Essay in 'Atlantis' Magazine

I am happy to report that a recent essay was published in 'Atlantis' Magazine, which is published by Polis and collects writings that make "...the link between students, academics and professionals besides the Polis activities. This magazine is our medium to keep you as member up to date about everything going on in the urbanism & landscape architecture world.  The issue 22.4 discusses concepts around the 'Urban Landscape' and features contributions from a wide range of authors.

The essay "Land- 'scape' / Land- 'space':  Pedantic, Semantic or just Anagrammatic" is a tongue-in-cheek play on words that carries with it a more serious message.  The dialogue around landscape urbanism has been called pedantic, and the splitting of hairs could be dismissed, particularly by those uninformed and who disagree with the concepts, as mere semantics.  The anagrammatic is purely a place on words.  The content, revolving around an exploration of the terms 'landscape' and 'urbanism', and more specifically the parallels of the anagrammatic terms 'space' and 'scape' begin the discussion. 

 

Using definitions from JB Jackson's essay 'The Word Itself', the parallels between space and scape are delineated, as Jackson's cultural reading of landscape as "...a composition of man-made or man-modified spaces to serve as infrastructure or background for our collective existence.” (Jackson, Discovering the Vernacular Landscape, 1984)  This expands our idea of landscape beyond scenery and greenery to encompass a more broad understanding of 'context'. 

Urbanism is also investigated, starting with Wirth's 1938 essay 'Urbanism as a Way of Life' and tracing the divergence of urbanism as 'study' to that of action.  I claim we need to differentiate between the study of urban areas and the design and planning activities. This will allow us to operate in a shared space for dialogue:

"Thus study equates to urbanism (of which there can be many types of study), and practice equates to disciplinary modes and interdisciplinary contexts, such as urban design, architecture, landscape architecture and planning (of which there can be many types of solution). The distinction allows us to avoid binary argument because there are infinite types of study and methods of solving problems – each driven by the unique context. Dialogue and critique can still operate – but there will more transparency and it won’t be summed in an either/or proposition. The complexity of urban areas in our contemporary world is too immense for only one of two solutions"

The end along with a call for more clarity in writing about these terms, specifically the need for clear definitions when discussing terms.  We are too loose with terminology today, and the overall impact and reach of our discussion suffers from this. Whichever way you choose to interpret and intervene the urban conditions, there needs to be shared understanding of fundamental issues, because, as I mention: "In the end, no discussion or argument (binary or otherwise) is worth much if it happening around vague language..."

Comments and discussion, with clear definitions, always welcome.

Check out the entire magazine online here, or click to download a PDF of the article here.

Ph.D.

In addition to (or shall I say augmenting) the launch this year of my new firm, I've also begun what shapes up to be a long process of obtaining my Doctorate - specifically a Ph.D in Urban Studies from Portland State University - and their Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning. I hope to blend the concepts of theory and practice into the conceptual framework of landscape architecture and urbanism - topics near and dear to my heart. Well into week two of classes, and it's been a great addition to my ruminations on L+U - as well as stretching me into some territory that was previously unknown. Good stuff.


:: The original Ph.D.

My additional goal is to continue with a vibrant practice along with furthering my education - embedding each within the other. I don't expect any major structural changes to the blog, but it will represent a different level of brain activity - particularly diverging from my somewhat organic ramblings to a more focused type of intellectual rigor. Or maybe this will be my escape from the countless papers and readings... who knows. As with everything, change is the only thing we can count on.

Can I get a 'Hell Yeah!'

From AnArchitecture, quoting an article from Inside PR.

"I actually hate billable hours. Don’t get me wrong – I like working – I really like bringing in the money.. but I just don’t like tracking every minute of my time – especially when it comes to multi-tasking and working on more than one thing, or often a lot of things at once. I also think billable hours aren’t a good measure of the value people bring based on experience but may just take an hour to create. I know the reason why there are billable hours and why we need to track our time and profitability but I wish there was a better model.” source

You Can Go Home Again

Well not exactly home, but a wonderful trip last week, back to my alma mater North Dakota State University for a presentation on my favorite topics - Landscape + Urbanism + Veg.itecture. Thanks to everyone that attended the lecture and for the great conversation before, during, and after. Fargo has changed a lot, but remarkably stays the same. More posts upcoming after this short, work- and travel-induced break.

Best of... the Rest

Well, finally back at it after a bit of time off and some flurry of activity around Parking Day 2009. More to come on our 'award winning' most playful entry to the Seattle People's Parking Lot, and the beauty of oversized Connect Four - and stay tuned for more posts upcoming.


:: 4-Play - image via CoJourn

A few resources that popped up in my inbox in the interim. Landscape+Urbanism made a couple of lists, including the Top 50 Construction Blogs (#44) and the 100 Innovative Blogs for Architecture Students (#1). Many thanks for the love there.

LEED Sustainable Sites

I was fortunate enough recently to be chosen for the US Green Building Council's Technical Assistance Group for Sustainable Sites (SS TAG). This appointment will allow me to be directly involved in defining how sustainable site strategies are integrated in existing determinations and future iterations of various LEED rating systems. The following is an interview with Damian Holmes from World Landscape Architect, published a couple of days back, explaining a bit more about the appointment.. another 0:12 seconds of my fifteen minutes :)

FEATURE: Interview with Jason King

"Sustainable Sites is an initiative with a interdisciplinary effort by the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the United States Botanic Garden to create voluntary national guidelines and performance benchmarks for sustainable land design, construction and maintenance practices.

Jason King is a Senior Associate at Greenworks and an enthusiastic landscape architect who shares his passionate views at his sites Landscape+Urbanism and veg.itecture. He has just been appointed to the Sustainable Sites Technical Advisory Group for the US Green Building Council (USGBC) so we thought it would be a good opportunity to interview Jason about Sustainable Sites and his role at Sustainable Sites Technical Advisory Group.

WLA: What will your role be with the Sustainable Site Technical Advisory Group?

Jason: As part of the Sustainable Sites Technical Advisory Group, our regular activities will include working within the group to evaluate existing and future policies related to Sustainable Sites for all version of LEED, and specifically provide input on issues such as interpretation and Credit Interpretation Rulings (CIRs) on a bi-weekly basis. Specifically, I am going to be the primary credit guardian for the SSc5.1, Reduced Site Disturbance: Protect and Restore Open Space, and to work as a sub-guardian for a number of other credits. The entire group collectively makes determinations – this is just the first point of contact on specific items, sharing the load a bit.

My goals are really to move the LEED system and its interpretation of sustainable sites in a significantly more realistic and robust application. Determining what open space is and what it means to site users, or what components make up habitat are big questions – and can’t be oversimplified into mere square footage coverage. The challenge is to find ways to move the concepts forward to more specific and increasingly rigorous goals, but do so in a what that is accessible and integrated into the system. We need to constantly raise the bar, but not lose the momentum by making things overly onerous.

WLA: How important is LEED and Sustainable Sites to the future of landscape architecture?

Jason: I think it’s vitally important. Based on the success of LEED in the building-related industry, and how it’s really become a touchstone (for better or worse) for sustainability, our voices and roles in this process will be very important. One way is to be advocates for changes in LEED that reflect sustainability as we see it, beyond the simplification that often is the case in creation of green building systems. LEED isn’t going to go away, but rather evolve as we learn more and evolve from sustainable to regenerative design. The Sustainable Sites Initiative, developed by ASLA, is a good step in our future. It’s in the early stages, and not without issues that need to be resolved, but is much more of a true site-specific guideline that will really give us direction on defining sustainability in the landscape.

WLA: Most Landscape Architects are instinctly “green” and “sustainable”. How do you see the role of Sustainable Sites of built environment professionals?

Jason: It’s true that our education and experience makes landscape architects green or sustainable by nature. Many of the ideas we do as common practice are not considered specifically as ‘sustainable’ design to us, just what you do as a landscape architect. When compared to some other disciplines these ideas are much more innovative, or at least more contextual. Still, we have a great challenge in both quantifying these ideas into a system framework, and making sure we are vocal advocates for change, not allowing other disciplines to determine what role we play in design. The integration of landscape and buildings is fascinating – as landscape architecture, rather than just being ornament applied to the exterior, is becoming enmeshed in architectural form, building systems, and the environmental performance. The possibilities for integrated approaches are incredible.

As we get more prominence and a greater voice in project design processes, we will be able to more truly represent the profession and move forward an agenda that is both more sustainable, regionally adapted, and reflective of the common notion of what is a sustainable site.

We would like to congratulate Jason on his appointment and thank him for taking the time to answer a few questions."

By Damian Holmes – 12 August 2009

Urbanism for Expanding Cities

My friend and colleague Brett Milligan and I were fortunate enough to have an article published in 'Landscape Architecture China' a new journal that recently published its second issue covering Landscape Urbanism. Our article titled 'Urbanism for Expanding Cities: Designing the conjugal interface of contrasting systems' outlined the urban frameworks that were key to our work on the Integrating Habitats winning submittal 'Urban Ecotones'.

And let me tell you, it's pretty cool to see your words translated into Chinese. (all images via Landscape Architecture China)

The full text:

'Urbanism for Expanding Cities: Designing the conjugal interface of contrasting systems' by Brett Milligan and Jason King (US)

Throughout the industrial era, natural systems and the materials they provided to cities were largely taken for granted. This relationship to the natural environment was due to many cultural factors, including the seemingly inexhaustible resources, humanity’s newly-discovered and unprecedented ability to harness energy and transform these materials, and a limited understanding of the fragility of our ecosystems.

Today we are fully aware of the impact many of our expanding cities are having on the natural systems they depend upon. As cities grow, they degrade or destroy self-sustaining ecosystems, such as forests, streams and rivers. At the same time, urbanization places continually heavier demands on these systems to maintain modern lifestyles for larger numbers of people worldwide. Many functions of urban environments are being steadily undermined due to the failing of the surrounding and global ecosystems they rely on. The United Nations International Millennial Ecosystem Report (2005) has scientifically documented worldwide ecosystem decline, and has popularized the idea of “ecosystem services”, which are defined as “the benefits people obtain from ecosystems.” The report states that “…the human species, while buffered against environmental changes by culture and technology, is fundamentally dependent on the flow of ecosystem services”. The concept of ecosystem services fundamentally alters our industrial-era relationship to the environment, and questions the very ideas of materiality and urban processes.

In order to investigate the contemporary challenges presented by a globally expanding urbanism, it is essential to re-conceptualize the relationship between “natural” systems and systems that are considered “cultural” or “urban”. Rather than dividing, or opposing these systems, urban design should seek to explore how all of these complex systems operate and interact in order to identify opportunities for design interventions. An emphasis on systems and processes is also a central tenant of landscape urbanist thought and practice. Landscape urbanism interventions seek to find ways of creating connective synergies among cultural and natural systems. This design emphasis fosters a more inclusive notion of ecology that attempts to integrate all systems operating within the urban realm.

Urban Ecotones: Transitional Spaces for Commerce and Culture is the title of the winning entry for the Metro Integrating Habitats international design competition held in 2008. Urban Ecotones provides a comprehensive vision for how innovative processes of commercial development can regenerate, rather than destroy natural systems within the rapidly urbanizing city of Portland, Oregon. Specifically, Urban Ecotones provides an adaptive model for how an innovative building center can thrive economically, while simultaneously regenerating critical habitat corridors and other ecosystem services at both a site specific and regional scale. This regenerative capacity is achieved by transforming how material is circulated and processed within urban systems.

This design strategy restructures economic and ecological systems to provide a development model that supports movement away from fossil fuel dependency towards more localized, regenerative processes. Retail development serves as a metabolic machine for the transformation and redeployment of cultural and natural material flows that continuously circulate through the city. Discarded urban items such as unwanted yard debris and food wastes are brought on site and transformed into compost to assist with the regeneration of habitat areas and to create economic capital. Demolition and construction waste is sorted and re-circulated as new building material. Stormwater strategies utilize existing site topography and hydrology to collect and cleanse water with technologies that replicate wetland processes and habitats.

Similar to contemporary landscape urbanist strategies, Urban Ecotones attempts to bridge the gap between urban planning and site specific, spatial design by performing at a range of scales. Two regional concepts informed the final design solution. First, the regional planning agency efforts provided an established framework for sustainable growth and the generation of future scenarios, emphasizing trends of infill and transit-oriented development. Second, the local planning process for responding to peak oil, offered insight and opportunities into the dramatic change that will occur with transportation, commerce, and urban lifestyles due to widespread fossil fuel shortages that will likely occur within the next 30 years. The development model taps into Portland’s market for sustainable building practices and lifestyles, and fosters community by creating service-oriented building centers near regional and town centers to meet the urban challenges of alternative energy sourcing and regenerating natural systems.

The title Urban Ecotones references the attention placed on the thresholds at which commercial development meets natural systems. Rather than seeing these interactions as points of confrontation, they are reframed as environments of conjugation – a marrying of contrasting systems. The combination creates a synergy of both environments (cultural and natural) akin to an ecotone: the transitional area between two ecosystems containing more diversity and biotic activity than singular habitats. Rather than impinging upon natural systems on site for development, increased habitat buffers provide a shared zone of mutually-beneficial interaction to regenerate the expanding city.

More Information:

UN Millennium Assessment Report (2005)

Urban Ecotones – Integrating Habitats

Metro’s 2040 Growth Concept

Descending the Oil Peak: Navigating the Transition from Oil and Natural Gas

Urban Chickens Build - 6

The final installment, the completion of the Chicken Cube, with ramp, some final security measures, ecoroof, and rain chain downspout. The ecoroof plants were leftovers from the Ecoroof Vendor Fair and had a diverse variety of sedums along with some native and other perennials, grasses, and herbs.



The front side, with all the hardware cloth installed and the new ramp.



And the back side, planted and rain chain installed.



A closeup of the ecoroof, newly planted.



The roof plantings include (amongst some others):

:: Sedum oreganum
:: Sedum spathifolium 'Purpureum'
:: Sedum spathifolium 'Cape Blanco'
:: Sedum album 'Coral Carpet'
:: Oreganum
:: Sedum rupestre 'Angelina'
:: Dianthus
:: Festuca glauca 'Elijah's Blue'
:: Allium
:: Lewisia columbiana

We threw in some Ajuga and a few other perennial groundcovers up there to see how they'd do, and expect to try a few others as the initial mix sorts itself out.



And the patient residents waiting to move in. We did have a scare with one of the little ones getting pounced on by the dog after jumping the fence of our temporary run... all the chicks are doing well - and have now christened the interior with their own style. Welcome Katherine, Billy, Dinah, and Abby.


:: (c) all images copyright Jason King

Some SDATisfaction

'A Leaner, Greener Detroit: A Report by the American Institute of Architects Sustainable Design Assessment Team' is (finally) available for download. As one of the contributors, it is great to finally see it in living color. Find the link to the final report here...



I will be posting on this after I've had a chance to absorb it all, but a quick perusal shows it hit all the highlights of the SDAT visit for sure. There has been some media about this as well as one of the main goals of the process - a heightened dialogue about the issues at hand.

Urban Chickens Build - 5

Sort of a conceptual jump cut in the process, as two weekends of rain hampered plans to make progress on the Chicken Cube... but a big push this weekend (and a loaner of the wonderful compound miter saw that I am now officially) has yielded a vision close to complete. Not too many pics of the steps, as it was a race to finish. Here's the result, sans a few final touch-ups and details. And alas, it is chicken ready.





The cedar siding is beautiful - and it's now official that I am not allowed near a can of stain ever again. We're going to finish the bottom screening and plant the ecoroof this weekend, as well as installing the gutter and final hardware... Then we look for some (hopefully affulent and homeless) fowl to occupy this unit, because unless anyone knows of a certain breed that lays golden eggs, the payback time for this return-on-investment with current egg prices - 42 years. :)

Urban Chickens Build - 4

For the newly dubbed 'Chicken Cube', it's ecoroof time (at least the structural components sans plants and soil). Here's a quick summary of Sunday's flurry of activities:


:: 3/4" plywood frame + cedar siderails


:: fitting the metal soil retention edging


:: some counterflashing with pond liner


:: dry-fitting the liner on edges


:: mechanically fastening on outside edging


:: finishing the box with cedar


:: after some fine-tuning - a perfect fit


:: still need to trim the fabric a bit , but close to done




:: roofline from opposite side


:: and some finish work on some doors - windows to come

Next weekend looks like planting, siding, windows and paint/stain - with an aim of chicken habitable by end of weekend/next week. Stay tuned. Read here for the previous posts on coop building, including design, week 1, week 2, and week 3 builds...

LAM Blog Love

The latest issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine featured an article by Daniel Jost, ASLA, that was nice enough to include our fair blog in it's pages: "The Dirt on Blogging: How can blogs change the way we communicate about landscape architecture?" offers examples and advice on how landscape architecture professionals can utilize this simple yet effective technology for information, dialogue, and marketing.


:: June 2009 Cover - image via LAM

The opening excerpt, via the LAM page: “I had always been anti-blog,” remembers Jason A. King, ASLA, of Portland, Oregon. Like many, he equated blogging with keeping an online journal; he didn’t think the medium had much to offer him professionally. But about two years ago, King’s opinion changed dramatically. He was working on a design competition and needed a way to manage all the ideas, images, and web links he was gathering through his research. He realized blogging would be the perfect way to organize himself while giving him a chance to share his research with others. Today, King’s Landscape+Urbanism Blog has readers around the world. In the past year, it has been viewed nearly 500,000 times."

But it is only one of the many landscape architecture-themed blogs that have sprouted up in recent years. There are blogs focusing on many different facets of the profession, from garden design to parks, from sustainability to playgrounds. Some of these blogs are managed by landscape architects, some are managed by professionals with related degrees, and some provide a unique opportunity to hear opinions from people outside the profession—to hear from the people we serve.

What benefits does blogging offer landscape architects?"

:: image via LAM

The story goes on to cover a range of blogs, including Christian Barnard Landscape Architecture, Design Under Sky, Studio G, Sprout - A Green Blog, Playscapes, Places and Spaces, and of course Landscape + Urbanism. While not the entire pantheon of landscape blogging by any means, a cross section - and an indication (as two years ago, there were but a few). A few of these show up on the sidebar of links for L+U - both some others don't for very particular reasons. I make it a point to only link to sites that are not aiming for being a portal to a specific landscape architecture firm - for the simple desire that I want to avoid any potential perception that I'm 'advertising' for anyone. My company that I work for started a blog, and this is absent as well for the same reason, as L+U (and the new Veg.itecture blog) is a singular work on myself and just meant as a resource, not a clearinghouse of all things landscape (there's some good ones of those emerging as well).

Thanks Daniel from LAM for including this site in the article. If you'd like a sneak preview of the full article, check out the new online version of LAM (and subscribe to the digital format) to see and read more. Here's a snapshot:

:: image via LAM online edition

And as it was, what seemed to me, a large omission to the article, Pruned - which has been the inspiration for a number of bloggers in the landscape realm and beyond - is celebrating an amazingly productive and thoughtful 5 year birthday. Congrats Alexander Trevi on the amazing work and inspiring longevity.

Urban Chickens Build - 3

A crappy weather weekend, but some major progress today...

:: the roof framing goes in

:: the front plate is where the removable ecoroof will attach

:: plywood goes on (window to the right, egg hatch capture door to the left) - giant shrubbery attacking the roof is from my overzealous pruning of the lilac

:: the entire side wall has a hinged opening for cleaning/access


:: ready for ecoroof, windows, doors & siding

Urban Chickens Build - 2

A summation of days 2 & 3 of the experiment in urban chickens... with the final form framed out and the interior in place, ready for roof framing and plywood, and eventually ecoroof and siding. Should be habitable by this weekend...


:: 2 walls down...


:: and 3...


:: and four...


:: framing the interior


:: exterior view of laying boxes for easy access to eggs


:: ...and the interior with safety rail and access step

The form has also given the structure a suitable name, now known as the 'Chicken Cube' (trademark pending... :). Fitting, no?




:: the sun, and the chicken cube emerges