Hudson Valley Ruins

Thomas Rinaldi spoke today in support of the recent book, Hudson Valley Ruins, that he co-authored with Rob Yasinsac. He spoke about buildings along the Hudson that aren't what they used to be. So many of them have only been lost recently. He suggested that housing is a key pressure; one NGO has identified a toal of 15,000 proposed housing units along the River presently.

One example would be the Bannerman Castle on Pollopel Island, in the Hudson River. It has laid is ruins for some town with little hopes of reuse. A more positive example is the reuse of an old industrial site that has been transformed into DIA: Beacon. More controversial is the proposal by Alsop for the Yonkers Power Plant.

A lesson learned: Some might still be confused about Andrew Jackson Downing and Alexander Jackson Davis. Davis was the architect. Downing was the landscape architect who died prematurely and is one of the top 10 shapers of the American landscape. Both were very important to the history of this region.

The image above (from the LoC) shows the old Newburgh, NY. Implied in the talk is the idea that Newburgh itself today is a ruins on the Hudson.

(I've mapped the Castle, Dia, and Power Plant on the S&PGoogleMap)

Jinhua Architecture Park

Jinhua, China is home to an intriguing new park. The park is the brainchild of Ai Wei Wei who has gotten 16 significant architects to design pavillions for this riverside park. The pictures remind me of a less consistent version of the follies in La Villette. Despite the somewhat gray weather, Iwan Baan's photography just makes me want to visit so badly.
I've mapped it for the more spatial readers.

Stay home and watch TV

If you missed last night's NOVA, First Flower, you get another chance in our area Thursday evening. Thursday night, WLIW 21 will rerun the episode at 8 (and The Office is a repeat, so you can miss it). NOVA follows a plant hunter into the wilds of China looking for evidence of the oldest known flowering plant. According to Slate, the story really follows two paths: a human one and botanical one.

The human story begins with Chinese paleontologist Sun Ge who, after 10 years of slicing rocks out of limestone and volcanic ash layers in northern China, found the fossil of what he thought might be a flowering plant.

Sun brought the fossil to University of Florida paleobotanist David Dilcher, who'd been looking for traces of the earliest flower for some 35 years. Professor Dilcher assured Sun that what they came to call archaefructus (old fruit) was indeed a flowering plant and that it was probably 142 million years old—thus it could be called the first flower.

And at 10, WLIW is showing a Globe Trekker which looks at Cuba and Haiti. I saw a few minutes of the Haiti segment and couldn't help but change the way I think about that island.

Princeton Junction redevelopment

West Windsor is undergoing a process for planning and designing the redevelopment of the area around the Princeton Junction train station. This is a very active station on the busiest train line in the US, and all it has right now is a tiny building and large surface lots. They are planning a public comment meeting in May before Hillier reveals their plans this summer. As New Jersey moves towards more transit-oriented hubs, this could be an important demonstration of how you convert after the station has already been established as a suburban park and ride.

Cracks in the wall

The NYTimes has yet another cool graphic. This one shows all of the cracks that have been revealed in the structure of the Guggenheim Museum.

Summer position: GIS Work on the New Jersey Highlands

Summer position: GIS Work on the New Jersey Highlands

Full time position. Pay range: $12 to $18 per hour depending on qualifications. The work, to be done at CRSSA on the Cook Campus at Rutgers, would entail modifying a GIS of the New Jersey Highlands with special attention to two layers, one concerning growth in open space parcels and the other concerning changes in zoning regulations during the past 35 years. If you are interested, please contact Tom Rudel at rudel@aesop.rutgers.edu or at 732-932-9169x317.

A time to celebrate plants

Today's Times takes a little time out to celebrate the true and full beauty of plants as a biological delight.

Will sell Tiffany windows for food?

A church in Elizabeth is considering selling off its remarkable Tiffany windows to generate
money needed for hunger alleviation.

Nor'easter 2007: Part 1?

The rain has stopped (for now) but everyone is home today because RU and the local schools are all closed. This has already been quite a storm, and now some areas have to brace for the melted snow to hit their streams.

There are pleanty of videos and photos online. Here are a few that stand out to me:
Photo from Bound Brook
Bound Brook along the Raritan?
Video from in or near Bound Brook

The coverage at http://blog.nj.com/reporter/bound_brook/ has been worth looking at.

I assume that there will be more interesting tidbits over the next day or so.

PP videos

As citizens try to fight planning decisions and change public perception on environmental issues, they are turning to videos as a tool for education and persuassion.

An interesting example comes from Fort Lauderdale where a major waterfront development is being opposed by a group of citizens who have turned to YouTube to express their concerns.



As a different use of You Tube, I point you towards Future City in Elizabeth (disclosure: I work with them). They have produced some environmentally-focused videos looking at issues facing the Elizabeth River-Arthur Kill Watershed (and all of urban America). They work to advance awareness as a general goal and not directed at a specific conflict on the calendar.



It all feels very David and Goliath. It is hard to be critical of a small group trying to protect their town or environment. So it may be equally hard to suspect or believe that jumpy little videos made by a anti-shopping mall group could really made by a group funded by another developer who is pro-resort hotel. And how do you research these groups to discover their full intent? With a group like Future City in Elizabeth, there is a 10 year history. But when citizens spontaneously respond to a new "threat" there is no history.

FAQ: County College transfer classes

Q. I'd rather take a few classes at a County College. How will I know if they count? How many can I take?

A. Sometimes there are some real benefits to taking a few classes at County Colleges. However, before you take them you should be sure that they will properly fulfill your goals. Here are a few issues to consider:

In your last 42 credit hours here at Rutgers, 30 credits have to be completed AT Rutgers. That means a maximum of 12 credits elsewhere.

Will the Pre-Calc class at your local school count as pre-calc here? Just check the website at http://www.njtransfer.org/. They will give you definitive answers on equivalent courses. Several different College area requirements might be handled that way.
To use it, go straight to http://www.njtransfer.org/ and find the link to "Find Course Equivalencies". Set the Sending Institution to your local County College and set the Receiving Institution to "Rutgers-Sch Env Biol Sci-Co". If you have a specific class in mind, you can just type in the course number. If you are looking for general requirements just click on the "Keyword Look-Up" button and use the "Rutgers-Sch Env Biol Sci-Cook Co GEd:" pulldown menu to pick the set of requirements that you wan to investigate.

When you find some courses that have equivalency, you still need to go back to the County College's schedule and see when they are offered.

Be warned, very few of the Landscape Architecture requirements can be completed with transfers. And they almost always require approval of the faculty of the Department.

Another Century in DC

As the National Mall in Washington DC enters its third decade, planners and designers are trying to figure out how to make it durable while remaining a central democratic space. A day-long symposium at the National Building Museum examined many of the issues surrounding the future of the Mall and the District. The Washington Post's coverage described how security is becoming a major impediment to quality experiences:

Larry Beasley, a former planning director for Vancouver, B.C., brought this nugget of Canadian wisdom: "The whole world is going mad about security," which has become, in terms of architecture and planning, the most important force shaping our cities. He lamented the return of above-ground parking garages (to prevent a car bomb from taking out a building placed above underground parking) and the use of huge setbacks (they create dead zones in the urban fabric). Cities that are finally reflecting the virtues of density, mixed-use development and walkable spaces are being shoved in the wrong direction by security-mad bureaucrats.

And then there is that problem with the grass too...

It was also a day of soapboxes. Lucy Barber, author of "Marching on Washington: The Forging of an American Political Tradition," sagely pointed out that no matter how much the locals may dread the spring season of political protests, the idea of gathering on the Mall to demand something from the government is deeply embedded not just in the city's sense of itself, but in the American sense of identity as well. All those politicians who think "we have to do something about marchers" get it wrong. The marchers' right to make our beloved Mall a barren wasteland of trampled, stubbly grass makes us who we are.

an idea that is catching on

In his book, Six Degrees, Duncan Watts explores and explains how complex networks cause results that seem indirect or chaotic but are really quite organized. In today's NYTimes Sunday Magazine, Watts published a summary of his recent work called, "Is Justin Timberlake a Product of Cumulative Advantage?" In their recent research, Watts' team demonstrated how our social networks and perceptions of popularity more strongly influence our taste in music than does the quality of the music.

So does a listener’s own independent reaction to a song count for anything? In fact, intrinsic “quality,” which we measured in terms of a song’s popularity in the independent condition, did help to explain success in the social-influence condition. When we added up downloads across all eight social-influence worlds, “good” songs had higher market share, on average, than “bad” ones. But the impact of a listener’s own reactions is easily overwhelmed by his or her reactions to others. The song “Lockdown,” by 52metro, for example, ranked 26th out of 48 in quality; yet it was the No. 1 song in one social-influence world, and 40th in another. Overall, a song in the Top 5 in terms of quality had only a 50 percent chance of finishing in the Top 5 of success.

That reminded of an old Advanced Environmental Geomatics problem that we explored on the Intrinsic Values of the Landscapes of Highlands. It was a follow-up to Jones and Jones' Intrinsic Values project in Puget Sound.

But does Watts' work prove scientifically that there is no such thing as the intrinsic or aesthetically perfect landscape? How do designers learn from this? And does this mean we should build cheap, plain parks and just work to get people excited about them? I really hope that this raises some exciting new research in regards to landscape perception and popularity.

GIS Job -- Hunterdon County

HINT: They are looking to get resumes by April 27th.

The County of Hunterdon seeks to fill the full time position of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Specialist Trainee in the Department of Information Technology / Division of GIS.

REQUIREMENTS:

ABILITIES Knowledge of and experience with ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) products ArcInfo, ArcView, ArcMAP, ArcCatalog as well as Trimble GPS equipment. Knowledge of and experience in computerized data entry and formatting, data base management, and data base utilization.
Ability to maintain your focus on long-term work assignments. Knowledge of all phases of computer map preparation including digitization, data transmission, data reformatting, and map production. Experience with Trimble GPS products and software including data dictionary development, GPS data collection, correction and export. Knowledge of and experience in
Metadata creation.

Knowledge of ESRI products Spatial Analyst, 3D Analyst, ArcIMS and ArcSDE, Visual Basic Scripting as well as Microsoft SQL Server and Adobe Illustrator a plus.

EDUCATION Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor's degree.

LICENSE Appointees will be required to possess a driver's license valid in New Jersey.

40 Hr Work Week: Salary Range of $28,340 - $41,050

Please submit a resume and a <http://www.co.hunterdon.nj.us/personnel/jobapp.htm> County Application for Employment By April 27, 2007 to:

Hunterdon County Department of Human Resources

Cheryl A. Wieder, Director

Route 12 County Complex
Building #1, 2nd FloorPO Box 2900
Flemington, New Jersey 08822-2900
908-788-1114 * FAX 908-806-4236

<http://www.co.hunterdon.nj.us/Misc/adaeeo.htm> AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
EMPLOYER

The next Steinbrenner

Andy Borowitz of the NY Times writes about the potential replacements that George Steinbrenner might want to recruit and mentor as his new heir apparent.

While the frontrunner candidates have the last name of Steinbrenner, there is one other of special note. In regards to AG Alberto Gonzales, Borowitz reports:

“On the negative side, Gonzales doesn’t seem very good at remembering things that were said at meetings,” says the insider. “But on the plus side, it looks like he’s going to be available soon.” Gonzales’s biggest fan may also be the most important one: The Boss himself. “Steinbrenner is totally blown away by Alberto,” the insider says. “Even George has never fired eight people in one day.”

California dreamin'

(Photos: Union Station San Diego, Costa Mesa, Santa Monica, La Jolla, Cottonwood Spring Joshua Tree, Joshua Tree)

Landscape Architecture talk in Central Park

David Kamp, ASLA, LF

"Collaboration in the Garden: Creating Restorative Environments"

Monday, APRIL 16, 2007

6:00 -8:00 PM

The Arsenal, Central Park, 5th Avenue at 65th Street, New York, NY

Learning Units: 1.5 (HSW)
ASLA Member Price: $10
Nonmember Price: $15

When designing accessible spaces for "special needs" populations, one designs not just for the disabled, but for everyone. The Elizabeth and Nona Evans Restorative Garden in the Cleveland Botanical Garden, winner of the 2006 National and New York Chapter of ASLA Honor Award, was created to accommodate the full range of the human condition. This presentation will outline the collaborative approach used to incorporate nature, healing, and design in the development of the Restorative Garden. It will also explore the renovation and expansion of a treasured Library Reading Garden into an exemplary setting that expresses the
restorative powers of nature.

That guy from Freshman English

That guy that was in my Freshman English class just got a new job.

Second Life for Les Halles?

Paris is on the verge of replacing Les Halles with something new. So, the BBC reports, they've turned to Second Life to get a full and robust set of suggestions on its future.

Vonnegut dead

Kurt Vonnegut has passed away.

One of the great talks I saw in college was by Kurt Vonnegut and he was still making the rounds in recent years. His writing was groundbreaking and still reads as fresh and fun. His official website seems to have gone into a fairly inert state. But Archive.org lets you review what was there last year.

MVV on poetry

While it wasn't exactly central to his talk this evening, Michael Van Valkenburgh cited a poem by Wallace Stevens called Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. I believe that the quote he referenced was:

I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.

But you might want to read the whole poem.

And I've topped this post with the photo of Robert Rauschenberg's Migration, which was referenced in the talk too.

Stewards of the Environment?

In recognition of Landscape Architecture month, PlaNetizen.com interviewed three landscape architects. I found Steve Martino's comments to be particularly telling:

How do you think landscape architecture has changed since you first entered the field?
The quality of design has increased drastically since I started, but I think the basic services are still the same. When I joined the ASLA in 1980, the main market for landscape architects in my area was providing "sprawl" design services for developers. The ASLA had a motto in these days that made me feel good about the profession. It stated that we were "Stewards of the Environment." However, as I looked around, not much of that "stewardship" made it down to the street level. I used to say maybe we were the Martha Stewarts of the environment. The Savings and Loan robber barons were dumping their money into huge projects that displace the natural environment with exotic landscapes that tried to make the desert look like somewhere else. Landscape architects would stand in line to be these developer’s stooges.

Twenty-five years later, most of the firms in my area have grown into rather large firms catering to developers conquering and displacing the natural environment. Unfortunately, I think we are still a profession servicing sprawl.

Ouch. Happy Landscape Architecture Month!

Washington Township

New Jersey's premiere New Urbanist community, Washington Township, has been overwhelmed by families with kids.

2007 ASLA Professional Awards announced

The 2007 ASLA professional Awards have been announced. This annual review of built and published works usually results in showing several projects that I wish I could visit. This year is no different. I pick over them some over the next few weeks, but the standouts to me right now include Reed Hilderbrand's Leventritt Garden at the Arnold Arboretuem, Kenny Helphand's book (previously mentioned here, here, and here) and Ned and Molly's plan for the Lower Howard's Creek. I also notice that Portland keeps racking up awards for stormwater-related designs. Looks like a diverse and deserving group.

Peeps Dioramas

The Washington Post held a contest to find the best Peeps dioramas. They were overwhelmed with the responses they received.

Hippity hop hop

Is that real?

Success is a choice

Where else can you announce a pep rally on four hours notice and draw such a large crowd? Kentucky has a coach and something new to celebrate and speculate about. The Lexington Herald-Leader kicked off the excitement Friday with an "extra-edition front page on the hiring of UK basketball coach Billy Gillispie". You can still get a copy if you call their 800 number.

He says he understands the high expectations...

"The expectations are extremely high, as high as they are anywhere in the country," Gillispie said of UK basketball. "But if they give you the things you need to win, and you're expected to win, that's what I want to do.

But does he really understand what he is in for?

Gillispie even embraced the famously surreal UK fan expectations, best illustrated by the caller to Tubby Smith's radio show who said, "We're 22-3, but I'm not giving up."

John Clay says it is a great match and that UK fans are just going to love this guy, his persona and style...as long as he wins. His style is built on some intense man-to-man defense and "boot camp" type condition at the start of the practice season.

The Lousiville Courier-Journal discovered Gillespie a few weeks ago since they were seeded into Louisville's NCAA bracket and ultimately sent the Cards home. Eric Crawford's column this morning is revealing"

What I've found is a guy who has made team managers run sprints for not wiping up sweat the right way.

A guy who wrote the name of all of the players' mothers on the board after a poor rebounding game, then got the attention of several by pointing out that they had gotten as many rebounds as their mothers.

A guy who once was so irritated that his players weren't playing fast enough in a game that he forbade them from running through the entire next day's practice, forcing them to walk the whole way while telling them if they weren't going to run hard in games, they might as well not run in practice.

I read about him storming out of practices in disgust, proclaiming that he couldn't watch another minute, only to have players discover later that he watched the rest from a secret spot.

OK, so maybe this guy is ready for Rupp Arena. But he needs to start figuring out how to hang those banners up there, or this is going to be another short-lived relationship.

Let the sun shine

After a touch of snow yesterday, it seems a bit odd that it is so sunny here. And the crisp shadows this morning got me thinking about how dynamic and temporal shadows are. And that quickly led me to sundials. The Samrat Yantra in Jaipur, India is said to be the world's largest sundial. It is 73 feet tall. But then someone turned the Mont St. Michel into a giant, temporary sundial. Very cool.

Margaret O. Cekada Memorial Lecture for 2007

Tuesday, April 10, 6:30 pm
Trayes Hall, Douglass Campus Center

Michael Van Valkenburgh
Recent Work

The Rutgers Department of Landscape Architecture
is pleased to announce that the 2007 Margaret O.
Cekada Memorial Lecture will be given by Michael
Van Valkenburgh, principal of Michael Van Valkenburgh
Associates and Charles Eliot Professor in Practice
of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Graduate
School of Design.

As one critic wrote, "To look at Van Valkenburg's
work is to see a landscape architect coming to
grips with a number of particularly contemporary
challenges. It is to be witness to an effort to
marry an essentially placeless modernist language
with more recent contextual concerns, whether
defined in terms of regionalism or local ecology."

In this talk Mr. Van Valkenburgh will share thoughts
on interpreting and engaging the built environment
in several of his recent projects including Alumnae
Valley on the Wellesley College Campus, which won an
American Society of Landscape Architects Award of
Excellence for 2006. Part of a seven-year reworking
of the campus, the design restores ecological function
to a once-contaminated landscape. The award jury
concluded: "The landscape architect backs up an
understated, sophisticated design with real science.
This project totally transforms the campus and sends
a very strong environmental message. Excellent
planning and execution--truly elegant."

Mr. Van Valkenburgh is a Fellow of the American
Society of Landscape Architects and of the American
Academy in Rome. He was awarded the 2003 National
Design Award in Environmental Design by the
Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt Museum and
has been the recipient of grants from numerous
organizations including the Graham Foundation and
the National Endowment for the Arts. He received
a BS in landscape architecture from Cornell University
and an MLA from the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign.

For questions, please contact the Department of
Landscape Architecture at 732-932-9317 or visit the
web site at landarch.rutgers.edu

Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates website . . .
www.mvvainc.com

ASLA Award for Alumnae Valley website . . .
asla.org/awards/2006/06winners/309.html

Flashback: Ian McHarg

When I found this old 1991 Planning Magazine article about Ian McHarg, I just had to share. While some of the pieces of his work seem a little dated, the ideas and the work itself have held up so well over time.

McHarg's reputation is most often linked with a method of suitability analysis which, as everyone who has read his 1969 book, Design With Nature, knows, is a way of planning land uses using hand-drawn, translucent overlay maps of geology, soils, vegetation, and other critical factors.

When the maps are superimposed, sensitive areas, as well as areas suitable for particular human activities, are revealed as in the "light shining through a stained-glass window." The concept was not original with McHarg. It had been tried as early as 1912 by landscape architect Warren Manning in Billerica, Massachusetts, and later, in various rough incarnations, by others. It took McHarg to turn an old refrain into an environmental call to arms.

And in our planning class, it is nice to see how his work keeps coming up in different units.

Michael Van Valkenburgh

The Margeret Cekada Memorial Lecture for 2007 is going to be given Tuesday April 10th by Michael Van Valkenburgh. While waiting for the lecture you might visit the official website of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.

3 Landscapes: Roy DeBoer Jr and Bruce Crawford

Two speakers with a total of three sites between them.

Roy DeBoer Jr.
Old Fairgrounds in San Diego - Balboa Park
Golden Gate Park

Bruce Crawford
Inner Harbor

For background, go here: http://hahawall.rutgers.edu/tulloch/Candidates.html

Rutgers Gardens Common Lecture

Today's common lecture was given by Roy DeBoer Jr and Bruce Crawford and presented their vision for the future for Rutgers Gardens. It included a thorough review of the site and their analysis of the conditions. One of the biggest problems continues to be circulation and access. But they also need to expand the visitors facilties and distribute parking throughout the property instead of focusing it all in one place. But they also need to coordinate their activities with other future changes to the area including the Equine Center and a potential Conference Center.

We've mentioned it before. This is one of the very special places at Rutgers.

Walrus GPS

Well, it isn't exactly TomTom, but scientists are going to start tracking walruses with GPS tags.
They'll be attached from a distance by shooting a crossbow at the walruses. Much of the effort is aimed at getting a better sense for how these animals move around, but it might also help monitor changes in patterns as an impact of climate change. It is amazing to realize how much we have left to learn about an animal that seems so familiar and common at zoos.

IKEA houses?

Sure, that IKEA lamp looks nice on that IKEA table next to your IKEA chair. But will that IKEA house look so good on the IKEA street in your new IKEA neighborhood? IKEAtown will help you answer that.

Strange Maps

A great blog that has been distracting me is Strange Maps, which posts unusual maps for your perusal and entertainment. The map above is from Lewis Carroll's Hunting of the Snark. Some of their others are pretty memorable too. My favorite might be the Eisenhower Interstate System.

April is National Landscape Architecture Month

Is it really that time of year already? Well, let the celebrations begin. National Landscape Architecture Month is here and I can't think of a better way to celebrate than by hiring a few more LA faculty. Seriously. We are searching for three positions:

• a senior faculty member in landscape architecture who can serve as the Director of forthcoming graduate program
• a new tenture-track Extension position helping connect cutting-edge landscape architecture with the communities of New Jersey
• an instructor in landscape architecture who can teach construction and technology

Ah, but didn't those searches close already? No, they have a date on which we began reviewing candidates but no set date on which we close the search. If you know a qualified individual, please send them our way. And HAPPY LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MONTH!

Free Wireless Broadband!

I know some people never trust Google that much. But this seems like a worthy exception. They are helping turn the existing household infrastructure into a broadband delivery system that can work free in nearly every home! This could revolutionize the way that people blend the most mundane of daily functions with the constantly streaming flow of, um, data and information. And the FAQ clearly answers those questions about privacy that TiSP raises.

What a great way to start off the month of April.

Opening Day at Hilltop Park

On the Eve of Opening Day, the NY Times has published an Op-Art piece about old Hilltop Park. I am ready.

FAQ: Special Problems classes

Q. I see a class listed as Special Problems, can I take that? When does it meet and who teaches it?

A. Special Problems is a class in which a student chooses a willing faculty instructor and negotiates with them for a single-semester individual project or independent study. This allows student to pursue a special project (maybe a research project on the history of urban planning in Western cities or an applied GIS project identifying vernal pools threatened by development or volunteering for the summer at a non-profit that does a lot of planning-relevant work) or study an advanced specialized topic that we ordinarily do not offer as a class (like Conservation GIS or Advanced Readings in Transportation Planning). For the student, it is both a great opportunity and a big responsibility because it requires them to pick the topic and work fairly independently, although depending on the situation you will often find the faculty member providing weekly guidance and oversight.

You can choose any faculty in the EP&D program and ask them to work with you for a “special problems” course. What most require is a written proposal of the work to be done, complete with an indication of the hours per week involved, any final products that will be completed and turned in, basic criteria for grading the work, and perhaps a proposed reading list or maybe a proposed schedule of meetings between the student and faculty. It is somewhat different when it is a topical study than a special work experience, but both should be prefaced by a short (~ 1 page) proposal. There has been a little abuse of this in recent times so some may be a little tougher about what they are willing to fully count as 3 credit hours of work.

I am more than willing to discuss these matters further, but would encourage you to contact me with specific questions or concerns at dtulloch@crssa.rutgers.edu.

This and other FAQs are online at: http://crssa.rutgers.edu/people/dtulloch/faq/FAQs.htm

Tabasco

The McIlhenny family has been making Tabasco on Avery Island, which is less of an island and more of a salt dome. Over the years they've released invasive species (nutria) and dangerous ones (tigers) into the landscapes of Southern Louisiana. But they are mostly a true Louisiana tradition, making their sauce the same way they have for decades. While at LSU, we took the tour of the plant and the island, which was great. So today's report in the NYTimes business section was a welcome walk down memory lane:

The company has stuck to the same basic recipe for its sauce: peppers, salt and vinegar. It still uses the same production techniques as well. When the peppers are harvested, they are shipped back to Avery Island where they are ground into mash. Salt is added and the mixture is put into barrels to age for up to three years.

You must look at the slideshow to appreciate how simple the operation is. And I haven't even mentioned the whole hurrican levee thing.

As RU and LSU gear up for the Women's Final Four, it is another reminder of some eerie parallels and dramatic differences between the places we have lived.

New Urban awards

The Congress for New Urbanism has announced this year's Charter Awards for the nation's best new urban work. One of the award winners is in Camden, NJ (above). The DC area had 5! The variety says a lot about how much the movement has grown over the past decade.

Holiday cut-out

As we enter the multi-holiday season, what could be more fun than a cute little chick cut-out, fold and paste project. We'll have to try this one out over the next few days.

LSU helps rebuild

Bruce Sharky, one of my professors at LSU, led his studio in the redesign of the post-Katrina lakefront in Jefferson Parish. While the levees didn't quite brak, the area was still devestated and needed a vision for how they could get back on track. The student plan was so good that has been officially adopted by the Parish. That is really special:

“I hope the students recognize the significance of this,” said Sharky, a 16-year-veteran of the LSU School of Landscape Architecture. “This kind of thing doesn’t happen very often.”

He isn't kidding.

Good idea

NEWS ITEM: This year one NJ town is insisting that the bombs on their beach be removed before the summer beach season.

That's some smart thinking.

RU Rah Rah

The Rutgers women have made the Final Four. And they did it in a blowout.

Locked Memorial?

Along the monorail line at Liberty Airport in Newark is a large memorial that appears to be completely locked away from the public. There are large engraved granite blocks
at the ends of the paths, but the whole area is fenced and the Bessemer Street entrance looks sealed off. Here is the Gooogle Map location. Anyone know what it is? A temporary Flight 93 memorial?

FAA reroutes planes over NJ

After the development of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, the FAA has announced how they plan to reroute planes over the NJ landscape. Aside from the usual deatils of an EIS, I found the supporting graphics to be quite interesting for their ability to reduce a complex decision to a cartoonish story.

Saving the Roadless Yaak

471,000 acres of roadless wilderness in Montana remain as a unprotected but undeveloped wilderness in an area called Yaak. It has been made somewhat famous by the books of writer Rick Bass. But now Orion magazine has gotten a groups of writers together to produce a video showing the beauty of the area and helping argue for its permanent preservation. The greater presence of videos on the Internet is really impacting the broad reach of class for preservation like this.

FAQ: Environmental Planning Required Electives

Q. The Environmental Planning degree requires 5 “required electives” from a list that ends with the phrase “or advisor-approved courses”. What are they? How do I get my advisor to approve courses?

A. Since Rutgers has some great classes popping up here and there, we can’t possibly keep our list as to date as we’d like. Plus, if you are pursuing a track that is a little unusual, you may need the flexibility provided by “advisor-approved courses” in order to achieve your personal goals. They still need to be classes that build your planning knowledge and abilities in the same ways that the other required electives classes do.

Before you ask your advisor to consider approving a class, you should provide the following:

a) a statement of your area of interest or focus;

b) the name and number of the class;

c) a description of the class (perhaps the syllabus or the catalog description of the class);

d) an explanation of how all 5 classes get you closer to satisfying “a”.

A few additional guidelines would include:

(1) asking about classes that are level 300 or higher,

(2) asking BEFORE you take the class,

(3) making sure that you are clear on why this is such a good option for you with your interests,

(4) avoiding any explanations that base the need for this on scheduling.

And, finally, please treat the decision with respect. Many times it will have involved more faculty than just your advisor. And, should reflect a larger interest (like protecting the academic integrity of the program) and not just your personal situation.

This and other FAQs are online at: http://crssa.rutgers.edu/people/dtulloch/faq/FAQs.htm

Spring has sprung

As the snow melts and the sun moves North, we can turn on some fountains and let the water flow. In celebration of the start of spring I am dusting off some fountain photos.

(Photos: FDR Memorial in DC, Tanner Fountain at Harvard, California Scenario by Noguchi, Country Club Plaza in KC, Buckingham Fountain in Chicago, Meeting of the Waters in St Louis, Peter Walker's Jamison Square in Portland)

Lighting notes (Updated)

Charles Stone, of Fisher Marantz Stone, spoke to us about lighting design. He repeatedly mentioned terms or ideas that you might look into:

• WUnderground's regular listing of different times of twilight, particulalry civil twilight
• Terms like luminance and illuminance (HINT: They're not the same)
• Lux vs. footcandles
• In Praise of Shadows by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki

While he mentioned many examples of work, I'll offer this link to a virtual tour of the Indianapolis Canal Walk. Other nearby examples include the Washington Monument and the Rose Center at the AMNH and the Tribute in Lights at the WTC site.
Great talk.

Mies Masterpiece in trouble

As some of you know, some of my earliest exposure to architecture was very squarely within the Mies-ian tradition. I remain an undeterred fan and find many of the criticisms of his work to simply display a misunderstanding of it on the part of the critic. So it pains me to read the report in the New York Times that his Tugendhat House in Brno is deteriorating while the Tugendhat's and the city can't even agree on who owns it. It also demonstrates, in a larger sense, how hard it is to get Modern buildings maintained as historic structures.

I had considering altering our travel plans a few years ago so we could stop by, but was unsure how much we could see. Man, how I regret that decision.

Charles Stone: 3 Landscapes

Charles Stone might not be a practicing Landscape Architect, but he really gets it. He gave us 3 mighty fine landscapes:

Vaux le Vicomte
Oklahoma City National Memorial
The Great Lawn at UVA

For background, go here: http://hahawall.rutgers.edu/tulloch/Candidates.html

The BASF house

BASF is applying their expertise to improving the technology of home building. They have built a house in nearby Paterson, NJ that demonstrates how the technology can advance Green construction with more efficient and affordable techniques. Sounds like a field trip?

Is that really a good thing?

US News and World Report recently published their annual review of careers and ranked landscape architecture as one of the Best Careers of 2007. They show NYC as the highest paying place to work as an LA, and describe Landscape Architecture in a somewhat accurate manner:

Yes, you might end up creating palatial backyards for rich people. But you might also help design restored wetlands, mountain resorts, urban plazas, and zoos. A landscape architect must have talent for both the aesthetic and the functional, the art and the science–you're creating an ecosystem that must thrive over time.

Godwin's Law in Planning

I don't think I've ever heard of someone declaring an instance of Godwin's Law in planning before, but the Anitplannner has done it. The Washington Post described it as:

There is a dictum in Internet culture called Godwin's Law (after Mike Godwin, a lawyer who coined the maxim), which posits that the longer an online discussion persists, the more likely it is that someone will compare something to the Nazis or Hitler.

The key here is that people care enough about planning issues to get caught up in such heated debate.

Camp Pendleton

As a follow-up to today's 231 EnvPlan lecture, I wanted to post this link to the project materials from Camp Pendleton.

Hong Kong Wetland Park

Today's Daily Dose of Architecture is the Hong Kong Wetland Park. It has been getting International attention and, as I understand it, isn't even done yet. It has also made the not-so-prestigious Top Ten Scenic Sites in Hong Kong.

Open Architecture

The folks at Architecture for Humanity have brought you The Open Architecture Network. This is a place to learn about design and construction techniques that make better housing and lifestyles available for as many people as possible. Some rely on cheap materials, like the straw bale cottages. Others are focused on helping in a specific situation, like in Katrina-ravaged Biloxi.

Most importantly, these are people who are trying to make the world a little better, not just flashier or bigger.

Thom Mayne

It seems like Thom Mayne is really starting to get famous. Although, in 2005, he became the first American to get the prestigious Pritzker Prize since 1991, he still hasn't become as well known outside architecture as names like Gehry, Meier, or even Calatrava.

One reason that his might be that his architecture, which really acheives some important qualities, isn't as eye-catching. Maybe that means it is less superficial, or maybe it means it is altogether less about visual aesthetics. This recent review of his Federal Building in San Francisco proves that good writing can overcome a less photogenic building. It sounds beautiful in a way that a camera might simply be unable to capture. And part of the challenge is does it all while acheiving LEED Silver and creating a better workspace.

His firm, Morphosis, teamed up with Hargreaves Associates to enter the Rutgers' College Avenue Campus Vision/Design competition. Their vision offered to change the spine of campus and the spaces spinning off of that.

You can get a nice overview of his work at Slate.com.

Barcelona

Since this week is our spring break, I realized that it was exactly 1 year ago that we were in Barcelona. The Met currently has a great exhibit on Barcelona's architecture and art. Even if you can't join us on our next trip, you should visit the exhibit. Heck, you should visit the Met.

Anyway, I thought I would celebrate by posting a few favorites from Barca.

Ken McCown

Ken McCown teaches landscape architecture at Cal Poly - Pomona. And he has an awesome Flickr stream.

Book Map

The Gutenkarte is the website that helps convert classic books into maps of the geographic text. For instance, check out A Tale of Two Citites. The fact that the work is all done with open source software is even more impressive.

Anti-environment taxing

New Jersey seems to be one of those places with the unique ability to penalize well-meaning people at every turn. So, it should not come as a surprise that the reward for installing solar panels in New Jersey is higher taxes. You don't even want to hear what they do to people who recycle.

String music!

The brackets are out. Its time to pick who'll win the field of 65. And then tear up your brackets.

I have formed a group called FoD - Friends of Dave at the ESPN Tourney Challenge site. Sign up and pick 'em!

As UK tries to get to play KU, check out the history. And enjoy the thrill of EKU trying to become the first 16 seed to win a game. But, whatever you do, be sure to read this story about what happened to the coaches of a former 16 team that almost made history.


All are welcome. Even our Eurpoean readers.

A dozen distinctive destinations

There is a continuing trend of recognizing places that are "real", unique, and true-to-themselves. In that light, it is nice to see the National Trust for Historic Preservation recognizing towns that have saved themselves.

In recognition of this travel trend, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the country's largest private, nonprofit preservation organization, today announced the selection of its 2007 Dozen Distinctive Destinations, an annual list of unique and lovingly preserved communities in the United States.

I've been to most of the dozen and am only surprised by a few. Aside from making me want to travel a little, the list forces me confront how I already perceived a few.

Human Footprint

For the Spring 2007 Environmental Geomatics lecture we were visited by Eric Sanderson of the Wildlife Conservation Society (via the Bronx Zoo).

Dr. Sanderson spoke about his GIS mapping of the human footprint on the Earth. His mapping also highlighted the Last of the Wild areas on Earth. Its hard to imagine the Congo as an impacted landscape, but photos of a remote highway made the point. And the discussion about how rivers and streams even serve as highways into the Amazon suddenly make the wilderness sound so small. He also spoke a little, afterwards, about his work on the Mannahatta Project. Very exciting stuff.

So, the human footprint is pretty big. How big is yours? MyFootPrint.Org calculates your personal footprint. How many acres do you consume? If everone lived like the average American, we would need about five planets to supply them.

Is mapping an inherently political activity?

We've been talking in some of my classes about maps and messages. Is this map inherently political when you simply present the facts? Or is the politics in the social filters through which we read it? Is it possible to produce this map in a less politically loaded way?

Crossroads of the American Revolution

While we are studying the spatial dimensions of the American Revolution in New Jersey, it is fun (and important) to see what other people have assembled on the topic. A significant resource to which we hope to be complimentary is the Crossroads of the American Revolution. Their map of the key Revolutionary areas of New Jersey gives us a good idea of where we could be looking for more information. Their links provide a very helpful list of places to start digging.

Mark your calendars for the 2007 Battle of Bound Brook on April 28-29th. The re-enactment promises be loud and maybe the Colonials can turn the corner this time.

Thirteen Towers of Chankillo

Scientists have declared some ruins in Peru to be the oldest space observatory in the world. Built 2300 years ago, the Thirteen Towers of Chankillo indicate how well early peoples understood the basics of astronomy.

In a report in the current issue of the journal Science, a Peruvian archaeologist and a British archaeoastronomer wrote that the 13 towers, varying in height from 6 to 20 feet and extending 1,000 feet, are clearly visible from an imposing complex of concentric circles of relatively well-preserved walls enclosing ceremonial buildings. They said the position of the towers in relation to observation points inside the walled complex was firm evidence that this was a place for solar study in calendar-making and ritual ceremonies and feasts of sun cults.

It does make Stonehenge look pretty small.

One of our own?

The latest two Landscape Architecture Magazine issues (2/2007 and 3/2007) included features on one of our own. Last month there was a feature on Darrel Morrison’s prairie restoration work and this month the Reflections column is written by Darrel.

For those who don’t know him yet, Darrel is currently teaching our planting design class with Rich Bartolone. He's been involved in that class for the last three years. Before helping us out, Darrel Morrison was the chair of landscape architecture at Wisconsin, Dean at Georgia, and has taught at other schools including the Conway School and Utah State. He is a familiar name to those of us at RU; while at Wisconsin he helped mentor Steve Strom while Steve was a new faculty member there in the 1970s and taught Jean Marie Hartman when she studied there.

Having Darrel around has been a great experience. His professional network of contacts have helped our students. His highly visible list of built works – including the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and recent changes at Storm King Art Center – bring some great stories and experiences into the classroom with him. We hope that the chance to learn from our students will be a real capstone to an already great career.

If you get the chance to meet Darrel this spring -- maybe at one of our talks -- I hope you’ll let him know how much we appreciate his contribution.

(Sorry about the kid in the photo, but the only handy images of Storm King had the boys. This one clearly shows Darrel's tallgrass or alfalfa growing behind Ian.)

Prizm groups

How much information can demographers find out about you? Honestly, they usually are less interested in you and more interested in groups of people like you. Claritas Prizm groups have become one way that they describe the American population as groups. MelissaDATA has posted all 65 groups and their icons (Park Bench Seniors are shown above) along with some extra details about their purchasing habits. A little scary how much they know?

landscape architecture blogs

It is always interesting to see some of the other landscape architectural blogs out there. Sometimes they are geared to large audiences, like Pruned or The DIRT. But some of them are more personal expressions like Michael Spencer's badlandscaping and Jord Wilson's Exploring Concepts of LA. When I think how hard it was to find any quantity of writing or reporting on landscape architecture a few decades ago, it is hard to imagine the "firehose" of information that these blogs can connect us with today. Some are opinionated while others just report. But, if nothing else, they will connect you to more photography and places that you would otherwise visit.

Geography games

Geosense lets you play a spatial geography game either alone or against others online. OK, it isn't quite Mario Bros.

Weed Awareness

This comes a little late, but we nearing the end of National Invasive Weed Awareness Week. This is an annual time to raise awareness of the impacts of non-native species and work towards minimizing their use and proliferation. Everyone seems to be on board. The Nature Conservancy is a participant. Folks at the Kentucky Capitol building are fighting the good fight. NAWMA is holding their annual DC meeting wherein they push Congress and Federal agencies towards better practices. Today is your last chance to see their posters at the US Botanic Garden.

Olin's Security Enhancements

When the Olin-designed areas around the Washington Monument opened last April, ASLA's LandOnline visited it and reported in detail on some of Olin's improvements. Having been twice since then I have to agree that it is elegant and desrving of such a prominent spot at the crossing of the Presidential and Congressional axes. Why am I only posting it now? Well, it is a recognition of the fact that we are getting ready for a Fall Field Trip to DC. But it is also due to the fact that I didn't have a blog last April.

Seaside turns 25

Seaside, Florida has turned 25. Both fans and critics can agree that this has become a very influential design icon and it continues to be THE centerpiece of New Urbanism. In Celebration of Seaside's birthday Slate.com has published a new Witold Rybczynski slide show looking at how well the work of Robert Davis, Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk is holding up.

3 Landscapes: Kenny Helphand

After a riveting and moving talk, we got a chance to ask Kenny Helphand his 3 favorite examples of landscape architecture questions. As an honored guest we let him go to 5:

• Mill Creek Canyon Park (aka Earthworks Park) by Herbert Bayer
• Promenade Plante in Paris
• Derek Jarman's Garden at Prospect Cottage in Dungeness, England
• Landschaftpark Duisburg-Nord
• Haas Sherover Promenades by Halprin and Aronson

And I haven't visited any. Great list.

For background, go here: http://hahawall.rutgers.edu/tulloch/Candidates.html

Cairo's Metropolitan Region

As Cairo, Eqypt has urbanized significant portions of the city have also remained rural and self-sufficient, fixing their own water and power lines and catching their own food. The New York Times has a video up The Villages Inside Cairo.

In my recent LA Speaker Series lecture I talked about the idea of the Metropolitan Region and this is a very different element that contributes to how we think about these areas at a global level.