0/design. B,. Mark Hin"'aw
What does i( take to kCt.,p this I/('UJ icon
ready/or i(sclosc-up?
B,. Linde Mo;:lnt,.r.

6 1 landiupeArchihcture ucusr 2001

 THE MAGAZINE
or THE AMERICAN SOCIETY
or LANOSCAPE ARCHITECTS

J. William Thnmpson , Fl\ S LA

IE 0 ITO R 1 blll(lI11 Jl .~OII @ U s/u. ore
Li sa S pt'(· kha,·(11
MANAGING EDITOR I h p f'ck llflr(/' @fls/ lI .o rg

C hd slopllt'l" i\1(" Gt't'

ART DIRECTOR 1 c m cge c @(I ! / tI .org

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WRITER / EDITOR 1 d jos l @tls/(I .o rg

Li s a S("hultz
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CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
.lam' Hoy Bro w n ; Lake Dou g la~ , ASLr\
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F,'a nk Ed gl"'lllll l\1 a nin ; Linrla Mc-Inl )'l'('
E. Lynn Milll"', FI\ SLA: Jaml's L. Sip" s, ASL,\
Kim SOl"Vi g; J a ml's Urha n , F;\51....\

'~(l • • II · MAIL C OMM I HT. TO l "IIO'IIIU I

. UFF M I MI'" 011 •• HO VIA U.'.
MU~ TO
13. EYE .TIIEIT H W, .... A . NIHIITOH . D C 2 000 1- " 31

EDITORIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Fred e"i(·k It. Sh>ine,', FA5LA , Chai,.
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B,·ian B" lm, ASLA
T, Cm'h ' " C ,·awfnnl , A5LA
Davitl C UIl t' I', f\ SLA
Ba dia !":, Faga . FAS I....\
Mid,a,'1 M. .lames . f\ SLA
Todd O. John son , FASLA
Bia'lI'li E. Koenig, AS LA
F,·ank L,' wi s, ASL,\
NlHH'Y S, Md.,c an , 1\ 51..1\
Sl'oll O. Heese , AS LA
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Honald B. Sawh ill , ASLA
Tal'a ' . Sawye ,', AS LA
John Stl'(') k, S tUfI,' nt AS LI\

EDITORIAL : 101 _ 116_1366 PAXI201 _ 198_0061

lANO",CA'-E ARCHItECHI RE MA II .ZIHE Ii ALSO AVAIU8U IN O ' OITA~ fORMAT.

CIACt.E _ ON REAO(R 6ER'o'ICI: CARl) OIl
OROER TNROU~M WWW. Z.N.0 . COIlf / UIlfORBYCAl~INII1 . . . . . . U·.Sl. ( 2152) .
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81Ludltlp. Are~lt.ctur. lU'UIT 2001

 THE MAGAZINE
OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY
OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

Ann Loo p ~ r Pryor

PUBLISHER
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ADVERTISING SALES
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SUBSCRIPTIONS
• .............
ElItftds ill Asn~ (902 Moni ea B u,' kley
REPRESENTATIVE
.i U".H: ripl iOlu@(, .d (, . tl rg
• ~dunble
WOftI tnd CoiotfiSl.
REPRINTS I " CII ISSUE S

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10 I Landscape Archilecture Au cun IO n

 ASLA
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
PRESIDENT
'\"gela O. 0)", nsJ.,\
PRESIDENT·E~EC'

G~ry D. S" .. II, FAS!..I

IMMlDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
P''''I'~ Ilowa ... t. VAS I.A
VICE" PRESIDENT'
l'a",da M. Bl"u~h, .~St~
Gar~ A. llrowII, 1'4.S I'"
Tcrt")· l.. Ckmc"ts. ASIA
Hri .. " J. D""gl,,·I"t> . FASI. ,\
JOlLathan Mudlcr .•·~S I.A
1'1"'ma ~ R, 'f", .. 11" , .·~ S l ,~
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Na il")' C. g"n",,·,'11.-
SECRETARY
Ma,") L. Hall"on, ~1 ""() " a"Y ASI.A
TREASURER
G~"ald 1'. 1:1,-""1;.·,,
TRUSTEES
E:Jli~ L. A""",,·z. F\~ I .
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Il yan C. C"II;" •• lS I. I
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STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE
J"j,n SI,·,'yk. S llId~nl lS I. I
"~RLI~M!NTAR'~N
[)""ald W. L.u li", I'ISI.I
CIRCLE ,..,()tI FIE.oDEA SERVICE CAm OR 00 TO HTTPlIViFO.IiOTIMS.COMt.1:l<98- ' «.l
12 1 landSCilpe Architecture Aucun IO n
In Search of aGood, Cheap Green Roof
HAT WTll THE FUTl/REOFGREENROOFSLOOKUKE?
W
\'Vill it be some variation on (he "srarchirect" green roof
at the California Academy of Sciences (CAS), above, mul-
tiplied many rimes over?
Probably nOL Sure, it's stunning, but the CAS roof is
also relatively high maintenance. Corren me ifrm wrong, but I
always thought the point of green roofs was that they would be
mostly self-sustaining- nor needing any irrigation beyond plam
establishment, nor weeding, mowing, or fenilizing. The CAS roof,
however, has a pop-up sprinkler system fhat, given San Fmncisco's
dry seasons, will probably have to be used in perpetuity. And part-
ly bec,mse of the plant choices, rhe roof must be frequently hand
weeded and fertilized.
No question, green-roof"srurchirff£ure" has its place in mclay's
building environment, because the green-roof movement is still
JUSt gaining afoorhold in this countl)'. Doubtless many Americans
are unaware that such systems even exist. So it's important char
these early "demonstrJ.tion" green roofs be eye-catching. But we
should also understand that demonstration projectS are mainly
there to promote the genre, not to serve as PrototyiX'"S for what
w ill be built in the future.
Take the Chicago City Hall green roof as another famous ex-
ample. 1 have personally visi ted it. It is stunning and inspiring-
like a patch of Midwestern prairie perched above the city, abloom
with wildflowers and buzzing with dragonflies and other insects
amid the tall, waving grasses. The eX{Xlsure it has garnered has
done a great deal to bring attemion to the genre, but its $2.5
million price rag disqualifies it, tOO, as a model to be emulated,
How can we progress beyond a few high-profile green roofs
sprinkled here and there in a few of our cities? Scale is what will
make g reen roofs work as an ecosystem service. If they are fC'".llly
to ameliorate storm water runoff and the hem island effen, we
need whole city blocks that are green roofed corner to corner, \'qe
need lots of multiacre green roofs on big-box stores on the urban
fringe. Whm will it take for these to happen?
A few local governments are offering incentives for buildings
with roofs that soak up rain and keep ir from overloading the city
sewer system. That's part of the solution. \'qe also need low-cost,
foolproof systems put in by experienced installers who know
green roofs because that is the core of their business. But if green
roofs become a streamlined, mass-production enterprise dedicat-
ed to greening America's rooftops, will designers then have a role?
Landscape arc h itects who continue to have a role in the future
will be those who have proved they are up to rhe job. \'qirh green
roofs, a lor seems to FJ.II through the cracks between the draw-
ing board and the final produce. Landscape architects who get se-
rious about this project type will have to Ie-.lrn about the tech-
nology, test their proouns, and pay attention to what happens
on the job site---and afterward. Do green roofs present enough
of an opportunity for landscape architects to make that kind of
learning curve worth the time and effort?
J. William "Bill" Thompson , FASLA
Editor I blbompsOII@as/a.org
AUcun ZII ' Landscape Architecture 111

Kudos for earl Steinill's Sketches
of uWMcape
IPICKED UP MY JUNE COPY
A trhiurfllre and immediately homed in 011
rhecoverskerchofTulum. My first thought:
ThaIs a Steil/lIZ mk drawlIIg. Sure eoough,
there was a lengthy, beautifully illustrated
arricle laying OUt Carl Sceinirz's techniques
of quickly sketching landscapes. His piece
brought back fond memories of our infor-
mal session with brush und ink at rhe H ar-
vard Graduate School of Design at [he end of
my loeb Fellowship. As he so astUtely 0b-
served, my furure was not in {hac medium.
I'll never forgee the pirying look he gave me
as hestoOO over my hastily drJ.wll landscape.
111anks to tAM for giving us Sceinirz's
"Sketches from [he ROJd" and allowing us (Q
see more of his beautiful artwork and, more
i mportam, see how he reaches ochers the rech-
niques required to record images while on (he
run. Steinirz, in addition to his art and writ-
ings, continues w make significant contri-
butions in the fields oflandscape architecture
and landscape ecology via one ofhis star stu-
dents, David Hulse at dle UniversityofOre-
gon, and many others I've had the privilege
w work with here in the Pacific Northwest.
MIKE HOIJCK, HONORARY ASLA
Urban Grrt'm/Jtl{eJ lmtitlltf
P()1'tland, Oregon
EAR CARL,
D I have circulated your wonderful work
in "Sketches from the Road" wmy g radwlte
studems in my summer graduate class on
landscape imerpretation. Bmvo, Carl! Fan-
tastic work that is inspiring to all our stu-
dents and better hlCulty out there.
JON RODlEK, FASLA
Departlflent 0/ L:mdJra/X Architectllre & Urban
Planning. TexaJ A&M Uniz'efJity
ls l llndSCilpe Architecture Aucun IO n
LETTERS
, , Thanks for
teaching others the
techniques required to
record images while
on the run. "
Inspired to Blog
I NSPIRED BY THE LATEST ISSUE of LAM
("The Dirt on Blogging," June), I am
starting up a new blog a{xlUt design, tech-
nology, and whe re they intersect. See
http://desigllplllSta-h./lIordprm. {(I1Il.
FRANK). VARRO, STUDENT ASLA
U nil'erJify 0/ AlaSJarhmfflS. Alflixm
Restore the National Mall? You Bet Your Ule
N ARTIGE in theJune 20edition of The
A\VdJh;'lgtoll Post compelled me finally w
respond to a letter in the June issue of
UJlldirLljJe ArchitiXImr. Your March edition's
Land Matters column dealt with the ad-
ministf".ltion's propo>ed $200 mi llion grant
from the economic stimulus package to pay
to refurbish the National Mall in \'{fash-
ingwn, D.c.
Jeffrey Williams, Student ASLA, a stu-
dent at Virginia Tech, writes in your June
issue in regard to the congressional deci-
sion to eliminate that funding: "With
many highly skilled citizens unable to find
decent-paying work, the restoration of the
National Mall is a luxury."
True, too many highly skilled citizens are
now without employment. But \'{!illiams
Tulum, Mexico
Fdi!s to consider that many more less-skilled
Americans are also without Jobs. On June
20, The Washillgtoll Post published unem-
ployment figures for Washington, D.C.
T he overall jobless rate for the District
reached 10.7 percent in May, a figure sur-
passing the national average. That pain is
not equally shared. According w the Prut
article, "In the District, the gap can be seen
ward by ward. In April, in the largely affiu-
ent and wh ite Ward 3, the unemployment
rate was 2.5 percent, according to the
Brookings Institution. In the predomi-
nantly poor and black \'{fard 8, the rate was
23.3 percent."
Those funds dedicated co refurbishing
the National Mall would not simply have
rebuilt a venerabl e landscape but also
helped to rebuild lives and f.lmilies deci-
mated by local job loss. Digging, resod-
ding, paving- these are tasks ideally suit-
ed to reemploy the less-skilled workers of
our city. By virtue of its constitutional des-
ignation as a "district" instead of a state,
\'{!ashington, D.C., is allowed no congres-
sional representation (although Congress
has seen fit to view us as a state for taxation
purposes), so it was f".lSy for various sena-
tors and representatives to frame this deci-
sion as a frivolous, aesthetic issue and re-
move funding in an ovenvhelming display
of "frugality."
Investment in landscape development
needs to be viewed not merely through the
lens of aesthetic appeal or suited ness to
popular recreational need but by an exam-
ination of its contribution to a wider s0-
cial good.
DEANNA SHANTZ
\('a,hington. D.C
 A .I'ligh f~)" irregllior fook
GOLDEN
D by
Desi<rl1 . the NmMel's
A u.K. garden will promote wildjlower
learning throllgh math.
OOTED IN NATURE AND NUMBERS,
R the design ora proposed new building
at the British National \'V'ildflower
Cent re, run by environmental charity
L1ndlife, takes its cue from the math found
in nature. The new building, designed by
U.K. firm Ian Simpson Architects, will
stand inside the center·s walled garden on
the edge of the 35-acre Victorian Court
Hey Park ne-.lr Liverpool in England.
C e ntact Linda Mcintyre at ImtlntJu @Js/a '''K .
20 I llndsCilpe Archiledure Aucun 20 0 1
A domed mulcifunctional space forexhi-
bitions and child-centered learning activities
and a curved rammed-earth wing housing a
children'scbssmom,asmff mom, and moms
(or seed cleaning, sowing, and storage will
make up the two main parts of the building.
Armed with the client's brief, the archi-
tectS had co ··connect wildflowers with ed-
ucation and mathematical and scientific
learning,"' says project architect Ernst Ter
Horst. They chose co work with the Fi-
bonacci sequence, the underlying math
found in many natural structures.
Looking like a daisy disk of flowers, the
liglmveight and waterproof domed struc-
ture will have some 300 colored or irides-
BY LI '.: I) ,\ \ l c l NTr B I~
cent circular petal-like reflectors arranged
in Fibonacci spirals on the oUtside. Dur-
ing the day, light wi ll bounce off the
"petals" and in through lenses, lighting up
the timber-framed interior. Night light-
ing will make the metal petals glow.
At 263 feet long, the curved Fibonacci-
spiral rammed-earth wall will embrace the
edge of the existing wildflower garden.
"We didn't want the building to be too im-
posing,'· says Horst, "or in stark contrast to
the flower beds. Because that·s the most
important thing about the whole cemer. In
a way we wanted the building to be like a
flower in amongst the flower beds."
- ROBERT SUCH

MIXED USE
Arts , Desion
" and Fine
BalOIl Rouge landscape architects !/take
their office space u/ork (JIJertime as a
gal/ery for local artists.
ESTERN SOCIETY may be ripping to-
W ward a pos[capiralist future. Today,
however, it takes a large measure of
cold, hard capital to put on an an exhibit.
One landscape architecture finn in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana, is helping Oll{ in these
IS ITORS TO THE Cantor Roof
V Garden at New York City's
M etropolitan Museum of Art
might be surprised by what they A
nllJSe!ltIl
find up there for the nex t few
momhs: an enormous tangle of
metallic branches. \'{1hat looks
like the galvanized detritus
from a hurricane in Central
Park is the latest in artist Roxy
Paine's ··Dendroid" series of
naturalistic sculptures ren-
dered in industrial materials.
IHaflJ/rom, the biggest of the
Dendroids to date, is 130 feet
long and 45 feet wide, filling
up mos t of the roof garden
space, and 29 feet high. The
Brobdingnagian scale is both
awe inspiring and appropriate
to the installation·s hlCkdrop of
22 1 landSCilpe Archileclun Auc un 2009
hard rimes by mulrimsking irs work space
as a gallery for local artists.
\'{1hile rradicional galleries rely on (he
sale of an to pay the rem, Gallery 635 at
Joseph FurT Design Studio provides a
space for local artists to exhibit their work
at a very low cost. "W/e make a living as
landscape architects; offering (his space ro
[he local arrs community noc only sup-
portS (he anists themselves bue helps gec
[he public downtown after hours," says
Joseph FurT, ASLA. And attracting people
downtown is central [Q [he North Boule-
PIPE DREAM
'Maelstrom' at the Met
installation ServeJ as a JlniqJle roofgarden.
vard Town Square project that Furr's office
is currently working on with the Baton
Rouge Downtown Development District.
This confluence of imerests is also ap-
parem in the initial exhibit at Gallery 635,
"Seeing the Lmdscape Breathe, a series of
U
large-format digital phowgraphic mon-
tage p rims on canvas by Cat Marshall.
Marshall is a professor of landscape ardll-
tecture at Louisiana State University, and
her phowg raphic work is an extension of
her professional work. Bydigitally manip-
ulating still photographs of various forest
communities in Louisiana, she has formed
layered images that combine different
scales, degrees of sharpness, blurring, and
opacity. ThiS structural rccomposirion
mimics human interactions with the ma-
terial world and permits the viewer to en-
gage the image in ways that evoke lived
experience. Marshalrs artistic inquiry pro-
vides a rich cross-pollination into the pro-
fessional field of landscape architecture in
the qualitative understanding and manip-
ulation of space.
The next exhibit, uGmffiti by the Yard-
Urban Art Commercialized and Decon-
textualized," is scheduled for late summer
and will feature a large original work by
local gmffiti artists. It will bedivided into
a grid of three-foot squares with the pieces
sold to the highest bidders.
- JENN I FER ZHI., ASLA
Central Park and the high-rise
buildings beyond. T hat mix of nat-
uralism and artifice also plays OUt
visually in the piece itself- in pho-
tOgraphs the form appears
organic, but up cla;e the indus-
trial o rigin of the materials
comes to the fore.
Paine, who hand welded the
seven-ton p iece in his upstate
New York studio with acrewof
six, says he wanted the work to
evoke five states simultaneous-
ly: a downed forest destroyed by
an uncontrollable force, t he
chuming and malevolent force
itself, the idea ofhtreeness," a
pipeline run amok, and a men-
tal storm such as a seizure.
T he installation is on view
through October 25 .

Smvivors: Public Art Edition
Stunning sculptures endure in a ravaged AJlStra/ian landscape.
OR MANY YEARS, [he whimsical and
F distinctive artworks found within [he
dense forest of Bruno Torfs's Arc and
Sculpture Garden charmed and intrigued
visitors from around (he world. Located in
Marysville, 60 miles outside Melbourne,
Australia, rhe artworks were an evolving
village of life-size ceramic figures amid
gnarled cree roots, soaring trunks, and
fields of tree ferns.
Many of the pieces were inspired by the
landscape. On [he forese floor, a head we-dr-
ing scuba gear rose from a crack in rhe
earth. Warty faces peered out of mossy
scumps. Children huddled rogecher in play
beneath rhe wwering fronds of a tree fern.
The garden wasn't so much an exhibition
as a discovery of another world within the
landscape of the woodland Aoor.
On the evening of February 7, 2009, a
Ilrestorm raged through Marysville,Glrry-
ing with it the force of 1,500 Hiroshima-
sized atomic OOmbs. 'nle inferno killed 39
Et tu, LAM?
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we're working on and get ,our lugestions.
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24 1 llndSCilpe Architecture Aucun
HAI OFCLAY
of [he town's 500 residents, razed nearly
400 buildings, and destroyed more than
370,000 acres of land. The incineration of
[he sculprure garden appeared to have de-
molished 13 years of hard work and dedi-
cation by Torfs-there were 15 pieces on
display when {he garden opened in 1996;
by 2009, the collection numbered 135.
Before the fires, top, the sculptures basked in a s,lYan setling. But even in the attennath of the
flames, here, many of the statues remain, burned but unbowed.
20 0 1
Bm thanks to the heat-enduring proper-
ties of clay, about halfof the terra-cOfta sculp-
tures survived the blaze. Most of the damage
caused to the sculptures was due to tailing
trees and debris. Andrew Kade, Torfs'sson-
in-law, was struck by how the newly stark
landscape amplified the tone of the remain-
ing pieces. "111e sad ones seemed sadder. 'The
contemplative ones appeared to be deeper in
thought and carried he-J.vier burdens."
ToseetheslUlprnre garden now is to wit-
ness a blackened and naked landscape filled
with cet'"J.fl1ic ghosts, their hiding places ex-
post-d, the scorched exprt""SSions unsettling.
Torn has begun the process of de-J.nt!p, re-
pair, and rebuilding, aided by famliy,
friends, staff, and an art'".lY of volunteers.
He's hopeful the sculpture garden's re-
turn WIll rejuvenate the community. "\Vle
want to resrore the garden as quickly as
possible," he says. "If we can bring people
rnlCk to Marysville soon, [his will bring
much-needed hope ro rhecommunity. It is
going to be a difficult and challenging
rime, but everyone from (he town J have
spoken to h,1S a lot ofoptimism despire los-
ing so much. We will recover."
For more information about Bruno Torn's
Arrand Sculprnre Garden and rhe rebuild-
ing effOrts, visit IlllllllJ. br"'/I)Sdrt.(WIl.
- G WENfTH NEWMAN LEIGH,
iNTER NATIONAl. AS].A
 ODAY, BALTI MORE 'S Inner H arbor
is a popular destination for locals

T
to
and rourists alike. 00 weekends
rhe area is filled with prople-
crowds so thick that jr'sorren hard
move. Bur it hasn 't always been
rh is way.
ElJior Rhodeside, FASLA, remembers
what rhe harbor was like 40 yt"MS ago,
befOre rhe visionary master plan devel-
oped by Wallace McHarg Roberts &
Todd (now WRT)wJS realized. As a Stu-
dem at the University of Pennsylvania
in rhe late 1960s, Rhodeside partici-
pared in a studio project in Baltimore
led by If-wid A. Wallace, William H.
Roberts, "i\SLA, and Ian McHarg. The

Pier 3 ilt tile Baltimore Inner Harbor WII

Iransfonned from ;II barren piau, below, to
a li\<elier 5J)4lee with a 5ignature pavement,
~ft. The bands of tIMor are raUler thick,
milklnl them more dramatic from abow-e
tha .. wile. , . are _ alUlI! thrOlllh the site.

i•
i
i
Aredesigned entry plaza at the National Aquarium in Ba~imo
spices up the city'sInner Harbor and brings the aquarium's
mission out into thestte. By Daniel Jost, ASlA i•
26 l landlC.pe Arehlhehr. ~U'UST ZOOt
DESIGN
The project is located in the middle of Balti·
more's Inner Harbor, abolle, which has become
an icon of waterfront reyitaliution. A plan by
Rhodeside & Harwell, left, shows the new de-
sign for Pier 3: IAI existing building, National
Aquarium in Baltimore; IBI new addition;
lei new ticket booth; IDI shade structure;
lEI bus drop-off; IFI Coastal Region exhibit;
IGI Piedmont Region exhibit; IHI Mountain
Region exhibit; a nd III map of Chesa pea ke
Bay Watershed in paving.
warerfrom was run down then, dark and
dreary with views ci the water hidden by
dilapidated warehouses. Rhodeside remem-
bers delving into [he site's history and
spe'.lking to community members about
their hopes for the haroor's future.
The studio was a powerful learning ex-
perience that helped shape Rhodeside's
understanding of urban design. Over the
years, he would often come back to the In-
ner Harbor and marvel ar rhe rmnsforma-
tion that made Baltimore a model for wa-
terfronts around the world. So when his
Alexandria, Virginia-based firm Rhode-
side & Harwell won the contract to re-
design Pier 3 here, it was an unusually per-
sonal victory. ·'\'\Ie competed very hard for
that project ," he remembers. ··Finally get-
ting a chance to do real design for a place
I studied in school was extmordinary."'
Pier 3 is one of the most prominent 10-
cations on the Inner Harbor; it is one of
rwo piers occupied by the National Aquar-
ium in Baltimore. T he aquarium, which
opened in 1981, is Maryland·s most visit-
ed tourist aHracrion and the most popular
aquarium on the East Coast, drawing more
than 1.6 million visitors each year. The
original building, designed by Cambridge
Seven Associates, has become an icon of
modern architecture.
However, the entry plaza Cambridge
Seven designed was considerably less suc-
cessful. Because the aquarium is so popu-
lar, visitors have to purchase their tickets
outside and wait unti l the time primed on
their tickets to enter. The original plaza
was a field of empty pavement with few
trees to shade visitors, so it did not make a
very comfortable or interesting waiting
room. ·· In the summer, it was pretty rough
for visitors out in the sun,'· remembers
Jack Cover, the general curatOr for the
aquarium. ··And {the space] didn·t really
talk about our mission."
The aquarium hired Rhodeside & Har-
well about 10 years ago as parr of a larger
building expansion project. The firm
worked closely with the aquarium staffand
architects from Chermayeff Sollogub &
Poole (founded by three former partners of
Cambridge Seven Associates) to develop a
cohesive vision for the site. T hey faced a
number of challenges. In I9{)4, debris from

Exhibits spill out from the new building, above
ilnd below, ilnd into the IiIndKilpe, interpreting
Milrylilnd's COil still ilnd Piedmont regions.
a major fire had been used to backfill the
site, so rhe soils were seriously compro-
mised and all plaming areas would require
new soi l. Also, rhey had to work around a
complex collecrion of underground uriliry
lines thar service rhe aqu;lrium.
Today, Pier 3 has been renamed rhe
Harry & Jeanene \'Veinberg \"'Varerfronr
Park. A new design, completed in 2006,
brings rhe aquarium's mission of environ-
mental education and stewardship out into
the sire by interpreting Maryland's native
ecosystems and using sustainable design
principles whenever possible.
O ne of the mosrdisrinctive fe-J.ruresof the
new plaza is its wavy paving. Most of (he
landscape Improvements made co Balti -
more's Inner Hari:xJrover the years have been
filirly simple in their design. The ground
p lane has generally not made any strong
artistic statements; instead, large fields of red
brick pavement are usually used to tie the
haroor together as a district. "'\'Ve wanted a
paving pattern that would be the signature
fur {he pier," says Rhooeside. 111e firm de-
signed undularing bands of pavemenr-
meam (Osuggesr ripples orwaves-rhat a1-
{emare berween light and dark gray. TIle
paving covers much of the pier, including a
bus drop-off zone, and flows into the lobby
of the aquarium's new glass addition.
As the paving is flowing in, the exhibits
seem to be spilling out. 111e planting areas
within the plaza show a cross section of
Maryland's ecosystems, from the salt marsh-
es along rhe coosral plain to the piedmont to
Plant List
Coastal Region
TREES
Piros 1Eeda . Loblolly pine
SHRUBS
Bacchans hailinifolia .. Eastern bacchars
Qelhra aln/folia · Coastal sweetpepperbush
/lex g.labra·N gra' • Inkberry
I.'ex verticilfata'Red Sprite' • Winterberry
Myrica cefltera 'luray' • Wax myrt'e
PERENNIALS
Lfatris spicata " Dense b'azing star
Solidago sempefVireos . SeaSide go'denrod
Typha angLIstifolia · NarrOl'>'ie8f C<lttail
GRASSES
Spartma allemitloro · Srrooth co'dgrass
Spartma cynowroides . B g cordgrass
Spartina patens . Sa tmeadOlv cordgrass
Piedmont Region
TREES
Acer rubrom • Red maple
CliOilanthJs virginicus . Wn.te frJlgetree
Magnolia frasen · Mountain magnolia
Magnolia Wginianavar virglniafl3 · Northern
sWlletbay magnolia
Nyssa sy/va!k::avar. biflora · Swamp tupe 0
SHRUBS
Cephdlanltius occiden!a!lS · Common buttonbush
llex decidua'Finch's Golden' • Possumilaw
lloa Vlrgmica 'Henry's Garnet' • Virginia sweelsp re
RllOdodelidroll max.mum . Great au'el
Rhcx1odenr:irOil visrosum . Swamp azalea
Rosa pa/ustris · Slvamp rose
Rubus a/leghenieflSis . AI egheny biackoerry
Vxcll')!(.im corymbosum · HghbllSh blooberry
Vi/)()rrom acentollUm . Map'e'eaf 'lbumum
Viburnum denta:um . Southern arrOIl'.YOOd
PERENNIALSIFIRNS
Arisaema triphytlum · .klck in tile pulp t
Cimici!uga racerrliJSa . Back bugbarw
Erythronium aibidl)m . Whte faw-nily
Onocf(]a sensibilis • Sens.tlve fern
OsmUlida dfillamomoa . Onl1<lmon fem
Podophyllum peltatum . Mayapple
GROUND COVERS
Asarum canadense . Ganadkln II-ildgingcr
Tlare/fa cordifolia . HBarteaf fO<lmflf.rwer
BOG PLANTS
Iris versicolor . Harlequin bluefiag
Juncus effusl..'s . Common rush
Pei/Endra Virginica . Green arrlJ,v arum
POiltooeria corda!a . Pickerer.veed
Aucun lOot Lilndscape Architecture 129
 rhe Allegheny Mountains. As you ap-
proach the aquarium, (he eb~J.(ionsof the
planters rise subcly to inrerprer rhe eleva-
rions of rhese areas, building up to a rhree-
Story waterfall inside the building with
ranks showing narive aquaric life.
Though rhe plaZ;I'S contexr is not al-
lowed to dictare the design, ir also wasn't
ignored. T he landscapearchirects use a 20-
foor-wide, red-brick promenade, which
marches those rhroughou( (he harl:xJr, to
fmme the pier. And where an existing brick
path bisecred rhe plaza, cutting i( in half,
rhey have woven in red brick among (he
wavy forms. l l lis solution highlights [he
path withom dividing rhe plaza visually.
The outdoorexhibirs representing rhe
ecosystems are not very large-it was im-
the POSS I BIL I TIES are ENDLESS!
ClAa.E to ON READER SERVICE CAKl OR
00 TO HTlPlI1NFO.HOTlMS.COM'l3<\I054IO
30 I llndsCilpe Architecture Aucun IOn
An exhibit with it small water feature inter-
preu the mountains along the western edge
of the Chesapeake Ba)" Watershed, ..bore.
The design originally included a cobblestone
edge on all tree pits to keep people from
walking through; howerer, this was not imple-
mented, and shortly aHer the plaza was com-
pleted, the plants were roped off, below.
While this treatment works for the larger
areas with taller vegetation, it looks some-
what clunky surrounding the tree pits.
porrant to keep rhe paved areas spacious
for people milling around- bur (hey are
packed widl many different species. TIlin
steel retaining walls painred green pro-
vide support along rhe edge of (he planr-
ing areas closest to the building. T he
 MountaTn Region
TREES
Am{]/ancl~&f artJorea . Cornmoo serviceberry
Cr:rcis canadensis . Eastern redi:u:l
():)roos fbOOa·Qcoj Nne' • Fb.~r;ng 0Cig.\'()()j ~ilit e)
Juniperus virglniana · Eastern redGedar
Oxydendrum artJoreum • Sour.vood
Pmus slro/xls 'Fastlgiala' • Eastern l'lhte pme
Querws coccinea · SGJrtet oak
SHRUBS
Alnus serrulata · Hazel alder
Comptonia peregnll3 . Sweet fern
Fo!flergi"a major · MoLJrltaln l'ttchalder
HamameHs vrrgilll8lla · America1 Wltchhazel
Hydrangea artJorescens . Wild hydrangea
JUrliPffi;S Vlrginlana '8: ler Spreaoor' • SiIvf1
Spreadf1 eastf1n redcOOa.r
Kalmia la/itolia . MOlJIllain laurel
Leuca/me too/a/leSlana . Hghland doltobble
Lindera beIllain . Norll'em SO cebusll
Sassafras alb/dum · Sassafras
Vibumum acenfollUm . Map e eaf II"burnum
PERENNIAlSlfERNS
Osmunda cmnamomea . CmamOillern
PoIysbdRJm acrostrchOides • Olristmas lern
Aster divarrcatus • White wood aster
Aster /aevis . Smooth blue aster
Smilacma racemosa . False SoIomOfl's seal
GROUND COVERS
Heudlera ameficana · American alum'oot
Trash Receptades
Hyparro.1m densifiorum • Busily 81. Jctmswort with two lid options
Phlox svbu/ala . Moss phlox
Rnus Jroma~ca 'Gro Low • FragriYlt sumac SPECIFY
Tiaref!a corditolia \{Jr, coIlina . Heartleaf foamfl~r
KORNEGAY DESIGN
GRASSES
ChasmJllihium /a~"oIivm · Irdlan woodO<lls SITE ruRNISHINGS

Tree Pits
notable .llternathes for di!>tinguished proje<: ..
TREES
Betula nigra Heritage' • Heritage nver birdl 8; 252.&321 www.korneg.lyde<;ign.com
F1a/a1llJS x xenta/ia B oodgroj' • London planetree
GROUND COVERS
Garex pensylvanica · Pemsy1vania sedge CtFICLE "" ON FIEMlER SllIVOCE CAADOA GO TOH TT PJ~N FO. H()T""S . ~OO · " "

Liriope mvscari ,o Big b'ue Ii~urt

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bndscape archItects chose steel so t hey
could make the walls as thin as possible co
emphasize the idea that e'.lch area is a slice
of a different ecosys tem . H owever, this
keeps them from acting as seat walls.
As part of the design process, "we went co
naruml areas and took phocog mphs," says
Kevin Fisher, ASLA , project manager for
Rhodeside& Harwell. But it was not always
possible co reproduce these environments
wholesale. Certain species such as hemlock
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AUGUST 2009 landscape Architecture I 31

that have a significant presence in the asmall pond and a waterf...11 that pours over In tICt, the plantings also require a lot of
mountains ne-J.rby could not survive on this man-made boulders. In the piedmont, the maintenance. "Like the exhibits inside, the
site, which is very hot and exposed, and water feature is not actually visible on a dry mini environments require hand care,"' says
wereevenrually remo\'ed from the planting day. It is a bog, created by putting an imper- R hodeside. "\'Ve needed someone who was
list. However, a few species were considered meable liner under a small area planted knowledgt".lble---not JUSt a maintenance
so importam to the aquarium's mission that with iris, arrowweed, and other plants. conrmctor. \'Ve were pleased that the aquar-
the aq uarium would be willing [0 replace "Normally we wouldn't do something ium brought on Christa P;lrmin [0 serve as
them on a regular basis. For example, the like that," says Fisher. "Ir would be tOO the horticulturist for the outside are-.J."
aquarium is involved in restoring salt hard for a client to maintain, but these Signage within the exhibits teaches
marshes in Chesapeake Bay and wants to people maintain all SOrtS of water systems," people about the natural environments and
interpret this within the landscape. H owev-
er, Sjwrt;'ltl t1/temijlortl needs very specific
st".lSOnal conditions to grow that were im-
possible [0 replicate here, so it is replanted
every yt".lf.
A number of small \v.Jter features are lo-
cated within the planting areas. l l le moun-
tain area has the most significant fe-ature-

The plaza must accommodate large groups of

visitors arriving by bus, as shown above. Empty
islands in the bus drop-off were designed so
large groups could collect there safely. While
they may be functional, they create a some·
what austere entry for visitors entering the
space from the street (see plan on page 281.
The landscape architects used thin steel walls
along the rear edge of the planters, right.

32 1 llndSCilpe Architecture Aucun IO n

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34 1 llndSCilpe Architecture Aucun IO n
<•
./
A granite map shows the Chesapeake Bay
Watershed, abot'e. The map was designed
digitally by Rllodeside & Hanwell, who worked
with II granite company to determine what
options were available for finishes and stain·
less steel insets. The darker area that con·
notes the watershed and the lighter area sur·
rounding it were actually created from two
different stones. A computer'guided high·
power water jet was used to cut the stones,
and then they were pieced together like a
puzzle. The map was integrated with a markel'"
from the National Geodetic SUrYer, which is
set at the center of the compass rose, right.
tries to encourage visitors to use native
plants in cheirown landscapes. Asonesign
explains, one of the main advantages of us-
ing native plants in the landscape is that
they anract native birds and insects.
For such small pockecs of vegecation,
the plantings in this plaza are attract ing
a surprising amount of wildlife. \'{fhen
umdscape Architecture visited, monarch
bmterfly Guerpi llars were chewing on
some milkweed and two ducks were
nesting in one of the beds. According to
Partain , approximately 46 different bird
species have been sighted in t he area.
·T here was also a snake down here in the
Spartina bed,"' says Partain . "One of the
herperologists grabbed it and started
talking about snakes with the kids."
in addition to the bi rds, the blueber-
ries and serviceberries attmcr a different
sort of hungry animal: the aquarium
staffer. "We figh t over these things,·· says
Partain.
Using native plants is only one of che
ways the designers have tried to make
this landscape more sustainable. Bench-
es along the edges of the pier and wbles
and chairs in a small cafe area contain
large amounts of recycled sceel. The ar-
chiceccs included a green roof on a small
pare of the addition , and runoff from
other parts of the aquarium building is
capcured and stored in a ciscern, then
used to irrigate che plantings in che
park. Some of the surface runoff from the
plaza is also directed into planting areas
where ic can be filcered before spilling
out into the harbor.
Sustainability factored strongly imo
the selection and detailing of the pavers.
R hodeside & Harwell worked with
H anover Architectural Products to cre-
ace a custom paver chac would draw on
{he green tint in che glass of the new
building. The paver's matrixes include
locally quarried stone and industrial by-
products such as fly ash (creared when
coal is burned for power generJt ion) and
lamp black (a pigment created by burn -
ing oil, tar, or resin). The pavers are sec
on an aggregate bed, which allows main-
tenance crews to take them out and reuse
them when accessing utilities below. Fi-
nally, they were produced wit hin 50
miles of the site, so transportation emis-
sions (and costs) wert' reduced.
Some strJtegies com monly used to make
a site more sustainable were nor possible
here. Because of the site's urban context and
the historic nature of the grani te bulkhead, Add Firestone, Add Reliability
the landscape architects wouldn 'r have got-
ten very F"r proposing a new wetland edge.
"Something like porous paving would have
required excavating and removing what
was under the pier, and we would have cre-
ated a problem someplace else," says Faye
Harwell, PASLA .
Bm they committed todoing what was
possible. "If we can convince a client to do
someching chat is g reen oriented, we do
that gesture, even if it's a smal l gesrure.
T he more of those small gestures we inte-
grate into our design, chI' closer we get to
sustainability. "
And through exhibits such as a Chesa-
Every long-Iosting water feature depends on a good
peake Bay \'Vatershed map within l he
foundation. Ensure the life and longevity of your woter
paving, chey are ceach1l1g chI' general pub-
feature project by choosing a nome you can rely on .
lic to demand more.

PROJECT CREDITS landscape an:tWtect R llOdeside

& H arwell, A lexandria, Virginia (Elliot
SPECIAUZING IN:
R hodeside, FASLA, and Faye Harwell,
COMMfRClAl WATER FEA~ES
FASLA, principals in charge; Kevin Fisher,
GOlF COURSE PONDS & LAKES
ASLA, project manager; Brad Garner, ASiA;
STREAMS & WATERFALlS TI .... r.n.
Ed H amill, ASLA; Mark Mastalerz, ASLA).
RESERVORS & CANAlS
An::1m!c:t (new addition): Chermayeff Sollogub 'fPP-R
& Poole Inc. (now Chennayeff & Poole Inc.),
Boston (Bobby Poole, project architect). Ar·
chitect (orignal btildilg): Cambridge Seven As-
CONS1lI:UCTED WETlANDS
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT SOlUTlONS ........ -_.-
_I", I' IltiU

sociates, Cambridge, Massachusetts. CMlen- To Ieorn more vi~it us ot www.fir ...lonesp.aam/l08

gineer: Johnson, Mirmiran & T hompson, Firestone Speciolty Products
Sparks, Maryland (Gary Miller). mgation de- 800' 428·4.4.42 I infoOfirestonesp.aam
sign: Lynch & Associates, Annapolis, Mary-
land. Mechanica~ eIectrica~ plwnbklg. and cistern
design: Altieri Sebor Wieber, Norwalk, Con-
necticut. Graphics and signage: Chermayeff &
Geismar Inc., N ew York. lighting design:
Q uentin l llOmas Associates Inc., Douglas-
ton, New York. £no.Tonrnentalconsultant Natu-
ral Logic, Chevy Chase, Maryland. lh1lan1ree
consultant J ames Urban, FASLA, Annaf.X>lis,
Maryland. General contractor: Aqua-Venrure,
Baltimore. Paving contractor: Interlocki ng
Paving, Baltimore. landscape contractor: Out-
side Unlimited, Hampstead, Maryland. Site
furniture: Land scape Forms, Kalamazoo,
Michigan. Precast paving: H anover Archi tec-
tuml Producrs, Hanover, Pennsylvania. ~
ite maptalrication: Cold Spring Grani te, Cold
Spring, Minnesota.

AUGU ST 2009 landscape Arcbit,ctur, 1 35

 ANY OF US ARE FAMTlI AR with
M chose awkward green slivers left
over from infill development and
infmsrl1.lcrure upgrades. \'V'hac re-
mains are g rassy remnants devoid
of any re'J.l pU 'lXlse or funct ion, ofeen tra-
versed bur rarely occupied.
l1lTee years ago this was the case at the
Raglan Street Parkland, The small wedge
of lawn in Porr Melbourne, Australi a,
could be described in two words: lose space.
The parkland occurs at a curious junction,
sandwiched between cwo residential streers
and a noisy five-lane cruck route. Before irs
redesign, there were only a dilapidated pick-
et fence and a mature eucalyptus co buffer
the constant noise and fumes of [he truck
route. The main hm([ion of the area was us
a shon cut for cyclists and pedesu ians to
residenrial backscreers. The cicy govern-
ment decided chat such "lost" space could
be converted into a neighborhood park.
But in view of its small size and traffic-
Using an undulating timber wall to buffer noise, top, the finn Site Office converted a small green lawn next to a truck route into 11 neighborhood pal1l. The
noise wall facH fiYe lanH of traffic along Ingles Street, abore. TImber was used to reference the paling fence often used around Australian residences.
36 1 llndSCilpe Architecture Aucun IO n
LOST SPACE PARK
Can good design make
anything out of a
leftover bit of land
next to a truck rou te?
By Gweneth Newman
leigh, International ASlA
congested location, was this space best
"found" asa neighborhood park---or should
it have even been "found" at all?
The broader history of the are-J. provided
some insight inco why such a conversion
was even anempted . Developed in dle
1920s, parts of Port Melbourne followed
Ebenezer H oward 's Garden City move-
menc by armnging houses around a series
of publ ic open spaces. During the past
decade, POrt Melbourne has been subject
to rigorous urban renewal, and R aglan
Street- tile site of public housing since the
I 960s-was dmwn into this process. By
2005, three concrete multistory walk-ups
were replaced by an ecofriend ly publici
private mix. D ue to the larger footprinc of
che new housing complex, a significant
amount of open space disappeared. TIle city
decided chac establishing a proper neigh-
borhood park seemed the besc way to com-
pensate fur this loss of green space.
Inserting a neighborhood park here, at
che tip of the new housing development, at
che elbow of tWO screets, feels mOfe of an
afterthought rJ.ther than an imegrJted part
of Rag lan 's redevelopment. Given che
cransitory history of the space, ic's unclear
why dle focus was to reignite the location
as a park rather chan upgrade it as a pub-
lic thoroughfare.
URBAN PARKS
TIle Melbuume-OOstd b.ndsaqx-architcc-
ture firm Site Office (1,,~uw.sitrojJue.((jm.a,,)
sought [0 domesticate the space through
careful design and the insenion of a hand-
fu l of amenities. T he most ObVlOUS is a
noise wall that wraps its way around the
site in an undulating fashion, with timber
slats rising toa high poinrof 10 feee in the
middle and ta{X:ring co two feet along ei-
therend. Such a form allows the wall roef-
fectively define (he spacial qualities of the
park wichoucsevering it from rhe immed i-
are urban Fdbric. Space for gatherings is
found where (he wall is highest, whereas
the lowest points along [he ends allow visu-
al connections to be made along the park
edges, providing clear sight lines ro sur-
rounding footpaths. Consisting ofa double-
clad assembly, (he wall was designed on
screw piles racher chan concinuous snip
foocing roavoid damaging che roocs of the
large mature eucalyptus on sice. Timber
was selected because of ics allusion ro the
paling fence rhat borders many Austmlian
residential blocks.
Behind the wall grows a wildAower g.lf-
den, accompanied by a timber deck chac
sweeps upward from che adjacenc sidewalk
and creates an elevated plinth for gather-
38 1 llndSCilpe Architecture Au cun IO n
ings. \Xlhere a less ambitious des igner
might have installed a tmditional picnic
bench, there is instead a 20-foot-long table
with accompanying square stools arranged
in a mnoom fJShion. Above the seating
aTe'" is a shade structure chat in-
corporates a series of laser-
cur perforated panels
intended, according to
Chris Sawyer, director
ofSice Office, "co create a
mbledorh Out of shadows.
Given the exposure of the
sice, does the noise wall d,\mpen
the nonstop din of the truck route?
Noise walls aren't usually recom-
mended for residential areas. Blocking
sound requires walls chac cend co be vi-
sually intrusive and contextually isolat-
ing. Sice O ffice recognized chis chal -
lenge and responded wich a structure
whose function wasn't to complete-
ly eliminace noise buc co decTC'J.SC
its impact in areas where it .#
macrered most and "co move ~
away from the standard
noise wall to something
chac was more sculptural ,"
said Sawyer.
tection by the seating arH
and tapers at the ends to main-
tain sight lines to adjacent foot·
paths. Park objectives included seat·
ing, shade, and noise attenuation, abore,
to be designed at a scale that promoted both
safety and flexibility of Lise. In 2005, after the
new Ra glan Street housing complex was complet·
ed but before the park was redesigned, leff, the
park contended not only with hea'tY traffic bllf.
also with contrasting residential arrangements
along Raglan Street and Esplanade East.
Site Office worked with acoustic en~neers in experimenting wtth several wall configurations.
During che design process, Sire Office worked
with acoustic engineers in experimenting with sev-
eral different wall configurations. Each was tested
for effecti veness in meeti ng the state governmenr's
noise standards for residences, which definecllev-
e1s at 63 decibels (dBA). Prior to its redevelopment,
noise levels on the site measured benveen 66 and
70 dBA (the sound of a vacuum cle-J.ner). Sawyer
claimed dlar the final design would bring noise at-
tenuation down to:;8 dBA (rhe sound of a sewing
machine) behind the highest poim of the wall,
where the searing and shelter are located.
When LmdscdjJe A rrhitectflre visited the site, it
wasn 't immediately obvious that rhe noise wall
actually reduces the eraffic noise much, though
it de'J.rly protects users from the visual poliution " "
of the [ruck route. Dwayne Carter, coordi nator of
park services for the ci ty, admitted [ha t no

The park was completed in 2007, top. The wall was

E:o:isting Condition New Variat>le Height W".I (O.6-3.2m)
designed on Knew piles rather than continuous strip
footing to avoid damage to the existing eucalyptus.
Site Office worked with acoustic engineers to model
<D"
a variety of different wall configurations before
choosing a more sculptural wall, right. --
~. ,

-
Aucun lOot Lilndscape Architecture 1 39
 The warying sile and spacing of the
perforatklns in the shade structure
cast a " shade lace" tablecloth onto
the pic:nic: area below.

East, it was obvious from talk-

• and sitting with friends. We don'r
acoustic measurements have been raken
since (he completion of the park bur fL-els
certai n [hat [he noise has been somewhat
attenuated.
If You Build It, Will They Come?
Although the park was positioned so chat
it could be accessed by people from
Ragland Street as well as tonier Esplanade
ing to the residents that (hose
on Raglan Su·et"t (where (he af-
fordable housing was located)
claimed most ownership over
the space.
" It 's an improvement over
what was there previously,"' said
one resident from Esplanade
East. Bm did she use the park?
"Oh no---I've got my own bar-
becue and a nice backyard."
Residents of Raglan Street £old
a different s(Ory. Said one resident,
" I enjoy JUSt going duwn there
have a yard or barbecue here, so
it's handy (0 go to (he park."
Caner believes the addition of rhe park
has been beneficial to (hose on Rag lan
Su·eer. ''The area is used extensively by rhe

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housing comm ission community, primari-
ly during the weekends." Since its redevel-
opment, maintaining the park has also be-
come easier. "The site does not act as a
dumping ground for residential debris as it
once did, as the community has embraced
the site as their own," commented C1.rter.
O ne Raglan Street resident, Paul ina
Nookura, was on her way to work at the
smal! convenience store a few blocks down
when I asked her about the park. Her re-
sponse was ful! of enthusiasm. "I go there
ne'dfly every day. I sit by the barbecue and
chat with friends. The fence doesn't do
much for the noise, bm it does hide the
craffie. It's jusc a g rC'J.C place co hang our."
Apparencly not everyone in the neigh-
borhood ag rees. As I wandered the site on
asunny T hursday afternoon chis past May,
[ noticed the wall had weathered into a
dull gray and is dotted with graffiti; some
could argue this may add co its domestic
feeL Nesc1ed behind che wall g rew nacive
flax, swamp g oodenia, tufted bluebell,
bidgee-widgee, angled lobelia, and choco-
lace lily cascadi ng over one anocher. The
Was it worth
taking such an
undesirable site and
converting it into a
neighborhood park?
battle scars of gmffiti and carvings along
the length of the picnic table reaffirmed
the popularity of its use. But where were
al! the people?
At the time I arrived, there was an eld -
erly man sitting upright on one of rhe
scools, dozing. A few pedestrians and a cy-
clist CUt through the park On Raglan Street,
residents were working on cars and young
workers were com ing home from jobs, and
a few people calked outside on their cell
phones, wandering along the tri angular
g reen lawn directly in front of che com-
plex. 'nle facc chat people from the Raglan
Street complex were walking their dogs and
talking on their cell phones along the trian-
gleof green lawn in front of the apartments
- not in the park, juS{ a minute's walk
away- was revC'J.ling.
So was it worth taking such an undesir-
able site and converting it intoa neighbor-
hood park? Site Office was successful in
taking the difficul t space and inserting a
design whose site elements and materials
responded well to the scale of the commu-
nity. TIle positive feedback from residents
and their claims of use re-Jffirmed th IS, de-
spite the traffic noise. T hese residents clear-
ly needed some son of outdoor retre-J.t to
compensate for the lack of it in their units.
But it's unclC'J.r whether this slIVer of "lost"
space was the beSt one to transform-or
whether the empty green wedge of lawn
di recdy in front of the Raglan Street com-
plex would have been bener.
Glm/eJb Newman Leigh, International ASLA,
is a landscape architect lifJing ill Canberra.
Amtralia. COlllact her at gweneth.leigh @
gmai l.com.

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Arc"it~ctur~ 4 1
 HEN r WAS A KID, my g randfa-
W
ther hired a dowser to help deter-
mine rhe best location to con-
struct a well. A dowser, or water
witch, uses a forked stick called a
divining rod to locate underground water.
Dowsing is not based upon any known sci-
emiflc laws, and the experts will tell you
tlla[ it doesn't work, but for my grandm-
ther, it was better than just guessing about
[he location of groundwater.
Groundwater is a hidden resource , and
to learn more abom this resource we have
to rely on more than our five senses. For-
tunately for landscape architects, we don'r
have to resort to dowsing to gain a better
undemanding of groundwater. Ground-
water mapping and modeling help make
decisions 3bom how to manage water re-
sources in terms of both water quality and
water quantity.
42 1 LandlCillpeArcbiteciure ~UGUST:OU
HIDDEN ESOURCES
It's time for a
sustainable approacb to
gro un d\Va ter l'esoLLrces.
By James l. Sipes, AS LA
Groundwater is one of the nation's most
critical natural resources. Groundwater is
the largest source of usable water stomge in
this country, containing more water than
all resenroirs and lakes combined exclud-
ing the Great lakes. According to scien-
tists, an estimated one million cubic miles
The groundwater resources of Licking County
in central Ohio include specific weHs as well as
the potential water yield of areas within the
county in tenns of gallons per minute.
of g roundwater is located within one-half
mi le of the land surface. Only a very smal l
percentage of groundwater is accessible
and can be used for human activities.
Most cities meet their needs for water by
withdrawing it from the nearest riwr, lake,
or reservoir, but many depend upon
groundwater as well. Water is already in
short supply in many pans of the U nited
Scares, and it is only going m getworse. Ac-
cording to che Uniced Scaces Geological
Survey (USGS), groundwater is the source of
about 40 percent of the water used for pub-
lic supply and provides drinking water for
more than 97 percent of che ruml popula-
tion in this country. Between 30 and 40 per-
cent of the water used for the agricultural
industry comes from groundwater. Lmd-
scape architects need co understand ground-
water if they are going CO continue co make
good decisions about sustainable resources.
How Landscape Architects Are The potentiometric: surface of the Lower Dakota Metropark is situated at the headwaters of
Worki ng with Groundwater Aquifer, sbove left, represents the lewel to which the Huron River, and interpreting rhe
Resources water will rise, while the potential drawdown, area's hydrology is an importanr part of rhe
Landscape architecture firm MSI Design, sbore right, a cone-shaped depression cilused planning approach. For the project, water
which has offices in Orlando , Florida; by wells pumping large amounts of water, can is pumped from an underground aquifer
Pasadena, California; and Columbus, Ohio; wind up lowering the water lewel in an aquifer or and used for tempemture control. Once
was involved in two projects where ground- reducing wilter quality_ A map shows a cross the water is pumped through the build-
water concerns had to beaddressecl. The Big section of a potentiometric SlJrface and flowing ing, ir returns to rhe surrounding sire, sup-
Darby Accord \'qatershed Plan provides a wells of the Lower Dakota Aquifer, below, plying (he nearby weclands and ponds.
comprehensive long-term land-use plan for During summer monrhs the warer is
protecting 55,000 acres of the Big Darby drological modeling was used to evaluate piped to an adjacent ··spmy zone," where it
\'qatershed in Franklin Coumy, which is the potential impacts of proposed land-use is collected and used for irrigation at an
JUSt west of rheciry of Columbus. The Ac- changes on natuml resources. adjacem golf course.
cord P lan mkes a proactive approach to The James Clarkson Environmental One of rhe more dmmaric examples of
managing development and ensuring the Discovery Center, another MSI projecr, is the need for understanding groundwater
protection and improvement of water qual- part of a 90-acre site locared within resources is the Gilbert and Mosley project
ity and aquatic habitat in the watershed. Huron- Clinton Metropolitan Authority"s in Wichita, Kansas. Designers and plan-
MSI developed rhree altemarive plans ror the 2,215-acre Ind ian Springs Metropark in ners wirh the city took an innovative al>-
arf'J., and rhese were analyzed to determine Southeast Michigan. The Discovery Cen- prooch to addressing groundwater contam-
which was best at balancing human needs ter focuses on the explorJ.tion and celebrJ.- ination. '!lle contamination was discovered
with the environmental requirements. Hy- tion of the natural environment. The during rourine resting of the g roundwarer
in the downtown area, and a
six-square-mile area was found
Rechatlt'l Arn Nonllowing WeHln to be toxic.
Level 0 1 Wtliin '- Uncont'loed
POIIflIic)melric: Aqultlt......... The Environmental Prorec-
Flowing Well Sur11<:1t 01 Cont'loed Confined
Aquifer "' tion Agency considered placing
in COtlliold Aquifer
- -- -- _~~~I!!,"- ___ ___• •y!,::,•• _•• _. __ ._
"",.."",,, the site on its Superfund l ist
until the city of\'qichira agreed
to accept responsibility. The
r ----G'YltI0 1 Unconfined impact upon public health,
_. ~ ~•.. .V:!'!~~·.."!t . __ ..•.. _. the environment, and the local

--
economy would have bee n
Unc_.-.q....
A ....... fI/*k _ _ devastating ifSuperfund status
had been assigned. Much of
downtown Wichita would have
turned into a ghost town.
To start the process of clean-
ing up the groundwater, the
city constructed the \'{1ichita

44 1 llndSCilpe Architecture Aucun IO n


Are.! Tre.!tmem, Education, and Remedi-
ation Cemer, wh ich serves as boeh a treae-
ment system and an environmeneal educa-
tion ceneer for the community. 111e project
cose approximately $22.6 million co com-
p lete . Ie included a 3,OOO-square-fooc
g roundwaeer ereaemene building and a
6,300-square-fooe environmencal educa-
tion ceneer.
The Lower Dakota Aquifer is a miljor source
of water for western Iowa, The map, above
right, shows the elevation of the aquifer.
Hydrological data is collected from wells
in the area and entered into a statewide
database that is used to model changes to
the aquifer, The Lower Dakota Aquifer's
capacity is measured in gallons per minute
per foot, above left,
•
Early on, recogn1zing that it was nor
fe-J.Sible co rescore t he aq uifer co drinking
water standards in a eimely manner, the
city decided to focus on coma1ning the
concam ination ae higher leve1sand imple-
meneing more obcainable remediation
goals. Extensive groundwaeer modeling
was conducted co deeerm ine where co in-
seal! extraction wells and develop (he mose
~UCUST 20 09 Landscape Architecture 145

TECHNOLOGY
efficient pumping system to pull water
from the aqujfer.
Since the groundwater treatment sys-
tem began opemting in December 2002,
ir cie-dns on avemge approximately 1.2
millIOn gallons of contaminated water
e-dch day. Although this may sound as if
a lot of water is being tre-Med, experts es-
rimate thar ar this mte it could rake up to
50 years to cie-dn up rhe contaminated
grOlmdwater.
The site improvements were incorpo-
mted into an existing (Xlrk- Herman Hill
Park- and an emphasis was placed on aes-
thetics and environmental sustainabil iry.
\'\fater from the fish observation area
overflows into a constructed creek fhat
Modeling Tools
ANY Of THE DIGITAL TOOLS USED to model
M groundwater ha,e been developed o,er
the years by the United States Geological
Suney [uSGsl. Most of the modules for
groundwater modeling can be downloaded
free of charge, but many of these programs
were written in the fORTRAN computer lan-
guage and are not all that user friendly. For-
tunatel)' man)' of the newer programs hawe
graphic interfaces that make the modeling
programs much easier to use.
MODfLOW, de,eloped b)' the USGS, is cur-
rently the most widel)' used numerical model
for analyzing groundwater flow problems in
SELUX offers 0 range of technolog- the country. Flow from wells, recharge
ically odvonced, architecturally zones, evapotranspiration, drains, and
riverbeds and creeks can be simulated.
designed, high quality luminaires
MODFLOW-200S is a current wersion that can
including Dark Sky compliant, LED
be used to address such issues as water
and solar powered lighting systems. awailability and SI!Stainability, interaction of
groundwater and surface water, seawater in·
trusion, and remediation of contaminated
groundwater. ModelMuse is a graphical in-
se'.LIX terface for MDDfLDW-200S.
WhAEM 2000 is a groundwater flow model
designed to delineate zones and map pro-
light. Ideas. Syste ms. tection areas. The program was developed
by the EPA and is used to support many of
the EPA'S water planning and management
(800) 735-8927 selux.com / usa
initiatives. PULSE is used to estimate
CiRClE 1M OOII\EAOEA SEIMCE UR() OR
GO TO HTTPJIINFO.HOTIMS.C0W2:l<9&- U'(I
4 6 1 llndsupe Architecture AU CUSf IO n
meanders through the site before run-
ning into the Arkansas River.
Protecting the Resources
In recent years we have developed an un-
derstanding that groundwater and sur-
face water are fundamentally intercon-
nected and are integml components of
the hyd rologic cycle. In spite of that,
most laws govern ing groundwater issues
are based on ellIS norion that groundwa-
ter and surfiu:e water have noth ing (0 do
with each other. In most pans of the
country, surface water is governed by
doctrines of riparian law or prior appro-
priation. Groundwater has traditionally
been treated as acommon resource, with
virtually no restrictions on accessing the
wafer. If you can afford to pay someone to
drill a well and you happen to hit water,
you can do whatever YOll want with it.
groundwater recharge and discharge, while
STRMDEPl08 is used to calculate stream-flow
depletion from wells.
The Department of Defense's Groundwa·
ter Modeling System [GMsl is one of the
most sophisticated groundwater modeling
programs a,ailable. GMS is a comprehensive
software package for developing computer
simulations of groundwater problems. It pro-
vides tools for ewe.., phase of a groundwater
simulation including site characterization,
model development, post·processing, cali·
bration, and visualization. The current ver·
sion of GMS provides an interface for popular
programs such as MODflOW, MODPATH, MT3D,
RT3D, fEMWATER, and SEEP2D.
The GMS interface is separated into seYer-
al modules; these modules contain tools that
allow manipulation and model creation from
different data types. Of these, the Map mod·
ule provides a suite of tools that are proba·
bly of most interest to landscape architects.
The Risk Analysis Wizard is another tool that
should be beneficial to landscape architects.
It is used to quantify the risk of a contami-
nant exceeding critical levels in groundwater
or the risk of a capture zone. Man), ground-
water models are starting to incorporate GIS
data since the technology helps create more
accurate and robust models, and eMS can
use GIS or CAD data.
 \VJe have gotten to a point where
the unregulated pumping of ground-
water is no longer a viable option. In
many partS of the COlllltry, g round-
water is being withdmwn at mtes
that are not sustainable, and the re-
sult is a degradation of water quali -
ty and quantity. The water level in
aquifers is being lowered, and be-
cause we keep digging dc'Cper and
det:per wells to access the water, the
water quantity is furth er depleted.
In coastal areas, intensive pumping
of fresh g roundwater has caused
saltwater to seep into freshwater
aquifers. Groundwater is also critical
for the environmental healchofrivers,
wetlands, and estuaries throughout
the country. Groundwater with-
drawals can result in reduced flows
to Stredms and alter wetland hydrol-
og y. Changes in stream flow have
important implications for water
eas tern part of the state are no
longer recharged at the same rate as
in the past.
Data at the Local Level
Gn:xmdwater management decisions
are made at the state level, not at the
federal level. State and local agencies
manage water resources and collect
and analyze local data. Each scate
prOOuces a report abom g roundwa-
ter within its borders. For landscape
architects, the best source of ground-
water information is from the state,
counties, or reg ional water districts.
Many states are using interactive
maps for sharing groundwater in-
formation. r or example, the Ken-
------
--
tucky Geolog ical Survey (KGS) fn-
teractive Groundwater-Q uality
-- ~-­

and flood management, irrig ation,
and planning.
There are hundreds of examples
across the country where groundwa-
ter is threatened. TheCalifornia De-
partment of Health Services reporc-
ed tWO years ago that more than 300
- -
The King County (Washington} Groundwater Protection Pro-
gram defines five groundwater mana gement areas, above. Is-
saquah Creek Valley, beww, which is located east of down-
town Seattle, is one of the groundwater mana gement area s
defined in the King County Groundwater Protection Program.
This map shows the susce ptibility of areas within the manage-
ment area to groundwater contamination. Areas with a high
Data Map displays grollndwater-
qua!ity dam for Kentucky. Users
can choose from a list of 32 layers co
display incl uding geology, water-
shed boundaries, roods, orthopho-
cography, and sinkholes. T here are
seven types of information abouc
groundwater, including water well
and spring record search , water well
and spring location map servi ce ,

---_
--
public supply sources and an equal- susceptibility need iI greate r level of protectio n. g roundwater-quality data search ,
ly large number of private home graphi cal groundwater-quality
..
owner wells were contaminated and
should not be used. In portions of
the Southwest, Northeast, and Mid-
west , arsenic occurs natumlly in
_

---
---
---- ew be
comparison service, groundwater-
quality data map service, karst po-
temial index map service, and the
KGS water research home page.
groundwater at levels that exceed
drinking waterscandards, and many
municipalities are now debating
whether co build treatment plams
--
-_
~ -­

-__-_--
~ --
.
Counties across the country are also
implementing their own groundwa-
ter policies. For example, in 2001 ,
the King County Council in Wash-
...
or reservoirs. Either will cost hun-
dreds of millionsof dollars. Accord-
ing to the Arizona Department of
Environmental Quality, approxi-
--- ington state created the Groundwa-
ter Protection Progrdm to provide
management, policy, and technical
expertise co help protect the quality
mately one-third of Arizona water and quantity of the groundwater
systems exceed the level set for ar-
semc polsonmg.
One long-term impact of the
1988 droug ht in the Midwest is
__
..-..._--._-
resources in thecounty. Oneobjeccive
of the program is co help local com-
munities identify groundwater
protection needs and to integrate
that many aquifers were over- groundwater issues with other local
pumped by farmers seeking to save
their crops and their way of life .
Arkansas residents use groundwater
to meet approximately 9 3 percent
+
--
,---===--,
- -
planning ef1Orrs, such as growth man-
agement plans. King County uses an
interdctive map that enables visitors
co select and query groundwater in-
of their water needs. That is a major formation through web-based maps
problem because aquifers in the and geographically based sorrware.

Aucun lOot LiindscapeArchihclun 147

TECHNOLOGY
Data at the
National Level
Dma about groundwater has
been (ollened in the United
States for decades. One respon-
sibi [icy of the USGS is to a5S("SS the
quantity and quality of the na-
tion"s water supplies.
111c USGS National Water In-
formation System (NWIS)comains
wacerdata for the nation. USGS has
offices around rhe country, and these
offices collect local data and condua
studic'"S in a particular are" as part of
NW IS. The g roundwater database
contains records from about 850,000
wells, and data has been collected for
more chan 100 yens. Measurements are
commonly recorded at five - [Q 60-
minute intervals and transmitted to the
NW[Sdacabaseevery one ro four hours. The
Grouncl-\'\facer Database includes mOTe
than 850,000 records of wells, springs, resc
holes, tunnels, drains, and excavations. Each
well location includes informacion such as
latitude and longitude, well depth , and
aquifer. This infom1ation is available online
through USGS's t\1WIS Web Interf.lce.
TIle Regional Aquifer-System Analysis
Program was initiated in 197 7 as a re-
sponse to droughts during that year, Com-
puter models were used wdevelop estimates
of current and future water availability for
aquifers and provide a baseline for fuwre
swdies. The National \'V'ater-Q ualiry As-
sessment Progmm was developed by the
USGS in 1991 w detennine the condition of
our nation's streams, rivers, and groundwater.
T he GrOlllld \Vater At/as of the UIl;ted
Stater, developed by the USGS, includes the
location and the hydrologic and geologic
characreristics of rhe principal aquifers
throughom the 50 states, Puerto Rico, and
the U.S. Virgin Islands. It consists ofan intra-
ducwry d lapter and 13 descriptive chapters,
each covering a multistate region of the
country. The arias provides basic informa-
t ion that is useful for larger planning proj-
ects but should not be used for site-specific
design projects. 11le data is simply too gen-
eml for detailed si te design.
TIle USGS also has geospatial information
48 1 llndSCilpe Architecture Aucun IO n
Louisiana Aquifer
Recharge Potential
•
Rccharge I)otcntial
None
Low
Modcnllc
H;gh
The aquifer recharge potential of each area in the state is defined as none, low, moderate,
or high. Ideill", denser development would occur within the areilS with the lowest recharge
potential. AreilS with high rec harge potential should implement best management practices such
as low-density development, rain gardens, pervious material, and 0 percent stormwater runoff.
on aquifers and ocher water resources for use mcxleling [0 know what these mooels show
with GIS programs. The GIS data includes and how we should use the information.
information on aquifers, dams, groundwater A groundwater model is intended co
cl imate response network, hydrologic units, represem a simplified version of the
surface water sampling sites, streamflow processes and char.!cterist ics of a ground-
stations, warer use, and geneml hydrogm- water system . Ie is on ly wirhin recem
phy dara. Groundwater maps, which are of- decades rhat scienrists have developed
ten prepared by state water departments or mooeling techniques for estimating the
by the USGS at a national level, show sever- amount of groundwater scored unde r-
al types of data, including the expecred ground. Groundwater mooels can be used
yield of a particular drilled well; well depdl; throughout all phases of the design and
aquifer type; depth to bedrock; naturally oc- planning process.
curring, inorganic chemicals; and ground- The first step in the modeling process
water geology. Groundwater maps are pri- is [0 construct a conceptual model that de-
marily defined using geologic contacts and scribes the groundwater system. A concep-
hydrogeologic divides. Groundwater maps tual groundwater model can be used co
typically use USGS wpographic maps as a understand the extent of a groundwater
base, and they include significant natural system. The next step is co rake this de-
and man-made features such as roads, scription and express it in a mathematical
streams and rivers, lakes, and build ings. model. 'nle tWO models comain rhe same
TIlese maps are generated from well log and information, but the mathematical model
drilling reports, bedrock information, and expresses the information as a set of equa-
geologic and hydrogeologic data. tions. T he abi lity to mt".lSure specific pa-
rameters of a groundwater system via
Groundwater Modeling mathematical mooels mt".!ns you can cal-
L ll1dscape architects need [0 understand culate changes that occur.
the basic fundame ntals of groundwater Analytic.!1 models can be used toevalu-
ate the physical charaereristics ofa ground-
water system. bndscape architects can use
these types of models CO bener understand
the impan thac design and planning deci-
sions have upon the groundwater. T he real
key [0 effective analytical models is co en-
sure there is sufficient data to accuratt"iy
predier what will happen in agiven situa-
tion. Different sets of simplifying assump-
tions will result in different model results.
See the '·Mocleling Tools" sidebar, page 46,
for a brief overview of groundwater mod-
eling processes.
Most landscape architects may not need
to becomeexpens at mooeling groundwa-
rer, bur being able to use exisring maps
and data as part of the planning process
will enable us to make better design and
planning decisions. Ar a master plan lev-
el, groundwater modeling helps us under-
Hand where to plan for green spaces to
help proteer and recharge aquifers. \'Qhen
designing a new reservoir in Choctaw
County, M ississippi, my firm needed to
know whether we could pull enough wa-
ref from a nC'J.rby aquifer to acmally fill [he
lake. Wle still aren·t sure if we are design-
ing one of the prettiest lakes in Mississip-
pi or the biggest mud hole in the South.
That is worth knowing, don't you think?
If we plan on continuing to promote
sustainability, we need to take a holistic
view of fresh water that recognizes that
surface water and groundwater are COfl-
neered and should be treated as a single
resource.
James L Sipes, ASL-I. is a senior aJSOciate for
EDA w ;,/ At/allfa alld folllld;'lg prlllcipa! of
Salld Comlly Sflldios ill Seaule.
Resources
• CSMOS Ground-Wiater Modeling Soft-
ware, IIIll-w.epa.gtWladalwllos!mode!J. html
• TIle Department of Defense Groundwa-
ter Mocleling System (GMS), ch!. ertle. mace.
army.millgms
• EPA's WellhC'J.d Analytic Element Mod-
el (WhAEr.1) 2000, wUJw.ehsfreeu!are.com!
cgi-omllil/kJedirea. cgi?lillk; 1ll000S68
• Grol/lld \\7ater At/as of the U lIited States,
pl/bs. ftsgs.gw!halha 73 U
• KentuckyGeologicaJ Survey Interactive
Groundwater-Quality [}J.ta Map, kgmUlp.
llky.edll!websitelKG S W'aterQlla!lviewer.asp
• T he National Atlas- Principal Aqui-
fers, wWUJ. f1atiol/alat!aJ.gov!map!ayers.
htm!?openChapten: chpwater#chpwatcr
• National Wiater-Quality Assessment
Program, wattr.lIsgJ.gm,Jl/awqa
• PULSE, U'dttr.lISp.gw!ogw!p"lse
• STRMDEPL08 compmer program, mi.
wattT.//SgJ.gOfJ/JojtwartlgrrJIllldwalerhtrmdepIOS
• USGS Groundwater Publ ications, water.
f/sgs.gwl ogldp"OJ. htm!
• USGS Groundwater \Vatch, grolllldwater
watch.lISp.gM.!
• USGS G round-\Vater Dara for che Na-
tion (NWIS), waterdata.flSgs.gOfJ!lIwis!gw
• USGS Ground- Water Software Model
Muse, wattr.lISgs.gw!lIrplgUisoftU!anh\ f odel
Af melAf ode/Af me.hlml
• USGS Water Resources Appl1cations
Software Model Viewer, wattr.lIJgs.gw!mpl
gwsoftwartlmrxk!t!iewer!JH odeNiewtr. html
• USGS \Vater Resources Ground \'Qater
Sofcware, water. IISgs.gOt!/Jo!twareilistsl
grollnd_wafer
AUGUST 2009 land scape Arcbitlcturl 1 49
 -
An island off the Washington coast is the setting for a
woodland garden. By Clair Enlow •
ROM A BAYSIDE OJFF ne-J.f [he foot of
F
Lopez Island, the low screech ofan eagle
and rhe lapping ofsmall \V.lvesare often
the only sounds. lopez is one of the San
Juans, a constellation of islands inside
\'{1ashington state's marine waters. \Vhite
pe-.lks of the Olympics in the dismnce and
the passage of [he occasional orca whale or
kaY.lk complete dle scene. "Illis vastness is
the final destination for the landscape se-
quence at the San Juan House, which sits
very neu the land's edge above a small beach.
Paul Broadhurst, ASlA, of Paul R. Broad-
hurst + Associates, has based his design for
the site on the understanding that this re-
ward should nO[ be rushed. In faCt , it is best
Plantings at San Juan House blend in seamlessly with the breathtaking natural landscape and island scenery in Washington state.
50 I llndsCilpe Architecture Aucun IOn
api St
when discovered after a walk in the woods.
The sire has its own story, and the closeness
of trees and memories provides the forest
yin to the yang of the cliff and water scenery.
Broodhurst points to one of the larger
evergreens on the site, where a large winch
is embedded in thebark-a tribute, he says,
to the ingenuity of the furmer owners, who
hauled their provisions up from the water.
Still reachable only by ferry, Lopez has long
been a refuge for artists and independent-
minded setders such as the two women who
had made a life for themselves here. The
new owners, who divide their time between
lopez and the Baja Peninsula in Mexico,
were dmwn to the place by the peaceful
ub
seclusion and the scenery and wanced to
enjoy it and share It with guests. They
brought Broadhurst, who had designed the
landscape for their previous home in Semcie,
to review the site from the air.
Broodhurst's work began with a plan
that includes a rebuilt and expanded main
house, a gamge, and a g uest cottage. The
geology of the shore limits development
in a very nacural way. Because the bedrock
comes so near the surhlCe around the bay,
septic systems are not easy to site and lim-
ited in cdpacity. \'V'ells must nO[ be over-
drawn, or Se'dwater begins to srep in. 111ere
are other limits to development, includ-
ing a very aggressively enforced shoreline
 s T I N
\

ordinance and a narure conservancy as far as [he

eye can see on one side of the b.'lY.
Respecrin!l rhese conditions, care was taken
to make use of rhe exisring house and garden
footprint and to lle'.I1 the foresr floorou tside (he
building and walkway parameters. 11le sepric
field is loc.lted under a "meadow" that lies in-
side the edges of the compound .
T he site narrarive be!lins with rile enclosu re
in theroresr and ends with release on rheshore.
TIle looped driveway appnxu:h to the sire is up-
i
The plan fOf the IandsCilpe, right, brings the forest I
understory and midstory through the compound at the
b;u:k of the house, while the waterside is designed to
K commod at e furnishings and gatherings, top.
Natiye plants and roc k work ed ge the SPll, abore.

52 1 Llndsup. ArehU.eluu AUGUn UGI


land and co one side of rhe compound. A
sma!! paved arbor courr Hands beside the
gamge, providing an arrival poi nt and !>et-
ring up rhe entry sequence. From rhere,
srepped pavers seem poised jusr above [he
foresr floor, descending lightly into rhe
newly constructed wOCJdland and rheenrry
to the house.
Before reaching rhe door, a foorparh de-
parrs co go around rhe walls, passing rheen-
Petersen Mfg. Co .. Inc
Concrete and Metalsite Furnishings
Ornamentals are largely confined to the gardens
that lie inside two fenced enciosnres, spilling
out onl,. slightly for spare seasonal color.
closed garden above before joining the ex-
pansive waterside patio and its various courts.
Either choice-into the front door and the
Iight-floo::led interior Of around to the oth-
er side of the house--Ieads to a sudden en-
counter with water, sky, and shore. The ex-
perience ofbwdking through to a clearing
in the woods is augmented by the sensation
of arriving at the edge of a precipice.
As a designer, Broadhurst is obsessed
with the margins between built and un-
buil t, structure and chaos. T his shows in
his handl ing of the concrete steps and
pathways through the forest. The large,
erched pavers are molded ro order in four
forms-flat, edge, right and left corners-
and placed over poured concrete founda-
rion wirh reveals so rhar rhey seem ro floor
above rhe chaos of rhe ground.
Broadhurst has done more than he-d! the
ground nexr rorhe buildings, where die for-
esr parh leads down to che house. Soil was
AUGUST 2009 landscape Architecture 153
On the upland side of th e house as shown in the plan, be/o. right, where
the slopt between dri.tw,. ,nd front door is trnerstd, pned steps
stem to float abo.e the forut floor, right, and the nati.e plantings,
top right, blend with th e island en,ironment. The landscape is intimately
connedtd to th e foru t surroundings, prtSenring mid story plards 1,
and pro.iding , network of paths through the site, abore. ;

imported and built up co cre-.ue a spe<:ial intimacy between fOr- I

est floor and architecture. From rhe interior of rhe house,
the result of this land sculpting is to heighten contmst
benvttn the cool embmce of the foresr on one side
and the bright, open view on rhe ocher.
B~ldhurst also paid respeCl to [he legacy
of "the ladies," as he calls the original owners,
enclosing a vegetable and curring garden in
a more permanenr S(Qlle wall precisely where WOOOl..o\Jo'O
their deer-proof wire fence and garden had been. The "Al.K
pebble mosaic squares of rheir patio now pave rhe
landing on [he steep path to the beach.

J.;-;":;
11lt traditional gardening areas desired b y rhe
owners (including the original owners' reinwnted
wgttablegan:Je.n)arewniledofffromrheresr ofdl('
landscape. In this way, the built environment is
rightly controlled so that the woodland areas can be
more clearly at one with til(' nati\'e surroundings. v
Wl i
Go.

Broadhurst , who mme to the Pacific Norrh- ~ "ii,",,"" I

west from his narive England on a fellowship and
smyed co srudy and design upscale residential gar-
•
54 1 Llndsupt ArehUtehu AUGUn UGI
dens in the &,mle area, has never lost his
hlscination with the natural environment
of the moumains, the Columbia Gorge,
and the coast. He has made a special study
of the Non:hwest plam palene, adapting
it [Ocomplement the decidedly modernist
lines of his pathways and hardscapes.
To make a poim that applies perfectly
[0 the &10 Juan House, he likes [0 quote

Gertrude Jekyll: 'This is hardly the place

for bearded irises!" As influences, he coums
Thomas Church, Luis Barragan- and Al-
ice Waters. When he dined at her famous
restauram in Berkeley, California, Chez
Panisse, "The menu communicated [0 me
where I was and the time of yt'J.r."
Broadhurst finds that native plants are
perfect communicators. Having cormlled
specialized are-as for growing cutting flow-
ers and vegetables, he gave the rest of the
site at the San Juan House over [0 native
plams. Some-the tall Douglas firs, sinewy
madronas, and mmpant sabl, for instance---
were alre-Jdy established and had only to be-
come pan: of the composition. But he spec-
ified more than 25 native species in (he
design. The exceptions are a stmtegic scat-
tering of gemnium, allium, and milkweed
that drifts OUt from the enclosures and along
level paths as if volumeering among the na-
tive plams.
These choices- a common thread in
Broadhurst's pmctice-are based on sci-
ence as well as aesthetics. "\'X'hat are the
niches (ecologically) we are creating in our
built landscapes?" he asks, rhetorically.
"\'X'hat plams ('dn best fill these spaces?"
He might have chosen any available
epimedium for the forese floor. Instead,
"Vancollveria (hexalldra) fills exactly r he
same ecological niche."
By deliberately drawing connections be-
tween popular commercial plams and
species that are native to the Pacific North-
west, Broadhurst shows how a native plant
palene can be applied to a design frame-
work of drifting g round cover, softly
mounding midstory plams, and low trees
- all under the iconic evergreens.

Cldir Elllmv is a freeldllce writer ill SMule.

PROJECT CREDITS Landscape designer: Paul IMIRICIM SOCIHY Of [IIOSCIPI lRCHI1lClS

R. BroadhufS[ + Associates, Seattle. Archi- 636 mSlRHl NW, WISHIN6ION, DC 10001-3136
tect Jodie Carro!' Stonemason and hard sur-
face contractor: Michael $chamberg.
101-898-1411 •fiX101-898-1185 • WWYlASIlOi6

AUGUST 2009 landscape Archit.ctur. I SS

 ACTICE

USTAlNABlLITY. 111e other day, I re-

S
alized that despircourconsmm use of
the [crm wdescribe best practices, we
designers seldom think about how
sustainability applies to the contin-
ued eXistence of our fi fms. Yee we've devot-
ed so much energy and timeroestablishing
these businesses, most of us motivated by
more than JUSt profit. W/e long ago accept-
ed the responsibility of maintaining a Staff,
raking on rhe burden of "mouchs [Q feed,"
\'{Thy is it so difficult to take the next seep?
It is particularly difficult co chink about
the futu re now, when rimes are rough
everywhere and JUSt rhe thought of next
month's payroll can seem overwhelming
for business owners. Consider (his: \'{lhac
if next month comes and you aTen'r there
to sign the checks?
\'{fill [he life of your firm end when you
die or recire, or will another generation of
partners chare a course for ehe future?
Of course, you may decide nor to keep
your name on ehe door, to lee your legacy
live on in memory on ly. As individual de-
signers, A. E. Bye and Dan Kiley contin-
ue to inspire, even though no offices exise YU UJl FJ J1JyJ
to maintain their influence directl y. And
large firms like WRT and l: DAW moved One owner lays
. out the steps for ensurinuu that
forward briskly aher the founding partners
wichdrew from active practice. your practice will continue after you retire.
I have always enjoyed the business side
of the profession, but even I d idn't stare By James A. van Sweden, FASLA
thinking about succession planning until
I reached che age of 60. By chat cime my and \'V'o!fgJ.ng at che helm has beneficed vance protects you and your business from
partner, \'V'o!fgang O ehme, FASLA, was my firm, my partners, and me. having to make reactive decisions.
nearly 65. Despite having reac hed an age I've admitted that even I came late to
where most people are alre-J.dy looking for- Proactive or Reactive? che game in terms of p lanning for the fu-
ward to retirement, we were FJ.r from slow- TIle ultimate benefic ofsuccession planning ture. A concrete fact drew my attention to
ing down. Fortunately, boch of us wefe in is maximizing return on your investment. che marcer. Many years ago, \'V'olfgang and
good health and loved our wOfk. Planning isn·t just a matter of retirement. I had taken out wha t are called ·'key man"
More than 35 years ago, \'V'olfg,mg and Whac would happen to your business if you insumnce policies. T hese policies insure a
I based our firm on a signature style. \'V'e became disabled, if your partner died or de- firm's continued operJtion should some-
decided 10 Ye'J.rs ago that we wanted our cided to pursue a different career? Succes- thing happen to the partne rs. A lways
legacy, the New American Garden Style, sion planning includes prepamt ion for aware of the bottom line, I not iced that
to live on within the firm we cre'J.ted. My unexpected evems. A comprehensive suc- eventually the premiums would reach an
own experience demons tmtes tha t the ef- cession plan would explore and address all of unsustainable level. So Wolfgang and I
fort of planning for a fu ture without me these concerns. Preparing for them in ad- agreed thac each of us would re tire at age

5 6 1 llndSCilpe Architecture Aucun IO n

 PRACTICE

77 (which is three yt"'drs away fOf me) and

consult with the firm thereafter. That de-
cision set ofT a lengthy process of deciding
how the firm would continue arrer we were
no longer ar the helm.
The only rhing Wolfgang and I ever ar-
gued about was plam names, and I recog-
nize rhat rhis made planning fur rhe rurnre
of Oehme, van Sweden & Associates easier.
Difficult decisions had co be made aoom
who would rake on Ibu:lership roles, how
those roles weredefinecl, and when the tmns-
fer would occur. And purring these decisions
0« wouldn't have made rhe process msier.

An Office Project Uke Any Other

Consider succession planning an office
project like any other. The first step is to as-
semble a te'dm of people who have rheskills
and knowledge to make it happen. Realize
that meetings are part of the process and
revisions will occur JUSt as they do during
the design process. A good setoflegal doc-
uments is as valuable to the success ion
planning process as well -prepared con-
struction documents are to a build our.
Your partners and prospective partners
are obviously indispensable in-house team
members. I have long said that \'qolfgang
and I are not geniuses individually, but to-
gether we balanced each other in terms of
both skills and personality. Ideally, partners
should oolance each ()[her; however, we were
aware that the second generntion of partners
would strike adi«erent equilibrium.
We selected several candidates for
partnership-all equally qualified, each
one an excellent designer who had proven
again and again, over 10 to 15 years of
working with us, that he or she could get
a job done right.
Here, I must resOrt to another analogy:
marriage. The period in which your
prospective partners are considering a
long-term alliance with you is an engage-
ment of sorts. l ike planning a wedding,
the very process of planning for succession
f<.""VeaIs differences of opinion, perception,
and expectation. For example, you will dis-
close financial demils you have never shared
with employees before. And the process of
committing arrangements to writing and

58 1 llndSCilpe Architecture Aucun IO n

clarifying relationships reve-dls differences
in perception. Encourage candidates to
hire their own attorneys and to think for
themselves.
Don't be offended when you are not per-
ceived as a knight in shining armor by
(""Very employee you approach. Some may
reject your partnership offer. Remember,
it isn't personal; it's business.
O utside consultants are critically impor-
ram to the te-.un. A good attorney with expe-
rience in succession planning is essential. An
estate planner IS a wise addition to the team.

Talk with other CEOs

who have gone through
the process and llse your
team of advisers to help
in defining the ownership
transition plan.
Together, these advisers can explain the suc-
cession planning process and can help assure
that your plan legally, profitably, and afford-
ably considers your needs and objectives.
At OvS our team included partners and
pruspective partners, attorneys, taX advisers,
and our chief financial officer, whose back-
ground and training included succession
planning and estate management. She
helped us understand that we needed bmh
a plan and a strategy. We discussed different
exit strategies, roles, evolution of the firm,
and the timetable of the transfer of control.
Together, we assessed the advantages and
disadvantages of different plans in terms of COFICLE 71 ON READER SEfMCE CAm OR GO TOHTTP"">¥O. HOTlMS . C0W2~1'
taxes and insurance and determined wh ich
options best met our gools.

Ownership Transition:
What's in It for You?
Owner compensation depends on the finan-
cial health of your firm and your retirement
preferences. For example, do you want to
retire com pletely or tmnsition to an advi-
sory role? Do you wish to retain a percent-
age of the firm's ownership? \Xlhat are the
tax and estate planning implications of a
one-time payout versus compensat ion
throughout your lifetime ? Your options

AUGUST 2009 landscape Arcbiticturl l S9

 James van Sweden,
PRACTICE relaxes in a folly at
weekend getAway.
,
will be dicrared by a combination of \
the role you w ish to play in the firm's
future and the overall financial pic-
ture of your business.
111c beSt advice is co talk with oth-
I,
er CEOs who have gone through rhe
process, gather lots of information
from reliable sources, and use YOUT
tt'dm of advisers co help you navIgate
the following in defining the owner-
ship transition plan:
- Assist currell( leaders in [he devel-
opment of personal transition plans
that will meet thei r financial and re-
tirement objectives.
- Conduct a w.luation of [he fi rm to
determine the current market value and - Developexit stmtegies that correspond slXJken with lately, are experiencing a down-
stock price. wich che firm's overall scracegic plan. rurn in your business, don'c use chac as an ex-
- Evaluate seveml options for financing - Define an implementation schedule cuse not to plan. As a general rule, forecasc
the transition over a period of time. (timeline) for the ownership and Ie-Jder- and plan three to five ye-Jrs out. \'V'hen you
- Create buy/sell and stockholders' ship cransicions. reach chac milestone you can decide whecher
agreements. If you, like every orher firm owner I've or nor ic makes sense co implemenc the plan.

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60 I llndsCilpe Archi tecture Aucun IOn

 Occasionally you wdl revise your plan.
Just as you might perform a IXlsroccupan-
cy evaluation, you should periodically re-
visit and updaee your decisions in light of
unexpened developments. Needs change
over time. As designers we know that a
good plan accommodaees change.
Cultivating SuccessCHs:
leadership Transi tion
Ie is importane to note the succession plan-
ning process involves both ownership tran-
sition and leadership e('.lOsition. O wnership
eransition address("S the legal and financial
issues, wh ile leadership tmnsicion address-
es how a firm conducts ics business and
manages its operaeion after the founding
principals step back from a managerial role.
Scarr grooming your employees C"J.r1y on.
Long before I ceamed with Wolfgang, I
learned the many benefits of putting even
junior scaff members directly before the
d iem, allowing them co present their own
portion of the work. Doing so not only adds
a sense of urgency and personal accounta-
bilicy to che task ac hand but also provides
Working side by side
wilh your employees
in the office is not
adequate lTaining.
valuable experience in speaking and pres-
emation. Everyone benefi rs as a result.
Le-JJ"ning what works and what doesn't and
1e-J.rning how to talk before large and small
groups are valuable skills. In addition, com-
mitting scaff to presentations recognizes
their design calenes and contributions.
Working side by side with your em-
ployees in the office is not adequate tmin-
ing. Take chern with you when you leave
the office. At OvS we have a tmdition of
bringing staff into ehe field for plaming,
and these are days everyone looks forward
co and learns from. Invice associates co ac-
company you to talks and lectures, intro-
duce them to people, and allow chem to
make their own connections. People will
approach a junior Staff memberabour ideas
and prospects they won 't d are ask you
about. Assign writing tasks to more junior
Staff, and encourage them to accept invita-
tions to speak on their own. Not everyone
has to be goodateveryrhing; however, it is
imporcam to idemify the areas in which
people excel and to encoumge them to fur-
ther develop those talents.
While professional education require-
ments have increased over the years, don't
miss the opportunity to play a role in culti-
\~J,ting staff members' knowledge and caste.
Encoumge them to travel and co take pho-
tographs of what they see. Invite other land-
scape architens and designers imo the office
to present their work and to calk about their
design philosophy. AtOvS, we have learned
from professionals as disparate as Penelope
HobhoLiSC and Martha Schwarrz, ASLA.
Not every landscape architect has ehe
persomllicy, che capacity, or the desire to
lead a firm. \'{1hether hiring from oucside
or promoting from within, what setS po-
rencial partners apart from other equally
talented designers is their encrepreneurial

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AUGUST 2009 landscape Architecture I 61

 PRACTICE

spirit- and by that I me-,\n their desire to

extend their creativity beyond the re-aIm of
design and into the business itself. T heabil-
ity to identify potential areas of expansion
and growth, an enthusiasm for marketing
and promorion, and an Instinctive net-
working ability are key characteristics of
potential fi rm biders. Designers with an

Developing leaders
for fu ture generations
is far more complex
than developing
an ownership plan.
entrepreneurial oudook will rake as much
inrerest in building the business as eheydo
in building a project.
In mose offices, partnership poeential is
displayed over years of successful project
management. In essence, every projece is a
microcosm of ehe business ieself. A projea
manager has to monitor budget, scheduling,
and time while de-..Iling successfully with the
cliene, the archieece, and other members of
ehe design ee-..Im. \'Vhen the project is com-
plete and profitable, a potentialle-..Ider will
be eager to spread the word aoout the proj-
ectand sustain ehe relationships established
over the course of the work.
Using one project as a springboard to
ehe next is the way business is buile and
maintained. A beamiful design delivered
on time and within budget is a significant
achievement, and employees who deliver
or coneribure to thae outcome are essen-
tial. What sets the entrepreneurial em-
ployee apart is his or her ability to use one
project to gee another either by promoting
a similar project toa newcliem Of by win-
ning a new job with the same client, archi-
tect, or engineer.
Developing leaders for future genera-
tions is r..lr mOfe complex than developing
an ownership plan. Thinking aoout mak-
ing today's employee tomorrow's partner

62 1 llndSCilpe Architecture Aucun IO n

me-.ms actively pursuing change. Perhaps
this is why so many owners put off think-
ing about the future of their firm. It means
forging allmnces across generations whose
experiences and omlook are necessarily dif-
ferent from your own. Ultimately, it means
giving up control.
Considering the future leadership of the
next gencration includes identifying who
takes the helm. Lisa E. Delplace, ASLA, was
selected by her fellow principals, including
Sheila Brady, FASLA; Eric Groft, ASLA; m y-
self; and Wolfgang, for the role and respon-
sibility of chief executive officer. When
making this selection, we considered who
best understood rhe culrureof rhe firm and
who could balance our long-term goals and
objectives with our legacy of susrainable de-
velopment while crearing value for our cus-
tomers, investors, and employees.

Your Legacy, Your Way

Considering how late in the game we be-
gan, we were fortunate to have completed
the projecr well before Wolfgang or J
ne-J.red rerirement. \'Vhen J needed surgery
in 2003, J could focus on my recovery with-
Out worrying unduly abouc rhe office, safe
in (he knowledge chat wharever happened
we had a plan for it. Ac the same cime, the
work of the finn went on smoothly, and our
cliencs didn'r suffer due to our failure to
confront rhe future in a timely manner.
Succession planning takes cime but is
well worch t he effort. Our process rook
years and is srill evolving. Recently, we be-
came a woman-owned enterprise. This of-
fice project took us just a few months. Our
effort was screamlined by the fJ.cr rhat our
team was in place-partners, attorney, and
chi ef financial officer. \'Ve had already
ironed Out many of rhe issues involved.
The benefits are felt throughout ( he
ranks. \'Vhen employees know chat a suc-
cession plan is in place, it quells anxiety.
Many of the most frightening "whar if"
scenarios have already been considered and
are no longer the stuff of coffee break spec-
ulacion. Valuable sraff members are more
likely to scay and more likely to consider
a future at a firm chat is thinking about
its future.

jamfJ A. IIdIl Sweden, FASLA. is a follllding

prhletpa! alld the presidellf o/Oehme, I'diI 51/1i-
dell & Ajj(}etates ill \'(Iashillgtoll, D.C.

AUGUST 2009 landscape Architecture I 63

GREEN ROOFS

HIGH-MAINTENANCE
SUPERSTAR
The greell roof on tile
Califorll ia Academy of
Sciences is a stuIll1ing
feal of design.
What does it take to
keep this lIew ico]]
ready for its close-up ?
By Linda Mcintyre
i-IECAUR)RNIA AcademycfSciences'

T
new Renzo Piano-designed home in
Golden Gate Park is crowned by
what mUSt be the world's most fa-
mous green roof. h 's certainly (he
most fashionable, having won seemingly
unanimous rave reviews from critics (in-
cluding the 2009 ASLA Awards jury) as
well as props from rhe public. I['s one of
the mOSt visible, with rolling tOlXlgrnphy
that makes jt eye-popping even to viewers
at gmde. And it's beautiful, as wewimessed
during a visit in April----deeply and thick-
ly green, dotted with blossoms, buzzing
with ins('Ctsund birds,asliceof narure [hat
fits perfectly inco rhe surrounding land-
scape yet exudes an ocherworldliness wor-
thy of rhe next S(arTrek movie.
As wirh any celebriry, though, the srun-
ning images of this lush, undularing roof

6 4 1 Llndsupt ArehlltelY,. AUGUn UGI

Aucun lOot Lilndscape Architecture 165
GREEN ROOFS

don't reveal what's behind the

scenes to prOOuce the seemingly
effortless gorgeousness. The diffi-
(ulty wasn 't only lifnng up a
piece of the Golden Gate Park
landscape and sliding the Academy under-
nt-dth it. Keeping this Icon of landscape
srarchirectut'e pnxlucing oohs and aaahs,
day in and day out, is a full-time job.
Of course, designing it was no small fe-J.t
either. T he process began In 1999, a
decade after (he origina l Academy, a
hodgepodge of a dozen buildings built
over a span of85 years, was severely dam-
aged in the Lorna Prieta earchquake (rhe
com plex was raze--d in 2004). The Acade-
my's board commissioned six architects w
pruposedesigns for a new building on the
site. Piano's ethereal wavy line drawing
and vision of a build ing deeply connected
[Q chesurrounding landscape-ie's unusu-
al ly open and transparent fora museurn-
carried rhe day over ambitious models by
other firms.
,-0
HE ROOt: with irs domes echoing the
T seven hills on which the city was builr
and reflecting rhe exhibirion spaces be-
low, was a structural challenge in itself.
How were the layers of rhe green roof as-
sembly, including [he g ranular growing
medium, going to Stay in place?
Usually, in a low-profile assembly such
as {his six-inch-deep one (as opposed to a

Ren20 Piano's squiggles, top,

captured the imagination of the
Academy's board. The original
Academy, right, comprised a
cluster of neoclassical buildings,
while the new building, abore,
sits more comfortably in
Golden Gate Part and its
surrounding landscape.

66 1 llndSCilpe Architecture Aucun IO n

complicated roof garden with deep soil
that can sustain shrubs and trees), plugs or
curcings of hardy succulem plams are
plamed in coarse growing medium spread
like wpsoil over a Fairly Aat roof. As they
grow and cheir root syscems develop, the
plams "knit" the assembly wgether, con-
tributing to its physical stability and water-
processing function. In some situations,
such as when high winds are an issue,
biodegradable mats or horticultural glue
helps w hold the system in place wh ile che
plams grow in.
These domes, however, made stability
more problematic. They also presented an
extra challenge with regard w drainage,
always an issue on a green roof- the land -
68 1 llndSCilpe Architecture Aucun IOn
Hatches on the hills and the atrium, abo~e,
open automatically, complicating the irrigation
schedule. The green roof is visible to visitors at
grade, below, and the building's facade empha-
size s both transparency and reuse lin th e form
of a panel from the original compound I.
scape architects were concerned that coo
much water might accumulate at the bot-
rom of the slopes. Further compliclcing
matters was che need w preserve the in-
tegrity of the waterproofing membr.lI1e,
which, according wJohn Loomis, ASLA, a
principal at SWA Group in Sausalito, did
not allow for connections, pins, curbs, or
cleats to help give the assembly above the
membrane purchase.
An approach developed by SWA feacur-
ing drain intercepts in concentric circles
was nixed by Piano as aesthet ically unac-
ceptable. So SWA devised a network of 24-
foot-square narrow linear gabions filled
with black basalt scone co hold the medi-
um, drainage boards, and filter fabric in
place while allowing water from rain and
irrigation to drain through the system. In-
tersections and sloped areas were bolstered
with rebar, and polyester cord strap "sus-
penders,·' the same material used to secure
containers on ships, help to hold the struc-
cure in place. T he gabions, which extend
over the Aat areas of the roof as well as the
domes, also serve as ad hoc footpaths for
maintenance crews and researchers.
 \.' .

Insulation, abore, was laid over the membrane, a late-breaking

decision that made the design more challenging. A grid of gabions,
~
abort right, strengthened with rebar at intersections, aids drainage ~
:> !• ;;.
-'.
and helps keep the assembly in place. Synthetic straps, right, provide
additional stability. Design details, below, had to accommodate the
complex roof strudure. Filter fabric, bottom right, keeps fine particles 1 -.!Y
..
from the growing medium out of the drainage boards, prese~ing
their performance. A layer of growing medium was spread in the
i"'
'oids of the grid, bottom left; the biodegradable trays hold additional
medium and planb. N~.,,~ CABLE ASSE~ 8LY
t-"'-rr

, , • • -----......
-- .
- . -- ~

, 01 Xl·),,> ,U
~

~
r .~

, JI -- ,,--
:::.="'_.. .. _ .

, ,•
,
-~ -----
::'0..":".: _ -
• • • >
,
~I

-t
(

•
'-~ • .
1

Aucun lOot Lilndscape Architecture 169

GREEN ROOFS

Modular trays might have

worked as a means to instal!
plams on the domes in a stable
fdShion, but the black plastic grid
look that characterizes many of
these green roof appl ications was
complerely at odds with this
high-style project. So Palll Kep-
han:, a restOf'J.rion ecologist whose
firm helped to develop a native
plam palette fOf the roof, and a
group of researchers developed a
biodegradable green roof module.
111tse 17 -inch-square trays are made of co- Plams were pregrown in about 50,000 The green roof has been edremel,. popular
conut fiber, a waste product from coconut of the trays at Kephart's Raila Creek N urs- with visitors, even rating a mention in the
cultivation in the Philippines, held togeth- ery before being transported to the roof, gossip column of a local newspaper.
er with natur.. llatex. They hold three inch- where an additional, shallower network of
es of growi ng medium, treated with my- gabions was constructed to hold the medi- the modules did not bre-J.k down before
corrhizal fungi co jump-scare root growth, um and crays in place on the steepest being placed on the roof.
and sit on three add itional inches of med i- slopes, about 60 degrees. T he biodegrad- \'<'hile the outlines of the trays were vis-
um spread OUt in the large squares deline-J.t- ability, however, made it important to ible during our visit, they were clearly
ed by the gabions. keep to the construction schedule so that breaking down . Indeed, says Loomis,a few

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70 I landscape Architecture Aucun IO n

months after installation a small leak re-
quired that a few trays be removed for re-
pair. The bottom of the trays had virtually
disaplJe'dfed and the plants had developed
six-inch rout systems.
Low Maintenance? Not Quite
The true test of a design comes after the
glamour shots and awards ceremonies. The
ongoing demands of this roufare, and will
continue to be, especially high because of
its complicated terrain, high visibility, and
constant sU'C'"m of visitors with high ex-
IX""Ctations. Most of the responsibility for
maintaining the roofs star power F"lls to
Alan Good , the Academy's landscape ex-
hibits supervisor. He and a colle-Jgue over-
see the two and a half acres of planted roof,
along with about five acres of grounds. A
commercial landscape crew helps with
weeding (weeds afe hand pulled, not
zapped with chemicals) and geneml mow-
and-blow-related tasks ehree eimes a week,
and a volunteer corps is being tmined in
weed identification to provide additional
help. The roof gees frequene irrigation
(with nonpotable water). The Rain Mas-
rer irrigation system is designed with pop-
up heads and rotary nozzles, automated via
software that controls the amount of water
based on we-Jther conditions (a we-Jther
station is part of the system) that influence
evapotmnspiration. Pelletized organic fe r-
ti lizer is occasionally broadcast by hand.
The roof's complex design makes grow-
ing plams lip there much more difficult.
"TIle modeling of the domes, aoo how they
interact with the wind, is a new problem,"'
says Good. "J'm dealing with desiccation,
which affects plants and establishment,
which then affects erosion." Microclimates
are always an important factor on green
roofS, perhaps the most imrxmant element
that determines which plants will g row
where. For example, areas around ehe air-
handling systems afe dry, making it diffi-
cult to keep plants alive.
The domes over ehe min forest and plan-
etarium exhibit spaces are fieted wieh cir-
cular skylights that open by sensors during
che day to release moisture and lee fresh air
in. "Jf we have one of these crazy hundred-
degt"f"C days with a big wind, we can't wa-
ter until afrer nine at night because there
is an automatic lock on the sprinkler sys-
tem," says Good. "Maybe we could have
laid a subsurhICe irrihoation system in those
areas. \X/e're using rotators on the rest of
the roof; they work fine in the flat areas but
they're nor good in the wind." Good wish-
es that these variations had been addressed
in the design of the irrigation system; try-
ing to remedy the situation after the m.ct
has Ix."en difficult (see "Advice for Design-
ers of Green Roofs," page 72).
Good's mncern about the plams is un-
derstandable since a unifOrm cover is a big
parr of the design program- Piano's sus-
tainability objectives did not include those
two fJCtS ofhorciculrut'Jllife, succession and
seasonality, and visitors come prepared to
be wowed by the roof. l1leir expectations
can be pretry specific: A movie in the plan-
etarium shows im;lges of the roof shot after
a big seeding of California poppies, but
since the other plams have established the
poppies can't self-seed in ehe dense cover. So
Good plugged about 1,500 poppies from
AUGUST 2009 landscape Architecture I 71
stubs, hoping to add color and di\'ersiry and
give visitors what they came roset.
Keeping ehe plane paletre diverse, in
keeping wieh the Academy's habitat ob-
jenives, has been tough. A lot of care went
in(O choosing the plants t hae comprise
most of the roof's cover (an exhibition gar-
den around the observation deck was plant-
ed wieh a broader array of naeive species (0
give visitors a trC"'Jr and take advantage of
a protecred microclimate). Frank Almeda,
a senior botanist at the Academy, and
Kephart tested about 30 species on the
roof of {he old ACldemy before demoli-
tion, looking for California natives that
could stand up (0 the harsh condirions on
the roof and provide habitat. T hey also had
to look good- an early mock-up fright-
ened the architect with its unkempt ap-
pearance,says Loomis. Four perennials and
five annual wildflowers made rhe Cut (see
"Plant List,'· page 75).
Aoout a yC"'Jr and a half after {he planrs
were installed on the roof, however, rheir
distribution was hardly equivalent. One of
the perennials, Prttllella VIIIgaris, had taken
over about 70 percene of rhe roof. Armeria
maritima and Sedlil/l spdthlllifolilll/l were
barely in evidence.
To some exrenr {his kind of variability
is {he norm on green roofs. In rhis case, rhe
growing medium might have played a
role: The urea content in (he growing
medium was very high. Kephart told us
The hills have made for a challenging horticul·
tural environment; some microclimates hne
proven more hospitable than others.
that was not consistent with Rana Creek's
specification and was the result of a substi-
turion by a contractor. Such glitches are
common on green roofS-since few stan-
dards exist, most media are nor reseed, and
not all installers understand rhe parricular
ch;II'Jcrerisrics of growing medium as op-
posed to soil.
The decision (0 use natives raised the
bar on mainrenance. Because native planes
at grade have been billed by many adv()-
cates as low orno maintenance, some mis-
takenly think [hey offer an C"'J.Sy solurion

W
E ASKED ALAN GOOD, the landscape exhibits supenisor at the
California Academ)" of Sciences, what advice he has for de·
signers about thinking long·tenn; while some is specific to
this unique place, much of it applies to green roofs
across the board and, indeed, landscapes in general.
Consider Maintenance in the Design ADVICE FOR
"One thing that's a constant when )"ou talk with opera·
tions and maintenance staff on any architedural project DESIGNERS OF
is, where do I plug in my drill, where do I get water-
these very basic: simple daily infrastructure needs that GREEN ROOFS
escape the big·picture designers' thinking. That is ex·
actly where I would start if I had input at the beginning of a projed. I
have pallets of organic fertilizer sitting on a loading dock that's four
floors awa)" from me, and I have to get it up here by hand. That's a
huge maintenance cost. If we had a full·size freight elevator that
came rigllt up to the roof, we could be much more ambitious."
Anticipate Microclimate Effects on the Design
"The designer should have done a wire·framed computer model of the
wind effed on the hills, and some thennal modeling on what happens
with the wind on a sunn)" dar. The constant wind on the southern and
western ends of this roof Is creating completely different water needs
in certain zones, and those water needs were not ad·
dressed In the way the lirrigation s)"stem wasllaid out.
I'm looking at products like Hydrasorb and different
polymers to mix in with the soil. There are environmen·
tal concerns about what happens if those get into the
water s)"stem, and how to apply it after the fad and so
on. I'm trying to address these issues with fine tuning,
but these are clumsy tools."
Th ink About Com po sting th e Trimm i ngs
Because biomass doesn't break down quickl)" in green roof growing
medium, trimmings of pruned or dormant plants have to be taken off
the roof by hand and thrown awa)". "What I'd like to do if I had the
time and the space is to set up a composting operation on the ground
floor so we could cart the waste offtheroof,compost it,and bring it
back up," sa)"s Good.

7 2 1 landsupe Architecture Aucun 200S

GREEN ROOFS

on green roofs. [n most cases,

nothing could be farther from the
truth- using natives immensely
complicates the task of establish-
ing a stable plant community un
a roof and the quick cover essen-
tial co Stop weeds frum colonizing
exposed areas.
\'1hilc some rough analogues co
a rooftop situation exist in nature
in some regions, careful science-
based analysis (such as the research
and testing that were carried out
on this project) is required to
choose an appropriate plant
palcne, and the mature roof will
almost certainly need irrigation
and frequent irnervenrion (as on this roof). esmblishmenc period, don't need a loc of goocl looks means chat the irrigation and
Simple, thin green roofS planted primari - maintenance after the first year or two. O n ferri lization will continue into the foresee-
ly With hardy succulents, while nor no this roof, although [he plants were select- able fmure.
maintenance, usuallydon'c need irrigation ed for relatively low water ;md nutrient re- "'My operating principle is that the irri-
and, if weeded and monitored during che quirements, the demand for 24/7/365 gation is going to have to be constant,"

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says Good. "Theamount of water is going
to determine the number ofspecies we get
and the amount ofcoloL lfyou let it go for
two days, even in April, there will be a lot
of dieback; the le-dves will shrivel up. So if
we want to (tweak the irrigation to) get
rid of some of the moss, and let some of
the Prill/ella die back in the hot summer
months, It'S tricky. People will ask,
'What's wrong with the rooP'" Good and
others at the Academy hope to educate the
public about the true nature of the Califor-
nia landscape and gradually move away
from the year-round lush green impera-
tive, but that's a long-term plan.
None of this is to say that native plams
should never be used on a green nxl. But
they should be chosen with care and used
with the knowledge (hac additional main-
tenance will be requi['(--d. Thi s approach
seems to work best when the plant palette
serves a well-defined set of objectives mther
than a hazy desire fur ecological correctness.
At the Academy, the roof and its land-
scape of native plants ser\'e the insti{Ucion's
dual mission of education and research. In
Plant List
T "ESE PLlNTS were selected to comprise
the main plant palette, based on toler-
ance of har1ih rooftop conditions, low nutri-
ent and water requirements, ground· hugging
height, habitat value for local animals and
insects, and year-round visual interesL The
list was winnowed from a bigger group of
about 30 speciH tested on the roof of the
old Academy before it wa1i demolished.
Perennials
Armeriil rmlfitima ssp. cil/ifo",;cil
- California 5eapink
Frayria tbiloensis - Beach strawberry
Prunell. yulgaris ssp. hookeri - Selfheal
Set/um spathulifol;um
- Broadleaf stonurop
Annuals
Eschuholz;a ca/;(o",;ca - California poppy
Lasthenia ca/i(om;ca - California goldfields
LiI,ia platyglossa - Coastal tid)'tips
Lup;nus bkolor - Miniature lupine
Plantilgo erect. - Dotseed plantain
addition to the education provided to the
visiting public through tours and inter-
pretive signs, the comings and goings of
flora and fauna are closely monitored. Stu-
dents from San Francisco State University
are taking momhly samples of insect life,
and high school and college interns are
working with the Academy's botanist to
monitor an empty test plot on the roof's
west side to t!".lCk what plant species show
upon the roof without intervention. Even-
tually Academy rese-drchers hope to intro-
duce the threatened San Bruno elfin and
Bay checkerspot butterflies to the habitat
on the roof; the exhibition garden was de-
signed with a lot of larval host planes such
as Asclepias jascimlaris, bm they take a cou-
ple of years to mature before they become
useful to the butterflies.
So How Green Is that Roof?
Piano has talked at lengch ;Ibout his nature-
based inspirations for the Academy building
- the "spider web" glass-and-metal ceil-
ing of the atrium, the ··le-dflike" quality of
the solar panels chat limn the edge of the
AUGUST 2009 landscape Architecture I 75

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76 1 llndSCilpe Architecture Au cun zo os
GREEN ROOFS
roof- and the importance of its sustainable
ff"J.tures, including the use of a lot of recy-
cled materials in construcrion and the re-
l)rcling of must of (hedemoli(ion material.
And, of course, (here's (hat nxl.
111e roof makes a significant contribution
(0 the building's ecological bona fides. I(·s
certainly the mose obvious and lite ral
"gr«:n" element. I( gave a big boost (0 (he
project team·s successful effort (0 secure
LEED Pla(inum certificarion,eaming points
for srormwater management (ehe roof was
designed co retain almost all of (he min that
FJ.l!s on the building; any runoff is din:"(red
co infiltmtion beds); water efficiency (the
plants are irrigaced by an efficienr system
with non potable water); energy savings ([he
green roof is estimated co keep che incerior
about 10 degrees cooler than a convention-
al roof would); sound anenuarion ([he roofis
estimated ro deflect high-frequency sound
and reduce low-frequency sound by 40 deci-
bels); reduction in urban heac island effect;
and habitat.
Environmenralists might raise ques-
tions like these:
- How green can new construction, led by
a designer jetcing in from Italy, possibly be?
- Does it maHer if materials are recycled
and biodegmdable, like the coconut fiber
in the modUles, if they have ro be shipped
halfway around the world ?
- Wil l one roof's worth of native plants
make a meaningful contribution to wild-
life habitat?
- \"X1ouldn'ca flat, chin green roof, planted
with drought-resistant succulems, be more
ecologically virtuous than a starchi cectur-
ai, plam-stressing domescape plamed with
relatively fragile, thirsty natives?
And arguments can be mooeon che och-
er side. TIlis was noc a greenfield project,
for example-the building's footprint is
smaller chan that of its p redecessor (at
400,000 square feet, ic's 20 percent bigger
but much of it is underground, so the site
has an additional acre of parkland).
And /Orall of the outsize claims aoom the
roof·s sustainability, design matters in the
effort to sell sustainability, at least for now.
Some of us might think longingly aOOut the
number of extensive green roofs that could
 IlNSlllSCUlf'IUIH.:
CHI, E!" HOOF
AT A CLA ", ",CF:
LOCATION: San Francisco
INSTALLED: Autumn 2007
SIZE: 2.5 acres planted out of 4.5 acres
total roof space
DEPTH: Silr inches of growing medium
!three inches loose laid, three inches
in planting trays)
PLANTS: About SO,OOO trays; four
perennials and five annual wildflowers
METHOD: Three·inch·deep, i7·inch-square,
pregrown biodegradable trays
COST: 528 per square foot including the
membrane and root barrier
IRRIGATION: Yes, with nonpotable water
MAXIMUM SLOPE: 60 degrees
MAINTENANCE: Constant, by Academy
staff and landscape contractor; organic
fertilizer and hand pulling of weeds

have been built for the millions spem on

chis project. Mosc people, however, are noc
chere yec, as a lor of re5e'J.rch and writing
about g reen roofs has made cle-J.T to me,
CIACLE l,7 00 RUDER SERVICE CARDOA GO TO KTTP 1I"flf O.HOTIMS.COIN.1:l496·l,7
This green roof has captured che imag i-
nacions of many people, and for all ics star
qualicy, ie is a funceionallandscape . Ie's noe
a consumer product or a marketing scheme.
If ehis one-of-a-kind projecc convinces a
few more people co accepc, even ag itaee for,
green roofs on a mass scale, it was well
worch che cose.

Riprapeditor and fonller landscape Architec-

cure JfajJwnfer Linda Mclntyre hal dli abiding
illterest ill both bealltiflll and homely greC1l roofs.

PROJECT CREDITS: Client California Acade-

myofSciences, San Fmncisco. Projectmanager/
owner representative: DR Young Associates,
San Rafael, California. Architecture: Renzo
Piano Building Workshop, Genoa, Italy;
Staneec, San Fmncisco. Structural, HVAC, and
u:m consultant: Arup, San Fmncisco. Land-
scape architecture: SWA Group, Sausal ito,
California. Civil engineering: Rutherford &
Chekene, San Francisco. Ecology consultant:
Rana Creek, Carmel Valley, California. lITi-
gation consultant: Martin Dickson, Palo Ce-
dro, California. General contractor: \'V'ebcor
Builders, San Mateo, California. landscape
contractor: Jfnsen Corporation, San JOSf, •.0."11044
C.1Iifornia.
COACLE '511 00 RE.o.OER S£FlViCE CAFIOOA GO TO H TTPJllNfO . HOTIMS . ~ · 'W

AUGUST 2009 landscape Archit.ctur. 1 77

 PROFESSIONAL
AWARDS JURY
considered
nearly 600 entries-the largest number in ASLA history-from
around the world, and seleded 49 projects for recognition in
General Design, Analysis and Planning, Residential Design,
Communications, and Research. The awards ceremony will take
place at the ASLA Annual Meeting in Chicago on September 21.
The panel was chaired by Mark Rios, FASLA, of Rios Clementi Hale
Studios in Los Angeles, and composed of Vladimir Djurovic, Inter-
national ASLA, of Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture in
Broumana, Lebanon; Sam Grawe of Dwell magazine in San Fran-
cisco; Linda Jewell, FASLA, of the University of California at Berkeley;
Mario Nievera, ASLA, of Mario Nievera Design Inc. in Palm Beach,
Florida; Peter Lindsay Schaudt, FASLA, of Hoerr Schaudt Landscape
Architects in Chicago; Sunny Scully, FASLA, of Lewis Scully Gionet
Landscape Architecture in Washington, D.C.; Elizabeth "Boo"
Thomas, AStA, of the Center for Planning Excellence in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana; and Peter Walker, FASLA, of Peter Walker and Partners
LandKape Architedure in Herbley, California. William H. Tishler,
FASLA, of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, joined the panel to
select the Landmark Award-PepsiCo World Headquarters-which
will be featured in a future article in Landscape Architecture.
(Ner the coming year, Landscape Architecture will feature 2009 award
winners that have not already been covered by the magazine. The
following pages include brief descriptions of the award winners. Go to
page 119 to see products that were used in theaward-winning projeds.
General Design Category phere that contrasts with the abundant green plantings along the
bayou. Commissioned artwork frames each park IXlrtai, giving visi-
tors a symbolic link between the city's arts district and its his(Oric
GENERAL DESIGN, Award of Excellence
channel. "By capturing open space under a labyrinth of highways,
RUFFALO RAYO U PRO~fE NAD E, "Q~'Q" the landscape architect has made the intimidating unintimidating,"
S\VA Grolll), H OWl/QII rhe JUrors said. "It sends a great message for rhe furureof parks."

T I IE B UFFALO BAYOU PROMENADE

[Own COfe co a river
connects H ouswn's down-
park through what was once a neglected and
near-impossible mess of freeways and bridges. The landscape archi-
GENERAL DESIGN, Honor Award
TEARDROP PARK, New York []
tect for this project converted a trash-soaked eyesore into 3,000 lin- Michael Vall Valkenhur;"..h Associate~ [nc" New YO/·k
ear feet of urban park, adding 23 acres of parkland to the inner city
and providing a prominent gateway to downtown Houston. Exten~ HE CLIENT FOR TEARDROP PARK, a L.8~acre pllblic park in
sive regrading of the site enabled the team to lay back slopes, there~
by improving views into tile park while also reducing the impact of
T Lower Manhattan's Battery Park City, wanted a lmique natural
play environment to build upon nearby recreational opportunities,
erosion and impruving f1<XX1waterwnveyance. A system uf Stair~and contribute to a family~friendly neighoorh<XXI idemity, and meet stri ct
ramp-connoct ing points at each rood way crossing provides safe, con~ susrainability guidelines. T he landscape architoct served as the prime
veniem, and frequent access opporrunities. LED lights incorporated consultant for this multidisciplinary effort, which features the
imo stairway railings wash the ground plane, olTering an urban atmos~ "'Marsh," steeply sloped planted areas, groves of trees, the "Water

8. I
Play" rocks, and the stone "Reading Circle." The parks green creden-
tials include fully organic manufactured soils and maintenance
regimes as well as using treated graywater from the adjacent LEED
Gold-rated Solaire Building and capturing storm water runoff to sup-
ply all of the park's irrigation needs. Additionally, swne used through-
out the park, including the 27-foot-high, I 68-foot-long stacked blue-
scone "lce-Warer Wall," was quarried within a SOO-mile radius. A
largely native plam palene creates excellem habitat for migrating
birds and effectively jump-stans natural cxologies on a sire composed
of biologically inert fill. "A true urban oasis," said the jurors. 'The
landscape architect has made a very bold gesture on an almost imjX>S-
sible site." (See "Abstract Realism," LAM, February 2007 .)

GENERAL DESIGN, Honor Award

MACALLF:N Run.. 01NG, SOUlh 80S/Oil
Lallflworks Studiu 1m;., 8os/QlI

T ilE LEED GOLD-CERTIFIED MACAll.E N BUILDING demonstrates

the seamless blendHlg of cutting-edge urban archltecturel
landscape architecture and a razor-sharp environmental agenda. Sit-
uated between South Boston and an expansive field of infrastructure,
the 12-story residential condominium with ground-level retail devel-
opment and its landscape are entirely new construction on a lA-acre
site that previously was an asphalt parking lot. The landscape scope,
which blankets the site, is three tiered. Fi rst, at the ground-level en-
try, a public court replete with rree plaming, new lighti ng , and a
composition of paving materials connects the Macallen Bui lding w
its nearest neighbor. The second tier, arop rhe parking garage, holds
an occupiable garden and pool landscape (or the residents. A radical-
ly sloping, 60-foot by 24o-foot green-roof landscape of drought-
tolerant sedums and native grasses makes up the third tier. Chief
among the client's objectives for this infill project was to achit've the
highest levels of sustainabiliry, a principle that each landscape layer
addresses in its own way. "This project takes hwnble materials and
makes them sing," the jurors said.

GENERAL DESIGN, Honor Award

CHANGT AIRPORT TERl\lJNAL 3
INTERIOR LANDSCAPE, SillSttporc
lien'a Design (S) Pte Ltd., Sillg(!porc

T HE LANDSCA PE ARCHITECf introduced a large-scale vertical

planting evoking a Southeast Asian equatorial rain forest into
Singapore's Changi Terminal 3 interior [Q soften an otherwise cav-
ernous indusuial building. In plan, this woven tapestry of 10,000
living plantS divides the megabuilding imo land-side/air-side sec-
tions. T he 10-srory interior space centers four functionalleve1s on a
huge, skylighted atrium, the base of which is the arrival hall. The
wall spans 1,000 feet of the I ,300-foot-long building, and its SO-foot
height helps scale down the tall interior space. The structure for the
green tapestry is a system of cantilevered I-beams and stainless steel
cable with planting troughs at every 10 feet. Perpendicular to the
tapestry on the arrival-level floor are wide planters with a variety of
massed ground covers and majestic LIVlstOlld chll/cmlj (Chinese fan
palms). Four 6O-foot-tall by 20-foot-wide water ft:atures, made from
shredded glass panels lam mated to stai nless steel plates, comple-
ment the wall of green.
'The plant selections are differem and wonderful," nOted the jurors.
GENERAL DESIGN , Honor Award
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
ROOF GARDEN, New York
Ken Smith Larnlscape Ar'chitect, New York
IGHLY VISIBLE FROM MIDTOWN MANHATIAN on high, this
H new viewing roof garden atOp the Taniguchi Hurlding at the
Museum of Modern Art marks a contemporary addition to the mu-
seum's landscape spaces. In addition to a relatively modest construc-
tion budget, the landscape design commission came with an existing
roof strucw re with a 25-pound-per-sguare-foor live load. Addition-
ally, the museum requested that rhe landscape architect incorporate
black-and-white gravel that it had already purchased. The design-
ers used the notions of simulated nature and camouflage theories to
generate the roof garden forms, which were born from the pattern of
a skateboarder's camouflage pants. The material palette includes nat-
ural crushed stone, recycled glass, and recycled rubber mulch, as
wtll as fiberglass grating, artificial boxwood plants, foam ht:aders,
and artificial rocks. T he design, which also draws inspiration from
Japanese dry Zen gardens, is both rooted in tradition and contem-
porary in spirit and form. "We love the painted grates," the jurors
said. "Graphic design at a city scale." (See "Ulterior Exterior," LAM,
November 2005.)
GENERAL DESIGN, Honor Award
OBSERVATION BALLOON PREVIEW PARK rn
ORAJ'I"CE COUNTY GREAT PARK, Irvi,,~. C(I /ijo rlliu
\'f ORKSHOPWEST Ken Smith Lalldsl:ape Ar(;hik(;t,
l\bv Yorl.· w ul irvim), C" /ifomil!
T HE GREAT PARK PROJ ECT encompasses 1,347 acres that will
become the heart of fuwre districts for livi ng, commerce, and
lifelong learning on the former EI Toro Marine AirStation in O range
County, California. Part of the development plan is a 27 -acre Preview
Park, which serves as a visitor center and prototyping area for the
Great Park. Anchored byan orange, 30-person observation balloon
that rises 500 feet for a commanding view, the Preview Park intro-
duces several prototypes for the orange groves, stonework, and plant-
ings that will evtntually fill tht entire park. Tht Preview Park also
is actively programmed wi[h concerts, dances, workshops, and oth-
er special events [Q build regional suppon and to give neighbors a
voice in the park's design process. T he master plan emphasizes long-
term sustainability via energy production and conservation, recy-
cling, native and xeric plantings, neighborhood connections, com-
munity gardens, park-<lnce-spend-the-day transit, and education
programs. "Adopting the graphic language of an airfield in a fresh,
contemporary way is absolutely the most dramatic thing that could
be done," said rhe JUrors.

GENERAL DESIGN, Honat' Award

CHONCAE CANAL SOURCE POINT PARK [;l
SUNKEN STONE CARDEN, Scol/I, Korea
i'tIikyoung Killl Design, Brooklillc, Muss(lcfm selfs

T HE CHONGAE CANAL PROJECT forms a part of the city of Seoul's

ambitious waterway redevelopmll1t t:lton to restore a highly pol-
lured, covered warerway. To meet rhe charge of an international de-
sign competition (Ocrtate a symbolic represenration of rhe future re-
unification of Noreh and South Korea, the landscape architect
designed twO urban superblocks in Seoul"s Central Business Dimict,
the main source point of the ChonGae Canal. Other blocks were de-

"This is a landmark
project with great
promise for the future."
signed by local landscape architeClS and the Army Corps of Engi-
neers, and the cumulative outcome is a seven-mile-Iong, pedesrrian-
focused green corridor [hat brings people ro the hisroric ChonGae
waterway. The ChonGae Canal Project defines the nine provinces
through use of local materials and nine sources of water. Regional
stone quarried from each of the nine areas, nine source points of wa-
ter, and fiber-<lptic Iigl1tS highlight this collaoorative effort. "Spectac-
ular. This is a landmark project with great promise for the fmure,"
said the jurors.

GENERAL DESIGN, Honat' Award

CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, III
5 (//1 fnmcisco
S\VA Crooul), 5UUstllito, Culifol"lliu

T HE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES has earned LEED

Platinum certification through an ambitious vision for sustain-
able design. Landscape architecture played a major role in the real-
ization of the design team's concept of "lifting up a piece of the
park and puning a building under it," resulting in a two-and-a-
half-acre living roof. T he roof's contours conform ro t he exhibit
spaces and facilities below and romamically echo San Francisco's
seven major hills. A 3,500-square-foot observation deck provides
access co the living roof while providing magnificent views. T he
new building reduces the former fac ility's physical footprim by one
and a half acres, creating space for the new gardens that transition
to adjacent mature parkland. In addition to the living roof, com-
posed of half a million native California p lants, the landscape archi-
tt:Ct dt:Signcd the new t:ntries and the sidt: gardens I:reaccd by the
new building's more compact footprint. "Ingenious," said the JU-
rors. "A technical masterpiece-so clever and creative." (See article
on page 64.)
GENERAL DESIGN, Honor Award
MUSEO DE I, ACERO HORN0 3, MQUICrre)~McxicQ I'J
Slwface.:1esib'll luc .+ I-Ia ran al'tluite cto8, SUI! f 'nmciscQ

TEAM OF INTERNATIONAL DESIGNERS collaborated co trans-

A form adecommissioned blast furnace and its 3.7 -acre brownfield
site into a modern history museum dedicated to the region's rich
history of steel production . The project's innovative landscape design
emphasizes the physical profile of the 230-foot-long furnace struc-
ture while complementing the modern design of the new structures.
Principles of sustainabiliry are at the core of the landscape design and
include extensive and intensive use of green roofs over the museum.
Additionally, all of the stOrm water runoff within the site's boundaries
is treated in a series of on-site treatment runnels. Aqllatic plants and
wetland macrophytes bioremediare and treat stOrm water before it
enters an underground cistern, where it is srored for dry-season irri-
gation. Two water features- a stepped canal composed of repur-
posed steel-processing partS over which wate r cascades and a mist-
ing fountain-offe r a pleasant surprise for visitOrs. "This work
represents a medley of g reat design inspirations that are applied so
well throughout;' said the jurors.

GENERAL DESIGN, Honor Award

POLY IN'fERNATIONAL PLAZA, GU(lIIg;;;/WU , Cilil!(l rn
S\lIA Gr oup, 8wI F'ra u d.<;(;Q

OCATED IN G UANGZHOU, CHINA, the 140-acre Poly Interna-

L tional Plaza site houses almost two million square feet of office and
exhibition space in the city's new exhibition and trade district. Situat-
ed between the Pearl River and the historic Pazhou Temple Park, the
site's agricultural history, the tropical climate, and the U.S. design
team's aspiration to be innovative, sustainable, and modern have all
converged to influence the landscape design. Consisting of (WO slen-
der north/south-facing [Owers coupled with low-rise p;>dium build-
ings, the architecture is diagonally offset around a large central garden
court. As part of a broad architectural plinth, the entire garden coun
is elevated five feet [0 enhance the effectS of cooling breezes, which
alsoareengaged by stmregically placed water features. One-rhird of the
site landscape is developed as roof gardens, and in response to the
client's wishes, the central garden reveals acontemporary sensibility [0-
ward classical Chinese gardens. "Crazy beautiful," praised the jurors.
"It's refined, with exquisite demiling."

GENERAL DESIGN, Honor Award

ZOBON CITY SCULPTURE GARDEN ,
f' w lrmg SlulIIg lw i, Ch ill"
S\lIA Group, Lo!utllgd,~.~
I !!SSCUlPTURE GARDEN lies at the center ofa ),OOO-unit multi-
T family residential infill development in the Pudong district of
Shanghai, China. The design objective was to integrate art, land-
scape, and architecture in ways that make dense, urban living more
sustainable. O n a mere acre-and-a-half site, the landscape design at-
tem pts to reinterpret the urban phenomena central to the Pudong
Shanghai envIronment by creating three distinCt environments.
First, the abstraCtion garden mimics the rearly flooding from the riv-
er with an eight-foot-rall, stacked glass cascading founrain surround-
ed by informal seating on a public plaza. T he Cognitive Garden, in-
fused wirh colorful planting, whire sound from a simple fountain,
and raked gravel, otTers residents a place of respire. Finally, rhe sky
garden, complerely surrounded on rhree sides by rail cowers, uses an
ell iptical reflocring pond co make rhe most of its slice of the sky. T he
jurors pronounced (his "a gorgeous projea. Bealltifully craf(ed, down
(0 the very las( detaiL"
GENERAL DESIGN, Honor Award
BEIJING OLYMPIC FOREST PARK, Ikijiug, Chill(' rn
Beijing T8ingima l)rl,an Planning 3.11(1 Desigll h 18lihlle ,
B,'iji/lt;
T I IE 16-ACRE BEIJING OLYMPIC FOREST PARK, the organic com-
ponentof rhe BeijingOlymplCGreen, is designed [Q make a rran-
si(ion from a severe urban contex( [Q a new ecosystem planned accord-
ing [Q principles of sustainable development. Constructed for (he 2008
event, i(s long-(erm (arger is [Q form a sustainable environment and a
multifunctional public park. The site is divided in two by a super-
highway that cuts it from east to west and creates two distinct zones.
The North Forest Park is designed as a natural reserve, while (he Sourh
Forest Park creares new ecologies and is a place for public leisure, cul-
cure, and education. T he project also otTers rhe opportunity [Q regen-
erate endangered habitats, prorect local wildlife, and support plant
biodiversity. And, for the first time in China, reclaimed water consti-
mtt'S the main source oflandscape water for an urban park. The park's
more than 90 buildings serve as procotypes forenergy-s.wing and reuse
ideas, technologies, and materials. "This will transform Beijing as Cen-
tral Park did New York City:' the jurors predicted. (See "O lympic
Hopeful," LAM. March 2008.)
GENERAL DESIGN, Honor Award
PANHANDLE BANDS HELL, SUlI Fnll/cisco
Cil1G Landscape AJ"chitectlll"C, Scm Fnmcisco
IJ
T HIS BAND SHELL PROJECT is a full-scale performance srage and
modular landscape constructed entirely out of reclaimed materi-
als. The temporary project, sponsored by the Black Rock Arts Foun-
dation as part of its ScrapEden SF program, offers a great example of
how artistic collaboration and civic engagemem in proj-
ecrs with a modest budget and scale can have a signill-
cant and far-reaching impact. T he project uses rhe icon -
IC form and program of traditional band shells and was
oriented to avoid acoustic impacts to rhe adjacent neigh-
bors. H undredsof community volunteers showed up to
help, and virtually all the labor and services required to
design and bu ild the project were donated or volun-
teered. From the delivery of prefabricated components
to the completion of the structure and its three-month
occupation of the site, the band shell reoriented and re-
programmed the movement, use, and social interaction
wirhin the park. 'This exemplifies how a temporary
project of modest budget and scale can rransform an ex-
isting urban landscape," rhe Jurors said.
Iss
GENERAL DESIGN, Honor Award
WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN C1-illRCH !J
FF:LLOWSHIP COURTYARD AN D ME MORIA L
CHLUMBARI1JM, MillllCuI'Qlis
Coe n + l"arlllt)1'S lll(;., M ilUlCufJolis
HIS PROJECT OFFERS a columbarium and fellowship courtyard
T as spaces of quiet beauty rhar embrace the urban comext and en-
courage a shift in public thought aoour death and rhe burial ritual.
The 7 ,200-square-foor courtyard and columbarium spaces are imme-
diately adjacent to the city sidewalk in MinnealXllis's Central Busi-
ness District. T he key design element is a perforated copper fence
t!lat abstracts church iconography while acting as a permeable mem-
brane between the private and public realms. The design of the cus-
tom limestone columbarium recalls the character of the historic stone
church, but it is detailed and eXffuted in a contemfXlrary manner.
T he courtyard, accessed by stairs, consists of day-brick paving, lin-
ear gardens of honey locust trees and creeping thyme, and a series of
cusrom ipe wood and stainless steel benches. A narrow, stainless steel
wate r rill parallels the street and extends the linear form of the
columbarium wall into the courtyard. "T here isn't a move roadd or
take away,'· the jurors nored.

GENERAL DESIGN, Honor Award

SPAOfNA \'(TAVF:O ECK, '1("1"011 10 rn
"(lest 8 + DTAH, noltcn/wlt, TIll! l\'elllCr/w !(J~, Im d TOI"OII lo
CROSS BETWEEN a bridge and a boardwalk, the Spadina
A Wavedeck is parr of a series of timber struCtures [hat build a co-
herent identity across the Toronto Central Waterfront. With play-
ful undulating geometry, this 6,8oo-sguare-foot wood structure of-
fers a new, flexible public place that formerly lacked public access at
a heavily used part of the shoreline. The undulating wooden deck
with carefully detailed finishes had ro be structurally designed ro
withstand the strong wave force of the lake and any ice sh ifting, gi v-
ing it a robust quality befitting its dockland site. The invisible parts
of the design are equally important: The project also indudes the de-
sign of new aquatic habitat in the lake bed, where river scone shoals,
tree logs, and embankments were installed ro provide shelter for
lake fish. T his importam sustainable feature is subtly highlighted by
night by an underwater display of24 LED lights. "Very poetic," the
jurors said. "The moves are so simple, yet accompl ished.·· (See "Re-
shaping Toronro·s Waterfront,'· LAM. December 2008.)

GENERAL DESIGN, Honor Award

THE R100 ES IGN INSTITUTE AT ARIZONA rn
STATE UNIVERSITY, T" /IIIH!, Ad:mw
Tell Eyck Latl(l8(~aIM! AN~hiteds hll;. , /'IUH'IIU:
J IERE PAR KJ NG LOTS and a sterile retention basin once exist-
W ed, this project unites the four-acre site of a new research fa-
cility for t he Biodesign Institute and creates a green gateway along
a major arterial ro Arizona State University. T he gardens and archi-
tenure do more than just exist together: T he buildings su p ply the
desert gardens with collected rainwater and condensate, and the
landscape provides comfortable outdoor gathering spaces that can
help bring the work of the Biodesign Institu te outdoors. The build-
ing is complementoo by che sunken garden chac showcases both the
elevated architecture and a riparian garden below. Biology students
can study the wildlife habitat of creatures attraCted ro the native
drought-rolerant urban landscape. T he design also meers multi-
modal transpormtion needs of pedesuians, cyclists, and autos, as well
as future bus and light-rail users. Hardscape is used sparingly, and
it is permeable where possible. These sig nificam and innovative sus-
minable strategies helped the project achieve Arizona·s first LEED
Platimlm-certified status. ·The vemaClilar planting palette and reuse
of water are raised to a more poetic level,'· the jurors said.
GENERAL DESIGN, Honor Award
CORPORATE HEADQ UARTERS, 5(1 11 J.' n/UcisCQ rn
OLlN , l'hilwle/"hiti
HIS CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS, opposite Rincon Park in San
T Francisco, provides twO unique outdoor social spaces: a half-acre
public park and streerscape at grade and an acre of employee roof gar-
den on the seventh 1100r. Offering speoacular views, these land-
scapes, both over struCture, are inspired by the De Stijl movement.
The client's passion for modern art inspired the landscape architect
ro develop a landscape resemblinga Mondrian painting. T he design
program of the landscape at st reet level called for a publicly accessi-
ble park adjacent to the Embarcadero, while the garden serves as an
outdoor extension of the employee dining room that extends 360 de-
grees around the rower, with several entrance points. The garden·s
plant palette is divided into five sections represeming the microcli-
mates of the United States and was selected to ensure a continuous
bloom cycle from spring through autumn . Over a former industri-
al site, [he gardens assist in managing srormwarer runoff and miti-
gating the urban heat island effect. The jurors called this project "a
beautiful tapeStry of color and texture."
GENERAL DESIGN , Honor Award
lITO , l oro/lw [l
Jmlet RO§enbe q~ + A~ci:tte" (JRA), Toron/o;
G a ude Cormier AJ"chitectes PaysHgi;;t e~, MOil/ r eal;
Ilarin POlltmi lli Architects, TorOlllO
HIS URBAN BEACH along Toronto's waterfront carves out a sea~
T sunally adaptive public spa<:e when: people can relax by the water
away from downtown. Transfonned from an abandoned indusrriai
site, rhe site draws people to the water, enticing them with a unique
yet flexible design for passive and aCtive uses along Lake Ontario.
The park consists of a boardwalk along rhe edge, a sand beach with
rail yellow umbrellas, and sodded berms amid paved paths. Visicors
go uphill through the green berms as they enter the park and then de-
scend toward the beacl1 and the lake. creating the sense that the city
is left behind. C1pping leaves the contaminated soils undisturbed;
all the water that is used for irrigation is lake water. To revive some
of the natllral ecologies in the lake, fish habitats were built along the
tuge of the park and in the slip, using rti:yded concrete from the site
and riprap. ''The landscape architect has helped Toronto reclaim its
lakefront with strong, bold graphic moves," said the jurors. (See "Re-
shaping Toronto's Waterfront," LAM, December 2008.)
GENERAL DESIGN, Honor Award
THEDELLATTHE UNTVERSITYOF
VIRGINIA, C fw r/ollesville, l'irgil' ;u
Ne lsolt Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, C fwr!ollesuille,
Vi'b>iuit,
T HE DELL IS AN II-ACRE stream valley on the grounds of the
University of Virginia, through which the headwaters of a major
regional watershed flow. This multifaceted collaborative project con-
'lens a neglected and overgrown low area intO a beautiful retention
pond surrounded by meandering walks and contemplative sitting
places. It also creates a botanical garden of native Virginia plantS
representative of three physiographic provinces, rescores a 1,200-
linear-foot section of piped stream to a more naturalized profile, and
provides an innovative and elegant storm water management system
for new projects downstream. The landscape architects created a
tlm'e-quarter-acre. 12-foot-deep pond and sediment forebay at the
Dell capable of managing stormwater for several downstream proj-
ects. The newly daylighted Stream cascades into this precisely <:al i-
bruted srormwater pond. Since its opening, the new Dell park at-
tracts many wildlife species, as well as people from the surrounding
university and community neighborhood. "'8rava! In an era of envI-
ronmental cliches, this project is truly original," said the jurors. (See
"Making Hydrology Visible," LAM, August 2008.)
Analysis and Planning Category
ANALYSIS AND PLANNING, Award of Excellence
SCOUT ISLAND STRATEGI C PLAN, N,""O"~"'.' III
Ml lSSop+.iUichads, New Or/l":{' US
COUT ISLAND, A 62-ACRESITE located within City Park in the
S heart of New Orleans, traditionally has been a bird-watChing
and wilderness preserve within the park. After Hurricane Katrina
devastated the island's forest in 2005. destroying much of the
ground-level vegetation and displacing many animal species, recov-
ery efforts exposed the site to a massive invasion of exotic species.
This project focuses on the establishment of a series of resilient in-
frastructures and highlights the need for reestablishing the ecolog-
ical systems-as well as the educational, recreational, and cultural
systems-of a site in the aftermath of a natural disaster. As part of
the strategic framework for the park's renewal, the team is working
tOward the long-term goal of removing {he invasive species and re-
 ,.
.: ., .
,
, .,,"
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, ., .

pm ! ...". ! _ Tm t! .
SECTION Tl-IROUGH ENTRY BRIDGE

establishing native tcosystt:ms that will onu: again offer rich habi-
catS for birds and wildlife. T he Jurors admired the "amazing site
analysis and program providing a connenion between eif)' and park."
They said, "T he solutions are so beautiful and simple."
ANALYSIS AND PLANNING, Honor Award
BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK , Brook/)'II , New Yorl.· rn
i'tUcimei VlUn Vnlkenhurgh Aseociatel§ llle., New YO/'/.:
HE 2005 MASTER PLAN for Brooklyn Bridge Park isa landscape
T architect-ltd drart that setS forth an integrated design method-
ology for rransfonning a derelict industrial waterfront into a social-
ly and ecologically active urban park. Firmly grounded in an under-
standing of the site's challenges (comaminat ion, SHuc (Urai
jimicarions, isolation, ext reme noise pollution, harsh winds, and blis-
tering sun), the master plan lays the groundwork [Q create a new
civic space on an 85-acre site that occupies l. 3 miles orBrooklyn wa-
terfront, passes underneath two major bridges, and includes a series
or mammoth indusuial piers. A broad seleuion or water-oriented
programs, mcluding fishing piers, water taxi access, a marina, and a
beach, has been proposed. T he first phase in the design team's com-
mission [Q plan, design, derail, and build the park, the master plan
recommends preser.,ing and reusing as much or theexisting marine
structure as possible, as well as introducing natural habi tats. The ju-
rors called the plan ··inventive, amazingly clear, and concise:·
Firmly grounded in an
understanding of the site's
challenges, the master plan lays
the groundwork to create a new
civic space on an as-acre site.

1.9
ANALYSIS AND PLANNING, Honor Award
[Unities, develop community planning frameworks based on the riv-
LOS ANGELES RIVER REVITALIZATION [l er, and create a river managemem framework. The effort represems a
MASTER PLAN, Los Angc/es 25- co 50-year blueprint for implemencing comprehensive improve-
!\lia L..elu-cr' + i\ssociateJCivitas Inc.!\Venk A~ciates, Los ments that would make the river one of the city's most treasured
Angeles landmarks and a catalyst for a sustainable environment. "The land-

T HE LOS ANGELES RIVER Revital ization Master Plan represents

more than 10 years of river revital ization activism, bringing to--
gether public agencies and stakeholders to shape a IxJld vision for
scape architect did a wonderful job of pulling the river back and cre-
ating a compelling open space,"' the jurors said.

rransfonning a 32-mile-long, canaljzed tlood-control conveyance into

ANALYSIS AND PLANNING, Honor Award
a significant recreational and ecological resource. With input from
all sectors of the public, 20 "Community Op(XIITunity Areas" along CELEBRATING THE CULTURAL
[he fiver wefe selected co illustrate what might be feasible. The mas- LANDSCAPE HERITAGE OF MILLS
tef plan developed (he following goals: revitalIze the river and make COLLEGE, Ouklfllld, Culifonlill
it accessible, gret'n the ne ighborhoods, capture community OPlXlf- RoI.lel1 Sahl.ll.ltini, ASL\ , Km"en Fielle, mm \'01111 Mm-ie May,
Scm fnmcisco
The e~~ort represents a INCE 1868. MIUS COlliGE leaders have shaped the campus

25- to SO-year blueprint

S with picruresque-era exotic and native plantings and distin-
guished architeaure. In 2006, the college sought guidance on how
that would make the ro best preserve, enhance, and further develop this unique campus
5ening. Funded by the Gerry Foundation and the college, this land-
river a catalyst ~or a scape heritage srudy distills [he values of rhe college founders and
sustainable environment. how these were expressed by nationally recognized landscape archi-

90 I
rects and archireccs over 140 years. The project singles out iconic
resources and llXummends how ro balance futuredevelopmem with
historic preservacion. It included historical research, analysis, and
planning and culminated in design solutions for two key campus
prt.'Cincts. A public lecrure series, integration of t he study into co[-
lege courses, and publication of a book increased awareness and ex-
citement about this study's findings and recommendations. 'This is
a really special plact" that means a lor to many, many people," the ju-
rors nored. '"The study's illusrrations are captivating and the con-
clusions are trul y degant."

ANALYSIS AND PLANNING, Honor Award

ROADSIDE CULTURAL RESOURCES [11
PRESE RVATION, A GUIDE TO ASSESSfNG
THE EFFECTS OF ROADSIDE SAFETY
fMPLEMl~ NTAT I ON PROJECTS ON THE
BLUE HIDC E PARK\VAY, Nort" ClIrmhlfl flIull'i rgillifl
'111c J lU!gl!r emll ila ny, G(/i/U'.~vill,,, Georg y.

T illS PROJECt· FOCUSED ON defining a method for mainraining

the historic imegriry of cultural resources associated with historic
roadways while idencifying creative ways to implement additional
safery features. TI1C resulting guidebook oudines a process for evalu-
ating proposed changes and their impacts on National Park Service
(NPS) park roads and parkways. The project landscape architect faci[-
itated the creation of this process, and the NPS and Fedeml Hig hways
Adminiumtion (FIIWII) have since adopred it fordClerm ining when
current design aocl safety guidelines will be implemented on their
projectS. TIle guidebook's methods willcominue to bee\'ll.luated and
refined by NPS and FIIWII as roadway improvement projects are un-
dertaken on rhe l3loe Ridge Parkway. The landscape architect also de-
veloped rhe guidebook's presemation of the Blue Ridge Parl""'ll.yand
irs origin.1.I design inrent so that users can understand the cultural re·
sources chat may be affected by change. TIle jurors called tile project
"a !:>tauriful[y crafted srudy that deals wi th safery issues and sti[[ pre-
serves wl1.1t has always been there."

ANALYSIS AND PLANNING, Honor Award

BRAYS BAYOU GREENWAY rn
FRAMEWORK , l/olI.IIOII
S' ''A GI't)ll II, 1I0m/ou

T H[S PROJECT TRIINSFORMS flood-prevention strategies for a

Texas b.lyOU imoan cnvironmentally and culturally regenerative
design and implementation strategy for a dynamic uroon greenway.
This visionary framework presents mul t ifaceted solutions that si-
multaneously restOre the surrounding habicut and otTer urban recre-
ation and education. It also idemifies concurrent improvements
planned by other entities in the bayou corridor that, as a whole, will
elevate the area to national status as a large-scale, economically sus-
tainable, open-spacedestination. The project evolved from a publicI
privare flood prevencion projecf. It leverages the significant federa l
money available for recreational development asacompanion to rhe
flood-damage protection improvements. Thi rry-one m iles of the
bayou channel were carefully inventoried. and man-made and nat-
ural systems were borh documented in a mapped and linked data-
base using G[S. Public workshops were held from one end of the cor-
ridor to the other to discuss and draw a "vision" and to prioritize
community interest for a range of improvements. The jurors called
this "a monumental project that otTers a beautiful so[ution."

ANALYSIS AND PLANNING, Honor Award
URBAN CORRIDOR PLANNING- IJ
CTTY OF' HOUSTON, Hous/ou
l11e Planning l'aI"llle rshi •• Limitetl , Toron /o
T HIS STUDY OFFERS A STRATEGY to guide land-use and develop-
ment decisions along six corridors in Housron where light-mil
transit is co be expanded. It defines opponuniries for community
building, [fansir-Qrienred developmem, and urban placemaking. It
breaks the mold for [he city by suggesting [hat the public realm is key
to generating the livable city and presents a comprehensive strategy
for achieving it. Informed by an extensive stakeholder and commu-
nity consultation process, the study details implementation ofTran-
sit O riented Development, a form of development that is higherdffi-
sity, based on high-quality design standards. and scaled to the
pedestrian. It supports a mix of uses with active uses at grade, places
emphasis on a high-quality pedestrian realm, and results in an at-
"The analysis is excellent
and the illustrations
are strong and
understandable .••
tractive, walkable, and transit-suPlXlrtive urban environment. A key
component of the study is exploring the potential to generate iden-
tifiable "places" within the city of HollstOll. "Really significant work,"
the jurors said. ''The analysis is excellent and the illustrations are
strong and understandable."'
ANALYSIS AND PLANNING, Honor Award
STABTAE ARCHAEOLOGICAl" PARK, rn
Btly of N(JI'/"'~' [/(' /y
Tom uadc l' Shldio, I1crkcley, Cu/iforui(.
TABIAE WAS AN ANOENT R OMAN RESORT TOWN perclled on
S a seaside bluff that was destroyed in the 79 AD eruption of
Mount Vesuvius. Excavating the ancient villas reveals a rich well of
information, but exposure to the elements and to tourism threatens
the site. T he landscape architect conceived of a single, linear park to
organize access and provide visitOr amenities while maintaining the
fragile ruins in situ by using scaffolds. T he park would link [he ex-
isting and future excavations along the old seacoast bluff and in-
clude visitOr centers, trails, and open space overlooking the sea, as
well as venues for entertainment. T he scaffolding structures are ex-
tremely changeable and expandable, well suited to a situation like an
excavation where the final configuration may be unknown. T he proj-
ect team resisted the urge for mini museums, relying instead on
more provisional, informal tent sites for pursuit of the academic ex-
 perience of archaeology. "A knockout!" rhe jurors declared. "A bmnd
new idea and rhe kind of in novation we need to set' more of.·'

ANALYSIS AND PLANNING , Honor Award

GREENSBURG SUSTAINABLE 13
COM"PH EKENSTVE PlAN, Grl..V:IIslmr,g, KmL'llJ$
BNUI, Kf/I/S(/.~ CiIY. A/iSM)!lri

I N 2007. AI-TER AN EF· 5 (Enhanced Fu jira scale) (Omado struck

Greensburg. Kansas, and desnoyed more than 90 percem of (he
(Owns buildings and S(nKtures, the lOwnspeople knew that to pre-
serve (he future of (he town, rhey needed (Ocreate a long-tenn \'ision
for rebuilding. That vision came in rhe form of acomprehensive mas-
ter planning process. They seized rhe opporrunity to repair the de-
struction with a tripIe-bonom-line planning approach- to become
socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable. The master
plan documememerged directly from the communiryand represents
the planning tearn's recommendations, the city's opemrional require-
mems, and input from many stakeholder groups. Due to the imme-
diate needs of the community, the process for completing rhe plan was
compressed inco twO phases lasting six months. Phase I presentS rhe
bones of (he plan, while Phase 2 will deal with ongoing energy dis-
cussions, an economic development plan, and the implementation
plan. '"They've creatC(] standards that are pragmatic, modest, and
achievable," rhe jurors said.

ANALYSIS AND PLANNING , Honor Award

GEOS NET ZERO ENERGY rn
NETGHRORHOOO, Am.d(f . C%mdo
Oa\'MI Kahn 51Udi(l, Eldorndo S,)rillgs. Colorado;
Michael Tlt\'d Archilects, lknL"Cr
EOS W IU BE TI-IELARGEST net-ze ro energy, urlxm mixed-lise
G neighborhood in the United States. Eanh and sun power will

, symbiotically and completely sustain the commun ity's energy needs

and replace all fossil fuels. The 2S-acre neighborhood supports 282
i dwelling units and is intertwined with natural sysrems. stormwarer-
fed landscapes, and civic places. Rain and snowmelr feed street-tree
II min gardens, percolation parks, plazas, and commun ity gardens. Ur-
ban density is optimized for passive solar access, and a third of the
i site will be parks and open space. Energy isgenemred from ground-
~ source heat networks and photovoltaics systems on every rooftop.
The arc hitecrure uses high- pe rformance building envelopes and
~ super-efficiem mechanical systems. The overall town plan aims to
foster biocivic relationships with natural processes, neighborhood
l
• ecology, and ('flvironmemal stewardship. Geos recei\'ed final deve!-
i opmem approval from the city of Arvada, Colorado, and was slated
• to beg in const ruction in summer 2009. The jurors noted this is "'the
;
,,
! first project that looks at solar in such a strong way and works with
\VlltCf collection. Great collaboration between the landscape architect
and other designers."
;
!
1 Earth and sun power
,• will symbiotically and
!, completely sustain the
! community's energy
i needs and replace all
,
~ f'ossil f'uels.
ANALYSIS AND PLANNING, Honor Award
ways, redevelopment projects of various scales, needs for improved
ROCKEFELLER PARK STRATEGIC IJ lighting, better access, and the search for culmrally appropriate means
MA STEH PLAN, Clc l'c/(m d to improve the health ofDoan Brook. M itigating flood problems and
Sih~works, Clw r/VI/csvilk , Virgi"j(l envisioning better approaches to regional stormwater management
for Cleveland's R ockefeller
T HIS STRAT EGIC PLANNING EI' FO RT
Par k introduces a layered system of design strategies that simul-
taneously address issues of regenerating ecological functio nality, sus-
also fonn core elements of the plan. Each des ign approach is developed
to provide benefirs at a variety of scales t hat serve both the park and
the larger region. ·T his shows people how ro dream on a larger scale,·'
(he jurors said.
"This shoW's people hoW' to
ANALYSIS AND PLANNING, Honor Award
dreaRi on a larger scale."
A CIVlC \~SION AND ACTION PLAN FOR III
raining cultural health, and reestablishing community vibrancy. Its TIlE CENTRAL DELAWARE RIVER, I'ili/tl dc/pilil!
pllrpose was to reimagine University Circle, the park's heart, as a new \'(Tallal;f~ Rohe rls & T(K)d LLC, Phihulcll)hiu
gateway in rheform of a healing garden set inan oak grove. T he new-
ly fonned ri parian garden will be marked by thedayl ightingofDoan
Brook and the reconnection co its hiswric scone culvert walls. T he
B UILT FRO M A T RULY COLLECfIVE PROCESS, (his plan advances
a powerful civic vis ion and dearly outlines implementation
strategies focusing on seven m iles of the Delaware R iver along
plan addresses aging physical park infraqruaure. airer:u;on of road- Philadelphia. More than 4,000 citizens helped ro determi ne the
 plan's goals through a yearlong, large-scale, open and transparent
process led by rhe University of Pennsylvania's Project for Civic En-
gagement. T he plan seeks to ensure environmental funct ion and
public access through t he creation of 11 new parks and a ri verfrom
8Tt.'enway of more than 300 acres, ecological resrorarioo of the river-
bank where habiral creatioo is viable, a multiuse [rail, and an exten-
sive, pedestrian-friendly network of sneers that includes transit and
a grand civic boulevard. T hese improvemems provide a deyelop-
ment framework for more than 500 acres, for which design and im-
plementation g uidelines are provided ro extend the urban fabric ro
the river. The jurors called the plan "very believable and effective. [It
has] I()[s of small solutions presented in a very d irect way-it's full
of possibilities."

ANALYSIS AND PLANNING, Honor Award

THE fLOYDS FORK GREENWAY iii iii
1\tASTEH Pl.AN, /..oIli.'Vil/". K'~lIIucky
\Vall:u:l! HHh~! I·t;!; & Tudd LLC, l'hilmid/,lIi"
•
T IllS MASTER PLAN ESTABLISI IES the general desig n direction for
"the Fork," more than 3.200 acres of pennanently protected park-
land stretched O\'er 19 miles on the eastern edge of Louisville. Ken-
tucky. The plan defines a blueprint ro increase biocliversity through
habitat preservation and enhancement, improve water quality
through innovative srormwater management, preserve agricultural
land, and measure the regional susrainabiliry costs and benefits of
plan proposals implementoo over time. T he sheer size of the Fork-
plus its magnificent views, natural beaUty, and unique hisrory-
places it among the mOSt import:l.nt urban park development proj-
ects in the region. if not the whole l1)!,JI1tr)', today. T he general public
panicipated in an IS-mooth collaborative planning process to frame
a lcog-term visico and lay the glUllndwork for this masrer plan. In the
near renn, rhe basic framework of community parks, rrails, and oth-
eramenitieswill bebuilt,and.over timeasotherpanners join lheef-
forr , many orher fearures and recreational ameniries will be designed
into the Fork . "Now is (he time to get th is stuff right. and here is a
great example." the jurors said.

ANALYSIS AND PLANNING, Honor Award

TRINITY \lIVER CORRIDOR DESIGN rn
GUlDE LlNES , {)nl/m
Wllllm:e HHI)I!liS & T()(M lLC, Dol/as
HESE GUIDELI NES will establish the character and measure of sus-
T fainabiliey fora nine-mile urban park. flooJway, and transporta-
tion impro\'emenc project that will anchor the transfOrmation of cen-
tral Dallas into mixed-use and rransit-oriemed neighborhoods. The
contexfof this project is a ri\'er channel coursing throug h 2,300 acres
ci mostly inaccessible floodway sep1mted from the city by 35-foor-rall
eanhen levet:S. 111e guidelines call for 80 percent of the park area to
be reserved for low-maintenance landSOlpes, soch as recreational lakes
and a for-profir parkway, rhat ('.In narumJly wi[hscand flood events.
111e remaining 20 percent of the park---abour 4BO acres-is devot-
ed ro more intensively used trails and promenades, amphitheaters,
play areas, and athleric fields. 'The combination has been calibrated to
safely convey a Srnndard Project Flood, the equivalent of an BOO-year
; flood e\'Cnt. The design tl'am currently is working on the detailed
• documenration for a $300 m illion first phase of park: development to

!
•
be completed in 20 14. The jurors liked the project's beautiful forms
and light-handed approach. "We really hope this is implemented ,"
they said .
Residential Design Category
RESIDENTIAL DESIGN, Honor Award
LEE LANDSCA PE, Culislogn, Cu/ijorJIiu
Blasen Landsl:a pc Arehile dlll't:!, SOli AII.'><'/"''-', Colifomill
T HE APPROACH TO TI-IlS NAPA VAllEY hillmp propen:y was ro
have (he lightest much on the 30 acres of land as possible. The
landscape architects took special care to collect native seeds from [he
areconnecred by crushed srone paths made of stone from the site. The
land immediately surrounding the buildings and theelevated lap pool
was planted with a naturalistic garden that was carefully designed not
to look designed at all. Island plantings spaced with grasses that areel](
[1 back during fire season decrease chances for the spread of fire, while a
small area oflawn adjacent co the house actS as an additional potential
fire buffer. The jurors called this project Ban effortless, Zen solution cre-
ating a strong sense of place."

sitt prior ro construction, as [he risk of fire prompted them co remove

RESIDENTIAL DESIGN, Honor Award
dying pine trees and replant rhe site. The weekeod house consists of
four small structures that total 2,500 square feet of indoor space and STONE EDGE FARM, 50/lmml, C(I/iforlli(l rn
ArKh'ea Coch n Ul La ndlOca pe Architectm'e , 5(111 fnll/cisco
HIS PROJECT, DESIGNED AS A RETREAT for thec1ients on a site ad-
The jurors called this
project "an ef'f'ortless,
T jacent ro their primary residence, is composed of elegantly bal-
anced and linked elementS within a serene, uncluttered landscape. The
farm itself serves as the primary residence for the owners, who built it
Zen solution creating a up over the past decade co include a commercial vineyard, an olive or-
strong sense of' place." chard, and an organic garden that supplies sevemllocaJ resraumnts. In

96 1
This project is COin posed
of' elegantly balanced and
linked elelnents within a
serene, uncluttered
landscape.
200 I, che owners bought an additional adjacent three and a half acres
that had been a ramshackle commune. To meet the owners' desirefor
a simple and modern retreat, a carefully si ted trilogy of stmctures-a
celestial observatory, a spa, and a stone pyramid-are grounded by
linear forms, including a reflecting pool, a raised SO-foot lap pool, and
bars ofolivt' trees. The composition floats within meadows of drought-
wleram grasses, and a nearby creek prompted careful consideration of
a grading plan that would absorb potemial flooding. "Captivating,"
rhe jurors pronounced. 'Theenvironmenml efforrs areguierly done and
done well."

RESIDENTIAL DESIGN, HonOl' Award

POOL PAVILION FOREST, N(ljKI Fol/ey, Cu /iforniu [;1
Tom LeadeJ' Studio, Ikrkdc)', Cu/ijol"lli(l

T HIS PROjEcr IS A REMODEUNG of an existing 16-acredomestic

and vineyard landscape for a wt>t:kt:nd house. Tht landst<lpe archi-
tect created one precinct for the vernacular farmhouse with its sur-
rounding butterfly garden and a moreabstra(t precinct for the pool and
an experience. The fundamental strucrure is a cube-shaped underwa-
ter gronospace in the pool, which appears ro tloaton the water but ac-
tually sirs on srainless steel columns. An eight-foot-square oculus in the
grouo's ceiling is uplighted with programmable LED lights designed
by a lighting artist. Facing the JXlOI is a pavilion with an alum inum-
clad "box" set to one side cootaining changing rooms and a serving
ki tchen. Between the pavilion and the base of the forested slope, a pair
of seat-height concrete walls frames a 30-root-wide, 200-foot-long
lavender garden designed for strolling. A central Stone path leads to the
OOseof the forested slope and reaches the ponal of a large cave that was
excavated for use as an an gallery. ··Everything works, from the over-
all site plan to the line of the pool," said the Jurors.

RESIDENTIAL DESIGN, HonOf' Award

SPECKMAl'< HOUSE LAND SCAPE ,
St . i'uu/, Mi/!/ICSQW
Cuen + Pal1nel~ I.ne. , Mi/!/lCul'o/is
HIS PROJECT ENVEWPS an exis£ing, L950s modem single-tamily
T house on a generous site with considerable tOpographic change
from nonh to south. It is a complete redesign of the entire [.3-acre
propeny. with its beautiful oak forest left untouched. The design pro-
gram includes integration of a saltwater swimming pool and spa, mul-
tiple d ining and lounging areas, and mitigation of rhe slope in rhe
rear yard to create usable space. The landscape archite<:t employed a
high percentage of recycled material; for instance, the site is ground-
ed by a circulation system of 12-inch by 24-incl1 white concrete pavers
with recycled glass and high tly-ash content. Concrete walls, two in the
from yard and two in the backyard, join a I05-f()()(-long Cor-Ten steel
wall to ddint spaces. The planting plan tI irninates invasives and em-
ploys native material that now regularly attraCts wildlife to the prop-
eny's revegerated southern slope. ··Fearless through all seasons," is how
the jurors categorized this project.
 rhe house appears modest in size but in actuality is considerably
RESIDENTIAL DESIGN, Honor Award
(arSer, because rhe studio is tucked beneath this level. T he landscape
HTLLTOP RESID ENCE, SC(lftic r.J architect engaged rhe architecture in more meaningfiL1 dialogue by
I'aul R. BI~m~lhUl~ 1 + A~It:iah!'" Scullk giving coherency to the hardscape and landscape and expanding
I-liS PROJECT'S SLEEK, midcenrury modern residence rests on th~ terTace area SO that it now reads as an extension of adjacent in-
I the ground lightly and i[wires an earthy counterbalance from irs
landscape rtdesign. Facilitating privacy at (heenery and maximiz-
terior space. Two moods were emphasized: the shady introspection
of the entry and the sunlit expansiveness of the social ,'iew area.
ing mountain views from rhe living spaces, (he slope of rhe build- T lu: jurors called this project '·[he real deal, wi th little invemi'·e
ing's shed roof is lowest at rhe carp::1rt and expands ro create rhe surprises and moves.·'
tallest ceiling heights at rhe view windows. With sensitive siting.
RESIDENTIAL DESIGN, Honor Award
Two moods were emphasized:
the shady Introspection o'f TI.J E CRA CK CAJtDEN, Stili frllllcisco Ii!
Ci\lG LUlHls~: n l)t! Ar~:hit cdlln!. Smr ,.' rllllci3co
the entry and the sunlit HE CONCEPTIJAl B...SISci [he 800-square-fOOfCrnck Garden is to i
expansiveness of'the social I reveal the potential for beauty underlying rheconcn;re and asphalt
that are the predominant ground-plane materials of [he urban land-
I
E
view ares. scape. By eliminating portions of the existing concrete and exposing ;0

9. 1
 ,
the soil beneath, newoppornmities for a garden arise. Although min ~
imal in scope and budget, the Crack Garden is refined in its creatioo
of well-programmed spaces for the residents of this four-unit building.
Theedgesof the garden are well defined by existing buildings and new
ft"TXes, induding astainlt:ss steel cable trdlis that stretcheswntinuous-
Iy across the top of the fence and conrinuesacross the neighbor's garage.
A jacaranda me adds scale, helps contain the space, and otTers flltered
shade and summer color. Plantings withi n the cracks are somewhat
random, changing with rhe whims and desires of the resident garden- ,
ers, but usually include a wide range of vegetables, herbs, flowers, and
decorative weeds. "What a wonderful idea that can be used every-
where:' said the jurors.

RESIDENTIAL DESIGN, Honor Award

OAK SAVANNA VINEYARDS, l.,1l.~ O/i"m, C('/ifllrllill m ••
Lu18ko A""udales, S(III f'rwl(;i.~c(> •
T HIS DESIGN INTERVENTION u ansforms a weed-choked irriga-
tion pond-a former cattle wateri ng hole--inroa favorite loca-
tion for fam ily gatherings and vineyard events on this 4 SO-acre site.
The landscape architect selected the pond site, surrounded by native
California oaks and grasses, as the focus of a transformation that rep-
resents a new relationship to the land. Two curved concrete walls re-
define the water's edge, creating an adjacent social space. A break in
the walls invites visitors onto a small intimate deck that hovers just
above the water's surface. Set back from the concrete walls are a se-

""Each gesture the

landscape architect R1ade
engages the landscape in
a pretty suave _ay."
ries oflow, local fieldstone walls, defining a larger area capable of ac-
commodating 200 guests. The low walls are connected by steps and
pathways kading guests to the house and vineyard parking area.
"Each gescure the landscape architect made engages the landscape in
a pren y suave way," the jurors remarked.

RESIDENTIAL DESIGN, Honor Award

TWO RIVERS RESJD.ENCE, }c,eksOIl /{O/C, W,'omillg rn
Venlone LwuJscl.lpe Architects (VLA Inc.),
Jackso", Wyomillg

T HE INSPIRATION FOR THIS FAMILY RETREAT was taken from

the dramatic naruml beauty of its western setting and adjacent
national parks and forests and expressed in the honest simplicity of
forms and materials. T he home site, located at the confluence of cwo
rivers, is surrounded by a diverse mnge ofhabitars- wedands, for-
est, grasslands, and a pristine spring creek. The building progmm in-
corpomted materials reclaimed from old ranch buildings, including
an 1890s stone creamery that was found in Montana and moved to
the site. A pond constructed along the main entry sets the stage for
the home site, and an additional pond on the west sideof the house
provides areas for both entertaining and quiet reflection. The patio
is constructed of sand-set, regionally sourced stone, using larger
Stones as steps. \X'edands to the south of the huuse were restored to
their original condition. The jurors called [his project ··exquisite:'
saying, ··T he simplicity of the plantings and stonework sits so com-
fonably in this landscape.'"

RESIDENTIAL DESIGN, Honor Award
VIENNA WAY RESIDENCE, Ve" ice , C(I/ijol"l,itl
!\1m"lllol Radziner & Associate;;;, LosAlIgclcs
HIS PROJECT FULLY INTEGRATES the residence within the sur~
T rounding California native landscape. T he sitt is divided
into thirds, massing the archirenure at the outer edges and [he gar-
den spaces in [he middle co maximize the amount of physical and VI-
sual open space within a narrow, urban 10£. T he architecture and
landscape create a seamless rmnsirion between (he Interior and exte-
rior living spaces. T he e1emem of water links a corridor of exterior
spaces-swimming JXlOI, garden roof, riparian planting-and inter-
sects with the interior spaces at the sunken ki tchen. The front gar-
den works as a more "mature" space with simple, monochromatic,
archireHllfai plantings, while the rear garden becomes a place for
children's play. The backyard planting design, wllich includes a lawn
of buffalo grass, is more colorful, varioo, and organically artangtd.
'"The from elevation is so beautiful with the sumac against the black
plaster,"' said (he jurors. "I( represems very clear thinking about land-
scape architecture."'
100 I
Communications Category
D
COMMUNICATIONS, Award of Excellence
Jol.A - JO URNA L OF I.ANIJSCAI'E rn
ARCHITECTURE
Gf:org D. W. Callwey GmlJl-t & Cu. KG, MUlliclJ
T HEjOUJ.l.NAL 01' LANDSCA PE AJ.l.CHITECTUJ.l.E U oLA) strives co
support, stimulate, and broaden scholarship in landscape architff-
cure and enhance (he imerface between academic research and pro-
fessional pruceice. This peer-reviewed journal of the European Coun-
cil of Landscape Architffture Schools (ECLAS), first published in
2006, fosters research methodologies specific to landscape architff-
ture and aspires to expand the runge of communication modes for re-
search. By welcoming articles that address any aspect of landscape ar-
chite<:ture, the journal aims to cultivate the diverse identities of the
d iscipli ne. The editors are five landscape scholars from fiH~ differen t
European countries: Denmark, Frunce, Germany, Norway, and the
United Kingdom.JoLA currently is publ ished biannually in Eng-
lish, with quarterly publication planned for 20 I O. In January 2009,
m,________________-'
an electronic version of the journal was launched, and online sub-
scriptions have been made available in addition to print subscrip-
tions. ECLAS plans a web page to supplement the journal's con-
tents. "A must-read for today's practitioner. Such an inspiring
publication. A real contribution to the profession,"' said the jurors.
COMMUNICATIONS, Honor Award
UP BY ROOTS, HEA tTHY TREES AND
SOILS IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
J am es Urhan, I:<"'ASLA, AIlI!upoIis , MllrY/'lIId
p By ROOTS IS A COMPREHENSIVE BOOK written for land-
U scape architects on (he subjen of SO! Is and trees in the built en-
vironment. The jurors predict it will become the desk reference for
the profession on including trees in landscape designs. The scien-
tific knowledge of (fees and soils is disrilled to rhe most essential in-
formation and incorporared into peer-reviewed recommendarions,
from initial soil analysis and design phases through the installa[ion
phase. Abundantly Illustrated , Up By Rwrs also will appeal to Oth-
The \INcr Ihl ()f
Design
Projects
Ol~~ted
Firm
er protessions, including planners, architects, and rhose working in
forestry. Part one presents the basics on soil science and how it re-
lates to trees, wh ile part two explains the "process of planning and
implementing landscape designs to ensure healthy trees that can
improve the quaJiry of places where people live, work. and play."'
"Such a wonderful contribution ro the body of knowledge for the
profession. A must-have for any pranitioner," the jurors enthused.
'"jUSt packed with grear, new information."
COMMUNICATIONS, Honor Award
THE MASTER LIST OF DESIGN PROJECTS
OF TH E OLMST ED FIRM 1857-1979
Lucy ulwlis;;;, ASLA, u.lI'oline Loughlin,
Meie r', ASLA, EcJilo~
~Uld Laure n
THIS BOOK OFFERS A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE to rhe work of the
landscape archirecture firm founded by Frederick Law Olmsted.
Searchable by project type and location and comprising more than
6,000 jobs, rhis second edirion mcludes new research, illustrarions,
and essays thar demonstrate the imfX'rtance
of the Olmsted firm. T he book presents in-
format ion in an accessible format so that the
variety and geographic distribution of the
work is comprehensible to diverse users. The
book was published in April 2008. follow-
ing nearly two years of research, writing, ed-
iting, design, and printing by a large group
of volunteer authors and edirors who con-
tributed thei r time, working wirh the staff of
the National Association for Olmsted Parks
and the Frederick Law Olmsred Narional
H isroric Site. T he aesthetic presentation of
The Mailer List was achieved by a skilled
graphic designer and through the acquisi-
tion of images of noteworthy Olmsted land-
scapes. T he jurors called this project "an im-
portant volume for all landscape architens
and urban planners to track and research
Olmsted projt""Cts in their cities."
 way, provides menics for the IXltemial and observed runoff volume re-
COMMUNICATIONS, Honor Award
du([ions, and explains cumulative benefirs w the larger community.
ONE DROP AT A TIME--- The web site has provided a successful communication and feedback
NEW RE SOURCEFUL PARADIGMS mechanism through e-mail inquiries, media inquiries, and req uests
AT 168 ELM AVE. for rours and speaking engagements by the landscape architect, as
de la nelli' L.L.C, Elm h urst, lIIillois well as a steady stream of visitors to the pilot project . 'T ruly mar-
velous!" the jurors exclaimed. '" Best of all, it demonstrates how things

T HIS WEB SITE DOC UMENTS a residential pilot project in

Elmhurst, Illinois, with its green roof, rain barrels, IXlrous pave~
mem, rain gardens, gravel grass, cistern, and bioswale. It clearly
will really look- not just drawings, but real phorographs through-
out the seasons."

demonsnates and explains sustainable rainwater, swrmwater, and

COMMUNICATIONS, Honor Award
runoff treatments for a home owner's landscape architecrure. Helping
to fill the infonnation gap on sustainable residential projectS, it pro- MICHAEL VAN VAU(ENBURGH ASSOCIATES, IJ
vides a variety of helpful resources [hat otTer accessible, in-the-ground RECONSTRUCTING URBAN lA NDSCAPES
examples demonstrating the feasibility of and confidence in sustain- Univcl"8ily uf PfmnsylYmlia, Sehoul of De"~'ll , i'1.i11U/'''II/iio
able landscape solutions. It also shares the lessons learned along the

This web site docuonents a T HIS BOOK EXPWRES conceprual shifrs in the work of Michael
Van Valkenburgh Associates as the firm moves from a language-
driven design logic ro one that is largely operational, as required of
residential pilot project with postindustrial sites. T he eSSolys collected in this volume focus on the
intersection between the conceprual and the technological, on the ne-
its own green roo"', rain
gotiations t hat must be made between design intent and the reali-
barrels, porous paveonent, ties of the sites ro transform them into susrainable ecologies oflast-
rain gardens, and bioswale. ing social significance. The book is scholarly yet intended for a broad
audience of designers, hisrorians, ecologists, and environmentalists.

102 1
 Althou,gh rooted in the methods oflandscape architenural criticism,
its writin,g seyle was careful ly craftt>d ro be accessible ro the nonspe-
cialist reader. Each chapter in the volume is devoted ro one project
and includes extensive visual documentation as well as a critical in-
Ct'rpretation of rhc work. A phoro essay of a built work- made of
four ro six full -blrtd, double-pa,ge spreads--opens each chapte r.
'Th is is much more than a mooo,grnph; it'sa real case study contain-
in,g some of the best drawings we\'e seen,~ the jurors said.

COMMUNICATIONS, Honor Award

~====-­
INTERACTIV E MA PPINC PROJECT. Hudllj1est e
Ujil"llny Gr'ollll, lJul/(lfleM

HOUSANDSOF TRAVELERS pass through Budapest's Nyugati $ra-

T cion t mnsit hub every day. And, as in many modem c ieies, resi-
dents of Budapest tend to Iive isolated lives surrounded by stran,gers.
T he landscape an.:hitf:'(U created the Interactive Mappin,g Project-
the winnin,g entry in a public art competition- co generate a series
of cempor:lry public art installat ions at Nyugati T ransit Station and
C\vo other locations that would break down the barriers prevencin,g in-
dividuals in an urban scrti ng from communicating with one anot h-
er. T he project consisted of a large s,'ltelJite map of Budapest coverin,g
the station floor and a series of stickers placed on nearby pillars. Par-
ticirxJnts used the stickers to label locations around theciry they found
to be noteworthy because of the location 's positi\'{' or negative attrih-
ures. Over time, the map was t ransformed from a si mpleorrhopho-
co into a multidimensional model tha r represemed how prople
viewed the c ity. "Amazing and engaging. The ultimate in commu-
nications," the jurors said.

Research Category

RESEARCH, Honor Award

RESTORATION ECOLOGY PROC ESS ES TO rn
AD VAi\lCE NAT URAL LANDSCAPE DESIGN
St C\ ' l! 1I N. lIandd, IImmrar'y ASLA, Nmv HrlJII swick ,
i\'(>U) } l'I"IiCy

R ESTORING HABITATS IN OUR URBAN CENTERS is d ifficult,

chal1efl,ged by highly degraded conditions; small, fragme nted
1)'1rceiS: and pol itical conflicts in land uses. Moreover, the potencial
for restorln,g sustainable landscapes in these degraded condi tions is
poorly understood. This project encompasses a wide series offield ex-
periments on degraded urban lands ro define ecological processes
important (0 restori ng natural habitats in stressful conditions. These
experimenrs demonstrate ways that newly restored habitats can en-
l hance ecosystem servicesofhcavily degraded urban centers and make

ii ~'ident the Stron,g interp lay between a site des ig n undergoing eco-
logical restoration and irs landscape matri x. Planning for biodiver-

, sity and mutual relationships (seed dispersers and poll inators) will
improve landscape design and ensure sustainable habitaes. And be-

,• cause urban areas are suffused with alien spet:ies in all habira ts, man-
agemen t and monitoring of native stands are still required to prevent
~ alien threars. The jurors were impressed with the project's "intrigu-

~
ing concl usions thar provide extremely useful data for rhe profes-
sion, cl iems, and the public at large,"
! SIep/JallieSlllbbs is the former managillg edilor of Architecture magazine
; alld A (Architect, the nelt's/etter ofthe Ameriraf! Imlilllte 0/ Archilecls.
She is a fIWklllrt edilor/writer in Arlingloll. Virginia.
 BOOKS
21st Century Security and CPTEO: Designing for Critical Infra-
structure ProtecUon and Crime Prevention, by Randall l. Atlas;
Boca Raton, Florida: e Re Press, 2008; 560 p ages, $89.95 .
Reviewed by Leonard Hopper, FASLA
HIS BOOK H1G HUGJ-ITS the latest stl'dccgies and technology in
T rhe evolving practice of security design. Randy Arlas, an af-
chiten and criminologist, is Joined by a number of respected
contributors who bring their varying expertise co the book's con-
tem, which in itself reinforcts the strength
of a multidisciplinary approach to security
design, a recurring cherne of (he book. T he
book is logically broken up imo four dis-
tincrive pans. Part ont (overs basic con-
ceprs, planning, and understanding crime
prevention through environmemal design
(CPTED) and its latest evolution and associ-
ated liability. Parr tWO discusses assessing
threat and risk, designing to address differ-
ent th reats, and a variety of national stan-
dards and codes. Parr three addresses security
design responses ra very specific scenarios.
Parr four covers me-J5uring success and con-
ducting a CPT'ED survey.
2/ Sf Cellfllry Semrity alld CPTED avoids
the "redundancy" pitfall that can detract
from the effectiveness of a book with many
contributors writing on a common subject.
Instf;ld, the chapters are well coordinated
widl just enough overlap to provide a rela- The focus on everyday
tionship between sections and smooth-
flowing continuity of the subject maHer
criminal activity in
throughout the book. T he text is comple-
mem ed by ample photos, sketches, plans, addition to the less likely
and diagrams that effectively illustrate the
concepts and strmegies. For those readers fJ- terrorist threat provides
miliar with Atlas's style of presemation, his
engaging humor and common-sense ap- agood balance.
proach can be found subtly integrated
throughom the book. O ne of the re'JI strengths of the book is the
use of bulleted or numbered lists and surveys that clearly dis-
seminate information in a direct and concise manner that is eas-
ily understandable. The rapic summaries at the end of each
section provide helpful reinforcement of the major principles and
points covered.
A numberofspecificsubjectareas make th is book an important
resource. One is the stressing of a multidisciplinary approach to
site security design with all of the participants (including land-
scape architects) coming together early in the planning and design
process. Another is the recognition dlat CPTED principles are an
underlying basis for an effective appro."lCh to security design. T he
inclusion of sections on second-generation CPTED strategies and
l04 1 llndscape Architecture AUtUn lOU
offensible space (as a co\'lnterpoim to defensible space)offers unique
perspectives no t often found in books on this topic. As a book with
a broad -spectrum approach, 2 / Sf Cm/tlly Semrity alld CPTED cov-
ers not only security design focused on terrorist threms against
high-profile targets bur also the more common criminal activity
that is found in our schools, housing developments, hos pitals,
commercial are'dS, and public gathering places. Often overlooked
when discussing security design, this type of criminal activity is
more likely to occur than a terrorist act, and the concepts and
stt'.ltegies presented in this book can be very
valuable to the majority of designers who
should be integrating security elements and
concepts into these types of projects.
With the aurhor's background as an ar-
chitect, the amount of detail included on
some aspectS of buildings and bUilding sys-
tems may be more than would be consid-
ered useful from a landscape architect's
perspective. However, understanding these
details is i mportam to apprecime the roles
and relationships of the various professionals
in a multid isciplinary approach to security
design and how the role of {he landscape ar-
chitect is integrated into that approach. The
principles and strategies related to site de-
sign and related are'JS typically fJ.lling under
the responsibil ity of the landscape archirect
are wel l presented. TIle book fJ.lls a bit short
with the specific sire design examples pre-
sented. TIle varied palene of site elements,
natural materials, and construction derails
that landscape architects have at our dis-
f.X>SUl and our design expertise in how these
are app lied are not as we\! rep resented as
they could be. TIle examples provided are a
bit simplistic and lack the complexity and
context that would bener illustrate the
points being conveyed.
Overall, this is a good source of inform a-
tion dealing with security design. In addition to the information
provided in the book itself, the impressive list of references at the
end of each section will be helpful for those looking to 1e-J.TIl more
about a specific tOpic. For the landscape architect, this book
might not be a primary resource, but it would be a valuable sec-
ondary resource. T he focus on addressing everyday threars and
criminal activity in addition to the less likely terrorist threat pro-
vides a good balance to other books written on this subject. The
book provides some unique perspectives and an evolution offun-
damental principles that provoke thought and creativity.
Lwnard Hopper, FASLA, is a landicape arrhitec/ from New York City
alld a past presidmt of ASLA.
Re-Creating Neighborhoods for Successful Aging, by PmtlineS. Abbott, Nancy
Camulfl,jack Camum, and Bob Scarfo, ASLA; Baltimore, Maryland , 2008; 304 . . THE GARDENS OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT,
pages, S38.95. by De/ek Fell; London: France s Lincoln Ltd.,
2009; 160 pages. $40.
Reviewed by Claire latane
PHOTOGRAPHER DEREK FEll'S captivati ng Images
N 2030, A MA)ORITYOF BABY I3CX)MERSwili have rt"dched retirement age, and

I
accompany discu ss ion about iconic examp le s of
24 percent of the US. population will be 65 and over. Pauline S. Abbott, Nan- Frank Lloyd Wright· s work, his garden scu lpture,
cy Carman, Jack Carman, and Bob Scarfo, ASLA, have compiled a timely and the infl uence of Jens
thougluful collaboration aiming "to initiate increased dialogue and awareness Jensen, and plants o f
among all professionals who can playa role in re-credting our neighborhoods for prairie and desert. Unfor-
the successful aging of today's and tomorrow's aging adults." Re-Crealillg Neigh- tunately, t he s implistic
borhoods for S//Cce.rsfit! Aging IS a collection of scholarly articles from academics in the text l acks sc h olarship and
fields of both public health and landsca\X' architecture. With agrowing body of re- focus, and It s credibility is
sC'Mch connecting the built environment with incrC'dSed incidence of asthma, d imini she d by numerous
eczema, hC'drt disease, and obesiry, we are at a cusp of understanding {he urban de- copyeditlng mistakes.
sign implications and possibilities ofbringing these distiner fields together. Amateurish watercolor
T his book promises to be an invaluable resource for anyone plans, absent sca le and material detail, conflict
working with or interested in issues surrounding aging, uni- wi t h the aut hor' s meti CU lous photogra ph y.
RE-CREATING versal design, and hC'dlth care. As a teacher, I would recom- Certainly this subject deserves explorat ion, b ut
NEIVt11:lOl!.tiOOO'l
".,.14UIWU ......
mend the book tostudems rur its historyoflong-term care in to be useful , all co m pon e nts shou ld be o f
the United States, its rich resources relating public health to consiste nt q u alit y.
the built environment, and its compilations of the benefIts of
urban nature. Asacommunity member I would recommend . . RESILIENT CITIES: RESPONDING TO
the book ro my cicy officials for making the connection be- PEAK OIL AND CLIMATE CHANGE,
tween public healch and the built environment and for its by Peter Newman, Timothy Beatley, and Heather
look at alternatives to planned retirement communities. Asa Boyer; Washington, O.C.: Island Press, 2009;
pmcricing professional, I found the entire book infonnati\'e 166 pales, 530.
and valuable for my work with assisted living environments ;l11d an aging popu- THE TWO LEAD AUTHORS are
lation. 111e most important target audience for Re-Crealing Neighborhoods may be professor, of ,ustainabillty,
city land-use planners. 111is book is also mC'.mingful for anyone who is caring for and they brlnl that background
an aging parent or heading toward being cared for themselves. to an examination of the future
The ropic's timeliness and universal appeal suggest a potentially broad, mass- of cities. After proposing four
market audience that this book's current format may not attrJct. In fact , the possible scenarlo, -collapse,
only disappointing aspect of the book is its limiting academic journal-like pack- rurallzed, divided, and resilient
aging. So while all the authors had surp risingly concise and readable voices (no city-the authors discuss their
doubt also attributable ro strong editing), the format does not lend itself ro C'dS- vision for resilient cities with a stronl focu, on
ily accessible information. For instance, several chapters olTer illustrative pho- transportation options.
tographs and descriptive maps, but their small black-and-white format makes
them difficult to interpret. r was also surprised by the very small print given that . . RUIN : PHOTOGRAPHS OF A VANISHING
the topic is successful aging. T he baby boomers mentioned often in the book will AMERICA,
havea difficult time reading the small font. T hough this currell( edition is COSt- by Brian Vande n B,'nk; Camden, Maine :
and resource-efficient, the ropic's relevance and audience deserve developing uni- Down East Books, 2009; 144 pages, 585.
versal design publishing techn iques fo r the general population. THIS LARGE-FORMAT VOLUME faatures 120 s tun-
111e successful aging solutions this book poses will also create healthy and vi- ning color and black-and-
able places for the rest of us. In the past few yC'J.rs a tiny crack has been opened
into an entire world of potential multidisciplinary research and writing topics
RUIN white photograph s of
architectural ruins set In
connect ing human hC'illth with the built environment. \'{fith the United States's out-of-the-way, mostly
economy restructuring itself and the new administrJtion redefining development rural lands capes . As
strategies, there is no better time for disciplines ro expand their horizons and re- s uch, It celebrates the
connect with their greater communities: healthy and fragile, young and old, with- picture sque melancholy
in and outside our professional fields. T his book is an important resource in an of farmhou ses, churche s,
evolving view of landscape architects' roles in cTeating environments. factori es, military ba s es, and othe r s tructures
that were built and then abandoned. An Intro-
Claire utallipractices landscape architectllre with fPT Desigll ill PaJadena, Califorllia, duction by pr e servationist write r Howard
and teadJej a jmior design stlldio at Cal Poly Pomona. Mansfie ld is the only t e xt .

AUGHT 2001 Land , upe Arehlteehne 1 105

 Ptllotu. exaltatu. 'Joey'

P more commonly re-

ti/OlllS exa/ldtIlJ,
ferred to as Joey, is a new plam that
can be found at Park Seed Company. A
This month features native of central Australia, Joey is heat
and drought wleranr, making it suit-
an assorlment of new able for water-restricted gardens.
A shorr-lived herbaceollsannual,Joey
plants for 2009. can be used in containers Of plamed in
full sun and welJ-drained soil. Joey is fust
g rowing from seed and g rows between
Euphorbia 'Tasmanian Tlge,' 12 and 15 Inches call and 12 inches
new plam available from Heronswood wide. It continually pruduces three- to
ANursery, Ellphorbul 'Tasmanian Tig er' four-inch-Iong conical spikes offe-dthery
was discovered in a garden in 'Elsmania. Rowers on rap of thick, silver-green fo-
With pale blue -green leaves edg ed in liage. T he bottlebrush-shaped flower
white and topped with broad hf'dds of spikes are silver with adarker neon-pink
/lowers, Tasmanian Tiger is best used in color ne-J.f [he tips. For more informa-
conminers, according co Heronswoocl . tion, please visit IV/()/v.{ktrkseed.(om.
Growing two to three feet in height and
width , Tasm,mian 1iger should be planted Sedum ' Autumn Charm'
in full sun to light shade in well-drained w.riam of'Autumn Joy' sedum , 'Au-
soiL It blooms from late wimer through f.tll. Arumn Charm' is a new plant that is
For more information, please visit UIfOW, available from \'{falters Gardens, Long
heromwood mill, blooming , Aurumn Charm is easy co

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 Bapf;s;a 'Solar Flare'

Bapt;s/a 'Solar Flare' was originally devel-

grow and only nertlsordinary, well-drained
soil (0 flourish.
Autumn Charm has unique bluish-green
foliage with a creamy margin and whice
buds that eventually open up to pale pink
and then deep pink flowers. Nor only IS Au-
cumn Charm long blooming, lace spring to
winter, buc ic also actraccs buccerflies.
Autumn Charm grows 12 to 18 inches
in heighc ;l1ld che same in width and is
commonly used in mixed borders, raised
beds, sloping banks, and sunny permnial
areas. For more informacion, ple-J.Se visit
WUlW. waltersgatrkm.com.
oped at the Chicago B()(anic Garden and
is well suited to prairie or mC'ddow senings.
Once established, Solar Flare is drought
tolerant and excellent in sandy soils and
tolerant of day soils that are not overly
wee. Solar Flare is a long-living plant that
produces extensive foot systems and is
therefore best not disturbed once estab-
lished. It is available from Heronswood at
W/1llV. heromwood.c(lfIJ.
Be,genla 'Plnk Dragonfly'
ith ItS glossy evergreen foliage and
Wleaves that rum deep red wich winter,
Pink Drag onfl y, also avadable from
Heronswood, is a unique new Bergelda.
Pink Dmgonfly is a small plant, reach-
ing only 12 inches in height and widch. In
spring, large rounded sprays of cherry-pink
flowers bloom. A mountain native, Pink
Dragonfly needs good drainage and a loca-
tion offering protection from winery winds.
Plant in full sun co parr shade. For more in-
fonnation, please visit /(}/(JUl. heromwood.rolll.

Look for the Outdoor F:IIJ'l1ishillg~ G

in the November issue of

Landscape Architecture and
the
in the December issue.

ASLA members specif~- more than $140 billion in

products alld services each year.
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Contact adverlising@asla.org or 202-216-2335 to
scheduJe ~-ollr advertising in these speciaJ iss ues.

AUCUSf 2009 lilndscape Arcbihdun 1 107

CR Ir. AT IARr.F
Looking forward to
(COllllllllcd from
Page 120) vending booth
sold other ligh t comestibles to a queue of
e'dger customers.
the September issue of
8m the use seems in spireof the design,
rather than because of it. Certain details
seem co positively discourage use. T he
landscape Architecture,
thickly spaced rows of trttS seem waJ I-like.
[ snaked through the trunks but saw no which features
one else doing so. long, low, backless seed
benches serve as another barrier to emry.
Oddly, beyond the end of one low bench IS
WEST HARLEM PIERS PARK
This park, shmwwed by highuNIY overpasses, won a
2004 ASLA Merit Awardfor Analysis & Planning.
Accessing public space
shouldn't require
wending one's way
through an
obstacle course.
a six-inch-wide piece of paving, hard ly
wide enough to walk on. Yet there was no
ocher easy entry point. \'\fhar were {he
landscape architects thinking? THE STATE OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
Movable chairscou!d work well here. T he Three stars in the profession-George Hargreaves, FASIA,
museum itself could offer artist-designed
molded plastic chairs. It shouldn'r be neces- Michael Van Valkenburgh, FASL4., andJames Corner, ASL4.
sary ro have only the currently available -talk about where landscape architecture is right noUJ.
choices: benches seemingly intended to
UNIVERSAL DESIGN
cause discomfort or dam p grass.
For any building as grand as the Tate, ac- The Massachusetts state /kirks system has a program
cessing its public space shouldn't require that makes it possible for people with disabilities
wending one's way through an obstacle to use parks more extensively.
course. And what is the purp:>Se of walling
in a space with trees, when views of colorful
ALSO LOOK FOR
riverboats and breathtaking landmark
buildings like Sf. Paul"s Cadledral on the
Commentary Oil the Americ{O/ Pediatric Associlltioll's
op(X>Site bank beg for viewing? TIle adja- recommendation thllt neighborhoods be designed so
cent Millennium Bridge, moreover, is a kids can walk and bike, a residence in Missouri with
striking work of artful engineering. Its ap- a restored prairie thllt alloUJs its owners to indulge
proach from the South Bank directly in
their love of horseback riding, a look at the Rome Prize,
front of the 'Elte surely calls fur a serring that
adds to the drama, not conceals it. smart phone apl)s for Icmdscllpe architects, alld more...
The Tate, and indeed London itself, de-
serves much better. WE WELCOME your ideas and thoughts for future issues.
Mark Hi111ha/ll is the director of LIIIN Archi- Please e·mail Bill Thompson, edilor, al bthompson@as/a.org
tectJ ill Seattle alld is a freqllent collfriblltor to or Lisa Speckhardi al/speckhardt@as/a.org.
LandSGlpe Architecture.

AUC USf 20 09 lilndscape Arcbihdun 1 119


Kienast Vogt's landscape design largely fails London's
Tate Modern Art Museum. By Mark Hinshaw
N THE LATE I '1-)Os, the hulking old Bankside Power Station on
I the south edge of chI' Ri\'er Thames in London was converted
into the Tate Modern Art Museum . Designed by Swiss ;iI"(hi-
teccs Hermg &de Meuron, ehe new museum showsoffits mus-
cular industrial provenance. T he former voluminous turbine
room , stripped of irs machinery, serves co host massive-scale exhi-
bitions. The interior isa masterful exampleofadapcive reuse. Large
steel plates with exposed rivets are counterpoints to the otherwise
restrained galleriesdisplaying contemporary art. "'111e new institu-
tion is a testament to another kind of power, the magic of art and
architecture," reads one press release.
Magical on the inside, perhaps. Out-
side? Not so much. Although the city
has made commendable effortS over the
past several decades to create a river-
front walkway, the initial complex of
cultuml buildings associated with the
ballet and symphony area dreadful ex-
ample of the L960s school of architec-
ture known as British Bmtalism. 11lese
fortress like buildings have not held up
well and now look entirely worn out.
T he pubhc spaces that haphazardly
flow around them are dark, dank, and
tawdry. An all&: of {fees along the riv-
er for a few kilometers does partly
make up for this despicable civic !"e'dlm.
The Power Station might have been
enlivened by a whimsical space loaded
with colors, specimen trees, perform-
ance spaces, and overlooks. fnseead,
landscape architeces Kienase Vogt of
Switzerland (the firm that the late Die-
ter Kienase fOunded) with Charles Funk
Associates of ehe Unieed Kingdom pro-
vided a mundane, g rassy forecourt interlaced with lines of closely
spaced birch trees rising OUt of exposed dirt.
So much was missed in ehe space that is obvious chat one has
to wonder whether anyone on the design team actually thoughe
aoout ie ae all. One can imagine a junior landscape archieect be-
ing instrucced, ""jUSt show a few lines of trees on ehe ground plane
and call it good enough."
All the kudos found in architectllrdl reviews of the 1:1.te do not
even mention chis unfortunate space. Perhaps chis was an oversight
bue more likely an embarrassment. The Project for Public Spaces,
however, has included ehe space in its Hall of Shame (llIww.pps.fJY'g1
great-IlIIblicspdmllist?typcid= 2), call-
ing it "one of the most aggmvating pub-
lic spaces we have ever been in .... "Ille
fact that people might use it could not
ha\'e been remotely considered."
Despite such criticism, the space
does actually work at times-during
the day, in goocl we-dther, at le-dSt. On an
early spring day this ye-dr, the lawn was
packed with people lounging, chat-
ting, reading , having lunch. People of
all ages, from toddlers to teenagers to
the elderly, dotted the space, while
endless streams of people strolled by.
Street musicians took rurns playing
along the outer railing. And a sausage
vendor was doing a brisk business
smack in the middle of the park. An-
other nearby (COIiI/IiIlMoli Page 119)