Rooftop Habitats - Dusty Gedge

Urban ecologist Dusty Gedge came to Portland recently for a series of lectures discussing biodiversity for ecoroofs - a topic in need of exploration in our region. His inspiring work in London is an example of the impact that policy and design changes on habitat in urban areas.


:: image via Dusty Gedge

Via KGW: "Wednesday, Dusty Gedge, president of the European Federation of Green-roof Associations, took a tour of some of Portland’s green roof-tops. Gedge says Portland is internationally known for its traditional eco-roofs which help reduce annual storm runoff by about 70 percent. But he says, with a few modifications, the green roofs also provide a home to wildlife like insects and birds."


:: image via Green Roof Consultancy

The modifications he mentioned include developing from a flat monoculture of succulants to increase diversity of substrate, integrate topography, and provide more species diversity. I'd posit that many area rooftops already offer great habitat for insects and birds, and also improve the overall habitat for fish species by providing better water quality. That isn't to say that we shouldn't continue to expand the role of ecoroofs in habitat, as it is vital to moving forward with our knowledge of the potential for these installations in urban areas.


:: image via Green Roof Consultancy

This will require research on how to adapt these for a range of local species of concern, and how to maintain the level of performance with stormwater management and other benefits simultaneously. The other big issue will be education on the benefits balanced with the aesthetic implications of these roofs - as many factors are intertwined in the drivers for implementation of ecoroofs.

Check out some of the coverage from KGW for a tour of area rooftop projects.

Urban Crossings - Los Angeles

Picking up on the threads of the Vegitecture post on 'Crossings', a post on The Dirt made mention of the plans to cap a number of freeways throughout Southern California. "According to The Architect’s Newspaper, there are four separate projects being considered across L.A.: one in Hollywood, one in downtown LA, and two in Santa Monica. “Hollywood Central Park would be built atop the 101 Freeway on a proposed 44-acre site between Santa Monica Boulevard and Bronson Avenue. Park 101 would be built atop the ‘Big Trench’ over the 101 Freeway downtown. Santa Monica is hoping to cap portions of the 10 Freeway between Ocean Avenue and 4th Street, and between 14th and 17th streets, creating five- and seven-acre parks.”


:: image via Architect's Newspaper

One project in this mix with some real traction is the Hollywood Freeway Central Park - which in 2008 developed a initial feasibility study with AECOM as the consultant. The report goes through a mix of analysis and exploration, along with a public involvement process. The idea of knitting the fabric of two severed neighborhoods with elevated park space drives the significant cost for capping projects - aiming to fix some of the damage done in the initial freeway routing.


:: image via AECOM

A range of graphics include some typical analysis - as I'm always interested in seeing the old chestnuts like figure-ground analysis in urban design studies. I'm a fan of the figure ground as a tool, and this case in point reinforces the power of this tool to 'detach' from a system and make key connections.

:: image via AECOM

In this case, most of these retain some of the key crossings... but take advantage of the ability to reorient circulation to create interesting spaces and maximize connectivity.


:: image via AECOM

A range of precedent studies included notable capping projects like Millennium Park (Chicago), Big Dig Park (Boston), Olympic Sculpture Park (Seattle), and others showing examples of spanning roadways to connect disparate portions of the urban fabric.


:: image via AECOM

Another graphic that seems to be in vogue (drawing from some of the scalar diagrams of the book Large Parks) - giving a sense of size and proportion to other established large urban park spaces.


:: image via AECOM

The final concept creates somewhat of a linear park corridor, which is really a series of medium sized park periodically bisected with crossroads. The programs run the gamut from passive spaces to sports fields, sculpture gardens to plazas offering a range of uses - connected by pathways and crossings. There seems to be a range of possible options to use this new space that have been explored in many project proposals - from agriculture to mixed use infill - meaning a park is merely one option.

:: image via AECOM

The simple photo-montage graphics show some dramatic before and after shots of the reclaimed space atop what was essentially a dead zone below.



:: images via AECOM

Obviously time and economics will tell if this is a viable strategy to implement in our cities. The experience with the costly and issue-prone Big Dig has soured some on the idea, although the spaces that are emerging atop the depressed roadway is starting to pay dividends for a new public realm. Burying is one thing - spanning and capping is another, taking advantage of the existing configuration of roadway 'canyons' to reconnect spaces. My thought is that it is not the silver bullet, (more like a really expensive band-aid) but necessary (in lieu of freeway removal altogether) to strategically reconnect areas of the urban fabric that have been severed to a degree where health and livability are forever degraded. The expense means a surgical analysis is necessary to determine where to locate these for maximum impact, as well as how to program the spaces appropriately to make use of the space. There has been much renewed talk about this, so I imagine we will see more of these in the not-so-distant-future. And I think that's a good sign.

Download the entire report here for the full story.

[Fill in the Blank] Urbanism

I attended a pow-wow recently - aimed at discussing the state of landscape urbanism theory and it's past, present, and future implications for planning, urban design and landscape architecture. Amongst many other interesting thoughts (more to come on this), one aspect of the conversation that stuck in my brain stuck was the recent (maybe?) upswing in the use of paired terms ending with the term 'urbanism' to describe a range of theoretical positions related to all things urban.



The general definition of urbanism fits a wide range of situations, making it an evocative word with easy addition of a modifier. Via Wikipedia: "Urbanism is a focus on cities and urban areas, their geography, economies, politics, social characteristics, as well as the effects on, and caused by, the built environment."






I was inspired to do a quick Google search and glean all of these pairings - leaving many upcoming MONU titles in the future...

New Urbanism
Ecological Urbanism
Future Urbanism
Green Urbanism
Resilient Urbanism
Infrastructural Urbanism
Sustainable Urbanism
Emergent Urbanism
Participatory Urbanism
Walkable Urbanism
Everyday Urbanism
Real Urbanism
Clean Urbanism
Border Urbanism
Exotic Urbanism
2nd Rate Urbanism
Beautiful Urbanism
Brutal Urbanism
Denied Urbanism
Political Urbanism
Middle Class Urbanism
Paid Urbanism
Post-Traumatic Urbanism
Big Urbanism
Agricultural Urbanism
Open Source Urbanism
Opportunistic Urbanism
Instant Urbanism
Unitary Urbanism
Bricole Urbanism
Slum Urbanism
Networked Urbanism
Bypass Urbanism
Gypsy Urbanism
DIY Urbanism
Integral Urbanism
Inverted Urbanism
Vernacular Urbanism
Pop-Up Urbanism
Nuclear Urbanism
New (Sub)Urbanism
Informal Urbanism
Behavioral Urbanism
Temporary Urbanism
Braided Urbanism
Trace Urbanism
Market Urbanism
Propagative Urbanism
Radical Urbanism
Anti-Urbanism
Disconnected Urbanism
Magical Urbanism
Recombinant Urbanism
Guerilla Urbanism
Dialectical Urbanism
Stereoscopic Urbanism
Holy Urbanism
Retrofuture Urbanism
Digital Urbanism
Micro Urbanism
Parametric Urbanism







I'm sure there are 100s of others - but it's an interesting phenomenon. Have a favorite?