Landscape Architecture in the News Highlights (April 16 – 30)

They Turned the Front Lawn into a Welcoming Extension of Their Woodland Hills Home – The Los Angeles Times, 4/19/17
“What happens when an architect and a landscape architect renovate a front yard together? In the case of architect Carmel McFayden and landscape architect Louisa Relia, the result is a grid-based landscape that thoughtfully complements the lines of McFayden’s 1969 Midcentury home.”

Saving Bertha: The Effort to Turn a Piece of Seattle History into Art – Seattle Magazine, 4/20/17
“After Bertha’s dramatic emergence from the nearly 2-mile-long tunnel she diligently, if erratically, drilled in service of a new, underground stretch of SR 99 (and re-opened Seattle waterfront), a certain post-drill pallor has descended upon the city. After all the fanfare and ceremony—not to mention millions of tax dollars—Bertha is scheduled to be dissembled and sold off for scrap, and soon.”

Using RPGs to Solve Environmental Problems – PC Magazine, 4/21/17
“Landscape architects at North Carolina State University developed open-source modeling software that uses the basics of role-playing games to help solve environmental problems.”

World Landscape Architecture Month: Let’s Celebrate All Things Green – The Missoulian, 4/25/17
“It’s been a long, hard winter here in western Montana, what with blizzards, sub-zero temperatures and lots of snow. As spring slowly emerges, it’s time to celebrate all things green. Let’s celebrate April – it’s World Landscape Architecture Month.”

Grant Park’s Zoo Parking Deck Redo Moves Forward with Greenspace and Restaurant – Curbed Atlanta, 4/26/17
“Parking spaces and park spaces may be separated linguistically by only a syllable, but as urban features, the two are diametrically opposed.”

São Paulo’s Mayor Tries to Make the City Greener – The Economist, 4/27/17
“The phrase ‘concrete jungle’ might have been coined for São Paulo. Brazil’s megalopolis has 2.6 square meters of green space for each of its 11 million inhabitants, a tenth as much as New York and a fifth of what the World Health Organization recommends.”

Understanding What Makes Plants Happy – The New York Times, 4/30/17
“First, we have to understand that plants are social creatures. Our garden plants evolved as members of diverse social networks.”