La 2009 05 May

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con el1lellCe

CO NI

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MAY 2009 VOLUME 99 • NUMBER 5

LA,ND MATTERS 1:1.3 LETTERS 115

RIPRAP 118

Detroit welcomes a happy trai];

an art installation hrings winter cheer in Arkansas! one landscape that needs more bamboo! and news

on upcoming competitions

Edited by Linda Mcintyre

RESIDENTIAL DESIGN 124

Pacific Heights

A Cali/ornia couple surrounded their house in Mahhu wIth a landscape that shows off their spectacular vantage point on the ocean.

By Deb,. .. P lozlng

URBAN PARKS 130'

Shoehorn Parks

Squeezing innovative green spaces into crowded cities requires looking/or land in unexpected places

By Peter Harnik

WORK SPACES 142

'Walking the 13Th:

What some landscape architea: are doing to make their offices more sustainable.

y Daniel ost, ASU

FIRM FOCUS 154

Designing Disney

For the landscape architects at Walt Disney l~agineering, the magic if in the details.

By Oa lei Jost, A8LA

ON THE COVER

NQr/bala Fields is a neta park iii Wesl London Ilml in<or{KiMles earth jOrlm ns One oj its I1W'" aIJ>IICI'W",', page 94, Pbo,.gmpb ~1J1I1·te$J! FQ,RM AUfudgles

2 1 Landscape Architecture MAV 20Da

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PUBLISHING IS6

Publish and Be Seen

Landscape architects are using books as marketing took

TECHNOLOGY 174

A Geosparial Approach To PDFs

New types o/PDFs art allowing GIS data and maps to be shared more easily_

By James L. Sipes, A 'LA

SHARED WISDOM 1102

Drawn to Design

Ace Torre, FASLA, sketches as a catalyst for ideas .• y ,james Richards, A5LA

Mitigating Past Inequities

In Los Angeles, a new park on a former oil field brings nature into a park-starved neighborhood.

82 Northala Fields Forever

Northala Fl"elds, the largest park to be built in London for a century, is an exemplar of sustainable construction and deszgn.

94

BOOKS 1116

PRODUCT PROFILES 1118

DISPLAY AD INDEX 1120 BUYER'S GU I DE IN DEX 1121

OPINION 1.134

In a Tough Job 11arket, Reasons to Persevere

If your dreamjob Isn't available, consider some alternatives.

.y Michael VlIIIn Valkenb .. rgto, FAilLA

41 Landsca pe ArchItecture M n 2009

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61 La nd se a pe Archlte cture MAY 20 De

THE MAGAZINE

OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

J. William Thompson, FASLA ED ITO R I bthQmpson@a.da.org

Lisa Speckhardt

MAN A GIN G ED ITO R I lspeckh(trdt@a.sla..or·g

Christopher MeGee

ART 0 IRE C TOR I cmcgee@asla..org

Daniel J ost , ASLA WRITER/EDITOR I djosr@asla.org

Lisa Schultz

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Ilschultz@a.da.org

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Jan~ Roy Brown; Lake Douglas, ASLA Diane Hellekson, ASLA; Peter Jacobs, FASLA Frank Edgerton Martin; Linda McIntyre James L. Sipes, ASLA; Kim Sorvig James U c ban, PASLA

PLEASE E·MAIL COMMENTS TO APPROPRIATE STAFf MEMII£R OR SENO VIA U.S. MAIL 10

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EOITORIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE Frederick R. Steiner, FASLA, Chair

Thomas R. Tavella, FASLA, Vice President, Communication Brian Br aa , ASLA

T. Carter Crawford, ASLA David Cutter, ASLA Barbara Faga, FASLA Michael M. James, AS LA Todd D. Johnson, FASLA Jordan Jones, Student ASLA Bianca E. Koenig, ASLA Frank Lewis, ASLA Nancy S. McLean, ASLA Scott O. Reese, ASLA Stephanie A. Rolley, FASLA Ronald B. Sawhill, ASLA Tara N. Sawyer, ASLA

EDITORIAL: 202-216-2366 FAX/202-898-0062

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZIN£ IS ALSO AVAILABl£ IN DIGITAL fORMAT.

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81 L~lIdscape ArcMlecture II! AY ~009

THE MAGAZINE

OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

Ann Looper Pryor

PUBLISHER

alooper@asla.org

ADVERTISING SALES 202-216,2335

Daryl Brach SENIOR SALES MANAGER dbra,ch@asla .. org

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PRODUCTION Marf~eia Cork PRODUCTION MANAGER mcork@asla. 0 rg

MARKEll,NO Kelly Robinson MARKETING MANAGER krobil1sol1@asla, 0 rg

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10 I Land SU lie A rcbitectu re M ~ V 2009

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ASLA

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

PRESIDENT Angela D. Dye, FASLA PRES 'PENT·fLE c r Gary D. Scott, FASLA

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Perry Howard, FASLA

VICE PRESIPE·N:'·S Pamela M. Blollgh, ASLA

Gary A. Brown, FAST..A

Tern L. Clements. ASLA B"ian' J. Doughe,·ty, PASLA

J on.a than Mueller, FASTJA Thomas R_ Ta "ella, FASLA

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDEN.T

Nancy C. Somerville SECRETARY

Mary L. Hanson, Honorary AS_LA

lRfASURER

Gerald P. Beaulieu fRUS1fES

ElIi, L. All tunez , FASI.A

Can", B ear-d , A SLA Huu ter L. Beckham, ASL~ Donald E. Benson, ASLA Ronald A. Bevans, ASLA

Andrew C .. N. Bowden, AS1"A

J eff Caster, PASLA

Rvan C. Colliu" ASl.A

~usan Crook, ASLA

Lynn M. Crump , ASLA Edward G. Czyscon , ASLA Chad D. Danos, ASLA

Bruce John Davies, AST.i\ Chrrstopher J. D,dla Vedova, AST.A

Thomas R. Dooh rrle , ASLA Melissa M. Evans, ASLA Thomas A. HaJJ, ASLA Faye B .. Harwell , PAST..A

Alan Hoops, ASLA Andrew Kaufman , ASLA Carl ll. Kclemeu , Pi\ S T..A Shawn T, Kelly, ASLA Chrtstopher Kent, ASLA Matthew I). Langston , ASLA David L. Lycke , ASL_~ Michael P. _~IcGarvey, ASLA Jim Mihan, ASLA Gregory A. Miller, ASLA Jack R. Phillips, ASLA Stephen P. Plunkarrl, F,\SLA

Hichaed H. Powell, ASLA Terry W. Ryan, FASLA

J effrey A. Sargent, ASLA Eric It. Sauer', ,~S_LA Horst Schach , FASLA Lori Eddie Schnuche , ,ISLA Glen Schmidt, FASLA Debra. M. Schwab, ASLA Colgate M. S!,arie II, FASLA Scott L. Siefke», ASL\ Ari5 w_ Stu lis , ASLA Michael S. Stanley, ASLA

Jeffrey A. Townsend, ASLA David H_ Walters, ASJ..A Vanessa \Von'en, AST~\ Lee Weintraub, FASJ..A

William P_ Win."luw, FASLA

~AF REPRESENTATIVI;S Charles Crawfoed , FASI.A Janice C ervelh Schuch, FASL,\ L Susau "Everett, FASL.,\

STUD EN' R E PR ESENJATIVE Jordan J ones, Student AST ._~

PARLIAMENTARIAN Donald W_ Leslie, FASLA

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• 'V OU CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN," wrote novelist Thomas , Wolfe. Those words have certainly rung true for me. My hometown is Atlanta, and I hav,e,n't vo!unta, rily gone back

for a single day anytime rn the past quarter century.

Why did I turn my back on my hometown? JUSt this: I hare the facr that it 11,,"15 earned the moniker "Sprawl City." I remember the Arlama of the 1950s (yes, that far back) when urban development didn't extend much beyond rhe city limits. A fleet of electric buses plied the streets. All roads led downtown, and there was just one downtown. Then, sometime in the last decades of the century, Aclanta went cancerous. Developers cut down the vase oak/hickory forests around (he city to build subdivisions, shopping malls, even "edge cities." Atlanta's defining feature came to be 1 0- lane freeways packed with floods ofsingle-occupancy veh ides.

Sprawl is endemic to U.S. cities, of course, with the wonderful exception ofPordand, Oregon. But those other cities aren't my hometown. Atlanta is. So when I gOt an opportunity to visit Atlanta in March, my first impulse was to demur. I'm glad I changed my mind. Not that Atlanta isn't the sprawling monstrosity I thought it was, but near Atlanta's old heart is a despised and forgotcenlandscape that is in the process of being reborn. The Beltl.ine, a continUOliS greel1space and light -rail corridor to be built on an old railroad bed circling downtown (see "Ring of Green," LandrcapeAn-hitecttJrc, March), changed the way I envision Atlanta's furure.

My first glimpse of the Beltl.ine corridor carne VJa Fred Yalouris, the Beltl.ines director of design, who took our small cadre ofland-

scape architects fur a hike along the derelict right-of-way. Convening the 22-mile defunct railroad bed into a vibrant trail and transit greenway could take decades and is JUSt in the early stages, so it was no surpnse that the segment we hiked still had the feel of inner-city abandonment. For me, it was strange to walk down that corridor in view of Atlanta's glitrering skyline and see abandoned buildings like the old Sears store, above, where my family shopped decades ago. Now, thanks to its adjacency to the Beltl.ine, it will be rehabbed as condos. One day, this nearly deserted rail bed will be a parklike landscape lined with apartment buildings and animated with light-rail cars, joggers, bikers, and Rollerbladers,

The dearest places in our cities, I sometimes think, are those most in need ofhealing-after all, they are me places that offer the greatest possi bilities for design. Students, cake note: EDAW is sponsoring an "Urban sos" com petition for ideas about turning around degraded urban environments (see UJww.edt:t:w.wml/lrbansru).

I wonder if landscape architects' most vital role in this century will be co help our cities turn inward and build ina" livable density" that will reverse the flight to the suburbs. Reader, what oppOtcunities for rebirth lie at the heart of your hometown)

~~,V\~~~

J. William "Bill" Thompson, FASLA Editor j bthompson@aJla.org

MAY 2009 Landscape Arcl,itecture 113

ADA Drinking Feun ains

Misting Stations

Should Christo's Proposed Canopy Over the Arkansas River Go Forward?

THANK YOU FOR DRAWING ATrENfION (Land Matters, April) to these ridiculous projects of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Do you remember their pink skirts around ISlands in Biscayne Bay? They were hideous decorations on nature. I say enough! Their day has passed.

CAROL WARFIELD Jerome, Michigan

tal extremists to derail this project is an irresponsible use of your editorial position. Personally" I do believe that Christo's proJect IS long overdue and that resistance to the project is generally uninformed.

Landscape architects are in a unique posi rion to inform public opinions regarding public art. To promote a negative position seems counrerinruitive and nor in the best interest of the profession.

ERK CROTTY, ASLA Englewood, Colorado

does neither. Srop the madness.

GARY SCOTT, FASLA Del M()intl, [mila

My CONCERNS WIlli the Christo pro_lX)Sal: The wrap rnarerial is basically made from oil, so its production is not benign. Aren't there berrer uses for oil, like medical technology'

There will be on-site environmental impacts, such as creating holes in beautiful rocks for the anchors.

Who benefits other than a segment of the public who likes this type of art?

The Arkansas River is already affected way too much by humans-ait's overused by rafting, buildings in the riparian zone, agriculture, and so on. A much better project would be one that restores the riparian zone. If Chrisco would do that, I'd be Out

there helping him.

There is nothing, nothing more beautiful than a free-flowing river. Other than by environmental restoration, it cannot be made more beautiful. ]URGEN A. HESS Hood Rim; Oregon

COMPLETE WASTE of resources to make an art statement.

CHRIS MILLER, ASLA "Chn"sto and. Jean',' ne-

McHenry, Illinois

Claude's work allows more cuHin~edge landscape projects to be accepted by the mainstream public. "

DISMISSING THIS as JUSt another Stunt would be to Stop thousands of people from experiencing some public art. For me, Christo and Jeanne-Claude's work allows more cutting-edge landscape projects to be accepted by the mainstream publie. For landscape architects, this is critical so that our work can contin-

ue to evolve and visionary work cen be more accepted.

MARTIN BARRY, ASSOCIATE ASLA Brooklyn, New York

LET THE ART LIVE. It's only in place for two weeks. In geological and evolutionary time it's nothing.

For the landscape architecture community to promote the position that temporary installations of public art are environmentally insensitive damages the entire creative comrnumry, Christo's works do not get installed WI thout review. They are subject to much scrutiny, both by his creative ream and the pertinent Jurisdictions.

Sadly, 111 the United States, art is not considered a vital component of our national culture. Art IS often regarded as unnecessary, an extravagance, much like good design in past decades. I, by no means, intend ro imply that irresponsible installations should be lauded, bur thoughtful, carefully executed works need the support of the creative community. To rally environrnen-

THIS PROJECT IS A POSITIVE.

I understand where Rags Over the Arkansas River (ROAR) is coming from with respect to the environment, bur perhaps they don't understand the real benefits of highlighting that experience through art. If you're from that part of the country (I am), you have this innate defense abour the landscape because you think nobody else understands its beauty. Part of ROAR's apprehension IS probably due to their thinking chat Christo sees [he geography as a wasreland-s-a place where he would likely be allowed to "do" the art-as opposed to his having chosen that geography because it's so beautiful.

ZAKERY D. STEELE, ASSOCIATE ASLA Rochester; Neu: York

I WAS IN AN EXPERIMENTAL film class , in the mid-1970s where I s,1.W the film Christo's Valley Curtain. That was cool and "fresh." Although I did not visir The Gates in Central Park, it seemed to "work" and create a positive reaction. This nver deal

WHILE I ENJOY the vastness of Chrisco's work, through his use of artificial media he would seem to have less of an innate connection with the land than other artists such as Andy Goldsworthy.

ADAM E. ANDERSON Neioport Beach, California

As AN ARTIST, a landscape designer, and a lover of all things natural, the only value thar I see in this project is the need for more discussions on the marriage between art and nature. My sense is that Christo and Jeanne-Claude need to find a way to focus on creative susrainabiliry and nor these massive projects that end up costing them millions to implement. If they are such great artists could they not reinvent themselves as creators of something more beautiful and meaningful?

DWIGHT NYSEWANDER Minneapolis

MAY 2009 Landscape Arcbitecture 115

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AMERICAN SOCIETY OF lANOSCA~[ ARCHITECTS 636 EYE STREET NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20001-3736 202-090-2444 • fAX 202-090-2285 • WWWASfA.Df1G

161 ~La,qdseape Architecture MIAV ~009

LETTERS

Rehab the National Mall? Pony Up the Bucks, Congress

"SHIFTING GROUND" (Land Matters,

March) should perhaps be rided "Shifting Priorities." The National Mall belongs rc the people of the nation, as do the monuments and federal buildings that line the mall. I can understand how the mall needs may not be funded through the STimulus package, given the other current national priorities, but why doesn't Congress appropriate sufficient annual funds to maintain and rehabilitate the mall infrastructure through the National Park Service? After all, it IS the Congress's front yard too, isn't it?

Perhaps the District of Columbia should be authorized to charge user fees or collect taxes from che local hotels and restaurants that cater to the many our-of-towners who use the mall. Surely we as a nation can figure out some way of maintaining our collective front yard. Otherwise, JUSt plow it and grow victory gardens; ac least in thac way the local folks could derive some benefit from a farmer's marker on the mall.

R_ Gus DRUM, AFFIUATE ASLA Htmtmgton, West Virginia

More Rhetoric from "Joe the Landscape Arch itect"? No Th a n ks

IN HER LEYrER (February), J enni Thompson talks about drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and says that landscape architects are more concerned about saving "another acre of pristine parkland" than they are about people who work in the energy, auto, and housing industries.

For far (00 long we've been given the false choice between creating jobs and saving the environment. People are rejecting the propaganda of the last failed adminisrration in Washington that denied global warming, leased public lands to mining companies, lessened arr and warer quality, and favored corporate profits over the environment. Alrhough it is still early, the Obama administration seems to favor policies that will value the environment and create jobs that encourage susrainabiliry These policies can only be a positive development for landscape architects.

land untouched by man IS rapidly dwindling. Even though I may never physically go to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, I am gratified that it IS there. r would like it to be there for future generations too. If we lose this piece of "pristine parkland," how long will it be before we justify the denigration of Yosemite, Yellowsrone, and the Grand Canyon?

The rhetoric of a "Joe the Plumber" has no place in our profession. We do not need a "Joe the landscape Archirecr." let ill celebrate the new environmental awareness sweeping the country and lead rhe way into a sustainable future.

THOMAS BIRO, AS LA Hillsborough, New}ersry

Setting the Record Straight

IN "PR.AIRIE CROSSING" (February) no mention is made of the role of the unique pavement surfacing in tying Fort Vancouver co the Columbia River (up and over the land Bridge), The surfacing itself IS inaccurately described as a "locally sourced, tan-colored decomposed granite that is permeable and natural looking." While we agree with tan-colored and narurallooking, the surfacing thar is shown in five piccutes in che article is NaturalPAVE XL Resin Pavement. The surface is not decomposed granite nor is it permeable. NamralPAVE XL Resin Pavement is an upgrade ro hotmix asphal t in terms of pavement strength, and it offers a nontoxic and solar-reflective sustainable alternative that is placed byasphalt paving machinery in continuous joint-free paving applications for roads and streets and parking lots as well as accessible pedestrian surfaces such as you see 011 the land Bridge.

The designers at Jones & J ones color keyed (he other elements on the Land Bridge to be complementary with the NaturalPAVE surfacing. NaturalPA VE surfacing not only covers the land B ridge itself but carries the theme from the Columbia River up and over the Land Bridge all the way over to Fort Vancouver and throughout the inside of the forr. Both the Vancouver Land Bridge and Fort Vancouver portions of the overall project are covered on our web site at unouisspaumn:

BOB RANDOLPH Soil Stabilization Prodsas Company Inc.

Merced, California

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ruv ~009 Landscape Architecture 117

A slightLy irregular Look a

BY LiNDA MCINTYRE

CHOICE CUT

Blazing a Ne\v Trail In the Motor City

~

Detroit puts its oum stamp on

greenway design.

THIS MONTH BRIN'GS some good, green news to a popularion-c-Derroirers-cthat can really lise some. It comes rn the form of the official opening of the Dequindre Cut, a pedestrian and bike trail connecting the riverfront with the historic and popular Eastern Market.

The trail runs along a city-owned abandoned railway line 25 feet below grade. Unused for a quarter century, rhe space

had grown wild both figuratively-walls along the trench were decorated w ir h flamboyant graffiti-and literally, as faxes, pheasan ts, and other urban wildlife sought refuge in the weedy subterranean flora.

Now the spiffed-up pathway boasts a wide paved trail with separate lanes for walkers and cyclists as well as benches, lighting, and security cameras and phones. The graffiti, however, remains. It's both an iconic element of the space and a reminder of irs recent past, when spraY-Cllll Impresarios were some of the only people brave enough [Q venture into what looked like a set for The World Withlm! V J meers Black R;trmel:

The Dequindre CLIt is short, only a little over a mile long, but it brings a crucial connection between two much-visited

Il a n t a e t Linda Mcintyre at t m o i n t y r e e es t s s e r g .


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RIPRAP

ways initiative and working to secure funding and access for the second phase of the cut. The Motor City government also recently approved a noumororized transportation plan that envIsages 400 miles of bike lanes.

Mighe all of this poli tically correct m ultimodalism be seen as a frill when so many here have fallen on hard rimes? No, says

attractions. It's also part of an ambitious plan for a new, less car-centric Detroit. The Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan (CFSEM), a key player 111 the project, IS spearheading a broader green-

POD CAST Winter Ephemerals

A landscape anhiteaureprcf finds inspiration in the Ozark winter.

IN WINTER,. the Old Main Lawn at the University of Arkansas can be a Iinle bleak. But assistant professor of landscape architecture Carl Smith saw a lost opportunity His soft, British-timed voice betrays him as a veteran of wet, gloomy seasons. "I was just daydreaming," he says, "about what the campus could look like in winter, particularly at Christmas"

Last December, Smith, working with former student Stuart Fulbright and math department head Chairn Goodman-Strauss, insralledStarSeeds, a group of five woven wood pods adjacent to the principal walkway through the lawn.

The temporary installation could be var-

CFSEM's Tom WOlwode. "It's a defining opportunity for these hard-hit communities, fostering a sense of pride and a way to see the future," he told LAM. The trail has already generated so much attention and support that people gathered to watch the pavement being laid. WOlwooe hopes other cities, looking for ways to invest and revitalize, are raking note.

The Star Seeds installation brightened up the UniYerslty of Arkansas campus all wiuter, evolving as the elements took their toll on the natural materials.

iously interpreted as a set of gargantuan seed pods, stylized birds' nests, or wicker holiday ornaments. Three large pods measured six feet high and 16 feet in length;

...,.

free but RSVP .is required; see www.forumforurbandesign.org.

-

The 21st Century Park

& the Contemporary City

HE FORUM FOR URBAN DESIGN in New York Cit)' will host two pauels composed of leading figures from North America to d iscu ss d iffere nt visiou s for the 21 st ceata-

ry urban park. On May 13 iu the Museum of IModeru Art, a panel ou laudscape architeclure will feature George Har· greaves, FASLA, James Corner, ASLA, and Michael Van Valken· burgh, FASLA. On May 14 three cjvicleaders-lohn Campbell from Waterfront Toronto, David Karem from Louisville, Ken· tuc'ky, and Aiel( GarYin of Aiel( Garvin & Associates in New York Cit)'-will address questions about developmeut strategy, implementation, fiuanciug, aud why parks are so fuudamental to their visions for the future city at the Century Association, 7 West 43rd Street. The events are


two smaller ones were constructed of long scrips of oak and poplar salvaged from local lumber yards. Inside each large pod were five or six smaller orbs made from river cane harvested by the three artists. The pods were lie from within at night.

last winter was a particularly wet one in Fayetteville. Smith couldn't have been happier. "We knew that because of the surface area of the wood slats the pods would be qUIte visually interesting covered with frost, snow, and even ice," he says. And they were. The ice storm that crippled the middle South in February turned the pods rnro glistenmg crystals.

Wirh all (hat seasonal abuse, the sculptures actually changed shape. "They have started to sag and bulge," Smith told us in February. "We like that they are evolving and settling into place."

In March, Star Seeds was dismantled to make way for spring.

~ADAM REGN ARVIDSON, ASLA

Philip di Giacomo on .Demanding. ~ /VbJ:e it :reat. Or don't malre ,:t at all. -mat's what I deMand of' mySe/.f'. .z deMand the sameof' any .0J7e UJho wor/;s u.;ith />'le. Or .,rar Me. So when Calarado >'Iard,scape.s said, • Great· /,s .nat yeat enotf3h," .z ~edthe c.halle:n:F' r ¥her we're strivi"!j to 6e bstteJ- than eVer. 50 i:i'yoa heed roel: t.c.JOri:, chall~e yaar,sell'.the.n challen:;e a,s.~

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REAR NECESSITY Bamboozled Zoo Seeks New Suppliers

When invasiveness just isn't enougb.

B A~LBOO AND SHORTAGE are rwo words ,that rarely go together. First introduced to the United Scates in l882 as a windbreak for Alabama robacco farmers, the Asian supergrass has been spreading ever since. For many home owners, gardeners, and farmers, it's a barely contained nuisance, threatening to overtake open space at a rate that thwarts mechanical and chemical eradication.

'~We want to know if they're interested in having a longterrn relationship. 'Ve want it to basically be

f ,?

orever.

with a preference for the genus PhyllOJtaohYJ. The bamboo also had to be free from contaminants. Maslanka's task was to weed through the offers and winnow a list of prospective sites. "It was heartbreaking in a lot of cases to say we couldn't take it," Maslanka continues, "but for the safety of the animals there really wasn't much choice."

He has made numerous site assessments, and the zoo is dose to a permanent arrangement with a handful of landowners. Maslanka wants to be certain that the effort is a true collaboration and that the providers are prepared to feed the zoo's voracious appetite in perpetuity. "We want to know if they're interested in having a long-term relationship," he concludes. "We want it to basically be forever." With bamboo, forever is rarely a problem.

-JOSHUA GRAY

So when the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., discovered that it was having difficulty harvesting sufficient fodder for its adorable and popular giant pandas, it made sense to make an appeal to local property owners. To fulfill the pandas'and other zoo animals'-need for 75,000 pounds of bamboo each year, zoo officials put out a press release requesting donations from 10caJ property owners. A story followed on National Public Radio, and the results, like the spread of the crop, were overwhelming-more than 250 responses, according to the zoo's senior nutritionist, Mike Maslanka.

The zoo's requirements were quite specific -Maslanka's charges have a refined palate,

DIG INFRA

Competition Aims to Investigate Infrastructure, Remake Tianamnen Square

Designers encouraged to think big.

the annonncement mentions only architects, engineers, and artists, the group told. Landscape Architecture that they enthusiastically welcome submissions from landscape architects as well.

Landscape architects seeking a different

AR

PAMPHLET HITECTURE

sort of challenge can check out a new kind of competition sponsored by GardenvisiLcom. The site is promoting a web 2.0 landscape design competition to explore new design solutions for China's historic and infamous Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The competition is open to all. Submissions, in thelonn of two· or three-dimensional models, montages, or plans,hand or computer drawn lor photographed in the case of models!., can be uploaded to the competition's Flickr page at .www.flickr.com/groups/tiananmen~ square_landscape_architeciure_ cOIHpetition_20101. See additional details at www.gardenvisiLcom/ history_theory/chinese _landscape_ an:hitecture_competition.

IF THE RECENT TSUNAMI OF BAD NEWS has you thinking that we in this country need to do some things differently, h.ere's an option lor putting your ideas and. design skill.s to work. This year's Pamphlet Architecture competition, Investigations in Infrastructure, invites design students and professionals to propose new direcUons for transportation, energy, and agriculture on a cO.ntinentalscale.

The deadline for submissi'ons is July 1. FOil" more infonnation, visit www.papress.com/otherlpamphletarchitecture/competition.tpl. While

2 2.1 ~La,qdseape Architecture MIAV ~009

Winners will be announced in June 2010 •.

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A California couple surrounded their house in Malibu with a landscape that shows off their spectacular vantage point on the ocean. ,By Debra Prinzing Photography by Jack Coyier

EVEN WITH AN INCOMPARABLE 15 O-degree view of the Pacific, there are times when Frank and Helene Pierson prefer to look up. These rnornents usually occur at twilight when the Spiral Garden, which sits m a secluded corner of their Malibu hillside, beckons. Seated on a bench placed there JUSt for the purpose, the couple gazes at the night's celestial display and observes a moonlit labyrinth formed by bluestone pavers embedded in the lawn. They inhale the sweet fragrance of double-white angel's trumpets (Bmgmamta x candida) and perhaps even hear wild quails cooing in the hills.

2 41 ~La,qdseape Architecture MIAV ~009

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PLANT LIST

• Myrica californica eificwax myrtle

. Rhamnus californica I Califotn ~ IWckthorn . Rhus inlegrifoli!l Lemonade bem Rosmarinus 'Tu sea n Blu e' jRosemary

Solanum "copersicum I Tomato

PERENNIALS

Butterfly milkweed Artichoke

"I like to SIt here with a good, strong drink," Frank confides. "Especially on a moonlit night-it's JUSt magic."

The Piersons' relationship with their modest, triangular slice of paradise wasn't always this charmed. The couple purchased the midcenrury ranch house, with

Its floor-to-ceiling windows and urunrerrupted sea vistas, in 2004. At rhar point, according to Frank, a film director and Oscar-winning screenwriter (Dog Day Afternoon), it was hard to enjoy the view from the neglected grounds with an unstable brick patio and a crumbling hillside.

Pygm weed

~~~~--~~77

Crassula ovata 'Collum' J Jade plant

Ointeranthus wi/mo tianus I Living rocks

. Oud/eya yu/veru/enla 1 Chalk dudleya Echereria 'Aftetgiow' I EGheveria

2.61 ~La,qdseape Architecture ruv ~009

Stipa gigantea Gi ant fe ather grass FERNS

. Pf)/jstichum munitum I Western sWllrdfern . Woodwardia fimbriata I Giant chainfern

• Denotes native If) California

To help rhern rework the space, the coupie hired Pamela Palmer, ASLA, a landscape architect with ARTECHO, a firm based 10 Venice, California. In place of the brick patiO, Palmer Installed a grand, semicircular Pennsylvania bluestone terrace oriented toward the sea. The design encompasses the full length of the house and 15 level WI th its interror floors, nearly doubling dining and entertaining areas. Paved in a running bond pattern, the gray~ blue hues and wavy surfaces of each 12-by- 20-ll1ch tile emulate the ocean's color and rhythm. At the terrace's edge, a cusrom drain catches water that once eroded the surrounding slopes. A mature coral tree (Erythrina sp.) original to the si te was carefully pruned to provide a leafy canopy above the seating areas and fire bowl.

Below the terrace edge, a vibrant ribbon of colorful succulents was planted. Helene selected many of the silvery-blue,

Otatea

Slopes are planted with natives, feft, which provide habitat fOf wildlife. Livable areas are adjacent to the house as seen in the plan, befow.

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!II AY 2009 Landscape Arcbitecture I 27

wine, apricot-pink, and lime specimens thar fill the crescent -shaped border, including agaves, aloes, kalanchoes, echeverias, crassulas, sedums, and aeoniurns. "I call this my jewel-box garden," she says.

At (he west end of the

Pacific wax myrtle (Myrica cslifomica) and California buckthorn (RhamrutJ californica) to form a privacy screen.

The hillside has been restored with a carpet of wild lilac (Ceanothm 'Cenrennial' and C. thyrsiflorlts var,

griSetlf 'Yankee Point') and coyorebrush (Baccharis piLl/la·ris 'Pigeon Point'), native ground covers that help control erosion. Existing lemonade berry shrubs (Rhm integnfoLia) have been joined by several hybrid varieties of ruby-hued conebush (Lellradtndron 'Safari Sunset' and L. 'Red Gem') and silvery California sagebrush (Artemisia cali/arnica 'Montara '), beautiful foliage plants requiring little warer,

Helene tucked frvorire edible plants, including tomatoes, espaliered tangerines, and culinary herbs, into protected pockets near the house. Fig, avocado, grapefrlllt, and walnut trees thrive near the moon garden, where they are sheltered from manne winds.

Coastal conditions

of marine air, wind, and sun called for durable plants.

ocean terrace, a bluesrone

gravel pathway wraps around an infinity lawn. Frank may have an office indoors, but some of his most inspiring narratives are conceived while he sits here. A curved, CorTen steel wall, which developed a rusted finish when exposed co the elements, encloses the lawn. A raised edge serves as an impromptu bench-a favored ocean vantage pOll1t-from which the eye IS "led to the curve of the horizon," Frank observes.

Coastal conditions of marine arr, wind, and sun called for durable plants, including native California and Mediterranean varieties that tolerate drought. Diseased trees have been removed, replaced by native

"The design was inspired by this amazing sHe, especially the horizon and the light"

ThIS landscape also feeds songbirds, bees, butterflies, and hum m i ngbirds, rhanks to the addition of plants that provide berries, seeds, and nectar such as bright orange-red flowering milkweed (Asr.iepias tuberosa] and woolly grevillea (GreviUea lamgera 'Coastal Gem'). "We worked to create as much wildlife habitat as possible," Palmer says.

When the couple sits on rhe terrace, their garden and its vistas give them a sense of calm.

"Frank and Helene wanted an unbroken view of the ocean," Palmer explains. "The design was inspired by this amazing site, especially the horizon and the light." I,

Debra Priming is a SOlahem California-based garden and design writer and estbor of Sty lish

The sculpture on the terrace, opposite top, is by

fami'ly friend Krista Zinner. The Lower Triangle Garden, with a Charles SWanson fountain, opposite bottom, leads 10 the Spiral Garden beyond. landscape architect Pamela Palmer,

ASLA, joins Frank and Helene Pierson at the Cor· Ten steel seat wall, feft. Scented brugmansia hangs over the Slice Bench and Earlh Wall, below. An edible border wifh arlichokes is adjacent to the Labyrinth Garden, right.

Sheds and Elegant Hideaways (Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2008). She publishes a design blog at www.shedstyle.com.

Reprinted with permission from Metropolitan Home, March 2009.

PROJECT CREDITSCHents: Frank and Helene Pierson. landscape architects: ARTECHO Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Venice, California (Pamela Palmer, ASLA, Tavi Perttula, Associate ASLA, and Marisol Metcalfe, Affiliate ASLA). laudscape contractors: CRW Landscape, Malibu, California (Chris Wilson). Hardscape: Sunset Construe(ion, Thousand Oaks, California (Jim Purcell). Custom concrete wall: Ron Odell Custom Concrete, Wocxlland Hills, California. Lighting: Gannon Electric Light, San Pedro, California (John Gannon). steel fabrication:

Art Metal, Gardena, California aim Grzesek). Woodwork~ Frank Varnuska, Northridge, California. Landscape maintenance:

Golden State Landscapes, Somis, California (Robert Olsen).

MAY 2009 Landscape Arcbitecture I 29

ARE YOU REGUlARLY TOLD that your city is "all built out" and has no room

for new. parks, .ev.en though there seem co be plemy of new high-rises, parking lots, and shopping malls? Is it perhaps time co start looking for new urban parkland in untraditional places?

That is exactly what's beginning to happen in dense! y packed ci ties. Here are a few of the innovations.

Cemeteries

Before parks came into being, cemeteries were the principal manicured greenspaces for cities-most famously Mount Auburn Cemetery 111 Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. As parks arose, the open areas of cemeteries diminished in importance. But today, some ci ties have hundreds of acres of

Squeezing innovative green spaces into crowded cities requires looking for land in unexpected places.

By Peter Harnik

public cemetery lands, both with and without gravestones, that could theoretically help with the parkland shortage. The most enthusiastic couservarionisrs tend to regard cemeteries as parkland, but that is not necessarily the view of the general public. Is a cemetery a park? A cemetery certainly qualifies as pervious ground and "breathing

space," but whether it does any more than thar depends on the rules and regulations governing the facility. The more one can do there-walk a dog' cycle' picnic I throw a ball? sit under a tree/-the more it's like a park. The more restrictive, the less justifiable it seems to pretend it's a park.

The \'V'ashingwn, D.C., area has extremes on either end of this spectrum, At Arlington National Cemetery, which IS a vast space almost as large as the entire park system of Arlington, virtually nothing is permitted other than walking from grave ro grave-Jogging and eating are prohibited, and [here are almost no benches. Across rown, at venerable (but little-known) Congressional Cemetery, not only are picnicking and child play allowed but the facility is also a formal off-leash dog park. (Dog membership IS limited to a sustainable

ihe final resting place for 70,000 Atlantans.,Historic Oakland Cemetery is also an official park-,the city's oldest, dating back to 1850.

30 I ~La,qdseape Architecture MIAV ~009

"Incorporating the display patterns presented an effective and efficient way of improving water quality while at the some time introducing a new, attractive landmark feature to Abbey Pork."

Councillor John Muggle,tone Leice ster, U. K.

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number and costs nearly $200 a year, with the funds used to supporc the nonprofit organization whose mission is co operate, develop, maintain, preserve, and enhance the cemetery grounds; use by humallS is free and unrestricted.)

Another fumous cemetery, Oakwood, in Hartford, Connecricuc, not only allows residents to run, walk dogs, and ride bicycles, bur also programs the space with jazz concerts and other events and even allows residents to bring food and wine. Atlanta's historic Oakland Cemetery, owned by the city's parks department and run by a foundation, is designed as a pleasure ground. It has benches, gardens, and a central building for events and programs, and it allows visitors to jog and stroll with their dogs. In Portland, Maine, 240-acre Evergreen Cemetery is much larger chan the city's largest "regular" park. Owned and maintained by the city's parks diVISIOn, and comaining gardens, ponds, woods, and open lawns, Evergreen is used for hiking, walking, miming, biking, birding, picnicking, CtoSS-COLU1try skiing, and snowshoeing.

Schoolyards

Schoolyards are large, flat, centrally located open spaces with a mandate co serve the

32.1 ~La,qdseape Architecture ruv ~009

i'\

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Chicago's Campus Park program puts school play areas to double use, allowing the community in after school honrs. Graeme Stewart Elementary School, below,

In Chicago, Mayor Daley announced an ambitious goal of converting 100 asphalt schoolyards into small parks.

recreational needs of schoolchildren. Great schoolyards-the rare ones that have healthy grass, big trees, a playground, and sports equipment-seem a lot like parks. But they aren't. For one thing they have fences and locks. For another, they are dosed to the general public, not only from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM but even at times when school is om of session--earl y morn- 109, late afternoon, evening, and weekends. Schoolyards are part-time open spaces with a limited constituency. Bm they have terrific potential to be more than

that. Even less-than-great schoolyards, those that are virtual wastelands of asphalt with few amenities, often represent sizable places in key locations [see "Too Coo.l (Just) for School," Landscape Anhitectltfe, August 2008].

Creating an urban schoolyard park is not impossible-c-it's been done in New York, Chicago, and a few other places-a-bur it's not as easy as it sounds. Ir requires real attention to detail, clarity of authority, and ongoing acceptance of responsibility. Most of all it requires com mitmenr to success, which is why it tends to come [0 fruition when both the school system and the park system ate under the control of the mayor.

In Chicago, Mayor Richard M. Daley, Honorary ASLA, following a successful pilot program in 1996, announced an ambitious goal of converting 100 asphalt schoolyards into small parks. Called the Campus Park Program, it involved playgrounds, baseball fields, basketball courts, tenrus courts, and running tracks on a total of150 acres. Phase I was completed in rour years at a cost of $43 m illion-$20 million each from the school system and the city, plus $3 million from the park district. (By 2008 the goal had been surpassed, and more

schools have been added.) Design was handled by the park district and conscruccion by (he Public Buildings Commission, and rhe process was guided by way of meetings among park and school offic13ls, principals, local school councils, and community organizations. Ongomg maintenance IS handled largely by the school district with as~ needed assistance from the park district fur larger properties and more park-deficient neighborhoods.

In New York City, the Trust for Public Land (TPL), a nonprofit, has forged a fourway partnership with corporate donors, the Board of Education , and the Department of Parks and Recreation not only to open up schoolyards but also to work with the children to thoroughly redesign their play areas, adding natural elements and artwork. At a minimum price tag of $400 ,000 each, the schoolyard parks are not cheap, but TPL projects that the program will increase the cirys usable park space by nearly 300 acres.

Rooftops

Are rooftop parks feasible) If so, for what activities) How much weight can they sup-

port) How much do they cost? These are complex questions (hat require a good deal of research, both into the issue of "rooftops " and of "parks." Some of the investigation IS generic, but much of It needs to be highly specific, on a city-by-city basis. In, say, Oklahoma Ciry, how many Bat rooftops are there? What is the total combined acreage? How many are on public buildings, and what IS that combined acreage? How many of them are large (i.e., an acre or more)? How many of those large ones are relatively unclurrered with air-conditioning unrrs and other paraphernalia? How many are accessible by the publrc? How much rooftop area is available in park-poor areas ? And that doesn't even get to the issues of

What park facilities

are appropriate on rooftops?

Flower gardens, lawns, benches, and pathways?

structural strength, drainage, noise, lighting' and more. (Note that lightweight "green roofs" are rarely usable as parks because most can't be walked on.)

What park facilities are appropriate on rooftops? Flower gardens, lawns, benches, and pathways) Courts for basketball, tennis, and volleyball, surrounded by cages? Community gardens? Playgrounds' Miniature golf? None of this IS impossible-there IS a roefrop park ar Riverbank State Park in New York City so large that it contains a pool, a skating rink, a theater, four tennis courts, four basketball courts, a wading pool, a softball field, a football field, four handball courts, a running track, two playgrounds, a weight room, a boat dock, and a restaurant. Riverbank is a 28-acre roof on a new sewage treatment plant alongside the Hudson River.

At present the most successful rooftop parks are ones at ground level built over subsurface parking garages-places like Millennium Park in Chicago, Hudlin Park in St. Louis, and Yerba Buena Garden in San Francisco. New rooftop parks increasingly incorporate more ecological features.

The Gary Comer Youth Center in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood, .by Hoerr Schaudl Landscape Architects, has a work· ing flower and vegetable garden on the


URBAN PARKS

For instance, Nashville, Tennessee's Public Square collects all its ram for later lise as pumped irrigation water.

Using rooftops higher than street level is, thus far, much rarer. For one thing, keepmg the plants alive 1S harder because of the extreme conditions of wind, sunlight, soil thinness, and lack of trees. For another, there are concerns about structural strength and potential water leakage. Finally, there are issues of human access and security. Nevertheless, for extremely dense communities that are very short of parkland-places like Brooklyn, Chicago's near west side, and South Los Angeles-roofcop parks could make a big difference.

Moreover, by their very nature, community gardens are fairly lightly used, with only a handful of people-s-or fewer-in sight at any given moment. (A parcel that perhaps could use more eyes often has fewer than many others.)

On the other hand, with their planting, watering, weed pulling, and harvesting, gardeners are the everyday visitors who can help make a space more invirrng. Plus, community gardens are extremely efficient users of space. An area that could barely fit a single tennis COUrt might hold 90 garden plots; a soccer field m igh r be replaced wi th 375 or more gardens.

Community Gardens

Community gardens are another vastly underappreciared and underprovided resource for cities. Americans traveling in Europe are often struck by the fact that small patches alongside railroad tracks and roads, and even odd plots between buildingsspaces that are almost invariably wasted in the United Stares-are intensively cultivated for flowers, vegetables, and spices. In theory, community gardens could be a "growth sector" for the urban park movement in this country. They come in many different forms and types, but the two major classes are stand-alone gardens (ofren located 111 spaces where rowhouses have been torn down) and gardens that are located in a corner of a larger city park.

Bur ir must also be admitted that community gardens, as semiprivatized space, are not a perfect fit as public parks. The vegetables, fruits, and flowers require some protection from theft and from inadvertent damage, and rhis entails fences and locks, which are often unsightly and unneighborly.

341 ~La,qdseape Architecture ruv ~009

Reservoir Lands

Many cities have drinking water reservoirs rhat are used for parks. At Griggs Reservoir Park in Columbus, Ohio, or White Rock Lake Park in Dallas visitors can go right [Q the water's edge and dip their toes in, if they wish, or even go boating. (The water is clean but not yet "finished" for human consurnption.) On rhe other hand, some reservoirs thar are surrounded by extremely attractive landscapes are nevertheless entirely off-limits to the public. To look at Washington, D.C.'s McMillan Reservoir, now devoid of people and encircled by an unsightly chain-link fence, one would never guess that it had been designed by the Olmsted firm as a pleasure ground, complete with handsome carriageways.

GREEN

URBAN PARKS

Obviously the protection of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of residents raises sensitive issues. In fact, for reservoirs that contain finished water, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2006 established new rules calling for the installation of a physical cover to prevent contamination by airborne or ground-borne substances and particles. Some people like the view of the open water and are dismayed by the requirement, but the very fact of a cover opens up the possibility for gaining more parkland. Seattle, in particular, IS moving aggressively to cover its reservoirs-c-it got started more than a decade ahead of EPA. As Mayor Greg Nickels, Honorary ASLA, has put it, "This is a rare opportunity to turn public works into public parks. U nderground reservoirs will not only improve the quality and security of our water supply, they will add to the quality of life in our neighborhoods." All in all, the city is set to add 76 acres of new parkland using reservoir decks-e-four acres in densely populated

Capitol Hill, 20 acres in Jefferson Park (including a running track, sports fields, picnic grounds, and a large, unprogrammed lawn), and acorn pletely new park on rap of Myrtle Reservoir. Covering it all will cost $161 million. Of coutse, the EPA rule is an "unfunded mandate" smce there is no federal money to pay for compliance; in Seattle, the COSt of decking is funded via a rise in the water-use fees that all residenrs pay.

Under EPA's rule, cities have the option of covering their reservoir water with a vanety of materials, from air-supported fabric to floating polypropylene, from a flat surface of wood, steel, or concrete to a dome of aluminum. Obviously the sofr materials are much c heaper-s-a 10 -acre rubberli ke polypropylene mat COStS about $500,000, while a concrete slab in Seattle COStS more

"We turned what could've been a huge liability into an incredible asset for the community."

than $13 million. But the Searrle mayor's office has done a study showing that the cost of acquiring a sim ilar amoum of other parkland would cost about 85 percent of the concrete deck, and, as the city's deputy director of planning says, "There's no way we'd be able to buy properties like this, situated as they are on scenic overlooks in densely built-our locations throughout the city." The concrete decks are covered with eight inches to two feet of dirt and planted with grass. They are principally used as open lawn areas, active sports fields, and gmne courts, interwoven with pathways. Trees are not planted because of the risk of penetration of the deck by roots.

In another approach, Sf. Louis long ago figured Out how to protect its water ytt retain the beauty of a shimmering park pond:

For more than 100 years Compton Hill Reservoir has been covered, but the top of the cover is shaped like a shallow bowl and is filled with warer-s-ncndrinking warer-eto make for a beautiful park experience.

Stormwater Channels

For envi ronmenral, financial, and legal reasons, urban srorrnwarer management is get-


ring much more arrention. Gone are the days when flood-control engineers would prescribe the construction of straight, deep concrete channels, and stream after stream would be converted into sterile spillways. Cities that still have extensive natural wetland areas are caretull y protecting them to contain and filter srorrnwarer; many are now also creating new artificial swales and other storage areas to slow down and capture the sheets of water running off streets and asphalt SlU£1.Ces.

New York City boasts a "blue-belt" system under the jurisdiction of the city's Department ofEnvirorunenrai Protection

rather than being funneled destructively into a nearby salmon-bearing stream. But the authority balked at the aesthetics of the standard, unadorned, chain-Iinksurrounded pit. Instead, it created an extensive 130~acre drainage system culrninat111g III Pond Park with benches, a boulder-filled stream, a pond, a trail, stairs, a playground, and gardens. "We turned what could've been a huge liability into an incredible asset for the communityin a place with a direct view of downtown Seattle," says Tom Phillips, project manageL Constructed by the Housing Authority, the park has been turned over to the Parks and Recreation Department for management and maintenance.

(DEP). The blue belt, located largely but not entirely in less built-up Staten Island, consists of mapped wetlands that DEP acquires for stormwater management. The blue belts are zoned as open space and are protected from development, although the protection is not as stringent as for mapped parkland. Although the bluebelr lands are partially fenced (to help focus the points of ingress and egress for both people and wildlife), they are fully open to the public,

When the Seattle Housing Authority planned the transformation of the distressed High Point public housing site imo a new mixed-income community, it was required to include a system ro contain storm water running off the property. The water was to be released gradually

Closing Streets And Roads

In every city there are hundreds of acres of roadway porenriall y available as park and recreational facilities. While parks make up about 20 percent of New York City's total area, streets make up about 30 percent. In Chicago, 26 percent of the land is devoted co streets compared to only 8 percent given to parks. Converting some street capac i ty for recreat io Fl= al activity is an underrealized opporrurury

Wresti ng space away from automobiles is never easy, but if any opportunities constiruce "lower-hanging fruit" they are the hundreds of miles of roads within city parks. Naturally, all large parks need some roadways, both for access ro facilities and co allow motorists to get from one side of the park to the other, bur most city parks have a surfeit of auto corridors. The National Mall i t1 \'{!ashington, D.C., formerly had four parallel drives running for about a mile between the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument. Not only was the green mall thoroughly intersected every few yards by asphalt, but the drives themselves were permanently clogged with tourists (and government workers) looking for parking spaces. In 1976, JUSt in time for the national bicentennial celebration, Assistant Interior

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ruv ~009 Landscape Arcbitecture I 37

URBAN PARKS

Secretary Nathaniel Reed decided to abolish the two central roads and replace them with pebble-covered walkways remrruscent of those in Paris parks. The aggregate amount of space---abour four acres-was relatively small, but the impacr on park usability, ambience, safety, and air quality was monumental. Similarly, in Atlanta, followmg a raft of crime and nuisance issues that were negatively affecting Piedmont Park, the parks commissioner announced test weekend road closures. Despite protests, the results led to dramatic increases in other uses of the park such as running, walking,

they can be regreened, too. In Washington, D.C, Thomas Circle was sliced down almost to the diameter of the statue of General George Henry 1110mas and his horse, with traffic consuming the entire area. In 2007, the National Park Service and the District of Columbia reinstituted the original circle, including pedestrian walkways. Earlier, a similar project reunified two-anda-half-acre Logan Circle and helped ignite a renewal of its entire neighborhood.

More difficult is closing and beautify- 1I1g streets that are not in parks .. Many cities, including Boston; Santa Monica, California; and New Orleans, have turned one of their key downtown streets mto a car-free zone, although 111 nearly all cases the motivation IS less for casual recreation

Mayor (later Governor) Tom McCall, the old roadway was dug up and replaced by Waterfrom Park (later named after McCall). McCall Park has become the focal point offestivals and many other activities in the city.

Cities can also convert streets into what the Dutch call "woonerts," where pedesmans, bicyclists, and children are gIven priority over cars. While the concept has yet to fully establish itself 111 (he United Stares, variants have surfaced. On Wall Street in downtown Asheville, North Carolina, the city installed brick pavers, bollards, benches, and lights so intertwined that they become an obstacle course that greatly reduces automobile speeds. Seattle is doing similar traffic calming in certain ne ighborhoods and is also adding numerous pervious areas and water-capturing features to add ecological benefits to these "street parks."

and cycling, and in 1983 the closures were made total and permanent. (Piedmom Park is today the most car-tree major city park in the United Stares.)

Other examples abound. San Francisco's long-rime Sunday closure of two miles of John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park was extended in 2007 to Saturdays as well. TIm program, which, according to the San Francisco Bike Coalition, results 111 one of [he only hard, flat, safe areas for children in the entire city, effectively adds about 12 acres of parkland without any acquisition or construction COSts. Park usage during car-free hours is about double that of when cars are around.

It's not JUSt large parks-many small parks have been decimated by roads, and


Thomas Circle in Washington, D.C., one of the original cireleslaid 001 by Pierre L'Enfanl in 1800, was gradually whiHled away by traffic engineers. In 2007 it was restored 10 beauty

land pedestrian usel by the D.C. Department of Transportation and the National Park Service.

and environmental purity than for expensive shopping and dining. However, Portland, Oregon, IS the sire of a famous and extraordinarily successful "road-to-park" conversron, Ir invol ved the 1974 elimination of SIx-lane Harbor Drive, an expressway along the Willamette River [hat had been rendered redundant by a new interstate highway. Most cities would have happily kept highways along boch sides of their river, but under the leadership of

Removing Parking

If it weren't for parked cars, there would be plenty of space for urban parkland. It's nor people who take up all that much space-New York's small Bryant Park regularly hosts 1,000 persons at lunchtime on a nice day. It's the cars chat either take up significant chunks of parkland (SO acres of parking lors in Chicago's Lincoln Park) or overwhelm the streets and curbs of the surrounding neighborhood. In virtually every midwestern and southern downtown, there are few if any downtown parks, yet there are hundreds of acres of surface parking lots.

It turns out that there is a relationship between good mass transir and good parks, and it appears that park advocates need to pay attention to transportation issues. For instance, eight of the 10 most heavily used parks in American CIties have subway or light-rail access wirhi n a quarter mile, and all of rhem have bus service that comes even closer.

The best way to add parkland in the city is to reduce the size of, or dose, parking areas within parks. After all, the land is free and is already ideally located. Naturally, there will be a public outcry, so this action

must be undertaken with great care and substantial analytical backup. Is the parking lot (or roadside parking) heavily used, or does it reach full capacity only a couple of days a year? Is the problem more day of week or time of day? Would auto usership be brought down simply by instiruting paid meters in certarn locations or at certain times? Would a shuttle bus system cornpensate for less parking? Could arrangements be made wirh existing parking lors around the edge of the park-whether office buildings, shopping centers, or churches?

Many of these questions were debated in 2003 in Pitrsburgh when the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy launched an effort to bring back Schenley Park Plaza as the grand entrance to the city's flagship park-the role it had played from 1915 until it was paved over as a 278-car parking lot in 1949. A study by the planning department identified a large number of available nearby parking spaces, and the city was also able to install l l 0 new meters in the vicinity. Ultimately only 80 spaces were lost and the city gained a beautiful new five-acre gathering place complete with wireless Inrernet, a one-acre lawn, food kiosks, a carousel, a flower garden, and regular programming.

Another way to reduce parking is co expand mass transit to and through the park. When Houston decided co construct a new trolley system, park advocates lobbied hard for a station in Hermann Park. (It ended up gening rwo stations, one on either side; the Hermann Park Conservancy is now redesigning the park's internal miniature railroad so [hat it will serve not only as a fun ride for children bur also as meaningful transportation through the park.) The next step is to redesign and shrink [he size of the massive parking lots within the park. The siruation in Portland's WashJ11g~ ton Park is the reverse-a-che park is not overwhelmed with parking areas, and the city wants to keep it that way. From May to September, the Portland Parks and Recreation Department collaborates with Portland's Tri-Mer transit agency ro run a shuttle from a nearby light -rail line to various srops within Washington Park. The park, which contains the ci ry's famed Rose Garden, has only 85 parking spaces, and Porrlanders reached consensus that no more spaces would be added.

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ruv ~009 Landscape Architecture I 39

URBAN PARKS

A third strategy is to dig an underground parking garage within the park and el1111111ate an equivalent number of surface spaces, as was done in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in 2007. In addition to yielding more parkland, rhis expensive solution

has a second advantage. With the high cost of construction, a parking charge becomes inevitable, encouraging people to drive less by carpooling, walking, biking, or raking transit. Minneapolis took a differem page om of the same book; there, WIthout building anything underground, the park and recreation board installed meters at the most heavily used lots (some of which happened to be located neat other automobile attractors, such as the Universiry ofMinnesora). Ideally, parking revenue should be used to subsidize the costs of improved park rransi r service.

other Opportunities

These examples aren't the only ways of finding new land. Two other

approaches I've written about in Landscape Architecture indude decking over freeways (see "Nature Over Traffic," Lancisct]pe Architecture, February 2008) and building parks

SchenleyPla~a, left, the

historical entryway 10 PiHsbllrgh's Schenley Park, was a par king 101, righ.f, for 60 yearsunlil it was restored as a horticuHural jewel, here.

on old landfills (see "From Dumps to Destinations," Landscape Architecture, December 2006). Even with these, there are surely other possibilities. What land IS g0111& begging 111 your cornmuniry? _;" J

Peter Harnik is director of the Center for City Park Excellence at the Trust for Pubti( Land in New York. He i.J the author of The Excellent Ciry Park System: What Makes It Great and How to Get There.

TI1lS article IS adapted from a forthcommg book, The Complete City Park System: How Big It Should Be and How to Get There, scheduled for publication by Island Press in Spring 2010.


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LAST FAll, JOANNE ADAIR, a graduate student at the. U.ll iversi ty of. Guelph in Ontario, Canada, called 50 firms em ploying landscape architects in the Greater Toronto area to see what rhey were doing (Q "green" their own operations. "Only seven people would talk to me," remembers Adair. "The rest of them said: 'We're not green. TIl ere's no use interviewing us.'"

However, many firms throughout North America are striving to make their workplaces more sustainable, and some are even using their office's "greenness" to market themselves. Recently, Landscape Arrbi-

To draw attention to the amount of paper ccnsumed by a laudscape architecture office, Ah'be Landcape Architects developed au arl: installation, above, usi'ng three months' worl:h of waste paper. A film chronicling this installation won au ASLA award. CaMn R. Abe, FASLA, right, founder of Ah'be Laudscape Architects,feeds shredded

paper to the worms in the office's worm bin.

42. I ~La,qdseape Architecture ruv ~009

·What some landscape architects are doing to make their offices more sustainable.

By Daniel Jest, ASLA

tecture talked (Q nearly 20 firms-from big multidisciplinary firms with many offices to small landscape architecture firms with only a few people. Collectively, they have enacted a variety of strategies to decrease rhe amount of resources they consume, reduce the amount of trash rhey generate, and move toward cleaner and more efficient energy consumption. We asked if any of the changes they've made have saved them money and what they would suggest as a simple first step for other firms looking to become more sustainable.

Reducing the Piles of Paper

Paper waste provides the most visible reminder of an office's environmental impact.

o I $ AC~S

In their ASLA award-winning docurnentary, So What?, the staff of Ah'be Landscape Architects of Culver Ciry, California, created a series of art installations using waste paper their office generated. At the end of SIX weeks, they had enough shredded paper to create a 1 OO-foot -long line, 12 feet wide and 18 i riches deep; after three months, they were able to create a foresdike massing of shredded paper columns.

"You see so much paper going Out the door, it makes you sit back and gulp," SllYS Diana Rael of Norris Design, a landscape architecture and planning firm based in Denver. Over the years, many landscape architects have pondered the irony that a profession rooted in planting destroys so many trees. Addressing this issue is often the first step that firms take in their quest to be more sustainable.

While none of the firms contacted for this Story have gotten anywhere dose to the much-prophesied paperless office, many are implementing strategies to reduce their paper use. One of the easiest places to start is digitally archiving e-mails rather than printing them OUf, unless there is some strong reason to do so. Most people under a certain age will consider this pretty obvious advice, but there are still people out there who prim all their e-mail out of habit. To combat this sort of ingrained thinking, some firms have adopted e-mail signatures that read: "Please consider the environment before pnnting this e-mail."

The number of drawing sets printed for 30, 60, and 90 percent reviews could also be cut back, according to Connie Roy-Fisher, ASLA, rounder of Roy-Fisher Associares in Tequesta, Florida. Architects often send her an entire drawmg set on large format paper, including plumbing fixtures and rruss derails that her firm doesn't need to review. "We need to target those architects who do all that printing, save them money, and let them know that we would be happy to look at a set electronically,' she says. "If I have


'"

"It doesn't smell and they don't make any noise, [The worrnsJ

, "

are pretty quiet,

the drawings digimlly from subs or primes, I only print what I need to mark up."

Printing on smaller sheets of paper is another option. At Norris Design, employees ate encouraged [Q print review sets at half size, a paper-saving strategy that also saves money. "You oan still read and review [the drawings] and do the quality assurance needed," says Rael. "And it's a much handier size. It can be folded and put in an expandable folder rather than a box."

There are also digital redlining options.

Autodesk Design Review is a program that allows you to mark up drawmgs created lL1 AutoCAD and ocher Autodesk programs. The program is free on the company's web site, so it can be used by diems and local governments that don't have their own CAD software. The makers of MicroS tat ion have a similar program called Bentley Redline,

Inside Ah'be's worm bin, the worms co nverl pa per, food sera ps, and oth er biodegradable waste into a polent "lea" thai ea n be u sed to te rli li:re ga rdens, left. A spout on the side oflhe bin, bela w, is used 10 exira et the tea.

which subscribers oan distribute to (he entire design team at no extra cost. While Vector\'Vorks does not currently offer standalone redlining software, it has a red.Line cool within the program itself chat allows you co create and track markups for internal reviews. For working with clients, they encourage exporting the drawing as a PDF, which can be marked up in Adobe Acrobat, a fairly ubiquitous program. Thar PDF can then be imported back into Vectorworks so you can make the necessary changes. Taking advantage of these existing programs and features could potentially save a lot of paper and cur printing costs.

But redlining digitally has been slow to take off. "It's one rhing to see it on a screen," says Linda Daley, ASLA, a managing principal at Ah 'be. "You catch more when you see it printed in front of you." She says that her office will often make comments on consul ~ rants' drawings digitally, bur they prefer pa~ per drawings for internal reviews. When landscape architects redline, they often need to refer back and forth between sheets to make sure rhe entire drawing set works together. This is often faster to do on paper than it IS on the compmer when you are working with large files and limited screen

space. Also, sketching out ideas is an important pan of (he redlining process, and many people are more comfortable sketching with a pen, pencil, or marker than a computer mouse or tablet.

Recycling and Composting

Programs

It is likely chat paper will continue to be a part of the design process 111 one form or another; however, recycling programs can lower the number of trees needed to produce new paper. To make these programs work, people need to both recycle and buy products made from recycled materials. In some regions, curbside recycLng is standard pracrice, but many local governments and office parks do not provide the service, leaving some landscape architects to their own devices.

"Billings [Montana] does not have a recycling program, so our office pays to have a private recycling company come every

-

Tips for Reducing Paper Use

- Only print e-mails when yon really need to.

- Encourage consultants and fellow collaborators not to

send paper copies for' every review. - Redline drawing sets at half size.

- Try out the latest in digital redlining technology,

Tips for Reducing Waste and Resource Consumption

- Use recycling programs where available.

-If your community or office park does not offer

recycling services, see if there are other cheap or

relatively inexpensive oplionsavailable to you.

- Consider replacing trash cans at people's desks with

paper recycling receptacles and centralizing trash

colleefion in a few areas.

- Recycle empty print cartridges.

- Take .ad.vantage of programs that will refurbish or

recycle old computers,

- Consider composting coffee grounds and food scraps.

- Buy recycled products whenever possible,

tWO weeks," says Jolene Rieck, ASIA, the prmcipallandscape architect for Peaks to Plains Design. At their small firm, recy-

cling paper and cardboard IS acrually easier than throwing it away. "The big trash dumpster is a 200- foot walk from the office, whereas rhe recyclers come on site to collect it." Rieck says the service is fairly cheap, approximately $11.50 per month, and her firm now diverts about 90 percent of 1 ts garbage to recycling.

The Philadelphia office of Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT) actually quantified its office waste more precisely. TIle office used a series of trash and recyclable weigh-ins to determine its impact and encourage recycling, says Ruth Stafford, Associate ASLA. These efforts led to a 78 percent decrease in the amount of waste sent co landfills.

Paper IS not the only material that design firms are recycling; they also recycle glass, plastic, and aJurnmurn containers. High-tech waste is also being recycled. Many companies that man ufac tu re prj n t cartr i dges include

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pouches that allow you to send your old cartridge back (Q them for recycling, and a few companies buy them back (though the returns are usually only cents on the dollar). Charities such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army will accept old computers as long as they are in working condition, but you may want to wipe the hard drive clean before donating them. Dell and a number of other companies have programs to refurbish old computers and resell them, and if they are toO old to be of use to anybody, some pattS can be recycled. Whenevet you purchase a new computet through Dell, you can click a box to indicate you want to participate in its free recycling program.

Some firms have actually made money through their recycling efforrs, last fall, LPA, a multidisciplinary firm in Southern California, partnered with its reprographics company, Pro Repro, to recycle its paper waste. Over a three-month period the companies raised $1,800 by recycling paper, which they donated to the Laguna Beach Boys and Girls Club.

But most of the businesses we beard from were not earning anything through chei r programs. TBG Partners, a landscape

Demonstrating green technologies at your 0"'11 office can also help to educate clients about these options and convince them these technologies can be used successfully.

architecrure and planning firm with four offices in Texas, had hoped its recycling program might make enough money to expand its library; however, the firm did not produce enough recyclables to generate any revenue.

Firms that expect their recycling programs to make money (or even pay for themselves) need to look closely at a number of variables. Will you be able to save money on trash pickup) How much waste do you generate) How much will local recycling companies reimburse you for different types of recyclables? And how much will it COSt to transport those recyclables

,_

ASLA's Office

H ::~: ;:: ~:::!~::b~:!::~n:::~ :h~t:~ !:~~::::~:ee~::::~:~~:r-

cent in the winter and a litUe in the summer, too. While we are not currently composling, and we use our fair share of paper, we have implemented many of the changes and programs mentioned in Ihe aliicle. Simple things like turning off our compnters at night have been very effective. "II's surprising how simple behavioral changes have a pretty good bang for the buck," says Nan· cy Somerville, execntive vice president of ASLA. Through our efforts, we have become Energy Star celiified, meaning we consume 30 percent less energy than a typical office.

AdditionallY, we are doing something that none of the other companies mentioned. To further decrease our commuting footprint and as a benefit to employees, the organization has provided compressed workweek and telecommuting options for some employees. Phones are set to dial employees' home phone or cell phone when someone tries to call them at the office when they are telecommnting. Due to software licensing issues, telecommuting may be diffi· cuHto implement in many landscape architecture offices. However, some offices may find creative ways to make it possible.

Like some of the firms in the article, we've found that practicing what we preach has helped us to 'be more effective 'in encouraging others to consider sustainable technologies. "The green roof not only helped us reduce our footprint, but it's been highlY effective at encouraging others to reduce their energy use," says Somerville. "If we did not have it there, we cou'ld not be the effective advocate we are,"

4 6 I ~Lil nd sea pe A rchitectll re ru v ~ 0 0 9

to a collect ion facil ity? Some of these things are hard to quantify due (Q wild Huctuations in the cost of gas and the value of raw materials.

In addition to recycling, a surprising number of firms have implemented some level of composting 111 their offices. Norris Design, TBG Partners, and LPA compost their offices' coffee grounds. At Norris Design's Denver office, the coffee grounds are stored in an ice bucker, and every few days a firm member removes them to use in his garden. There is no problem WIth undesirable odors, says Rael, and fruits and vegetables fertilized with the coffee grounds often make their way back to the office. The Portland, Oregon, office of DaVId Evans and Associates and the Philadelphia office of WRT reported more extensive composting programs for food scraps. Ioitially, some employees at WRT objected to composting due to concerns about odors and aesthetics. These problems were overcome by using biodegradable liners.

Ah'be practices vermicomposung->feeding food scraps and other biodegradable waste to earthworms. The worms live in a black box located in their conference room. "Its a nice conversation piece when you have clienrs coming in," says Daley. "You show them your work, tell them about your worm bin ... ."' Some clients are grossed OUt initially, but most ate more curious (han anything else, and visitors will often ask to see inside the box. "It doesn't smell and they don't make any noise," notes Daley. "{The worms} are preny quiet."

Conserv:ing Energy in the Office With the wild variations in fuel prices and worries abour global warming, many firms ate taking steps to lower their energy consumption and reduce their carbon footprim.

A few companies have pursued the U.S.

Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for their own offices. Stanrec, a multidisciplinary firm with locations across North America, has rhree offices that are LEED certified and three that ate LEED registered. Anorher firm, LPA, constructed a new LEED-certified headquarters in 2004. To CUt down on the amount of electric lighting necessary, there IS extensive day ligh ting throughout the office. The building has low-energy LED light-

ing, furnishings made with recycled materials, and low-flow faucets and fixtures.

In addition to LEEO, the federal government offers a program for recognizing energy-efficienr buildings with an Energy Star. CTA Arch icecrs and Engineers, a large multidisciplinary firm, earned an Energy Star for its new offices, located 111 a former warehouse in Billings, Montana, according to Eirik Heikes, ASLA, a landscape archirecr there. The Energy Star label considers more than JUSt the design intent; building owners must submit 12 months' worth of utility data to be eligible.

LEEO and other certifications for your building can be very expensive and may be Out of reach for small firms. However, even if you can't afford the certification, you can use the guidelines established by these programs to create greener, more energyefficient buildings. That's what Joy Kuebler, ASLA, a landscape architect in Western New York, did for her new office, a working environment for about four people adJacent to her home. She designed a green roof for the structure and is also experimenting with permeable pavers there. Her green roof was one of the first in the region and provided an opportunity to teach people about the technology. App.roximately $4,000 worth of materials and labor for the

roof were donated by Lichtenfels Nursery, a Pennsylvania company that was looking to encourage [he technology and market itself 111 Western New York. In rerum, Kuebler arranged an open house through the local chapters of ASLA and the American Instirure of Architects, which provided continuing education credits to approximately 65 architects and landscape archi recrs interested in learning more about green roof technology.

Demonstrating green technologies at your own office can also help to educate clients about these options and convince them these technologies can be used suecessfull y. 4Site Incorporated, a multi disci - plinary firm in Huntsville, Alabama, uses interpretive panels and tours of its "green" office to encourage clients to implement "green" technologies in their projects.

For firms that aren't planning to move inco a swanky new office anytime soon, there is still a variety of ways you can decrease your energy use within your existing building. When yom office is looking into new computer equipment, plotters, and copy machines, purchasing products that have the Energy Star label can help to reduce your energy consumption. The Energy Star web site estimates that if every com pueer sold in the United States met its

requirements, that would prevent greenhouse gas em issions equal to the emissions from two million cars.

Reevaluating the lighting in your office may be a more immediate way of providing savings. Many offices provide much more lighting than IS actually necessary. An energy audit at MSCW's Orlando, Florida, office determined that they could save $1,200 per year by simply removing one fluorescent bulb from each of their three-bulb light fixtures (a savings of about $7 per bulb removed). There are also opportunities to save energy by using sensors in shared work areas so that the lights will shut off when the room is unoccupied and by replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). Energy Star estimates that if every American household replaced one standard light bulb with a CFL, that would collectively save $600 million in energy COStS and prevent the equivalent of more than 800,000 cars' greenhouse gas emissions, That's because CFls use 75 percent less energy than standard light bulbs,

-

Tips for Energy Conservation In the Office

- look to the LEEO and Energy Star programs when building or renovating yo u r office.

- Work with a local utilib company or chamber of commerce to perfonn an energy audit.

- Buy computers, copiers, and plotters that have the Energy Star label.

- Experiment with the lighting in your office to determine if it's all really necessaryremove bulbs and see ,if you notice.

- Replace incandescent bulbs with CfLs, e.specially in utilib areas.

- Set your' computer to go to sleep when yo u a re not us ing it.

- When you go home at night, turn off your computer's surge protector.

- Unplug battery and cell phone chargers when they are not in use.

- Install a programmablethennostat.

- look into software to manage your

network's power consumption and detelllline whether it makes sense for your company. - Consider options for buying energy from green sources.


o I $ AC~S

saving approximately $30 in energy costs over each bulb's lifetime (which may be several years).

Even before you take up the Issue of energy conservation with the rest of your office, there are things you can do to reduce the energy your own computer consumes. Set your computer co go into sleep mode when It IS not in use and turn It off at the surge protector when you leave for the day. Why make the effort' Because even when your computer IS shut down, it continues co draw phantom power---1Onergy use that doesn't actually provide any benefits. Battery and cell phone chargers also waste energy this way.

There are programs that can manage power consumptIon throughout your compurer network. LPA uses Verdiern's Surveyor software, which automatically shuts down its computers at night (unless they are in use) and centralizes power setti ngs so that all computers are put to sleep when they are inactive. The software was expensive-it COSt $6,750 to put it on 210 computers-bue LPA expects to save nearI y $12,000 per year in reduced energy bills by using the produce. What the company will actually save depends to some extent

-

Tips for Reducing the

Environmental Impact Caused by Transportation

- Consider what commuting options make sense in your region-is biking or taking mass Iransit

feasible?

- Consider providing amenities for employees who bike to work such as bike racks and showers. - Does your firm pay for employee parking in a nearby garage? Offer incentives to employees that encourage other forms of transportation to cut down on these expenses,

- Consider using car-sharing programs for work trips if they are availa b Ie .in your a rea.

- Offer th.e best parking spaces to people who carpool.

- Coordinate with others in yonr office to lower the number of courier service trips.

- Experiment with teleconferencing to cui down on the number of nece.ssary trips.


Encouraging cycling also encourages employee health through physical

activity.

on what individuals would have done without the program. Such a progmm may not save much additional energy (or money) if employees are already performing the same functions manually.

Cutting down on rhe use ofhearing and an-conditioning is another option. Many utilities suggest that to save energy you keep your thermostat set to 68 degrees Fahrenheit during the winter and 78 degrees during the summer when au-conditioning is on, tbough there is often disagreement among Staff members as to whether these temperatures are actually comfortable. Installing a programmable thermostat is a step everyone can agree on. A programmable thermostat can be set to aucornacically turn down your heat and air-conditioning at night when the building is not in use.

Reducing energy will only get you so far; ultimately we will need to find dean, COSteffective sources of energy to power our homes and businesses. Norris Design looked into installing solar panels on its office but has put this off for the time being. "You get paid back over time, but the initial ouday-

$20,000 or something-wasn't going to work, mainly because cash is scarce right now," says Rael, "It would be a gre-at idea if things picked back up and the market was humming along."

There are other ways to buy renewable energy, though they tend ro rncrease yom electric bill. In some places, it is possible ro request that yom power company proVIde a certain percentage of your electricity USll1g renewable sources such as wind and solar. If your local power company does nor provide this option, it IS also possible to purchase carbon offsets. Since 2005, David Evans and Associates has committed to green energy lise through the purchase of carbon offsets sold by the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, and this year they will offset 100 percent of their energy use. They pay the difference in COSt between their current supplier and renewable energy sources, and that money is used to subsidize the construction of renewable power plants. Since the foundation is a nonprofit environmental organization, the COSt of the carbon offsets is tax deductible.

Encouraging Alternatives to the Automobile

Many firms are looking for ways they can encourage cleaner methods of transportation. To make bicycling co work more convenient, a number of offices have installed showers and changing rooms. Some have provided secure bike parking, and at Stanrec's Edmonton, Alberta, headquarters, there is even a small bike repair center. Bicycling is nor only beneficial to the envi-

parking at some off·ices.

ronrnent, it's beneficial in other ways, notes Laura Franceschini, the internal sustainability coordinator for all of Stanrec's offices. "Encouraging cycling also encourages employee health through physical activity, which increases worker producciviry and reduces absenteeism," she says. It could potentially reduce the need for parking, too, although ir usually doesn't unless there is easy access to mass transit, because most employees will want the option to drive when weather is bad.

Some offices pay part Of all of the cost of riding a bus Of subway. Others make direct payments to employees who don't drive alone to work. While the program has now been cur back a little due to the recession, David Evans and Associates was offering the employees at its Portland office $1.50 per trip for carpool and transit trips and $3.00 for mps made by bicycle or by Walking. Employees could be paid for a maximum of two trips per day, six days per week. The firm reportS that 34 percent of its employees in Portland use alternative transportation three or more days per week. For firms in dense urban areas that do not own their own parking, providing these bonuses can be cheaper than paying for parking in a nearby parking garage, a benefit many firms provide.

Some landscape architects say biking and riding mass rransi t would not work fur them, since they are often working in the field and visiting clients. "I would really like co ride my bike to work every day," says Roy-Fisher, "bur I have to go to so many job sires chat it isn't practical."

PMA Landscape Architects in Toronto solved this problem by enrolling its employees in a car-sharing program. Car-sharing programs share the cosr of ownl11g a car between multiple motorists, allowing individuals or companies to rent a car for short periods, often by the hour. Members of carsharing programs such as AutoShare in Toronto and Zipcar, which has programs m many large cities, can reserve a variety of vehicles on their web sites. When rheir reservation is over, rhey return the car to its designated parking space. "The car-share program IS a success," says Jim Melvin, ASiA, a principal at PMA. "It is perceived as a financial benefic by some, as it releases them from the expense of car ownership but offers them the flexibility of a Cat when

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required by work or home errands." Srautee's Toronto office and David Evans and Associates also use auro sharing, and some firms such as MSCW provide company cars for work-related trips.

The sorts of approaches a firm can take vary by regIOn, as many places don't have the infrastructure in place for mass rran- 51 t, biking, or auto sharing. "In los Angeles, we tried to encourage our staff to try not to drive to work once a month on a Friday," says Daley of Ah'be, "It worked a lirde while bur it SOft of stopped. I tried to take the bus and it took me an hour and a half rather than an hour to get to work. It's not like New York or Boston." Stantec varies its policies from region to region. In some places it makes sense to subsidize employees who walk or rake mass transit, but in sprawling Phoenix, Arizona, they encollrage carpooling by offering prime shaded parking spots to carpooIers.

Be transparent and develop support 'within the company rather than forcing something down people Is throats.

Even if you continue to use a car for the majority of your travel, there are simple ways to lower your fossil fuel consumption such as keeping your tires properly inflated. TBG Partners' Houston office held a happy hour where employees could check their tire pressure.

MSCW has cur back on the number of times each day its courier service needs to travel to the office. "Previously we would contact the couriers as needed, which could be five, SIX, seven times a day," says Andrew Braley, ASLA., a project landscape architect there. Today, the office has decid-

eel on three set times ro keep the number of trips down as much as possible.

And a few firms were teleconferencing more to cut down on the number of car and plane trips rhey needed to take. "At our busiest, (teleconferencing) saves us 36 (flights} per year," says Rich Bienvenu, ASLA, a landscape architect ar LPA. They use a video teleconferencing service that allows borh offices [Q connect to one computer at rhe same time while interacting via voice or video. However, there ate disadvantages due to problems with connections and some of the technologies. "Occasionally, we have to abandon teleconferenced meetings and merely sit around a speakerphone or use the speakerphone as the audio for a less than satisfactory audio connection," says Bienvenu.

Bienvenu says teleconferencing won't replace every trip. "Face to rJ.ce at the initial stages makes future teleconferencing more meaningful and fruitful," he says. Travel is sometimes important to get an understanding of a site and to do construction rnoniroring. It is possible to buy car-

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bon offsets to balance the emissions you produce via travel. However, while some firms were considering buyi ng carbon offsets for their travel before the economy ranked, most of these initiatives have been tabled for the time being, since they COSt money wirhour providing any physical benefits ro employees at a time when many employees are already sacrificing.

Implementing Sustainability Initiatives

To implement sustainable initiatives within their offices, firms have taken a variety of approaches. A few large firms have developed formal written plans. A team at WRY developed a green operations plan last fall that sets goals for making the company more sustainable. David Evans and Associates completed a companywide analysis of ItS carbon footprint in 2008, and it has a plan to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions 10 percent in the coming year. The firm has had a director of sustainability since 2003~a position rhat now reports directly to the CEO. Originally the

-

Tips for Implementing Sustainabi lity Initiatives - Lead by example.

-Don't force ldeas down people's throats.

- Set up groups to talk about what your firm

can do ..

- Look at what changes make the mosisense for your region and your individualsitualion. - Quanti(y the benefits of a change and show them in a way that is easily understandable.

- Share information within a large firm through

a s ustai na bi! ity coord i nalor.

position was part time, but now it is a fulltime position that looks at how the firm can both operate and design more sustainably, researching innovative practices to keep the firm up to date.

Stanrec's sustainability initiative started organically in its Vancouver office more than 10 years ago and has been slowly spreading throughout the company. Recently, the firm put OLlt a marketing book that showcases the firm's internal sustainability initiatives alongside designs that use

"green" technologies. "We use sustainability ro market ourselves as a firm who walks our own talk," says Franceschini. "Since we help our clients to develop sustainable design solutions, it's only natural that we demonstrate sustainability ourselves, both to maintain consistency of our message and to highlight our capabilities. Clienrs who care about sus-

tamability also want to work with a service provider who is sustainable, so internal sustainabiliry efforts are

esse nt ial for us."

Most small and rnidsized firms continue to have a more grassroots approach. A few people meet either voluntarily or on company time to come up with ideas and then present them to management for approval. "Instead of having (an] in-house sustainability director or expert, we encourage everyone to become that expert," says Rochelle Vermis, the public relations director for LPA. "With more than 65 percent of our employees as LEED-Accredited Professionals (LEED AP), everyone from our

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office manager (who is LEED AP) to our CFO (who is also LEED AP) supports the efrore" Many of the composting programs resulted from an employee offering to rake home the coffee grounds and use them in the garden, and there were usually already a few employees biking to work before the companies decided to provide shower facilities.

One important thing to do when implementing any changes is to be transparent and develop suppOrt within the company rather than forcing something down people's throats. "When the Portland office [of David Evans and Associates) began its composting program, members of the sustainability committee gathered one evening to collect the employees' garbage cans to encourage people to think before throwing anything away. The following day, the committee sent employees an email explaining why they had removed the cans and where to pick up che cans if employees felt they really needed one. This effort was met with mixed results, says Tarni Boardman. "Many people didn't mind giving up their garbage cans but would have preferred to know in advance."

Being able to quantify che benefits of a change and show them in a way that is easily understandable is also helpful, particularly in these economic times. When MSc\'q's sustainabiliry committee decided to advocate for replacing plastic cups in their cafeteria, they calculated the savings co be $140 per month. They also created a fun graphic showing the height of all the cups stacked on cop of each Other that their company was using in a single year, which compared it to the Empire State Building, the Sears Tower, and other skyscrapers.

There are many places to look for more advice on how to make your office sustainable. The Energy Star web site, sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, provides a variety of information about reducing your office's energy use, though it is a bit dense. Small businesses can sign up for e-rnails from the web site on sustainability Issues. Adair recommends looking over the USGBc's guidelines for existing buildings operations and maintenance and

a free downloadable book on the subject by Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki called Doing Bnsiness in a New Climate. The World Wildlife Fund also offers information about how to be "greener" through a program called Climate Savers (see Resources).

What's the easiest place to start' Many firms say converting some trash cans to recycling, buying recycled paper, or replacing incandescent light bulbs with Cf'Is, "When you don't know where to start, Start anywhere," says Stanrec's Klaas Rodenburg. "Implement one simple act that will reduce your environmental footprint. This will lead to another and another. All these little acts will add up over time, and before you know it, it becomes business as usual." r j J

Resources

• Continue the discussion with Joanne Adair in a forum on Land8Lounge titled "Our Office Footprint-Continuing Discussion from Landscape AniJitec;tfJre Magazine," www.iandSlolmge.uHII!jorfJ1/1

The U.S. Green Building Council web si re: www.1iJgbu:rrg

• The Energy Star web site: www.energy stm;goti

• The Climate Savers Program art the World Wildlife Fund: www.worLdwildLife. orgklimate! arclimate.ravers.htmi

Doing Business in a New Climate A Gltide to MeaJ1lring, Reducing, and Offsetting Greenhouse Gas Emissions, by David Suzuki; The David Suzuki Foundation. Book available for free onli ne: www.dal)idSllz1tki. org! PublicatilJllJIDoing~B1tJine.rs~in~a_New_ CLimate. aspx

• "Do-It-Yourself at Sasaki Associates," by Allyson \'{1endt; Enummmental Building News, vol. 18, no. l,January 2009

• To watch So What? visit u/uno.euan mather. wmlrnovles!3 QOkIJIJIP/Jat.rfllJI)

• Aurodesk Design Review: http://1IJa.auto desk. mm!adsklscr!.iletlindex?id= 40862 77 &sitc ID=123] ]2

• Vectorworks: wwUJ.nemetschek. net/landmark

• Bentley Redline: wUJ'w.belltLty.wm!en~USj hodm;tsIBentley+ Redline

• Verdiem Surveyor Software: www. verdimz. comlstmeyor: aspx

• Bonneville Environmental Foundation:

WU!w. b-e-]. org

• Zipcar: www.zipwr.(orfl

• AmoShare (Toronto): afttos/Jare.wfll

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DESIGN NG DISN Y

F or the landscape architects at Walt Disney Imagineering, the magic is in the details.

By Daniel Jost, ASLA

VER WONDERED \>:THAT it would be like to design a theme park) A few landscape architects don't have to wonder. Today, Walt Disney Imagineering employs 12 landscape architects-24 if you include consultants from other firms who are embedded widun the company. Walt Disney Imagineering was founded more than 50 years ago to design Disneyland. Since then, it has gone on to design theme parks and resorts around the world. landscape architects have played an important role in these projecrs since the beginning.

What makes working as an Irnagineer different than your typical landscape architecture job) "We do planting, irrigation, detailing ... all the things most firms do," explains JeffMorosky, ASLA, director oflandscape architecture at Imagineering. "It JUSt gets integrated with many more layers and disciplines."

Irnag ineering employs professionals from approximately 140 different fields. The landscape arch itects here work side by side with writers, sculpcors, show planners, and even special effects experts. But that's only one of the many rhings that make working for Irnagineering unique.

TelUng Stories in the Landscape "As an entertainment company,. our primary goal is to enrerrain," explains Morosky. One way they enhance the experience is by layering stories into the landscape.

The stories they tell are not fine litemrure, but they add a richness not found in most landscapes. For example, as YOll walk along one path at Disney's Animal King-

dom in Florida, you might notice two sets of animal tracks imprinted into [he mudrhemed concrete paving. One belongs to a small rabbit and the other belongs toa big cat. Evenrually, the tracks disappear at the base of a tree, and, if you look closely, you can see that the carnivore has

captured the rabbit and is storing her meal in another nearby tree.

Children often notice the stories first and point them out to their parents. They may not al-

ways catch the attention of firsttime visitors, but that's part of the appeal. "We want people to come over and over to our parks and to see something new each time they come," says John T. Shields, ASLA, who was the lead landscape architect for Animal Kingdom.

Many of the stories are made-up hisrories revealed in the landscape to provide another level of interest for visitors. The design of an African village at Animal Kingdom integrates fake "remnants"

The mountai'n at. the center of E~erest, oppositel

an aHraction at Di'sney's Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney

World,is one of the "weenies" that guides peopl'e tbrough th at theme pa rk, Vis itors enter the attra ctio n th ro ugh

an area designed in the plan, above, to look like the

base camp at Mount Everest. A courtyard within has

weeds growing up through the pavement and a large

tree selected for its unusual character, below,


of ancient city walls into some of its pavements. At Tokyo DisneySea, the seawalls used in one area appear as though they have been built at different times, with materials changing as technologies changed over the years. "It has a variety of treatments so it never becomes boring," says John Sorenson, ASLA, the lead landscape architect for that theme park.

Sometimes, the "histories" found in Disney's landscapes are not the sort of thing we would delight in or preserve in a typical project. Walking through Disney's California Adventure, I couldn't help bur chuckle to see a modern, American environment with a "brick" rood that has been interrupted with a line of concrete where a sewer was installed and "asphalt patches" that have been placed somewhat artistically near many of the drains. The entire pavement 1S actually made out of concrete.

Another unusual history can be found at Expedition Everest, where the man-made environment looks as if it is reverting to narure as weeds grow up through the paving. "We planted it to look like a bad hair transplant," remembers landscape architect


Walt Disney Imagineering's staff, abore, includes 12 landscape architects. From left to right: John Sorenson, ASIA (seated), Jeff Mo-

rosky, ASLA (seated); Russell larsen, ASIA; Steve Wagner, ASIA; Cal Walsten, ASIA (seated); Phil Schenkel, ASIA; Jeff Compass, AffH!ate ASIA, Rnbert Kuroda, ASIA; David Dahlke, ASIA, Jennifer Mok, ASIA (seated), and John Shields, ASLA (seated). Nol pictured; Becky Bishnp. The foun· tain in front of Scrooge McDuck's Department Store in the American Waterfront area of Tokyo DisneySea, befow, was designed to III ok like the piles of money Scrooge is known for hoarding.

Becky BIshop fondly. Not the SOrt of line that most landscape architects could use with a client to describe their work, but here it is the ultimate placernaking strategy, used to create a strong effect that captures people's attention in a positive way.

Each of the small vignettes visitors see is grounded in a much larger story Before the Imagineers begin designing a new theme park or a major addition to an existing park, they set certain parameters. "Determining the time and place is really important," says Morosky. "Is it the future or is it the past)" Is it a real place or an imaginary place? Everything must tie back to this story, from the plants to the garbage cans.

They must also determine whether any Disney characters will be integrated into the story and how that will work. "We're a very character-driven company," explains Morosky. "How do you create a setting where characters can reside and people can engage them?"

Design Proce&s

Much of the backstory is established during the "Blue Sky" phase. Blue Sky is the creative think rank where many of Dis-

neys ideas starr. Only a few landscape architects get to participate at the earliest stages of a project. As a member of the creative division for the past 10 years, Bishop is one of them. "That blank sheet of paper is so fabulous!" Bishop says. But even at the Blue Sky level, the realities of a project quickly begin to surface, Bishop must determine how much land it will take to tell a story, and sometimes she even begins to think about amenities such as stroller parking, an important consideration for the yOlUlg families who visit their theme parks.

The ocher landscape architects usually enter a project during the conceptual or schematic phase. While the Story is already formed by this point, it's not necessarily set in stone. "\Ve don't have a hard program that goes into a contracr," says Jennifer Mok, ASIA, a landscape architect principal. "We have constant conversations."

During the conceptual phase, landscape architects brainstorm how a story might be told in the landscape. "We're not afraid to iterate here," says Russell Larsen, ASLA, another principal. "There's a pressure in traditional firms to get from A to B quickly. Here there is a sense you need co get from A to B correctly."

When they are laying our a landscape, a lot of attention is paid to viewsheds, hiding undesirable views and creating "weenies," a term Walt Disney mined to describe the major landmarks within Disneyland that draw you through the landscape. Mountains, volcanoes, palaces, and rocket jets are all designed to draw you deeper into the park.

Once a landscape architect begins working on a project, he or she will often continue on the same project for years. On average, it takes five to seven years [Q design and build a theme park and three to five years to design and build a single artracrion. "I think that focus is really energizing," says Sorenson.

The spaces within Imagineering's headquarters in Glendale, California, are designed to be very flexible, and the landscape architects usually sit in a work space with team members working on the same project rather than with their fellow landscape architects. Having all the disciplines mixed together makes real collaboration possible. "Most of oUI work is done with colleagues who are a hallway away," says Larsen. "You can easily run an idea by

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A safari trek along a dirt road in South Africa, here, inspired the de,sign for a road at Disney's Animal Kingdom, abore right. Real Ii res were USI!d;:Jf&iil~ .....

someone and see if it's worth chasing or setting aside."

The large number of disciplines Involved in a project can be stimulating, but it can also make a project challenging co manage. "The amount of time we actually design is relatively minimal compared co the time we end up coordinating with all these extensive disciplines," explains Steve \'Uagner, ASLA, a principal. It also means that no single person can really be called out as the designer of a theme park or attraction. "[Our work] is really not anybody's to own," says principal Jeff Compass, Affiliate ASL\.

During a trip 10 SerengetiNational Palik in TanZ<! n la, Ih elm aglnee rs stop p ed to ph otogra ph a b rid ge ,abore, and 10 sketch, righ t. T.he tri pinspired this bridge at Animal Kingdom, far right.

581 Landscape Archi,tetiure "'H 2009

But tbe level of communication facilitates discussions between landscape architects and engineers that might not always be possible in a regular firm, providing the landscape architects a great deal of satisfaction in their work. "You don't want to be walking down a main street and see this electric panel JUSt because it had co be there," says Cal Walseen, ASlA, a senior principal. "Part of our job is to make sure the guest never sees the magic," explains Morosky.

Both computer and physical models are used to study what people will experience as they progress around an atcraction and to

see how attractions will fit togerher. Precise styrofoam models can be developed with the ass is ranee of mode 1- mak i ng professionals on the staff, allowing the landscape architects to experiment with lipstick earneras that give a feeling of w hat it would be like to inhabit a sire,

Compass recently used this method co determine how higb a line of trees will need to be limbed co preserve a desi red viewshed. Modeling also allows for hands-on adjusting of landforms. One of the machines in the model-making room can take a digital computer file and laser CUt foam blocks into different shapes. A designer can then go in and tweak the blocks; any changes made can be three-dimensionally scanned to update the drawings.

Once everything has been designed and the green light has been given for construction, landscape architects working for Imagineering follow their projects into the field. This may just mean a longer commute co nearby Anaheim, California, or it could require travding co resorts in Florida, France, Japan, and China for months on end. "Most landscape architects don't get that much field time, which is unfortunate because that's where the project really happens," says Morosky. "We have (he luxury of being there to orchestrate." By monitoring their projects, they can make sure that what

From their experien.ces in. South Africa, left, the Imagineers were in spIred to create a rive r crossing in Animal Kingdum where you

have to drIve throu gh the w ate r, bela w left. Driving th ro ugh, yo II

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is constructed is true to their vision. Working with COl1- tractors also helps them to understand what information is helpful and necessary in their consrrncrion documents the next time around.

Being a part of the company that owns their work allows for a level of feedback that landscape architects can't get with a normal project. "You have the ability to find out what the

lessons are-s-what happens to the park once it's built and used, what worked and what didn't, and how guestS perceive things," says Morosky. Once a project is built, it is continuously evaluated by Show Qualiey Standards, a division of Irnagineering. "[Representatives from} a number of disciplines go out into the parks and make suggestions as co how the place needs co be altered, improved, or maintained as is," says Morosky.

They can also get feedback on how materials are performing. For example, the interface between powder-coated steel barrier rails and concrete was getting a lor

An earthen bank in South Africa, above, inspired. the concrete "earthen banks" ilt Animal Kingdom, left, that are used. to contain the animals.

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of rust, so they decided ro invest in stainless steel on some new projects.

Working for the owner can cut both ways. You live with your mistakes along with your successes. "You can't forget about them," says Larsen. "They don't go away." A number of different landscape architects cited the problems wirh rhe enrry at Disney's California Adventure. The corridor was designed so it could be used as a parade route without the pedestrian traffic problems found next door at Main Street, U.S.A. In Disneyland. "We were so concerned about guest flow, the feel of that walkway is not as intimate as we'd like,"

"Diane)' Is in the Detai ....

Because the landscape architects are trying to create an experience rhar is "magical," distinct from the landscapes of daily life, the majority of the detailing in

says Shields. Another problem> according co some of the Imagineers, was thar the stores on either side were genenc-they didn't have a strong connection to Disney's characters or another time and place. Plans are currently under way to renovate this area ro make it resemble the city of Los Angeles in the roaring 19205 when Walt Disney firsr saw it.

Disney's theme parks IS custom. "Disney is in (he details," says Bishop, paraphrasing Mies van der Rohe.

"We cannot just take {products] out of a catalog," explains Sorenson. "We are consranrly inventing for each project." The Imagineers experiment with lighting, pavement, and barrier rails. Even 60 percent of the drinking foumains are CUSfOm designs.

For designs that are trying to evoke another place, Irnagineers often go on fact ~ finding trips to come up with inspiration. Only a small number of people actually travel for each project; usually it's just the core team: an architect, a landscape archirect, a writer, and twO artists along with the project manager for the project. Then charge is to provide documentation that can be used by the rest of the team during the design process. Why not just look at pictures in books? Because you can only get so much understanding from a typical book, says Shields. Most photographers focus on the iconic views-s-allees of trees, large rock formations, and landmark buildings.

When Sorenson was working on (he design of the Mediterranean Harbor for Tokyo DisneySea, his team traveled co a number of Italian ports including Venice, Tuscany, and Portofino. He cook photos of doorknobs, railings, and paving patterns. "We cook many pictures of water edges and how they were builr," he remembers. "We also noticed bow people had attached metalwork to the walls to tie up boats." Many of these derails were integrated into the theme park.

Shields's team went on a three-week trip to Africa when they were designing Animal Kingdom. In many ways, the safari experience at that theme park is a summary of their SaO-mile trip. They took note of distinctive benches they found in Kenya, drew the bridges they passed over, and photographed the banks of the river and the unpaved roads they drove along. "We're not always trying to copy," explains Shields. "We're nymg to use them as inspiration for something new."

Often they will try to achieve a similar effect usmg different materials such as concrete. The Imagineers say concrete is generally preferable to many other materials because It has a much longer life span and maintains ItS character under intensive cleaning regimes. "A lot of people will see

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these things and say it's been Disneyfied," laments Shields. "They're nor seeing the artistic quality it took to make something out of completely different materials."

Consider the design for many of the paths at Animal Kingdom-a concrete path made to look like the muddy, gravelly paths the team traveled 111 Africa. Using ac tual dirt was ruled Out because of the number of people that would be walking or driving over it. But plain gray concrete would have been boring and Out of place. So they stained the surface, added aggregate, and created tire tracks and undulations in the concrete to make it look and feel more like a rutty dirt road.

No one had ever requested concrete that looked like dirt before, so they had to work with the manufacturer to develop the product. They did a great deal of sampling to make sure it would achieve the desired effect, and they used the actual tires from the buses found in the theme park eo create the tire tracks.

Shields may be the only landscape architect to ever design a pothole. A number

of alternate designs were acrually tested in the Imagineering parking lot. He varied the slope le-ading into the pothole and the length of the flat area, trying to maximize the effect while keeping it safe for vehicles. "We had the head of the company driving

over them," remembers Shields. "When he spilled his cup of coffee, we knew we had created an effect people would notice."

On the same project, Shields needed a curb to guide water, bur a traditional concrete curb would have looked out of place in this naturalisric setting. So he came up with the idea of mud tire tracks made out of concrete.

Similarly discreet barrier rails keep people out of certain areas. "They may be created using bits of a wall, a fallen cree, an old abandoned J eep--aU of these things can create the barriers that need to be there," says Larsen. "Some of our hardest work goes unnoticed."

Emphasis on Planting

"We're really focusing on planting more than any practice I've been with," says Walsten. This emphasis on creating unique horticultural experiences can be traced back co Bill Evans, the pioneering landscape architect who worked on the original designs for Disneyland. Evans often experimented with unusual species and new varieties of planes. Today, Imagineering continues co push the envelope horticulturally. On a typical project, 10 percent of the plants are outside the ran.ge of what they know will work.


Beeky Bishop watches as a Iree gets craned into place a.tExpedi· tion Everest in Disney's Animal Kingdom, top. John Shields acted as the art d irecto r for the co nc rete baobab trees in Animal Kingdom, left. They made scale foam models of the trees ,abo ve.

"You have to be bold when creating a planting environment with a story behind it," says Sorenson. "You can do that usmg geometry and careful selection of your plant palette."

Disney's theme parks are divided into lands (e.g., Pronrierland, Tomorrowland) with a distinctive plant palette for each. At Tokyo DisneySea, the palette for one land has five or six species of trees, another has only tWO uees, and another is extremely diverse with a huge number of species jammed together.

Transposing the experience of one environrnent into another using plants is often one of the biggest challenges facing the landscape architects at Irnagineering.

The majority of the detailing, above, at Tokyo DisneySea is custom. At the ltalian·style garden in the pool area of Tokyo DisneySea's Hotel MI'raCosta, below, Kaizuka juniper is pruned to look like Italian cypress.

"How do you create a jungle in Paris)" asks Walsten. Or an Italian village in Japan? "If you think of five or six plants that are typical to Italy, we could maybe grow three of those," explains Sorenson. So they had to find ocher plants that would have the same character. When no other options are available, they may even manipulate the shapes of other species to get the desired look. In one case where there was no simple replacement, they actually constructedAfrican

baobab trees using concrete and rebar, Shields acted as the art director for those trees. "I'd say move that branch over [here," he remembers. "An elephant needs to be able co get its trunk in there."

Bishop faced a different challenge when she designed the Storybook Land attraction for Disneyland Paris. The ride takes visitors on a boat ride through a series of miniature scenes ripped from Disney movies. Bishop experimented with mosses and thyme for ground covers, and HibiscJlJpetioiariJ was used for a flowering tree at Snow White's cottage.

On average, 10 to 20 percent of the plants fur an attraction or theme park are actively scouted our. Sometimes they will

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contract with nurseries ro grow unusual variecies or to [rain them in a way that is not common. Large trees that can give an mstanr effecr are also sought out. To bring the character of Torrey pines along (he Southern California coastline to an area of Disneyland Pans, Bishop found an abandoned grove of nearly 50-foot-tall araucarias, purchased them from the landowner, and had [hem transplanted 111to the theme park.

The large trees transplanted into Disney's theme parks are not always the most graceful. "I'm always looking for the ugly, the unique, the uncharacteristic," explains Bishop. "We found these mulberries that looked as though they were ill. One tree had an angle iron in it." She says it took some explaining to convince the cree movers that the angle iron was pare of the tree's charm. The tree was integrated into the Expe-dition Everest attraction in Animal Kingdom.

Career Path to Dlsn.ey

So how does a landscape architect end up working at Disney) It's usually a fairly crooked path. Sorenson never set out to design amusement parks. He studied under Peter Walker, FASLA, at Harvard. His first job was with Dan Kiley's firm, and later he worked for POD/Sasaki. "My education, the people I idolize, are all very formal," says Sorenson. But abouc 20 years ago, POD/Sasaki was hired [Q do the master planning for Euro Disney (now known as Disneyland Paris) in partnership wich planning firm PBR. They also designed the areas around hotels, roadways, and other public spaces. "1 got to know people as design progressed," says Sorenson. "At the end of two years I was offered a full-time position."

Starting our as a temporary consultant and then being asked to come on board is a pretty typical story among the landscape architects working for Imagineenng. Many, like Robert Kuroda, ASLA, were actually working full time inside the Irnagineering headquarters before Disney hired them. "With all the disciplines we have, it's highly collaborative and things change £"15t," explains Morosky. Temporary COntract workers from other companies are often embedded

within the building so they are close [Q the other smff working on a project.

Of the landscape architects Landscape Anhitealtre spoke with, only Mok has spent her entire career working for Disney, and even she starred am as an embedded consultant. Bishop interned with Irnagineering in 1980 but went on to work for a model-home company before coming back.

Each year, Imagineering offers internships for a few landscape architecture students interested in learning about theme park design. Interns' responsibilities runge from graphic presentation to research and from technical drawings to 3-D visualization, depending on the students' skill sets.

Each year, Imagineering offers internships for a few landscape architecture students interested

in learning about them,e park design.

Students here get more than just the typical office experience; they get to understand a bit about the entire organization through company-sponsored events throughout the summer. Students are even taken on day trips to Disneyland to see what goes on behind the scenes.

So what does Disney look for in future Irnagineers? "We look for people who are great thinkers and problem solvers, possess great enthusiasm for the landscape architecture profession, and desire to work in a highly collaborative environment," says Morosky. Sorenson adds that the ability ro develop the big idea through an understanding of materials, interrelationships between components, and design detailing is also Important. And due ro the highly collaborative nature of their work, the ability to communicate ideas is a must.

An understanding of the role that Disney's theme parks play m guests' lives probably doesn't hurt either. When yon design one of these theme parks, "you are painting sorneones photograph that is going to be in their family album fat years and years," remarks Bishop. r JJJ

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SELF-DIRECTED PUBUCATIONS are gaining increasmg relevance among design professionals->even students-as part of strategies to rncrease visibili ty, enhance. credibility, and generate either work or that all- important first job. Snappy graphics and PowerPoints may make good initial impressions on potencial diems, but well-produced books make lasting impressions as rangible reminders of professional capacities, long after digital presentations have faded.

There are tWO general routes to getting your work in print: The first, and more traditional, involves writing a proposal and convincing a publisher to produce it; the second is to self-publish, either by hiring someone to manage the details or by doing everything yourself. Each scenario has multiple variations and contingencies, and neither is well understood by landscape professionals.

The traditional route involves an author submitting a book proposal to a publisher for consideration (see "Pride of Authorship," LandscapeArchifuture, June 2002).. Generally a proposal will

PUBLISH AND BE SEEN

Landscape architects are using books as marketing tools.

By Lake Douglas, ASLA

include a cable of contents, a sample chapter, and probably an author's questionnaire about length of manuscri pr; number and type of images, if any; writing experience; similar works on the subject; and a timetable for delivery. From this proposal, the pubIisher makes a decision, based more on economicsprobable expenses against likely revenue-than anything else, that could lead to a negotiated contract. The days when publishers took on projects became they "deserved!" publication are gone; instead, most decisions today about what gets published are driven by economic realities of the marketplace: Who IS the market? Can we make a profit? If you're a landscape starchi recr with name recognition and high-profile projects, this scenario is a possibility; for the rest of us, this route is less probable.

It is fortuitous that as traditional publishing venues for design work have decreased in recent years due to economic changes in the publishing world, corresponding technological advances have ere-


ared new opportunities for self-publishing. It's now possible, efficient, and cost -effective for professionals (and srudenrs as well) to publish their work 111 book form. There IS a broad range of formats, and each has its purpose. Small portfolios of student work are required of most graduate programs and are obviously useful in getring that first Job. Online self-publishing services (see WWw./lI/tf.mffl. for instance) have a wide range of services and ate remarkably affordable: A colleagues 52~page color 7~by~9-inch portfolio, front and back, cost $26 per copy. Printing on demand from a PDF, [here are no quantity requirements, and turnaround time is minimal. Professionals can use these and other resources to produce publications

PUBLISHING

ranging from office brochures expaneled into book format with basic text to publications that look more like independent assessments, particularly when they 1l1~ elude analytical observations, essays, and cririques by known figures from academics or the profeSSIOn. Office brochure publications are generally distributed to prospective clients, although examples of in-depth treatments are sometimes commercially available in national bookstore chains or online from office web sites or other resources,

Self-publication has multiple advantages; the obvious ones include being able to define the message, control the content in both graphics and text, and prim on demand. There are associated risks as well, and professionals should pay careful attention here. Among them are issues related

to credibility and self-importance (A nne line here: Your significant other may not be the best person to write about your work.); content of text (informed, thoughtful design criticism or gratultous ad copy?); and quality of images (Is there a unified vision here or a collection of images of random qualityi'). In the past, selfpublishing was, for good reason, called "vanity press" because those who em-

ployed this route to publication paid to have their work published, and since such products were not based on objective, independent assessments of a work's literary merit or professional value, they often reeked of fulsome praise or were defeated by their design, conrent, and production values. But while issues of critical objectivity and professional relevance remain in self-produced work, easy-to-use desktop publishing programs facilitate both graphic design and image enhancement and make self-publication easier, more pro~ fessional in appearance, and more accessrble than ever before.

Those who wanr to have their work published have several options. Whether one pursues the traditional route or elects to self-publish, several first steps will facilitate moving forward. First, office decision makers should define a general purpose and direction for the publication (\'{Tho is the audience' Where is the mar-

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The traditional route involves an author suhrniuins Co

a book proposal

to a publisher for consideration.

ket? What is the cornpetirion/). Second should be an honest and realistic assessment of in-house capabilities and resources, including in-house Staff expertise or available consultants, graphic material (lise existing material or commission new imagesj'), cimelines and budgets (it will take longer and COSt more than you may initially think). Third, there should be commitment to the project and a willingness to allocate financial and human resources appropriate to the situation, and just like any construction project, this

project should have a detailed budget, including a generous contingency allocation and a realistic tirneline.

And finally, there should be an understanding that you're not likely to make money selling your self-published book; however, an office may well advance and get new work and more irnportanc projects as a result of getting its work published.

Those who have never worked on a book or attempted a large publication project

would do well to consider hinng a consultant to advise on the project and shepherd it through production. Putting together a credible book project is more complicated [han it may first appear, and someone experienced 111 such projects can save both time and money in the long run. A book project 111- volves text, gmphic design, images, and production; 111 all four areas, quality, attention to details, and coordination are equally Important to meet budgets and schedules. Such a consultant is sometimes called a "packager," and while this term is usually applied to someone engaged by a publisher to assemble a book project, the process can work from the other direction as well, with the packager gathering material from an office and putting together an appropnate team to assemble a book and shepherd it through production.

Obviously each path to publication has its own set of financial, staffing, and logistical issues that can inform the business

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decision about which direction to pursue, and these should be considered carefully before proceeding wirh a publication project. Time is an important factor as well; publicarion projects will take months-if not years-from Start to finish, depending on variables within each step along the way. For those thinking about embarking on a publication venture, an examination of recent examples might be instructive.

Two works representing the traditional route to publication, both from Monacelli Press (part of Random House), are aim P/aw!laking (2008; $65) and The Coiors oj Nature: the SlIbtropical Gardem of Raymond Jungles (2008; $50). Monacelli specializes in beautifully produced architecture and design books and, according to a recent conversation with a representative, is very

Interested in increasing its offerings in landscape design. Olin P/ace!!laking begins with an introduction by John Stilgoe (hav- 109 a preface from a Harvard academic gives credibility to a publication proposal); six general chapters follow, each with an interview between a partner in the firm and someone else (some big names here too). These interviews offer insightful comments on the firms design philosophy ("placemak-

Design Workshop is Toward Legacy is a record of the firm's desisn ~

philosophy and

sample projects.

ing ") and approach co design. Chapters include four to six highprofile projects, each with a brief project description and color images (no captions). The Colors of Nature is a monograph on the work of midcareer Florida landscape arch rrect Raymond J ungles, FASLA, a protege of Roberto Burle Marx. Twenty-four residential projects are shown; all but one are in south Florida. Brief commentaries by Jungles describe the projects, giving the reader insightful information without obruse philosophy, pretense, or de-

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sign jargon. Images are spectacu~ lar (many from noted landscape photographers Richard Felber and Roger Foley, Affiliate ASU). Again, images are everything here, and this work demonstrates the power of engaging someone who knows how to shoot gardens, and not all photographers do. These books are monographs in the sense that they are about projects from one prac~ rice (Olin) or one person (] ungles), They are much more, though, because with text and image they document approaches to design (Olin) and examples of small-scale residential work (Jungles) in compelling and inspiring ways. Beautiful production values make both books well worth having, and since these come from a mainstream commercial press, they are likely to be readily available.

Design Workshop's self-published Touurd Legacy (2007; $45) IS a record of this large firm's design philosophy and sample

projects. This book was completed inhouse under the direction of Eliot Hoyt, principal in the Denver office, then passed on to a packager. According to the preface, the book is more about "what it's like to run a business based on ideas ... " rather than a review of the firm's 3 5-plus-year history. An inrroducrion explains the firm's defining values (environment, community, economics, and art) and how these ele-

rnenrs translate into their design approach, a theory they call "Legacy Design." A brief firm history follows rhar includes a "formative project" m which the firm's philosophy first came together. Chapters are organized around five central themes: "nature," "places," "community," "connection," and "leadmg change." Each chapter starts WIth an Introductory essay by a partner or principal, followed by project discussions 111 either case study or "project discussion" format. Color images are abundant, together with plans and analysis diagrams, sketches, graphics, and project credits. This work's generous format allows images to be large and useful. The book's organization IS logical, and its text IS well written and informative, though it will take more than a few sittings to get through the entire book. This IS a book of value on many levels: As a marketing tool it has been a success, according to Hoyt; as a reaching cool, it should find a place in any

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professional curriculum; and as a record of contemporary landscape architecture in Amenca, it IS an excellent documentary on what is possible with design talent, a strong design approach, good clients, and appropriate budgets. Design Workshop's earlier book, New Garden: of the Amcm;an WeJ'! (2003; $ 3 5), documenrs the firm's residential work. This book was also produced in-house then "packaged" by Grayson Publishing of Washington, D.C. Side by side, New Gardem is modest in content next to Legacy and less visually appealing-a-even dated now-s-in its design. Legaq, however, has a timeless quality and demonstrates chat a project, well executed in concept, design, organization, content, images, and production, will pay dividends well into the future.

Finding the Place of Anhitutttrc in the LanciJl."ape (2008; $68) is a monograph on rhe work of Peter Gisolfi, ASLA., an archi-

teet and landscape architecr practicing on the East Coast. The publisher, Images Publishing Group of Ausualia, was established in 1983 and specializes in illuscrared books about architectural, interior, and landscape design, According to its web site, "over 70 high-profile architects have

An office rnav well advance and get new work and rnorc irnportant projects as a result of getting its work published.

already appointed Images, with its worldwide reputation for excellence, to publish these important chronicles of their firms' work." Work here is organized into general categories such as townscape, campus, landscapes, and buildings; gardens and houses; and transformation (maintaining the original structure but adding new uses). Each section has from six to nine projects, well illustrated with a lively mix of images, plans, drawings, and details. Appropriate supplementary information is given

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as well, including a firm profile, chronology of projects, credits, eng i neer sand co us ultan rs , awards, and bibliography. The "photographer of record" was the eminent architectural photographer Norman McGrath., with contributions from others (notably Mick Hales for gardens), and the wisdom of having consistently good images really comes through here. This may well be a self-funded monograph Judging from the quote from Images, but the results will certainly be an effective marketing tool. Design students could use projects shown here as case studies and gain insight from a careful study of how projects are organized and presented.

Another approach to publishing one's work comes in Met/iIllJl from Reed Hilderbrand ofWaterrown, Massachusetts. Clearly chis book has its roots In an office brochure format. \"With minimal, almost nonexistent text, this book's approach is

photographic work cannot be underestimated).

Getting into publishing may seem inconceivable or too complicared for some professionals, but the results can be rewarding both professionally and personally. Some may think that rhe printed page IS a relic of the past, but many design professionals will continue to depend on rhe printed page to display, analyze, and talk about what we do. How consumers get that printed page-whether from a traditional publisher or through self-publishingis of little conseqnence. What's on the printed page IS of fur greater value. And ultimately, like everything else, the marketplace, mformed or not, will determine

what is of value. I. I

image driven, and though small in size and modest in concept, it is nevertheless beautifully produced. It will likely be an effective marketing tool for years to come and, as such, may not be commercially available through yom local bookstore (check Out their web site, however, to get a sample of the images). Both color and monochromatic images are used, and many are the work of noted landscape photographer Alan Ward (here again, the value of having good

Landscape architect Lake Douglas, ASLA, teaches a class on writing for diJJign profeJJionels at LS U J Robert ReIch School of LandJcape Architeaure.

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the file formats used co save these documents are proprietary, so you can often only open them in the programs that created them.

GIS gives us wonderful opportunities to create digital maps showing analysis such as slope, viewsheds, and buffers. But how do you share that information with clients, stakeholders, or even other design and planning firms that don't own the same software? For many years, the answer has been to save the information in degraded formats such as GeoTIFF,]PEG, or Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format).

TI1e problem with sav1l1g GIS maps 111 a CeoTIFF, JPEG, and a typical PDF format is chat it flartens the file. TIle thematic data is lost when the new file is created, and this can make it difficult to distinguish one type of information from another. For example, a map showing contours, property lines, roads, sewer lines, and electric lines can be difficult to read.

There are other drawbacks as well. GeoTIFF files maintain the geospatial coordinates associated with the data, but a high-resolution aerial photo can be as big as 30 gigabytes in

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SIze or greater. That makes It difficult to open in Photoshop, Illustrator, and other programs used to open TIFFs. Even worse, a ]PEG forrnar does not maintain the geospatial coordinates, and there is a loss of image quality. )PEG uses what is called a "lossy" compression routine, which physically changes the visual appearance of a map in order to reduce file size, The more you reduce file size, the more the original image is altered.

Fortunately for landscape architects and others who want co access maps in a digital format, a new type of PDF is now available. Geospatial POFs are changing how maps and GIS data are exchanged. PDF files have long been the de facro industry standard for sharing digital documents. Ac~ cording to Adobe, more than 900 million people use its Reader program. It can be downloaded free of charge from the Internet, and it is very simple to use. Most peo~ pIe are able to view POFs JUSt by clicking the file. Most landscape architects probably use PDF files even if they don't know anything about the file format.

Benefits of Us .. &: Geospallal PDF. The biggest benefit of geospacial POFs is that they provide easy access co intelligent, interactive sets of maps. A geosparial PDF also contains information chat is used to georeference location data. When geosparial data is imported into a PDF, Acrobat retains the geosparial coordinates so you can view and interact with the PDF to find and mark location data. With geospatial POFs, you can view maps with multiple coordinate displays, measure length and area, tum layers on and off, and search map attributes. The measunng tools read rhe geospacial information and can be used to calculate distance, perimeter, and area. Unlike )PEG or GeoTIFF, when a user zooms 111 or out on a file, the scale for measurement is adjusted automatically.

For geosparial data to be useful and accessible digitally, the data files have ro be small enough to be distributed easily. One of rhe big benefits of using a geospatial PDF is that the resulting files are significandy smaller than the originals. For ex-


Traditionally,. Landsat data has been limited to remote sensing scientists who have access to eJ{pensive and hard-to-use analysis software. With geospatial PDFs, all seven bands from multispectral images can be experted and accessed dynamically, These maps of northwest Washinglon, above and .befow, show the same data with different bands turned on.

ample, a satellite image in a GeoTIFF format may be five gigabytes in size, but a PDF WIth the same image quality may be 400 megabytes in size, or smaller. The POFs are small enough so rhey can be loaded on a city or county's web site. Interested constituents could access the different alternatives, turning information on and off 111 order to better understand how and why decisions were made.

If you have a map that is not georeferenced but does include a couple of coordinates, rhe tools that make geosparial POFs, such as Adobe Acrobat, TerraGo, and ESRI"s ArcGIS, can fill in the missing infer-

marion. After you find a location on a geospatial PDF, you can copy the coordinares to the clipboard. From the eli pboard, you Gill paste the data into a web mapp111g service that reads latitude and longitude coordinates.

Another benefit is that all of the geospa~ rial information needed to create a series of maps can be saved within one file. Digital mapbooks, which are a compiled set of individual map sheets, can have a high level of detail, yet are easy to use and small enough to distribute. Mapbooks are much more useful than individual map sheets because they provide greater flexibility and

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provide a broader vrew of an area. The ability to hyperlink maps makes It easter to navigate from one map to another instead of having to sort through indrvidual maps.

Geosparial PDFs have a number of collaboration, review, and markup tools that can be very useful to landscape architects who want to review a map, make comments, and then share those with others. Users can create notes, redlines, and markups or attach images or other data from multiple sources. This information can even be exported as a shapefile, which is the file standard used by ESRI's ArcGIS softare, and then

town square.

This past year, GeoPDFs were used ro create a mapbook of satellite imagery for emergency workers and relief agencies fighting fires m California. The images cover approximately 1,500 square kilometers in the Malibu area and about 4,000 square kilometers in and around San Diego. Using the GeoPDF maps, relief workers are able to access accurate maps, measure distance, pull up critical information, and insert comments and markups to help determine how best to fight fires. Because it is so quick and easy to generate new maps, the workers are able to pull up the timeliest information that shows current conditions.

Many municipalities are now providing their geospacial data to their constituents in GeoPDF formats. Gwinnert County, Georgia, which is located just north of Atlanta, is one of rhe fastest growing and most affluent counties in the South. It has been making extensive use of GIS since 1989, and today virtually every department in the county uses the technology. Geospatial data has been inregrated anlOng all of the county's systems, and GIS is plugged U1tO SAP's CRM (customer relationship management software), public utilities, records management, public safety, and permitting. The county also uses GIS ro manage more than 265,000 parcels of land, and an add itional 10,000 to 12,000 parcels are added every year. Parcel data IS used for many purposes, including planning projects rypically involving landscape architects. The parcel data can also be incorporated

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incorporated into a GIS program or a geobrowser such as Google Earth.

The map abore shows the densizy of sightings of Da!!'s porpoise off the California coast. Geospatia] PDfs were used to share images of fires in Ca lifo rn ia, below, with Ii refighters

and emergency workers.

Uses of Qeospatlal PDFs

Landscape architects can use geospacia] PDFs in a number of ways, induding site review and analysis. For example, a landscape architect could access an aerial image, cum land use and parcel data on and off, pull up a FEMA floodplain map and a wetland inventory map, and mark key areas ofimerest that needed further analysis on site. To find the location of these areas of interest, users simply right-click the location on the map and copy rhe coordinates to a clipboard. The clipboard can then be downloaded to a handheld GPS unit, which can be taken onto the site.

A mobile GIS/GPS application using Adobe Reader, geospatial PDFs, and GPS is an affordable and effective roo l for anyone needing to access geospatial information out in the field. Landscape architects can use this technology for field-verifying initial design concepts .. You scan 111 a hand-generated sketch or import a digital drawing from a CAD,


GIS, or illustration program, then use the measuring and 10(a60n tools in the GeoPDF to locate key design fearures such as lot boundaries, roads, public spaces, and landmarks. With this information loaded into a handheld GPS, you can literally walk down the proposed main street of a design or stand in the middle of a new

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into CAD or GIS programs and used for design projects.

Lasr year the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) started making its quad sheets available in GeoPDF format since these files are quicker and easier to download and use than many other digital formats. More than 60,000 USGS digi-

tal raster graphics, which are used by landscape architects and other design and planning professionals, have be-en convened to GeoPDF files,

and these can be accessed through

the USGS store.

Different Flavors of" Geospatlal PDPS

There are actually several different types of geosparial PDFs. Each is a little different, but the good news is

that all provide similar functionality,

and all are very simple to access and

use. The newest versions of Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader support geosparial POFs that allow for encod-

ing of map coordinate systems and georeferenced information. Adobe bas greadyenhanced its original PDF format, providing basic measuring capabilities, georegistration tools, and a coordinate display for showing off latitude and longitude in Acrobat Pro Extended. Adobe also provides support for TerraGo's GeoPDF in its Acrobat 9 software.

ArcGIS 9.3 has the ability [Q create GeoPDFs. Adobe Acrobat 9 Standard or Pro provides features for reading coordinates, caking measurements, and marking up maps. The geosparial PDFs produced by ESRI suppOrt many of the international projections that global organizations require. landscape architects using Arcl\{ap 9.3 can use the Export PDF layers command ro create a geosparial PDF.

A geospatial PDF from TerraGo Technologies has been around for several years, and it IS becom ing a de facto standard for sharing maps. The United States Marine Corps has installed TerraGo's GeoPDF Toolbar on

more than 65,000 computers, so marines can access maps and geospatial dam. TerraGo's Map2PDF is used to create interactive GeoPDF files with embedded data and mapping features. The GeoPDF Toolbar [Urns the free Adobe Reader 111to a powerful geospatial application that gives users the ability to view, manipulate, and update mapping data. The latest release of Map2PDF for Acrobat

.~.

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Cobb County, Georgia, is using geospatial PDFs to produce online rnaps,abovll' and beloW, that are available to constituents.

01

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supports extension of most of the Acrobatcompatible geospatial PDF files you can create with ESRI's ArcGIS 9.3 extension to GeoPDF.

Adobe and TerraGo have worked together to bring geosparial functionality to the Acrobat and Reader commun1ty. The georegistration technique used by Acrobat 9.0 is similar to the technique used by TerraGo for GeoPDF. TerraGo has subrn itred the GeoPDF format to the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), an international organization that promotes standards for geospatial applications. OGC standards are free, so this means that other programs are able to add the ability to read GeoPDF files at no charge.

LOGIQ is another third-party company that produces geo-encoded PDF files. lOGIQ PDF embeds native ArcMap spatial data elements directly into the PDF file format. The resulting maps contain map feature attributes, geometry, table schema, spatial references, and other relevant mapping information within a PDf· file.

Geospatial PDFs simplify the process of putting interactive maps that relate to the real world in to the hands of the masses. For landscape archirects and ocher design professionals, the technology will enable us to share maps and drawings, review and make changes, and then import these changes into a CAD or GIS application, or a geobrowser such as Google Earth and Microsoft Live, or use them with a web mapping service such as Yahoo Maps or Google Maps.

The best thing about geosparial PDFs, though, is that they are rocally innocuous. You don't even have ro know you are using a new type ofPDF--you jusc know it is easier than ever before (Q use geosparial information to make good design and planning decisions. _fOJ,J

James L. Sipes, ASIA, is a senior associate with EVA \17 and founding principal of Sand C ounty Studios.

Resources

• TerraGo Technologies, unoui terrago tech. com

• Adobe GIS and Mapping PDF Gallery, http://acrobatlJJerJ. coml gallery/ geospatial

• ESRI, unouiesn.com

• LOGIQ, ·www.globalmapJyst(!ffIJ.com

• Adobe, wUJUJ.adobe.wm

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M AV 200$ La nd se a pe A rehltecture I 81

In Los Angeles, a new park on a former oil field brings nature into a park-staned neighborhood.

T IS A WARM WINTER EVENING at Vista Hermosa Narural Park, and dusk is fasr approaching when, suddenly, I hear children singing, About 30 children and a few adults surround a small fire, and a park ranger leads them as they belt out a t'lL11 iliar campfire song: "The other day, the other day, I met a bear.. .. " Marshmallows are passed around, and for a second, I feel as if I'm at a summer camp or a national park. But Vista Hermosa is no wilderness, andit's unlikely I will meet any beats here. I'm in the center of the United States's second-largest metropolis, on the western edge of downtown Los Angeles.

Vista Hermosa IS the first new park built in this area in more than 100 years. Activists have long decried the city's lack of park space. A 2004 study by the Trust for Public Land showed that

merely 33 percent of the children living rn the city of Los Angeles can walk to a park within a quarter mile of their house. That means more than 650,000 children do not have convenient access to green space where they can run and play. Compare that [Q Boston, where 97 percent of children live within walking distance of a park, and New York City, where the figure is 91 percent.

The disparity between rich and poor, whites and minorities is particularly appalling. According to a 2003 study by researchers at the University of Southern California, neighborhoods where whites make up more than three-quarters of the population averaged 31.8 acres of parkland per 1,000 people, while areas where Latinos, African Americans, and Asians were the largest racial group averaged 1.6, 0.8, and 1.2 acres per 1 ;000 people, respectively.

So when Vista Hermosa Park opened in the poor Latino neighborhood of Temple Beaudry last summer, it was a major victory for those who view parkland as a civil right. "[This park) sends a message," proclaimed Assemblyman Kevin De leon, "that regardless of who you are, regardless of where your parents came from, regardless of the color of your skin, regardless of your legal status, you deserve access to nature."

As with much of the new parkland in and around Los Angeles, Vista Hermosa IS a project of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a state agency, and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (i\fRCA), a joint powers authority linked strongly to the conservancy. Since It was created in 1980, the censervancy has preserved more than 65,000 acres of parkland throughOut Southern California. As the conservancy's executive director since the beginning, Joseph T. Edmiston, Honorary ASLA, has had a hand in all of those projects (see "When Cities and Conservation Collide," Landscape Architedltre, July 2004). He is also the direccor of the MRCA. Edmiston says the secret to the agency's success is an energetic staff and their singleminded focus on increasing access co parkland.

Their aggressive pursuit of partners has also helped. At Vista Hermosa, they partnered with the school district, which owns the land, the city of los Angeles, and other government and nonprofit entities to fund the park's construction and maintenance . .But securing the land ror Vista Hermosa was not all handshakes and making friends. It required taking stands and wading into murky political waters where most bureaucrats would not tread.

and a shopping mall on site. Some lauded these plans as a shining model for future development, but instead, Belmont Learning Center became known as a toxic mess and the most expensive school in AmeflGt, eventually costing more than $400 million.

During the planning stages, the school district had not been forthcoming about environmental problems on (he site. Like much of the neighborhood, the project sits arop rhe 800~acre Los Angeles City Oil Field, which was once the largest active oil field on the West Coast. By the 1920s, the area had been developed with single-family houses. However, many of the oil wells were never properly capped, and highly tOXlC hydrogen sulfide and explosive methane existed 111 dangerous concentrations deep below the surface and could potentially percolate upward.

The school district had bought the property knowing the risks, but the district leaders figured any problems they ran into could be resolved along the way. People had, after all, been building on the oil field for years. But in the fall of 1998, they were forced to suspend construction temporarily after a state environmental agency informed the school district that pockets of methane under the site were more extensive than previously thought-

Then, a series of exposes in the local press created fears about the site's safety and angered (he public, who eventually forced Out the schoo.! superincendenr and the school board members who had supported the project. In January 2000, the new school board VOted to kill (he project, despite the fact [hat the building was 60 percent finished and approximately $150 million bad already been spent. The board members feared litigation; they were nor convinced the site couId be made safe.

For years, the project site sat unused, its balffinished buildings wrapped in plastic. Bur the

technology for rernediaring the site was available, and rr wasn't particularly esorenc, The concentrations of methane and hydrogen sulfide found at the surface were not dangerous, and the gas beneath the surface was not under pressure. There would be no problem as long as the gas was not allowed to build up 111 an enclosed space, and active and passive venting systems, used to prevent the buildup of dangerous gases, were already in use throughout Los Angeles County. "It was just a matter of willpower," remembers Edmiston.

Merely 33 percent of the children living in the city of los Angeles can walk to a park within a quarter mile of their house.

A Toxic History

The park's completion last summer and the opening of the adjacent school this past fall

mark the end of one of the most con rroversial development projects m the city's lustory-the infamous Belmont Learning Center project. I t was in rhe midst of th is controversy that the idea to use part of the site for the park took shape.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) used its powers of emrnent domain to ereate a 35-acre parcel in Temple Beaudry, dearing many houses and knocking down a local church without much community outreach. While the methods were controversial, the classroom space was much needed. The Belmont learning Center was going to be the first new high school built by the overcrowded school district in nearly 20 years. The plans were unique=-officials planned to help finance the school through the construction of high-rise apartmenrs

Advocating for a Park

The site in Temple Beaudry first caught the attention of Edrniston and others ar the conservancy in December 2002. The conservancy's firSt urban park, the Augustus F. Hawkins Park in South

Vista Hermosa lies on the edge of downtown Los Angeles in a neighborhood that previously

had very little public green space, opposite. Green roofs are used on aU three of its small buildings, including the upper restroom, here.

Mia le h rer + .I\ssociates' design 10 r Vista He rmosaPa rk includes IAJ a synthetic turf soccer field, IBI a children's adventure area/playground, IC)an informal seailing area called the grotto, 101 a large picnic area, lEI an entry plaza, IF! permeable concrete parking lob,lGI a. park Office building,

The conservancy did not try to shove a plan down community members' throats; they asked what the community wanted.

Central Los Angeles, had been a huge success, and they were looking co replicate that success throughout the city (see 'The Wilds of South Central," Landscape An:hiterture, April 2002). Edmiston was scouting other sites in the neighborhood with Jose Huizar, then a school board member, and Ed Reyes, a city councilman, when he spotted the shrink-wrapped buildings of the Belmont Learning Center and the large area of open space next to them. "What's that?" Edmiston asked, and they wenr over to look. Could this be the space they were looking for?

A few months later, the school district announced new proposals for the Belmont learning Censer site. A popular new superintendent backed a plan to sell off the existing buildings and build a small high school on an empty section of the site. But Huizar believed they could get the classroom space they needed faster by finishing the buildings they'd started. Inspired by the conservancy's work,

861

KEY

Chaparral

Grassland

Oak woodland

lawn

Detention lawn

Riparian zone

Green roof

Drought-tolerant demonstration garden

Synthetic

tllrf

Permeable concrete

IHI an outdoor classroom, II) two restroom s, U) a water featu re, IKI a loop path surrounded by native plantings in most places, and III a bowl-shaped lawn area that encou rages infi Itrall on and provides a place where locals

ea n play spo rts.

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o 30' 80' 121>' '"

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Huizar met with Edmiston to see if they would be interested in developing a park on the site.

There was only a small window of opportunity, so the conservancy would have to move quick- 1y. Stephanie Landregan, ASIA, its chief landscape archl recr at that time, called Mia Lehrer + Associates (ML+A) to organize a charretre. ML+A, a Los Angeles-based firm, had worked on a few other projects for rhe con~ervancy and had a master services agreement with them.

That weekend, Mia Lehrer, FASLA, visited rhe site for the first rime with conservancy smff. Immediately, she was struck by rhe amazing view of downtown. "Vista hermosa," whispered Lehrer, who was born in El Salvador. Vista hermosa, Spanish for beautiful view, became the name of their proposal and a guiding force behind their design. Landregan and designers at ML+ A worked long hours, producing a conceptual plan fur the site and renderings that would sell the idea. Concepts were faxed back and forth between the de-

signers and Edmiscon, who critiqued their plans from his home"

They presented to the school board the following Monday. Huizar was excited about the proposal, bur the other members of the school board initially gave it a lukewarm response" Unwilling (Q give up, they took their plans [Q the community to see if they could get enough grassroots support to move the project along. They only had a few weeks before the school board would vote. Huizar's office, which was familiar with the main stakeholders in the community, helped set up meetings in local schools.

Unlike the school district's previous attempts over the years, the conservancy did not try to shove a plan down community members' throats; they asked what the community wanted.Lehrer remembers one of those early meetings, held in a tent on land overlooking the site. "We cold them there's a very strong possibility for a park," she recalls. "What are your hopes for what can happen?" Many of the community members speak Spanish as their first or only language. Lehrer and Barbara Romero, a planner with the conservancy who comanaged the project, are both fluent, and this helped ereare a level of comfort and trust.

The main challenges were convlflCing cornmumry rnern-

bers that the gases could be mitigated and chat the conservancy was working in their inceresr. "People were concerned the park wasn't going co be for them," recalls Landregan.

In addition co the meetings, rhe scaff at the conservancy also organized field trips for stakeholders and elected officials. They bused them to the Augustus F Hawkins Park and their parks in the mountains to show them what the conservancy was capable of. They rook them to other developments around town that had successfully mitigated underground gases. And they explained how having a park on part of the site was ideal,as it would allow the gases beneath to disperse.

Edm iston, Huizar, and Reyes worked on selling the park to ocher local leaders, and soon the stare senator, the scareassemblyman, and even the mayor had come our in favor of building a park. But rhe decision was the school dis-

The grotto, above, provides a n inform .. 1

cou n eil ring for gathc ri ngs sue has campfires. A group plays hceee ball in

the re lali vely fI a t d eca m posed gra n ite

area in the center Ilf fhe grotto, be/ow.

trier's to make, and Superintendent Roy Romer was not budging. Romer was not a small-time bureaucrat; before being named as the superintendent, he had been the govemor of Colorado and the head of rhe Democratic National Committee. He'd been brought in to reform the school district, and he'd been allowed to rule rr with somewhat of an iron fist, says Edmiston. He did not like the conservancy stepping on his

rurf "He calls me up and says, 'I don't care if you get the governor and all these people; you're not going co have your park," Edmisron remembers.

However, the conservancy's efforts were working. One by one, the necessary votes were secured, and two days after Romer told Edmiston he would lose, the school board voted for the parkwith rhe superintendent supporting it. It took another year to SD"lidify the plan, but the conservancy was eventually granted a 20- year lease for 10.5 acres.

Not Just Nature

But what kind of park would Vista Hermosa be? The conservancy specializes 111 parks where city dwellers can experience nature. "\'Qe generally don't do active recre-

The conservancy specializes in parks where city dwellers can experience nature.

arion," explains Romero. But it was dear from the beginning that passive recreation alone would not suffice here. Through their community meetings, the design team learned that an empty field where the local children played soccer had recently been fenced off.

"There was no negotiating a soccer field," remembers Lehrer.

"They wanted that, period. There were even discussions whether there should be three soccer fields, and we should just forget the park." But there were other uumet needs within the local community aside from places to play soccer. Walking trails were also needed, as were places to have outdoor celebrations. The landscape architects brokered a compromise, providing a single soccer field on the site. The rest of the park

881

would be developed in a more naturalistic way to accommodate many different users.

Vista Hermosa sits on a fairly steep site with a 60-foO[ change in elevation from top to bottom. When the designers first visited, it had been graded into three disrinct terraces with sharp drops between chern, !l--fL+A regraded the site to make the landforms softer. "We had a huge earth-moving operation-something our agency had never done," says Landregan, because the conservancy usually works with less-impacted sites.

To keep costs down, Ml.s- A tried to avoid usmg retaining walls as much as possible and worked to reduce the amount of soil exported off site. That was really challenging, according to ML+A managing partner Esther Margulies, ASLA, due to the mitigation method used throughout the park. To prevent gases from being trapped and building up JUSt below the surface, the top 18 inch-

es of wpsoil were stockpiled, an 18-111ch layer of sand was spread over rhe entire site, and the topsoil was laid down on [OP of that. The sand layer was introduced so that the gases will be able to percolate horizontally if areas of the topsoil become compacted. As It reaches the top of the soil, the h'1lS vents into the air where it rrses up into the atmosphere or is carried away by the wind. It is not able to concentrate to dangerous levels. Under the park buildings and rhe school next door, membranes prevent the gases from entering the buildings, and vem111g systems prevent their accumulation beneath the buildings.

Today, grading helps to separate different areas of the park so that it can serve many types of users simultaneously. Sitting around a campfire organized in the informal stone amphithearer, you are not disturbed by the teams playing soccer, the children playing on the playground, or the Jogger winding around the other side of the loop path, and you cannot se~ the cars parked in the parking lot below.

This sense of separation that is desirable during the day is less desirable at night. Because visibility is not parricularly good into the site from the street, the park is fenced off and doses at dusk. The artificial turf soccer

Passive recreation opportunities abound at Vista Hermosa including seafching to f frogs at th e water featu re ne af the grotto, opposite, walking through na tu ra Ii stie a rea 5, below, and pil;nlcking, left. "Culturally, people

In the Latino community like parks for qui n eeneras, wed d jngs, and oth er celebrations," notes Mia Lehrer, FASLA.

189

he comes tWICe a week to play football or soccer, but he rarely gets a chance to play on the fancy turf field. The soccer field is only free for a half hour each day, according to Judy Perez Soto, a park ranger with the MRCA. Even during the summer months when school is not in session, the field is locked during the day, and at night it's reserved for league play managed by the city's department of recreation and parks. Soro says the soccer leagues charge a fee, which many children in the immediate neighborhood can't afford. Other landscape architects would be wise to consider how they can design spaces that provide opportunities for athletes not involved in team sports.

While the older children gravitate toward the fields, young children play in an adventure play area designed to get them in touch with nature. "It was

Romero does not believe that manufactured play equipment is essential.

meant to be unconventional," says Lehrer. "Kids make their own fun. They play with sticks and stones, scram ble up and down a streambed, and climb on [sculptures of) animals native to the area." Prop arrisrs from the local movie industry were brought in to work on a giant snake and a turtle that has a small slide attached co it. The snake is used as an unusual balance beam and children scamper along it.

When I visited on a Saturday afternoon, five kids were hangmg out here. While a few children chased one another around, taking advantage of obstacles like logs and boulders, most were just hanging out 111 the crevices of the turtle. "We do wish they would have more swings and stuff," remarked Dorit Dowlerguero, who was there with her eight-year-old daughter. But her daughter, Liberty, liked the tuttle, a grassy hill nearby, and having a place where she could run.

Romero does not believe that manufactured play equipment is essential. "We have surveyed kids about what they like to do in parks," she says. "They say they like to jump. They like [Q climb.

field is fenced separately from the more naturalistic parts of the park, so it can be limited to schoolchildren during the day and stay open for night games held under the lights. Drawing on community input, the designers located it at the south end of the site, where its bright lights would be less of a nuisance.

The designers balanced the formal soccer field with informal lawn areas. Carlos Calderon, a 14-year-old who lives nearby, says

901

A girl ru ns ac ross the gia I1t s na ke sculpture in the chfldren's adventure area, opposite. Organized soccer teams dominate the large turf soccer field, right.

Ro'ugh·surfaced retaining walls with a

fa u x rive r roc k ven ee r, abo re, are design ed to have a national park character and donut se em to attract graffiti.

They like co run. They like co roll. It's not necessarily just swinging on a swing."

Sustainable Features

Since prorecting natural resources is an essential part of the conservancy's mission, "we tried to put in as many sustainable elements as we could," says Romero. Every effort is made to keep water from running off the site. "The majority of the park is permeable-99 percent of It!" declares Lehrer. Green roofs cover the rwo restroom buildings and the park ranger's office. Decomposed granite IS used for most of the paths and gathering areas. Permeable pavers are used near the entry, and per~ meable concrete IS used for the parking lot. Only the concrete ranlps aren't permeable.

To slow the water as it !lU1S down the site, the lower field is graded like a bowl. Water that gathers in rim bowl-shaped area is diverted by pipe to a 20,OOO-gallol1 cistern under rhe parking lot, which IS used to irrigate some of the plantings on the Site (the rest are irrigated using city water). But there is also a strong

emphasis on infiltration; the pipe is undersized so chat water has a chance to soak into the ground and replenish the aquifer chat IS an important source of water for the region. "In Los Angeles, we try to infiltrate whenever we can," says Margulies. "It's a radical sea change from five years ago."

The bowl shape and the undersized pipe are vestigial design fearures that relate better to the original plan for planting the

lower field as a native meadow than to its current use for active recreation. During the construction process, seeding a meadow was determined to be too complicated and time-consuming, given a neighborhood that was itching to use its park, so the area was planted with lawn instead. While the multipurpose field is much loved, the way it drains toward the center is not ideal.

The landscape architects' desire to create a small wetland on site was also never realized. The property is still owned by the school district, which has strict requirements for water features. To pass muster, the water needs to be crystal clear and the bottom of the pool needs to have a nonslip surface in case someone walks in. Early plans for releasing srorrnwarer from a nearby storm sewer into the park were also abandoned because the water quality was tOO poor and there was not enough funding to clean it before it was released, says Margulies. However, there is a small pond near the amphitheater, designed to LAUSD guidelines, that kids like to play in.

Naturalistic native plantings are found throughout the site. "The intent was co re-create portions of the Santa Monica Mountains through different planting areas," says Romero. "The minute we PUt the trees in, it was like creating a new subdivision for birds. We had birds fighting for trees," remembers Landregan. Even though the trees are not yet grown in, many visitors had good things to say about the plantings. "I recognize a lot of the plants from when I go hiking Out in the Simi Valley," remarked Stephanie Hathaway, who was visiting the park for the first time. "There's a lot of natural sages. The smells are just wonderful. "

But plantings are not limited to natives; nonnatives including bougainvillea are used to provide color. "Perception is important," says Margulies. "[The conservancy] wanted to make sure the park would look attractive and have plants flowering on opening day. Some of our natives are a little more subtle."

The naturalistic plantings in the park are used as a learning tool by the MRCA, and designers hope they can be incorporated into lessons at the high school next door as well. (No longer wrapped in plastic, the school buildings were retrofitted with systems that vent and monitor underground gases and are now complete and filled with students). The MRCA's junior ranger program teaches younger kids who visit the park about plants, animals, and environmental issues. It prepares them for trips out into natural areas, so they know what is safe and what is unsafe. A program called "Transit to Trails" offers inner-city children and families, many of whom don't have access to cars, monthly field trips from Vista Hermosa to the beach and the Santa Monica Mountains.

Through the new park and the programs the MRCA provides, the neighborhood is coming together more tightly as a community. Ranger Soto says she hasn't encountered any issues with gangs, and neighbors seem to be less fearful as time goes on. "Initially, people worried about Walking in the dark back home, but now people have made friends with their neighbors in the park so it's not real-

Iy a big deal," she says. "Kids who weren't friends before are now friends. Seeing that really gives you a rewarding feeling." ~.r"JlJ

Resources

• No Plac« to Play: a C(fmparatilJe AllalYJiJ of Park AaIifJ in Seven Major Cities, The Trust for Public Land, 2004. Available online at www.tpl. orgltier3 _r.d rfm?mntent _item_id= 14565 &folder _id=266.

• "Toward a Sustainable los Angeles: A 'Nature's Services' Approach," University of Southern California Center for Sustainable Cities, March 2003. Available online at http:lkollege.lIJf.edulgeo graphylESP Elpubliratiom/naturesJervi(eJ.html. • "The School That Wasn't," by Susan Anderson; The Nation, June 5,2000. Available online at wUlW.thenation.romJdod200006051 anderson.

• "The Bolshevik Who Beat Belmont," by Ralph Frammolino; Los Ange/eJ' Times Magazine, January 7, 2001.

• "Vista Hermosa Park Opens," by Teresa Watanabe; Los Angeles Ti1!ICJ~ July 20, 2008. Available online at http://arltde!".iatnlleJ·.aJmJ 20081ju1120110wllme-park2o.

• The environmental impact report and other official documents for Vista Hermosa are available online at ·www.laHhoohorgl lliJ"t~l-hermosal dm;umentJ.

"Initially, people worried about walking in the dark back home, but now people have made fri,ends with their neighbors in the park so it's not really a big deal."

PROJECT CREDITS Own.er: Los Angeles Unified School District, los Angeles (Richard Alonzo, District F superintendent; Rick Hijazi, senior project manager; Tom Watson, health and safety; Edmundo Rodriguez). ClienVIead agencies: Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy/Mouncains Recreation and Conservation Authority, State of California (Joe Edmiston, Honorary ASIA, executive director; Stephanie V. Landregan, ASLA, chief landscape architect; Barbara Romero, project manager/community liaison, Amy Lethbridge, MRCA education). Additional oversight: Division of State Architect, State of California (Frank Chia). Landscape architecture! prime consultant: Mia Leh rer + Associates, los Angeles (Mia Lehrer, FASIA, design partner; Esther Margulies, ASIA, managing partner; Jeff Hutchins, ASlA, project manager). General contract.or: los Angeles Engineering, Covina, California (Ron Halquist, project principal; Theodore Posch, project manager).CiviVstruct.ural engineering:

KPFF Inc., Los Angeles (Rick Davis, civil principal in charge; Kumar Halbe, civil project engineer; Aaron Reynolds, structural engineer; Devlin Thomas, strucrural engineer). Electrical engineering:

Nicolas Abanro, Architect: ERW Design, Malibu, California (Elaine Renee Weissman). Irrigation: Sweeny + Associates, San Diego (Daniel Zumallen). Pond con.suHant: EPO Consultants, San Pedro, California (Kevin Poffenbarger). Mitigation engineers: SCS Engineers, long Beach, California (Mike Leonard, senior technical manager); Meredith & Associates Inc., los Angeles (Thomas Dolan, senior engineer). Construction specifications consultants: Jerry Orland. Cost estimating: C. P. O'Halloran Associates Inc., Westlake Village, California (Ciaran O'Halloran), Gate and fencing artist: Brett Goldstone, Brett Goldstone Inc., los Angeles. Public art lslgnage, etc,l: Arc Share, los Angeles.

e

N orthala Fields} the largest park to be built in London for a century} is an exemplar of sustainable construaion and design.

HE UNMISSABLE EARTH FORlVfS OF N orrhala Fields mark a new gateway ro West London. They are landmarks for the largest new park in the city for a century and symbols of a momentous struggle [hat took place before the scheme could become a reality.

As well as providing a fantastic new amenity for residents in nearby Northolt and Ealing, Northala Fields represents proof of an ecologically sound, financially robust model for the creation ofa major new green space.

Lead designers FoRM Associates (formerly Art2Architecrure) have seen the project through an eight-year journey, working in a project team that also included EDAW ecologist Peter Neal and design and build suppOrt from LDA Design. During that period, the practice has been cast variously as designer, mediator, agitator, and savior but has emerged vindicated for its passion and persistence.

Norrhala Fields Jies at the heart of the Norrholt and Greenford Countryside Park, a network of open spaces covering 100 hectares, from Northolt village in the north to Ruislip Road in the south and flanked by rhe busy A40. The new park occupies an 18.5-heaare plot rhar was first acquired by Ealing Borough in 1997 from Kensington and Chelsea, which

By Tim Coulthard

had previously used it for SpOHS fields for schools. The site lay dormant uncil 2000, when Ealing launched a compecicion for ideas for uses for the land, which had started to attract antisocial behavior and was prone to Hooding, a threat to nearby housing.

Rob Cairns, who at the time was Ealings project manager, said the briefconcenrrared on the practical requirements for incorporaring the necessary earth fill, using water, offering flood defenses, and featuring an ecological focus. The general feeling was that there should be an artistic approach to rhe earth forming, but the direction was not specified to competition entrants. Cairns says the entry led by FoRM was the "obvious choice" because "they responded best to the brief, incorporating all of the elements in a meaningful way."

Black-and-white photography dating back to the 19005 provided the spark of inspiration for f'oRM partner Peter Fink. One particular shot of a naked woman had particular resonance for Fink,

The plan shows the major features on the Northala Field ssite: JAI u rba n fishe ry,

IBI model boating lake, leI reed bed, (DI borehole water source,

lEI sware, IF) playground,

IG} lookout, (HI meadows/wetland';'. III woodland, III amphitheater,

fKI primary path,. and

III parking areas.

961

who was struck by "the emotional connection between the female form and landscape."

FoRM's proposals for N orthala Fields represented a dramatic move away from the conventional Bnrish notion of public parks, both in design and implementation. The dominant fonns are four conical mounds 15, 20, 25, and 30 meters high thar screen the border of the site. They are both playful and functional, acting as an extremely efficient noise screen from the adjacent A40. For Fink, the forms have a very clear effeer on visitors. "We were trying to find a resolution rhar doesn't overwhelm the urban rim. I was fascinated about creating a landscape in a CHy on a scale that doesn't exist. I had this idea of propelling people into movement, and rhat is what happens here-they arrive and get up onto the mounds and move around. It's big enough to have that effect,"

The smaller mounds are turf covered and planted with wildflowers to add seasonal vibrancy, while the largest mound features

Fink was struck by

he " " I

t e emonona

connection between the female form and

landscape. ii

The construction of the mounds, above, ultimately used 100,000 cubic meters of imported material.

A children's play area, here, includes a colorful, small·scale version of the mounds.

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