2015 ASLA PROFESSIONAL AWARDS:

Mill Creek Ranch

Honor Award, Residential

Vanderpool, TX | Ten Eyck Landscape Architects Inc. | Client: Private

Source:
https://www.asla.org/2015awards/96149.html

PROJECT STATEMENT:
Nestled in the Medina River valley of the Central Texas Hill Country, this ranch derives its beauty from its peninsular setting at the convergence of a natural spring and hill country creek. The open-air layout of the new ranch buildings—combined with terraced gardens, water and fire features, trails, and restoration of the site—allow the residents and their guests to be fully, yet comfortably, immersed in the beauty of the Texas Hill Country. A cascading storm water and creek purification feature in the courtyard activates multiple senses and pays homage to the spring, while another feature circulates a rill of spring water to help oxygenate the adjacent creek. Native grass lawns provide spaces for entertaining and children’s athletic activities. Old ranch roads and footprints of former barns now give rise to native grasses and forbs that cleanse rainwater prior to entering the creek and spring.

DESIGN CONTEXT:
The new ranch house compound, situated near a spectacular bald cypress-lined spring and a creek, features outdoor living spaces carefully crafted to highlight existing features and designed to accommodate the client’s desire for play lawns, volleyball areas, a meditation area, a boat launch, hiking trails, and engaging water and fire elements. The various spaces are defined by native vegetation and durable hardscape materials—such as limestone, Oklahoma sugarloaf sandstone, natural steel, and board-formed concrete—selected to maintain coherency with the architecture. The architects sited the four building complexes at different elevations and angles, which were resolved by the landscape architect through terraced gardens and creatively routed stone plank paths. Original drawings by the civil engineer showed a catch basin in the middle of the courtyard to manage stormwater runoff; alternatively, the landscape architect developed a cleansing riparian courtyard garden and check dams that cleanse and accentuate the path of rainwater prior to it entering the spring and creek. Water features near the spring intercept small amounts of spring water to enhance the sensory experience of sound in addition to helping aerate the stagnant-prone waters of the creek, here upstream from an existing dam. Consistent forms and material selections respond to variations in site conditions and program to create a dynamic, yet unified aesthetic for the ranch house and ranch manager’s compounds and barn, which features an organic orchard and vegetable garden.



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Hummelo

Hummelo is a village and private garden in Gelderland, eastern Netherlands. It is also Piet Oudolf’s home, his personal garden laboratory, a former nursery run by his wife Anja, and the place where he first tested new designs and created the new varieties of perennials that are now widely available.

Piet Oudolf is an influential Dutch garden designer, nurseryman and author. He is a leading figure of the "New Perennial" movement, using bold drifts of herbaceous perennials and grasses which are chosen at least as much for their structure as for their flower color. Other noteworthy Oudolf projects include The Highline and The Battery in New York City.

Oudolf first moved into Hummelo in 1982. It has gone through many changes which reflect Oudolf's constantly developing planting design.

 

Sources:
http://oudolf.com/
http://www.monacellipress.com/book/?isbn=9781580934183

 

 

 

 

LOWLINE....A DIFFERENT WAY

TO THINK ABOUT A PARK

There are some cities that have famous parks, like New York's Central park.  Many are not surprise or impressed to hear about a new park in a city that already has a great one already.  What would you think about an underground park?  Perhaps, how does this actually work? Well, the minds of Dan Barasch and James Ramsey have done just that...designed and created an underground park in New York City.



The project is based on the approach, developed by James Ramsey (a former NASA engineer).  The proposed location is Manhattan's Lower East Side.  First the duo captivated New Yorker with the park idea in 2011 with a media campaign.  The two acquired funding through a couple of 'Kickstarter' campaigns, then a South Korea technology company (SunPortal) jointed the project (2013).

So, 'How does this actually work?'  The underground park will be equipped with a new prototype remote solar hardware and hand-polished lenses from Germany - the retooled optics system preserves the Archimedean aspects of the first scheme.  The Lowline Lab will be housed in the Essex Street warehouse until March, but he lab is destined for the abandoned trolley station beneath Delancey Street.

While visiting the lab, you will notice the glowing tubes of refracted sunlight - suspended from the ceiling - aren't intended to illuminate the space.  The park has been described as a cross between a corporate atrium, a botanical garden, and the Rainforest Café - thanks to the contributions of Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects.

While this is a great idea and will prove useful in the future, there's nothing like going outside for fresh air and the scenic views.

References

1. METROLOIS magazine - February 2016

Links

1. http://www.thelowline.org/

2. http://www.metropolismag.com/Point-of-View/January-2016/Q-A-Lowline-Founders-Dan-Barasch-and-James-Ramsey/



SCAD's Answer to Urban Housing?

Most urban colleges and universities have housing issues - for the upper classmen, which students tend to stress about as much as classes.  Well, SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) is proposing a solution to this problem.  It's called 'SCADPad' and the idea is to find new ways to re-use existing structures and make habitable communities. 

The project is an interdisciplinary collaboration of students, faculty/ staff and alumni - who designed dwelling units in a parking garage near the SCAD-Atlanta campus.  The project includes three dwelling units - each with a different theme/ identity, a common space - organic garden, a composting/ recycling center and a rapid prototype area - with a 3D printer.   The size of each dwelling unit is equal to the size of a parking space (8' x 16') and is laid out with a bathroom/ kitchen/ sleeping space.  The themes for the dwelling units are Asia, Europe and North America.  The decore can be changed and or enhanced with each occupant.

To obtain real feedback on whether the project could work, SCAD students, faculty/ staff and special quests have taken turns living in the SCADPads - two weeks each.  Initially the project was to span a few months (April to June 2014), but it is currently approaching it's second year.

Thinking Space

Organic Garden

Asia Dwelling Unit

Asia Dwelling Unit - bathroom

Europe Dwelling Unit

Europe Dwelling Unit - Exterior

North America Dwelling Unit

North America Dwelling Unit - Bathroom

SCADPad Evolution

Bubble Chairs
 


If find this idea interesting and would like to follow the project, go to the project website (www.scadpad.com/).  You will be able to register and receive updates.

References:

1). ARCHITECT magazine

     http://www.architectmagazine.com/videos/checking-in-with-scads-parking-garage-micro-community

2). SCADPad website

     http://scadpad.com/

3). DWELL Magazine

     http://www.dwell.com/great-idea/article/parking-garage-next-frontier-adaptive-reuse

4). HUFFINGTON POST

     http://www.huffingtonpost.com/j-michael-welton/the-scadpad-affordable-ho_b_5169152.html



Buhl Community Park

Buhl Community Park 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

After winning first place in a national competition, ACLA ushered the design for this public park, adjacent to the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum, through its opening day in 2012. The design respects and highlights the historic importance of the site at the same time as it breathes fresh life into the plaza. After reconnecting the historic city grid that was destroyed during 1960’s-era ‘urban renewal’ efforts, the park is once again the public gathering area it once was for Allegheny City.

Important design features such as a bioswale and native planting educate visitors about sustainability, while an interactive art installation activates the space and fosters a connection with the nearby Children’s Museum. Emphasizing species native to the waterways, woodlands, and meadows of Pittsburgh’s region, the planting design for Allegheny Public Square connects visitors with the experiential qualities of the local ecosystems while also processing the plaza’s storm-water. ACLA assembled and managed a large team of designers and engineers to meet the unique challenges of building this park.

Collaboration with a public artist to develop the site-specific installation, fully integrated into the park, was an important aspect of the design process. The resulting art piece by Ned Kahn consists of a grid of 64 stainless steel poles that emit fog with water fed from the steam heating system of Pittsburgh. An ethereal hovering sphere floats above the park’s surface.

Wonder

WONDER, the opening exhibition at the newly renovated Renwick Gallery, features site-specific installations that transform the galleries into a contemporary “cabinet of wonders.” Nine major contemporary artists, Jennifer Angus, Chakaia Booker, Gabriel Dawe, Tara Donovan, Patrick Dougherty, Janet Echelman, John Grade, Maya Lin, and Leo Villareal, are installing work that responds to the architectural spaces of this national historic landmark. Each artist “takes over” one gallery in the building so that the museum as a whole becomes one immersive artwork. Eight of these works are new, inspired by and crafted exclusively for the Renwick.


The featured artists were selected for their ability to transform spaces through installation, for their focus on how visitors experience that space, and especially for their abiding interest in process and materials, aligning them with the Renwick’s mission to showcase the best in American craft.

































Check it out. This will be on Exhibit until July 10th 2016 at the Renwick Gallery
17th & Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC
http://www.si.edu/Exhibitions/Details/Wonder-5785