Landscape Architecture in the News Highlights (September 1 – 15)

Fire Pits Add Flare to the Backyard Gatherings – The Los Angeles Times, 9/1/16
“Fire pits — which are portable or permanent troughs or bowls that contain the flames — are expected to be the most popular outdoor design element this year, according to a survey from the American Society of Landscape Architects.”

Clash of Titans? Opponents of Pier 55 Have Secret Backer, Media Mogul Says – The New York Times, 9/4/16
“In their quest to build a huge new cultural pier on the West Side of Manhattan, the Hudson River Park Trust and Barry Diller, the media mogul who is paying for it, have faced one seemingly intractable opponent: the City Club of New York, a little-known civic group founded in 1892 that was all but dead a few years ago.”

How an Energy Company Turned a Strip Mine into a Massive Park – Curbed, 9/7/16
“Strip mining is one of the most environmentally unfriendly ways we extract resources from the earth, tearing up enormous swaths of land to access the valuable minerals buried underneath. In some cases, the practice leaves thousands of acres covered in barren waste rock incapable of sustaining plant or animal life.”

‘Ideal Section’ Paved Way for Modern Road Construction – The Chicago Tribune, 9/9/16
“After World War I automobiles and trucks were becoming increasingly important modes of transportation in the U.S. for everyone from farmers and manufacturers to tourists. And, of course, the old dirt roads did nothing to speed the way.”

A Glorified Sidewalk, and the Path to Transform Atlanta – The New York Times, 9/11/16
“Could this traffic-clogged Southern city, long derided as the epitome of suburban sprawl, really be discovering its walkable, bike-friendly, density-embracing, streetcar-riding, human-scale soul?”

Meet One of England’s Top Landscape Architects – The Architectural Digest, 9/12/16
“English landscape architect Kim Wilkie prefers to intuit what a site wants to be rather than impose his will upon it. It’s an approach that has brought clients from around the world to the door of his farmhouse in Hampshire.”