I am pretty sure that they don't consider this video set within an aerotropolis setting to reflect on their concepts, but it might get you thinking...
...Or not.
01 April 2011
Aerotropolis
I am pretty sure that they don't consider this video set within an aerotropolis setting to reflect on their concepts, but it might get you thinking...
...Or not.
Celebrating National Landscape Architecture Month with 3 Landscapes
No joke, it is National Landscape Architecture Month. To celebrate, I thought we could take a break and look back at a few interesting answers from past years. For those that don't know the background on this, people used to play parlor games, today we frequently ask our visitors this question...
Q: What are the three greatest examples of landscape architecture that you have ever visited?
Harvard Professor and author John Stilgoe gave us these three
Award-winning landscape architect, Gary Hilderbrand
You are welcome to ask whether it is fair to count the City of Rome as an example of landscape architecture. But you are also welcome to ask why you think your answer to that is better than Gary Hildebrand's.
Designer of the Great Park of Orange County, Ken Smith offered these
As you look back at both old and new lists, it is interesting to look back and see just how many people have listed Central Park in their list. While you are a tit, you could look through the Places and Spaces map for some of the 3 landscapes answers.
Q: What are the three greatest examples of landscape architecture that you have ever visited?
Harvard Professor and author John Stilgoe gave us these three
Award-winning landscape architect, Gary Hilderbrand
You are welcome to ask whether it is fair to count the City of Rome as an example of landscape architecture. But you are also welcome to ask why you think your answer to that is better than Gary Hildebrand's.
Designer of the Great Park of Orange County, Ken Smith offered these
As you look back at both old and new lists, it is interesting to look back and see just how many people have listed Central Park in their list. While you are a tit, you could look through the Places and Spaces map for some of the 3 landscapes answers.
30 March 2011
Suitability Analysis revisited
A little while ago I posted the old handwritten Suitability Analysis notes from when Steve Strom used these techniques in his studio. This four page set of Suitability Analysis notes is online now as a PDF (broken link fixed). His description of weighted analysis lacks a graphic, so I created a digital version of both some of his graphics and a new Weight and Rate graphic that should help you work through it all as you look ahead to Monday's exam:
To be clear, each grid shows the very same piece of land but being rated for a different issue (soils, slope, vegetation). Presumably that is fairly objective. But each individual criterion is then weighted based on relative importance. In this case, Slope has rather subjectively been weighted as 5 times more important that Vegetation. If you click on my graphic it will enlarge and be more readable.
To be clear, each grid shows the very same piece of land but being rated for a different issue (soils, slope, vegetation). Presumably that is fairly objective. But each individual criterion is then weighted based on relative importance. In this case, Slope has rather subjectively been weighted as 5 times more important that Vegetation. If you click on my graphic it will enlarge and be more readable.
Why is redistricting so contentious?
Wonder why the papers are giving such close coverage to the efforts to draw new legislative boundaries? The Star-Ledger sums up the power of these processes in this simple line:
"Three times in the last decade more New Jerseyans in total voted for GOP candidates for the Legislature, but Democrats easily won the majority of the seat"
Maps are power.
"Three times in the last decade more New Jerseyans in total voted for GOP candidates for the Legislature, but Democrats easily won the majority of the seat"
Maps are power.
29 March 2011
Sounds a little like something from The Onion
The courts have weighed in and someone has to move that pile of dirt.
Scholarships in fields related to conservation
Three $2,000 Scholarships to be awarded in 2011
For the 32nd consecutive year, Freehold Soil Conservation District will award three $2,000 scholarships to students majoring in a conservation-related field in the summer of 2011. The Neal Munch, Mac Clark and Bill Schauer Scholarships are awarded annually to honor their years of dedicated and distinguished service to the Freehold District and to natural resource conservation.
All applicants must be:
· A New Jersey resident of Monmouth or Middlesex County
· Entering at least their junior year of college by the fall of 2011
· Majoring in a field related to conservation including, but not limited to: agriculture, environmental education, environmental science, environmental studies, forestry, geology, landscape design, resource management, soil science, etc.
Applications are available online at www.freeholdscd.org
by email request to info@freeholdscd.org, or by calling (732)683-8500.
Application deadline is April 15, 2011.
For the 32nd consecutive year, Freehold Soil Conservation District will award three $2,000 scholarships to students majoring in a conservation-related field in the summer of 2011. The Neal Munch, Mac Clark and Bill Schauer Scholarships are awarded annually to honor their years of dedicated and distinguished service to the Freehold District and to natural resource conservation.
All applicants must be:
· A New Jersey resident of Monmouth or Middlesex County
· Entering at least their junior year of college by the fall of 2011
· Majoring in a field related to conservation including, but not limited to: agriculture, environmental education, environmental science, environmental studies, forestry, geology, landscape design, resource management, soil science, etc.
Applications are available online at www.freeholdscd.org
by email request to info@freeholdscd.org, or by calling (732)683-8500.
Application deadline is April 15, 2011.
27 March 2011
Advising season is in full swing
While I try to keep the blog focused mostly on intellectual issues, once in a while it seems smart to sneak in something practical. As we kick off the spring advising season, I thought I should let you know where to find many of the forms you might need if you are a student here at Rutgers-SEBS including:
If you are my advisee, I will be keeping a sign-up sheet for appointments at ENR 133.
If you are my advisee, I will be keeping a sign-up sheet for appointments at ENR 133.
26 March 2011
A totally different kind of lecture
Just down the road...
Sheila Bair Chairman of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Some Lessons from the Financial Crisis. (Note: 4:30 p.m. in McCosh Hall 50)
Walter E. Edge Lecture
Being a good planner means understanding the different parts that make your community work, including finance.
Sheila Bair Chairman of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Some Lessons from the Financial Crisis. (Note: 4:30 p.m. in McCosh Hall 50)
Walter E. Edge Lecture
Being a good planner means understanding the different parts that make your community work, including finance.
25 March 2011
Science quote
I see in science one of the greatest creations of the human mind....It is a step at which our explanatory myths become open to conscious and consistent criticism and at which we are challenged to invent new myths.
- Karl R. Popper, Objective Knowledge
24 March 2011
Be happy
A positive attitude may not solve all of your problems but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
- Herm Albright (1876-1944)
This is why studios work
One must learn by doing the thing, for though you think you know it, you have no certainty until you try.
- Sophocles, 400 B. C.
23 March 2011
A cool blog from our students
The students in our tectonics class have posted their work on a blog, Material Tectonics.
It has taken us years to get to this, so it is exciting to see the projects posted online (and outside the new LA offices in Blake). Which project will be the one to get built? Wait and see.
22 March 2011
Designing the future
Friend of the blog, Allan Shearer, gets a big shout out from the NY Times' Dot Earth blog.
Another is that breakthroughs only come with a lot of effort and experimentation and, unavoidably, failure. Learning involves breaking. This means that a useful trait these days is the “courage to fear” — a phrase used in a recent discussion of tipping points by Allan Shearer, an architecture professor at the University of Texas, Austin, who studies how humans design the future as much as he designs structures.Great mention in the blog of record.
21 March 2011
Earthquake graphics
In February Good Magazine ran a great infographic (with Column Five Media) on where to expect the next earthquake. After Haiti they thought we might be due again in 15 years.
18 March 2011
Lecture: Postindustrial landscapes in Germany
LA Spring Lecture Series presents Constanze Petrow
Wednesday, March 23 at 4:00 pm
Cook/Douglas Lecture Hall
Postindustrial landscapes in Germany: How Berlin, Hamburg, and Frankfurt developed their waterfront since 1990
The presentation compares three approaches of waterfront redevelopment in centrally located spaces in Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt/Main. Special interest is devoted to public open spaces and landscape design. We’ll have a look at Berlin’s Spree promenade, Hamburg’s HafenCity and Frankfurt’s Main promenade and Westhafen quarter. All sites became available in the course of deindustrialization – or, in the case of Berlin, after the Wall came down. As a result of differing urban development policies and image strategies they are part of, the places display distinct atmospheres and attract different kinds of people. The paper discusses the messages delivered by design and thus scrutinizes the political character of landscape architecture.
This talk is the kick-off event for the International Design Workshop Wednesday 3-23 to Saturday 3-26
Architecture students and faculty from the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany) will visit the New York/New Jersey region and will join the Landscape Architecture senior design studio for a four day intensive workshop. The topic will be urban redevelopment and open space design for a section of the Newark Waterfront.
Dr. Constanze A. Petrow is a licensed landscape architect. After studying landscape planning at the Technische Universität Berlin and working for landscape offices in Berlin she lectured and researched at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar from 2001 till 2009. In 2007 she was a visiting faculty at Washington Alexandria Architecture Center (Virginia Tech). She has been writing for landscape magazines since 2001. In 2009 she received her Doctorate from Leibniz-Universität Hannover with a thesis on the relationship between landscape architecture and the public, focusing on perceptions of the profession’s work by leading newspapers in Germany and Switzerland. Since 2009 she has been a post-doc researcher and member of the ‘Urban Research’ Centre of Research Excellence at the Technische Universität Darmstadt.
17 March 2011
Balancing Environmental Remediation and Economic Issues in NJ
Professional Science Master's Program
Building New Jersey’s Innovation Ecosystem Lecture Series
Balancing Environmental Remediation and Economic Issues in NJ
Monday, March 21, 2011
6:00pm
CoRE Auditorium, Busch Campus
Mr. N. DeRose
Senior Principal, Langan Engineering & Environmental Services.
Mr. De Rose is a Senior Principal at Langan Engineering and Environmental Services who has over 30 years of environmental consulting experience specializing in Site Remediation and the Cleanup of Hazardous Waste Sites. His experience in New Jersey includes working since the inception of New Jersey’s Environmental Cleanup and Responsibility Act (ECRA) on cleanup projects driven by property transactions.
In 2008, Nick organized the Licensed Site Professional (LSP) Consultants Coalition in New Jersey in response to anticipated legislation to establish an independent LSP regulatory program for remediation cases in New Jersey. In this role, Mr. De Rose has led the efforts of the LSP Consultants Coalition in a comprehensive legal and technical review of SRRA and in ongoing meetings and discussions with key regulators and legislators. Mr. De Rose currently serves as President of the New Jersey Licensed Site Remediation Professional Association (LSRPA) which is recognized as one of the leading and most respected voices on regulatory and technical issues associated with SRRA and the newly established LSRP Program in New Jersey.
Building New Jersey’s Innovation Ecosystem Lecture Series
Balancing Environmental Remediation and Economic Issues in NJ
Monday, March 21, 2011
6:00pm
CoRE Auditorium, Busch Campus
Mr. N. DeRose
Senior Principal, Langan Engineering & Environmental Services.
Mr. De Rose is a Senior Principal at Langan Engineering and Environmental Services who has over 30 years of environmental consulting experience specializing in Site Remediation and the Cleanup of Hazardous Waste Sites. His experience in New Jersey includes working since the inception of New Jersey’s Environmental Cleanup and Responsibility Act (ECRA) on cleanup projects driven by property transactions.
In 2008, Nick organized the Licensed Site Professional (LSP) Consultants Coalition in New Jersey in response to anticipated legislation to establish an independent LSP regulatory program for remediation cases in New Jersey. In this role, Mr. De Rose has led the efforts of the LSP Consultants Coalition in a comprehensive legal and technical review of SRRA and in ongoing meetings and discussions with key regulators and legislators. Mr. De Rose currently serves as President of the New Jersey Licensed Site Remediation Professional Association (LSRPA) which is recognized as one of the leading and most respected voices on regulatory and technical issues associated with SRRA and the newly established LSRP Program in New Jersey.
Happy St. Patrick's Day
To celebrate, we are thought we should look at Ireland's two Cultural icons on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. Since I haven't been to either, I'll add them to my life list of places to go see.
First is Skellig Michael, a monastic complex on a pyramidal rocky island. It's rocky paths and ruins look like settings from any number of movies, making me wonder if it has influenced those as well.
The second is the Archaeological Ensemble of the Bend of the Boyne which is a series of prehistoric sites which combine to form "Europe's largest and most important concentration of prehistoric megalithic art." The sites have a variety of henges and tombs, feature solar alignments, and predate the pyramids.
First is Skellig Michael, a monastic complex on a pyramidal rocky island. It's rocky paths and ruins look like settings from any number of movies, making me wonder if it has influenced those as well.
(Photo by GDR from the Wiki Commons)
The second is the Archaeological Ensemble of the Bend of the Boyne which is a series of prehistoric sites which combine to form "Europe's largest and most important concentration of prehistoric megalithic art." The sites have a variety of henges and tombs, feature solar alignments, and predate the pyramids.
(Photo by Rodrigo y Pamela from Wikicommons)
16 March 2011
Food Environment mapping
As part of a talk I am giving today, here are some links to recent work on mapping the food environment:
The Food Trust Report on Supermarkets in NJ
Physical Activity Chart Book for Trenton
Food Environment Chart Book for Newark
The full CSHP list of Chart Books
15 March 2011
Make some picks
Even though Rutgers didn't quite make the field of 68, Places and Spaces readers are invited to join in the 13th annual "FoD - Friends of Dave" NCAA picks group on ESPN's Tournament Challenge. If you want to get all sciency about it, Nate Silver applies his know-how to picking.
The free throws are called "free" for a reason. Photo Credit: D. Tulloch
The free throws are called "free" for a reason. Photo Credit: D. Tulloch14 March 2011
11 March 2011
Too much GPS?
Now that GPS underlies 6-7% of GDP in Europe, things are great, right? The BBC says it is a problem.
NYMRO Summer Internships
Non-design non-planning internships in the NY Metro area for students interested in community work.
10 March 2011
Are we over-reliant on social media?
Well, of course the answer is yes.
(Twitter break)
But I mean as a tool for giving community groups a voice? A group had citizens mark properties in New Orleans that they wished were being used better. But they didn't do it on Google Maps or using GPS.
(Facebook break)
They used name tag stickers. But, instead of saying My Name Is... the stickers said I Wish This Was...
(Check Linked-In)
The stickers are low-tech, easily accessible technique that has a totally different kind of impact and reach than online approaches. But in some parts of NOLA it might be considered vandalism, too. Tell us what you think.
(Twitter break)
But I mean as a tool for giving community groups a voice? A group had citizens mark properties in New Orleans that they wished were being used better. But they didn't do it on Google Maps or using GPS.
(Facebook break)
They used name tag stickers. But, instead of saying My Name Is... the stickers said I Wish This Was...
(Check Linked-In)
The stickers are low-tech, easily accessible technique that has a totally different kind of impact and reach than online approaches. But in some parts of NOLA it might be considered vandalism, too. Tell us what you think.
09 March 2011
LiveBlog: Sustainable in a Material World
Meg Calkins, Ball State
Editor of the forthcoming Sustainable Sites Handbook to be published in October 2011 by John Wiley and Sons. Author of Materials for Sustainable Sites (described by L+U as a "must read")was published in October 2008.
For an aluminum rail in Indianapolis she breaks down all of the environmental impacts of that rail.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) concluded that ecosystem resources are critical to support life on earth. And that society has caused irreversible damages.
More than 90% of the materials that goes into the average US product is waste before it reaches the users. 80% is molecular waste that goes into the air or water, etc. But if you consider closed materials and resource loops, "true waste does not exist". Good green design recognizes that and makes use of it as a guiding principle.
The first case study is the High Line. The heavy reliance on cement is a good starting point. We can often reduce it. Sometimes we can use substitutes like fly ash, slag, and natural pozzolans like calcined shale. Another concern are the woods used. If they were rainforest materials they are not renewed as well as others. Certified wood would be better - this can include accounting for the chain of custody. Plastic lumber is a much harder sell, but if you use it make sure you avoid PVCs. For materials like stainless steel and aluminum, we should be considering the level of embodied energy.
If we are going to make progress on this front, we need to make a minor or less radical shift on projects like this.
But we need a major shift in materials that we need to seek out as well.
The 2nd case study is at the Queens Botanical Garden. One innovation was rammed earth structures, which can be used anywhere. It is high-labor, low-cost and low-impact. Don't confuse it with Compressed Earth block (CEB). The radical shift in materials is needed to "close the loop".
Alternate materials can include gabions with concrete or stone rubble from on-site. Stabilized soil pavement requires binders, whether they are plant-based (agave, pine resin, seed oils), and polymer binders can help us stop using so much paving. Natural barriers can replace fencing.
Ecobalancing - life-cycle flow of resources that balances inputs and outputs to support vital whole systems.
Finally an example was provided using an interdisciplinary student project from outside Muncie. One included a 5ac demonstration site for a family, because 5ac is the footprint of a single family. The designs also included selective harvesting of a forest on site, permaculture areas, strawbale construction (currently not legal in the US) and AlgaeWheel technology. Even an incremental shift in construction methods will require proving the reliability of these techniques and showing people the benefits.
Editor of the forthcoming Sustainable Sites Handbook to be published in October 2011 by John Wiley and Sons. Author of Materials for Sustainable Sites (described by L+U as a "must read")was published in October 2008.
For an aluminum rail in Indianapolis she breaks down all of the environmental impacts of that rail.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) concluded that ecosystem resources are critical to support life on earth. And that society has caused irreversible damages.
More than 90% of the materials that goes into the average US product is waste before it reaches the users. 80% is molecular waste that goes into the air or water, etc. But if you consider closed materials and resource loops, "true waste does not exist". Good green design recognizes that and makes use of it as a guiding principle.
The 2nd case study is at the Queens Botanical Garden. One innovation was rammed earth structures, which can be used anywhere. It is high-labor, low-cost and low-impact. Don't confuse it with Compressed Earth block (CEB). The radical shift in materials is needed to "close the loop".
Alternate materials can include gabions with concrete or stone rubble from on-site. Stabilized soil pavement requires binders, whether they are plant-based (agave, pine resin, seed oils), and polymer binders can help us stop using so much paving. Natural barriers can replace fencing.
Ecobalancing - life-cycle flow of resources that balances inputs and outputs to support vital whole systems.
Finally an example was provided using an interdisciplinary student project from outside Muncie. One included a 5ac demonstration site for a family, because 5ac is the footprint of a single family. The designs also included selective harvesting of a forest on site, permaculture areas, strawbale construction (currently not legal in the US) and AlgaeWheel technology. Even an incremental shift in construction methods will require proving the reliability of these techniques and showing people the benefits.
08 March 2011
Water meeting at Penn
In the Terrain of Water
Symposium at PENNDESIGN: April 1 – 2, 2011
Conversations and presentations will be organized around three themes:
design ACTIVISM / ADVOCACY in the Terrain of Water
design STRUCTURE / INFRASTRUCTURE in the Terrain of Water
design IMAGING / IMAGINING in the Terrain of Water
The symposium will be structured around a series of dialogues, exhibits, workshops and talks, enlisting contemporary thinkers who are willing to go beyond addressing water simply as a design opportunity or an environmental challenge. Participants will come from across disciplines and the globe – joined in their intentions to re-imagine our relationship with water, challenge current visualizations, and
probe projects and design thinking that constitute water, its visible and invisible presences, in fresh ways.
Information and registration: http://www.design.upenn.edu/calendar/terrain-water
Contact: terrain@design.upenn.edu
24th Annual NJDEP Mapping Contest
If you aren't pursuing the DeBoer Travel Prize you could spend your free time during spring break cleaning up an old map for the NJ DEP Mapping Contest. This year's contest is on April 28th, 2011.
07 March 2011
Making Spring Break useful
Make your Spring Break count by spending a day learning about energy and weatherizing a building through the PIRG Energy Service Corps.
Wednesday lecture: Sustainable in a Material World
Meg Calkins
Sustainable in a Material World
Wednesday, March 9th at 4:00 pm,Cook/Douglas Lecture Hall
3 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ
Meg Calkins, ASLA, LEED AP is the Editor of the forthcoming Sustainable Sites Handbook to be published in October 2011 by John Wiley & Sons. Her other book Materials for Sustainable Sites was published in October 2008. She is a frequent Contributing Editor to Landscape Architecture magazine. She is a co-founder of SITES and member of the Technical Working Group. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Ball State University.
Sustainable in a Material World
Wednesday, March 9th at 4:00 pm,Cook/Douglas Lecture Hall
3 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ
Meg Calkins, ASLA, LEED AP is the Editor of the forthcoming Sustainable Sites Handbook to be published in October 2011 by John Wiley & Sons. Her other book Materials for Sustainable Sites was published in October 2008. She is a frequent Contributing Editor to Landscape Architecture magazine. She is a co-founder of SITES and member of the Technical Working Group. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Ball State University.
Assigned Reading
While I am assigning this for all of our readers, it will be assigned as a class requirement in 372:231 EnvPlan today. It is the notes on Development Suitability by Steve Strom.
Berry Quote
"We are destroying our country - I mean our country itself, our land. This is a terrible thing to know, but it is not a reason for despair unless we decide to continue the destruction. If we decide to continue the destruction, that will not be because we have no other choice. This destruction is not necessary. It is not inevitable, except that by our submissiveness we make it so."
- Wendell Berry
Jobs in Bristol, CT
Assistant Planner and Intern
CCRPA (Bristol, CT)
The Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency (CCRPA) is seeking qualified applicants for the positions of Assistant Planner and Intern. Applications are due by noon ET on April 8, 2011. Job descriptions and
application forms and instructions can be found at http://ccrpa.org/employment.htm.
CCRPA (Bristol, CT)
The Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency (CCRPA) is seeking qualified applicants for the positions of Assistant Planner and Intern. Applications are due by noon ET on April 8, 2011. Job descriptions and
application forms and instructions can be found at http://ccrpa.org/employment.htm.
06 March 2011
Berry Quote
"A proper community, we should remember also, is a commonwealth: a place, a resource, an economy. It answers the needs, practical as well as social and spiritual, of its members - among them the need to need one another. The answer to the present alignment of political power with wealth is the restoration of the identity of community and economy."
- Wendell Berry
05 March 2011
Planning Board Meetings
New Brunswick is scheduled to have a planning board meeting on March 8th at 7:30 pm in the Council Chambers, at New Brunswick City Hall, 78 Bayard Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Berry Quote
"There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places."
- Wendell Berry
04 March 2011
Berry Quote
"We have lived our lives by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our lives so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption, that what is good for the world will be good for us. And that requires that we make the effort to know the world and learn what is good for it."
- Wendell Berry
What is a suburb?
03 March 2011
Should our designs make us sweat?
Active design is trying to integrate subliminal exercise into designs by creating spaces that encourage taking more active paths than passive ones. Are we fighting obesity or saving energy? Are we encouraging physicality or creating barriers to free movement?
Here is one effort to make stairs more fun that escalator:
Here is one effort to make stairs more fun that escalator:
EnvPlan Word Cloud
I made a quick word cloud of the online class notes and questions leading up to Exam 1 in 231 EnvPlan. Please note that it doesn't include hardly any Chapter 4 words because it is biased by what is online.
Drink up
The cover story on USA Today basically says that we need to drink our own sewage. Crisis averted!
Native species are special
Here is a great column about how the native species, Chamaecyparis thyoides, has key qualities that give the Atlantic white cedar swamps of the Pinelands their great character. Note that she also uses the term "endemic" to describe them.
02 March 2011
3 Landscapes: Tim Baird
Parc Clichy B'atignolles - New park in Paris with galvanized steel channels
Prospect Park
Crissy Field
Prospect Park
Crissy Field
LiveBlog: Tim Baird
Teaching Design Education in the 21st Century
C. Timothy Baird, Penn State University
An LSU graduate - Geaux Tigers!
Change is hard. Leroys and vertical curves are no longer part of most technology sequences.
He begins with the origins of the abstract concept of the contour. Building on his experiences at Hargreaves, he has a strong interest in building clay models and has integrated that into the sequence instead of stacked contours.
One of the new classes is Materiality. Hard materials. Trying to simplify the way to look at things, makes the start easier. Part of the class is research-driven, just like some design practices. For a while there weren't many landscape architects looking for new materials. But the proliferation of catalogs, an increase in new building techniques and even the Internet, have combined to give designers access to far more material choices that seemed imaginable. But it also places a new level of responsibility on designers to understand these new materials before they use them. Photocatalytic concrete and translucent concrete are examples of changing materials.
Systems Workshops are another part of the new sequence. The class takes a trip to NYC where they visit Material ConneXion. Eventually they move on to drawings, which force a clearer cognition and representation of how the materials come together. They go out and learn a little bit about welding at the art shop (just enough to understand how hard it is).
Materials Operations - Cut it, bend it, perforate it, join it, shape it. They use an aluminum shop that allows them some special opportunities for exploring technology. But while the new tools, like water jet cutters, are cool they aren't a substitute for learning how to use a hammer.
Ultimately the students get out on construction sites to see the work being done. It makes concrete pours and geotextiles seem much less abstract. Visiting a site under construction with Ken Smith is just icing. The students learn from that and then explore the design of new seating walls which ultimately get built.
Application - if you learn about grading in 2nd year and then don't make a grading plan until 4th year, is it a disservice? If you can intergrate the ideas into a design competition does it help test them out?
Vanalen Institute's Urban Voids Design Competition
C. Timothy Baird, Penn State University
An LSU graduate - Geaux Tigers!
Change is hard. Leroys and vertical curves are no longer part of most technology sequences.
He begins with the origins of the abstract concept of the contour. Building on his experiences at Hargreaves, he has a strong interest in building clay models and has integrated that into the sequence instead of stacked contours.
One of the new classes is Materiality. Hard materials. Trying to simplify the way to look at things, makes the start easier. Part of the class is research-driven, just like some design practices. For a while there weren't many landscape architects looking for new materials. But the proliferation of catalogs, an increase in new building techniques and even the Internet, have combined to give designers access to far more material choices that seemed imaginable. But it also places a new level of responsibility on designers to understand these new materials before they use them. Photocatalytic concrete and translucent concrete are examples of changing materials.
Systems Workshops are another part of the new sequence. The class takes a trip to NYC where they visit Material ConneXion. Eventually they move on to drawings, which force a clearer cognition and representation of how the materials come together. They go out and learn a little bit about welding at the art shop (just enough to understand how hard it is).
Materials Operations - Cut it, bend it, perforate it, join it, shape it. They use an aluminum shop that allows them some special opportunities for exploring technology. But while the new tools, like water jet cutters, are cool they aren't a substitute for learning how to use a hammer.
Ultimately the students get out on construction sites to see the work being done. It makes concrete pours and geotextiles seem much less abstract. Visiting a site under construction with Ken Smith is just icing. The students learn from that and then explore the design of new seating walls which ultimately get built.
Application - if you learn about grading in 2nd year and then don't make a grading plan until 4th year, is it a disservice? If you can intergrate the ideas into a design competition does it help test them out?
Vanalen Institute's Urban Voids Design Competition
Wendell Berry honored at the White House
Earlier today President Obama awarded National Humanities Medals or National Arts Medals to writers Harper Lee, Joyce Carol Oates and Philip Roth; artist Mark di Suvero; actress Meryl Streep; and musicians Sonny Rollins and Quincy Jones.
Congrats to all of them. But only one of them taught me in college. So for the next few days we'll celebrate with Wendell Berry quotes. Enjoy.
Congrats to all of them. But only one of them taught me in college. So for the next few days we'll celebrate with Wendell Berry quotes. Enjoy.
Exam detail
Not that it really matters, but the first exam for EnvPlan will have 33 T/F questions, and 36 multiple choice.
Bald eagles live
A nesting pair of bald eagles have settled in again on the Duke Estate just a few miles upstream from campus. What are they doing right now? Look here and see:
Streaming Video by Ustream.TV
Streaming Video by Ustream.TV
01 March 2011
Research quote
Inquiry is the creation of knowledge or understanding; it is the reaching out of a human being beyond himself to a perception of what he may be or could be, or what the world could be or ought to be.
- C. West Churchman, The Design of Inquiring Systems
28 February 2011
By request, repeat test tips
TEST TIP: Can you read hydrographs? Topo maps? A soils survey?
TEST TIP: When you get tired of reading and studying, consider surfing through the RotDs. Play with the online soils. Look at the topo maps.
TEST TIP: Revisit that whole Soil Texture thing
TEST TIP: Memorize the first four steps in Steiner’s Ecological Planning Model
TEST TIP: Look at a USGS topo map and see how much you can read off it.
TEST TIP: For each physical landscape characteristic ask:
1) What can Env. Planners do about it?
2) Where can they get the facts on it?
Study on...
TEST TIP: When you get tired of reading and studying, consider surfing through the RotDs. Play with the online soils. Look at the topo maps.
TEST TIP: Revisit that whole Soil Texture thing
TEST TIP: Memorize the first four steps in Steiner’s Ecological Planning Model
TEST TIP: Look at a USGS topo map and see how much you can read off it.
TEST TIP: For each physical landscape characteristic ask:
1) What can Env. Planners do about it?
2) Where can they get the facts on it?
Study on...
Salamander crossing
Tonight might be a night for watching salamanders (and frogs) migrate near campus in East Brunswick. The Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission keep a salamander blog that says today's rains and warm weather could spark a move, and they've already found at least one spotted salamander. They'll close Beekman Road and let pedestrians come peek with flashlights. If there is lightning, you should skip it.
View Larger Map
What have we learned about habitat that might keep them from needing to close a road? What's the basic problem here?
View Larger Map
What have we learned about habitat that might keep them from needing to close a road? What's the basic problem here?
Thinking about wildlife
Highland Park's Tim Marshall, at ETM Associates, has been helping prepare designs for Mercer Meadows. The Star-Ledger included one of their images of a blind for watching wildlife, which is part of a growing trend of landscape architects designing for ecological purposes. For example, MVV's recent award-winning design for a wildlife overpass.
Leopold quote
"No matter how intently one studies the hundred little dramas of the woods and meadows, one can never learn all the salient facts about any one of them."
— Aldo Leopold, Sand County Almanac
27 February 2011
Social dynamic of opinion polls
As part of conversation in EnvPlan we have been talking about polls. Even if you aren't in the class, please take out a second to answer the 2 poll questions on the right-hand side of the page.
Its Duany vs. Harvard!
In the urban design smack-down of the decade, we see the new urbanists and the landscape urbanists gearing up for battle. Who will win?
26 February 2011
25 February 2011
Rock Creek Park
Greater Greater Washington, a group working to improve the DC area, asks an interesting question: Is Rock Creek Park like Central Park or Yosemite? If you read it (and look at their data) it raises a more interesting question, Why don't more people use Rock Creek Park?
Feeding Philly
Michelle Byers writes about how the Garden State serves as the foodshed for Philly. But do they have an interest in protecting this resource?
24 February 2011
Urban Tree Roots
Great talk tomorrow:
SPEAKER: DR. JASON GRABOSKY
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DEPT. OF ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, AND NATURAL RESOURCES, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
TITLE OF TALK: “URBAN TREE ROOTS: THE USE OF DESIGNED SOILS TO SUPPORT URBAN TREES AND PAVEMENT AS A COMPONENT OF STORMWATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DESIGN”
DATE/TIME/LOCATION:
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2011
2:30 P.M. (refreshments 2:15pm)
Environmental & Natural Resource Sciences Bldg. – Room 223
14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ
Seminar Website: http://www.envsci.rutgers.edu/info/seminar/seminar.shtml
Within an urban landscape, soil volumes are a limited resource. Designed soils can integrate urban tree root zone needs and support requirements for safe, durable pavement. The use of such designed soils, coupled with stormwater management design methods such as the use of porous pavement materials, develops a multi-use, shared soil volume providing multiple environmental services. This presentation discusses definitions and several research projects into the behavior of designed urban tree soils to support pavement, and how they might be employed to leverage the efficacy of a parking lot design with respect to stormwater. While there are more questions than answers in the technical details, the presentation serves as a reasonable status report, and an invitation for collaborative projects.
Social quote
A cobblestone is more real than personal relationships, but personal relationships are felt to be more profound because we expect them yet to reveal themselves in unexpected ways, while cobblestones evoke no such expectation.
- Michael Polanyi, Personal Knowledge
(Sorry, after re-reading the quote I couldn't resist adding the photo)
Winter hike at HMF
Hutcheson Memorial Forest Tour
Sunday February 27th at 2:00 p.m.
Tour Leader: Peter Morin, Community Ecologist
“Winter Botany at Hutcheson Memorial Forest.”
The Hutcheson Memorial Forest (HMF) is a unique area consisting of one of the last uncut forests in the Mid-Atlantic States, along with the surrounding lands devoted to protection of the old forest and research into ecological interactions necessary to understand the forest. The tract is administered and protected by Rutgers University.
It is apparently the only uncut upland forest in the Piedmont of New Jersey, and appears on the National Park Service Register of Natural Landmarks.
Tours leave from the entrance of the woods on Amwell Road (Rt. 514) in Somerset. From New Brunswick, follow Hamilton Street west past JFK Blvd, Cedar Grove Lane and Elizabeth St. HMF is on the left past Gardener’s Nook Nursery. The driveway is located just past the guardrail over the brook.
The trail may be muddy in places so come prepared.
The tour through the woods and fields takes between one and two hours.
Tours are free and reservations are not required for these guided tours.** Groups of more than ten persons may not attend the guided tours. Such groups are invited to arrange special tours.
For more information and a complete tour schedule visit: http://rci.rutgers.edu/~hmforest/
**HMF is not open to the public on a daily basis.
Sunday February 27th at 2:00 p.m.
Tour Leader: Peter Morin, Community Ecologist
“Winter Botany at Hutcheson Memorial Forest.”
The Hutcheson Memorial Forest (HMF) is a unique area consisting of one of the last uncut forests in the Mid-Atlantic States, along with the surrounding lands devoted to protection of the old forest and research into ecological interactions necessary to understand the forest. The tract is administered and protected by Rutgers University.
It is apparently the only uncut upland forest in the Piedmont of New Jersey, and appears on the National Park Service Register of Natural Landmarks.
Tours leave from the entrance of the woods on Amwell Road (Rt. 514) in Somerset. From New Brunswick, follow Hamilton Street west past JFK Blvd, Cedar Grove Lane and Elizabeth St. HMF is on the left past Gardener’s Nook Nursery. The driveway is located just past the guardrail over the brook.
The trail may be muddy in places so come prepared.
The tour through the woods and fields takes between one and two hours.
Tours are free and reservations are not required for these guided tours.** Groups of more than ten persons may not attend the guided tours. Such groups are invited to arrange special tours.
For more information and a complete tour schedule visit: http://rci.rutgers.edu/~hmforest/
**HMF is not open to the public on a daily basis.
23 February 2011
LiveBlog: Ray Mims on SITES
Ray Mims, US Botanic Garden
Applying the SITES rating System: Lessons from Pilot Projects
One of his favorite quotes:
We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."
— Aldo Leopold
He used a photo of three LEED Plantinum buildings, none of which had any trees anywhere around them. He pointed out how different meanings of green can proliferate. We are missing out on, or ignoring, countless free ecosystem services that we should be appreciating. Examples like the Catskills and New Orleans illustrate how important ecosystem functions are.
SITES is up to 165 pilot projects. 65% were grayfield projects while 15% were brownfields and 20% were on greenfields. The pilots worked - they discovered some issues they hadn't thought about. For instance, it changed their treatment of prime farmland and the submittal materials. The goal of using these case studies is to make the Sustainable Sites Initiative as well thought out as possible.
A detailed description of the Bartholdi garden explained how the USBG is trying to apply the sites criteria themselves, in the shadow of the US Capitol. (I love that fountain)
They've worked to be very open and collaborative so avoid lawsuits like LEED.
Applying the SITES rating System: Lessons from Pilot Projects
One of his favorite quotes:
We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."
— Aldo Leopold
He used a photo of three LEED Plantinum buildings, none of which had any trees anywhere around them. He pointed out how different meanings of green can proliferate. We are missing out on, or ignoring, countless free ecosystem services that we should be appreciating. Examples like the Catskills and New Orleans illustrate how important ecosystem functions are.
SITES is up to 165 pilot projects. 65% were grayfield projects while 15% were brownfields and 20% were on greenfields. The pilots worked - they discovered some issues they hadn't thought about. For instance, it changed their treatment of prime farmland and the submittal materials. The goal of using these case studies is to make the Sustainable Sites Initiative as well thought out as possible.
A detailed description of the Bartholdi garden explained how the USBG is trying to apply the sites criteria themselves, in the shadow of the US Capitol. (I love that fountain)
They've worked to be very open and collaborative so avoid lawsuits like LEED.
22 February 2011
Redistricting: The first map emerges
Jerrymandering and mapmaking fans are watching closely. Redistricting talks are underway in New Jersey. The impact of these will shape NJ politics for the next decade, so everyone is taking them seriously. And, while the final map is a long way off, the first map has leaked out and already suggests some big battles, according to NJPoliticker:
Among the bombshells contained in the sample map is a district – denoted on the map as District 4 – that would combine Elizabeth and portions of Newark into one Hispanic dominated district. The new district would pit powerful state Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-20) of Elizabeth against the only Hispanic member of the Senate – Sen. M. Teresa Ruiz (D-29) of Newark – in a district made up 56 percent of Hispanic residents.Maps are very powerful.
LA Spring Lecture Series presents Ray Mims
LA Spring Lecture Series presents Ray Mims, United States Botanic Garden
Wednesday, 02/23 at 4:00 pm,
Cook/Douglas Lecture Hall
Applying the SITES rating System: Lessons from Pilot Projects
Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) is in the midst of becoming a functioning rating system and is now receiving feedback from real projects. SITES, an interdisciplinary effort that has created national guidelines and a rating system encourages integrated, systems-based approaches to sustainable landscape” design, construction and maintenance. SITES will work at all landscape scales, with or without buildings. The goal is renew and restore places and move from conservation to regeneration through landscapes that mimic natural systems. SITES should also be used to “restore degraded ecosystem services” found in brownfields and greyfields, creating new economic value in the process.
Ray Mims has been the United States Botanic Garden staff member working on the development of the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) since 2006, participating in both the SITES steering Committee as well as the Vege tation Technical Committee. At the United States Botanic Garden, Ray oversees the ongoing development and implementation of sustainability efforts, conservation partnerships, and threatened plant collections at the United States Botanic Garden. Prior to joining USBG, Ray served as the Director of Horticulture at Denver Botanic Gardens, Director of Horticulture and Grounds at the Washington National Cathedral, and Horticulturist at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
Wednesday, 02/23 at 4:00 pm,
Cook/Douglas Lecture Hall
Applying the SITES rating System: Lessons from Pilot Projects
Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) is in the midst of becoming a functioning rating system and is now receiving feedback from real projects. SITES, an interdisciplinary effort that has created national guidelines and a rating system encourages integrated, systems-based approaches to sustainable landscape” design, construction and maintenance. SITES will work at all landscape scales, with or without buildings. The goal is renew and restore places and move from conservation to regeneration through landscapes that mimic natural systems. SITES should also be used to “restore degraded ecosystem services” found in brownfields and greyfields, creating new economic value in the process.
Ray Mims has been the United States Botanic Garden staff member working on the development of the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) since 2006, participating in both the SITES steering Committee as well as the Vege tation Technical Committee. At the United States Botanic Garden, Ray oversees the ongoing development and implementation of sustainability efforts, conservation partnerships, and threatened plant collections at the United States Botanic Garden. Prior to joining USBG, Ray served as the Director of Horticulture at Denver Botanic Gardens, Director of Horticulture and Grounds at the Washington National Cathedral, and Horticulturist at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
UCGIS Summer Assembly 2011
UCGIS Summer Assembly 2011
June 22-23, Boulder, CO
Call for Research and Poster Abstracts
and
Full Papers by Graduate Students and Junior Faculty
on
GISCIENCE FOR THE CHANGING HUMAN ENVIRONMENT
The 2011 UCGIS Summer Assembly will be held at the beautiful location of the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s (NCAR) Research Application Laboratory facilities in Boulder, CO. In keeping with the location of this year’s Summer Assembly, the theme of this meeting is 'GIScience for the Changing Human Environment'. This includes topics on representation, analysis, data modeling, and visualization relating to human-environment interactions, sustainability, water, climate, and health. The program will involve plenary talks, research and poster presentations, and a workshop to collaborate on a new UCGIS initiative in geographic information science education, by participants based at UCGIS member institutions (see http://www.ucgis.org/).
Research abstracts of up to two pages addressing the conference theme are solicited. These abstracts will be reviewed by the Summer Assembly program committee, and selected authors will be invited to present their research results at the meeting. We also invite separate submissions for a poster session in the form of an abstract of up to 1 page in length. High quality abstracts that are not accepted for the research presentation sessions will be considered for the poster session. All abstracts will be posted on the UCGIS website.
Graduate students and junior faculty (i.e., untenured assistant professors) from UCGIS member institutions are encouraged to submit research papers of up to 5000 words also addressing the conference theme. The program committee will review these papers and selected papers will be presented as part of the research presentation sessions. Authors of papers selected for presentation will be eligible to receive reimbursement for travel expenses up to $1000. See UCGIS Travel Awards below for more details.
The deadline for submission of research and poster abstracts, and full papers by graduate students and junior faculty, is April 22, 2011. All submissions must be made through EasyChair at https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ucgissummerassembly2
Notification of acceptance will be made on or before May 9, 2011.
UCGIS Travel Awards Sponsored by USGS and ESRI
The students and junior faculty selected for paper presentations will be eligible to receive up to $1000 to help cover travel costs of the 2011 Summer Assembly. All submissions must come from students and junior faculty of UCGIS member institutions that are in good standing. These awards are sponsored by the USGS and ESRI. Individuals will be responsible for making their own travel and accommodation arrangements and submitting receipts for reimbursement following the meeting. If needed, participants are encouraged to apply for additional funds from their home institutions. In order to receive the award, the participants must be selected to present their paper at the 2011 Summer Assembly.
No more than one student and/or one junior faculty member will be selected from any UCGIS institution to receive a travel award to attend the meeting. If you have received a UCGIS Summer Assembly paper award in the past, you are still eligible to submit again, but the paper must be on a completely new research topic. A faculty member at a UCGIS member institution must approve student papers.
Best Graduate Student Paper Award – Sponsored by Transactions in GIS
Wiley-Blackwell, the publisher of Transactions in GIS will present a “Best Paper” award of $200 for the best paper and presentation among the graduate student submissions. To be eligible for this award, the paper must not have been previously published nor should it be under consideration for publication. Authors must also be either engaged in full or part-time postgraduate research or within one year of completion of their research degree (assuming the scholar does not have faculty appointment). The editors will approve the selection of the winner and may choose to recommend that no publication award be made.
In addition, presented papers by graduate students and junior faculty will be reviewed in consideration for submission to one of several potential peer-reviewed outlets. The editors of Transactions in GIS, and the International Journal of Geographic Information Science, for example, have agreed to work with the authors of selected papers and advise on the submission process for their journals.
Please visit the UCGIS website (see http://www.ucgis.org/) for updates and more information about the Summer Assembly 2011.
21 February 2011
Visual Preference Survey
We are about to talk about using visual preference in class. You might want to peek at Bentonville, Arkansas' results (PDF) as a conversation point for our class discussion.
Or, you might try this more statistically-oriented one from Salt Lake City (Flash).
Or, you might try this more statistically-oriented one from Salt Lake City (Flash).
VGI through Waze
Waze is a new VGI (volunteered geographic information) app that is trying to use grassroots, driver-based data to help you get around easier. Waze uses driver info to create data about traffic problems, but also lets driver input information about bad addresses or locations. VGI is a rapidly evolving field, and efforts like this (whether it succeeds or fails) are essential to advancing both the science and usable code.
Here is their flash video which includes this blog-apropos line: "And, if you are the kind of person who has a passion for mapping..."
Here is their flash video which includes this blog-apropos line: "And, if you are the kind of person who has a passion for mapping..."
17 February 2011
Flood plan for Passaic
Last year's flooding in NJ has sparked a new plan. The Passaic River Flood Advisory Commission has released a 15 point plan for addressing flooding like we saw last year:
You can relive the predictions, read about a store closed by the storms, or watch the flooding as photos or video or video of photos. What will March bring this year?
- Expanding and expediting floodway buyouts, with state Blue Acres funds and federal FEMA funds.
- Encouraging home elevation projects in flood prone areas if acquisition is not an option.
- Buying undeveloped land for use as flood storage areas.
- Improving operation of the Pompton Lakes dam floodgates.
- Initiating de-snagging and shoal dredging efforts to facilitate improved river flows.
- Removing feeder dams to offer flood relief to Pompton Lakes, Wayne and Pequannock.
- State adoption of National Flood Insurance Program regulations to ensure state rules are consistent with local flood control ordinances, and eliminating
- the risk that FEMA could suspend its flood insurance program in New Jersey.
- Expediting the DEP's permit process to let towns more quickly obtain permits to de-snag and remove river debris, repair retaining walls and remove shoals.
- Improving effectiveness and efficiency of county and local emergency response plans.
- Enhancing the Passaic River flood warning system.
- Contracting with the National Weather Service to create inundation maps to provide critical information to enable quicker flood projections and greater storm preparedness.
- Enhancing public involvement, information and outreach on flood issues.
- Requesting a re-evaluation by the Army Corps of Engineers of the larger potential major engineering projects for long-term flood damage reduction.
- Updating floodplain mapping to eliminate decades-old maps that do not include detailed modeling of floodplains.
- Having towns in the river basin pursue flood risk reduction changes to their master plans, zoning ordinances and flood prevention ordinances, to guide future development away from floodplains or prevent future development in these high risk flood-prone areas.
You can relive the predictions, read about a store closed by the storms, or watch the flooding as photos or video or video of photos. What will March bring this year?
Tree killers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that someone has poisoned the 130 year old oak trees at Auburn University's Toomer's Corner with Spike80DF. Clearly a malicious act, this appears to be a sports rivalry gone bad. Toomer's Corner is the local and campus landmark that served as the central spot for celebrating Auburn's recent victory in the BCS title game.
16 February 2011
Common Lecture: jeffrey Friedman on Dance and Space
Technical problems kept me from getting the LiveBlog going right today. Still, here is the abstract:
Title: Citing Site: Landscape and Ritual
Traditional societies often use ritual events as a performance-based index for expressing cultural values about landscape. These ritual events often celebrate and consecrate the siting of sacred buildings or reflect how societies si tuate themselves within the context of their cosomology, writ small in the form of sacred landscape and architecture. In the 20th and 21st centuries, site-specific performance strives to interrogate, interpret and stimulate a performance-based discourse about land, architecture and "site." The lecture briefly surveys both practices, with visual examples of both traditional and contemporary works.
Late Response:
And I am struck by the central importance of context in these dance pieces. Just like many examples of landscape architecture, they wouldn't make sense somewhere else. In some ways these performance responses were more sensitive to their sites and their contexts than many designs. One example dealt with the shifting sand and gravel underwater that caused the site to change during the performance. This is great parallel to the dynamics of landscape architecture where the designed experience continues to change over seasons and years, often in ways that enhance great designs.
I think that the trend is clear that the competition between dance (blue) and space (red) is neck and neck:
It is scholarship season
Please apply early for the SEBS scholarship programs. Even if you aren't sure whether your GPA is high enough, you should apply.
14 February 2011
Buildings as mountains
Daily Dose of Architecture has a fascinating series of images of recent or proposed buildings that resemble hills or mountains. Is it just that landscape metaphors are compelling? Or is there something else behind this quasi-trend?
Lecture: Citing Site: Landscape and Ritual
LA Spring Lecture Series presents Jeff Friedman
Wednesday, February 16 at 4:00 pm,Cook/Douglas Lecture Hall;
3 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ
Citing Site: Landscape and Ritual
Traditional societies often use ritual events as a performance-based index for expressing cultural values about landscape. These ritual events often celebrate and consecrate the siting of sacred buildings or reflect how societies si tuate themselves within the context of their cosomology, writ small in the form of sacred landscape and architecture. In the 20th and 21st centuries, site-specific performance strives to interrogate, interpret and stimulate a performance-based discourse about land, architecture and "site." The lecture briefly surveys both practices, with visual examples of both traditional and contemporary works.
Jeff Friedman ran away from Cornell University's architecture school to be a dancer. He sustained a professional career as a dancer and choreographer in Boston and New York before returning to the University of Oregon where he completed his B.Arch in 1979. Based in San Francisco for 18 years, from 1979-1997, Jeff was a professional performer and choreographer, touring nationally and internationally with the Oberlin Dance Collective and specializing in multi-disciplinary site-specific performances in outdoor land and hard-scapes as well as architectural interiors. He completed his Ph.D. in dance history and theory at the University of California in 2003 and was appointed to the dance faculty at Rutgers where he is now Associate Professor, teaching both studio and theory courses. His research takes the form of both print publication and choreography, with a focus on oral-kinesthetic tradition, oral history theory, method and practice, and performance culture. Recent invited lectures include the Korean Arts Council in Seoul, Auckland and Victoria Universities in New Zealand, and Giessen and Leipzig Universities, during his 2010 Fulbright Fellowship in Germany.
Geolocation is for lovers
Or at least that is the idead behind Google's new http://www.MapYourValentine.com/.
Early Modern Chinese Cities
As China becomes an important shaper of the world, understanding the influence of its cities is important for planners. As such, this could be a fascinating lecture:
Professor William T. Rowe (Ph.D. Columbia) is John and Diane Cooke Professor of Chinese History and current chairperson of the History Department at Johns Hopkins University. He established his reputation as a meticulous scholar with two studies on 19th-century Wuhan entitled Hankow: Commerce and Society in a Chinese City, 1796-1889 (1984) and Hankow: Conflict and Community in a Chinese City, 1796-1895 (1989) respectively. More recently, he authored a biographical study on an 18th-century scholar-official and statecraft thinker (Saving the World: Chen Hongmou and Elite Consciousness in Eighteenth-Century China, 2001), chronicled the socio-economic history of a Chinese county from the mid-14th century to the 1920s (Crimson Rain: Seven Centuries of Violence in a Chinese County, 2007), and published a new history of the last Chinese imperial dynasty (China's Last Empire: The Great Qing, 2009).
While cities in late medieval and early modern Europe have long been recognized for their "catalytic" role in the formation of the modern world, Chinese cities have been conceived, until very recently, as basically static and inherently unable to bring about the transformation of Chinese society from tradition to modernity. In his talk, Professor Rowe will demonstrate just how wrong this earlier conception of the Chinese city was and how, in fact, Chinese cities from the sixteenth century onward became a focal point for the incremental but radical changes of Chinese society at large. As a result of these changes, a distinctively urban culture developed, and a proliferation of old and new forms of voluntary organizations led to the challenge of the monopoly of authority claimed by the late imperial bureaucratic state and thus laid the foundation for the modern Chinese state.
Please visit us at http://www.ciru.rutgers.edu
Early Modern Chinese Cities: Catalysts for Historical Change by Prof. William T. Rowe from Johns Hopkins University
Time: 4:30 pm on Thursday, February 17, 2011
Venue: Room A, B & C Rutgers Brower Commons, 145 College Ave., New Brunswick, NJ 08902
Open to the Public, All are welcome
Professor William T. Rowe (Ph.D. Columbia) is John and Diane Cooke Professor of Chinese History and current chairperson of the History Department at Johns Hopkins University. He established his reputation as a meticulous scholar with two studies on 19th-century Wuhan entitled Hankow: Commerce and Society in a Chinese City, 1796-1889 (1984) and Hankow: Conflict and Community in a Chinese City, 1796-1895 (1989) respectively. More recently, he authored a biographical study on an 18th-century scholar-official and statecraft thinker (Saving the World: Chen Hongmou and Elite Consciousness in Eighteenth-Century China, 2001), chronicled the socio-economic history of a Chinese county from the mid-14th century to the 1920s (Crimson Rain: Seven Centuries of Violence in a Chinese County, 2007), and published a new history of the last Chinese imperial dynasty (China's Last Empire: The Great Qing, 2009).
While cities in late medieval and early modern Europe have long been recognized for their "catalytic" role in the formation of the modern world, Chinese cities have been conceived, until very recently, as basically static and inherently unable to bring about the transformation of Chinese society from tradition to modernity. In his talk, Professor Rowe will demonstrate just how wrong this earlier conception of the Chinese city was and how, in fact, Chinese cities from the sixteenth century onward became a focal point for the incremental but radical changes of Chinese society at large. As a result of these changes, a distinctively urban culture developed, and a proliferation of old and new forms of voluntary organizations led to the challenge of the monopoly of authority claimed by the late imperial bureaucratic state and thus laid the foundation for the modern Chinese state.
Please visit us at http://www.ciru.rutgers.edu
Early Modern Chinese Cities: Catalysts for Historical Change by Prof. William T. Rowe from Johns Hopkins University
Time: 4:30 pm on Thursday, February 17, 2011
Venue: Room A, B & C Rutgers Brower Commons, 145 College Ave., New Brunswick, NJ 08902
Open to the Public, All are welcome
12 February 2011
A couple odd topos
After mention USGS topographic quad maps of Louisiana in class the other day, I found these great examples. The first is of Venice, LA - effectively the last town on the Mississippi River before the delta and the Gulf. The high point on the map is the levee, along the South side of the river. It looks like there are 2 contour lines, and the bottom of the map says they are 5 foot contours, so the levee would be a little higher than 10 feet above see level. The rest of the maps has nearly no contour lines anywhere. Flat, flat flat.
The second map is from an adjacent quad but has no contour lines. Instead of labeling the contour interval at the bottom, there is simply a note that says "Entire Area Below 5 Feet". And, in the corner you'll notice that there is no legend for roads, either.
Be careful, the linked images are quite large. But if you want to go back to the source, you can head over to Libre Map to get all of the topos for Louisiana.
The second map is from an adjacent quad but has no contour lines. Instead of labeling the contour interval at the bottom, there is simply a note that says "Entire Area Below 5 Feet". And, in the corner you'll notice that there is no legend for roads, either.
11 February 2011
Tough economy? Consider the Peace Corps
Instead of becoming a temporary employee doing something more menial than you want after you graduate, maybe you should fight the bad economy and go talk to the Peace Corps. When I see the Peace Corps listed on students' grad applications I know that they've been through an intense maturing process and have a larger world view than many other applicants. Their experiences will be broad and they will know how to problem solve.
On Friday February 18th you can visit with the Peace Corps here at Rutgers at the Diversity Fair.
On Friday February 18th you can visit with the Peace Corps here at Rutgers at the Diversity Fair.
Valencia just keeps getting better
Even a simple Google image search for "Valencia architecture" reveals why people are flocking to this city. Calatrava's work alone justifies the trip. But there is more.
10 February 2011
09 February 2011
Unpaid GIS internship near campus
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service has a need for a student intern to assist with checking the Cumberland County and Burlington County digital Soil surveys for errors. Automated procedures have been developed to assist in the work, however, the work itself is tedious. The student would learn some specialized procedures using ArcGIS (thus, some prior ArcGIS experience would be helpful), and get exposure working for a federal agency involved in natural resource management.
Estimated time required is 40 – 100 hours to complete this job.
Our preference would be for the volunteer to come in for at least four hours, two days per week, but we can be flexible with the schedule.
If you need any more information or have any questions about this opportunity, please contact:
Trish Long
GIS Specialist
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
220 Davidson Avenue, 4th Floor
Somerset, NJ 08879
www.nj.nrcs.usda.gov
732-537-6064
Estimated time required is 40 – 100 hours to complete this job.
Our preference would be for the volunteer to come in for at least four hours, two days per week, but we can be flexible with the schedule.
If you need any more information or have any questions about this opportunity, please contact:
Trish Long
GIS Specialist
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
220 Davidson Avenue, 4th Floor
Somerset, NJ 08879
www.nj.nrcs.usda.gov
732-537-6064
LateBlog: NYC street trees
Jennifer Greenfeld
Tree Selection for Survival in New York City
(Apologies all around, but I got a late start and missed some content...)
Over the last 100 years, NYC has had a changing list of encouraged and discouraged trees. Here is the list today.
The City has also conducted a tree census, counting over a half million trees of over 150 species. While in 1995 the Norway maple was the single most frequently counted tree (23%), the latest count found that in 2005 London Plane was most popular (15%).
Measuring mortality rates begins to reveal deeper patterns.
But just because a tree is recommended, it doesn't mean that NYC can get them from a nursery in a quantity that works, at a cost that works, with a history they can trust. While it can change significantly by growing season, some just aren't handy. For example, the hardy rubber tree, Eucomnia ulmoides.
Tree Selection for Survival in New York City
(Apologies all around, but I got a late start and missed some content...)
Over the last 100 years, NYC has had a changing list of encouraged and discouraged trees. Here is the list today.
The City has also conducted a tree census, counting over a half million trees of over 150 species. While in 1995 the Norway maple was the single most frequently counted tree (23%), the latest count found that in 2005 London Plane was most popular (15%).
Measuring mortality rates begins to reveal deeper patterns.
But just because a tree is recommended, it doesn't mean that NYC can get them from a nursery in a quantity that works, at a cost that works, with a history they can trust. While it can change significantly by growing season, some just aren't handy. For example, the hardy rubber tree, Eucomnia ulmoides.
USGS Quad sheets
If you want to explore USGS Quad sheets from around the country, you can search through many at Libre Map Project. Or, you can just look at the New Jersey collection at the NJ Topo Map Depot.
08 February 2011
Planning Board Meeting
The Planning Board for Woodbridge Township generally meets twice a month: normally on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month. Tomorrow night would be the second Wednesday. Check before you go: 732-602-6005.
The East Brunswick Planning Board holds public hearings on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 8:00 pm in the Municipal Building. The next one looks to be February 16th. Check before you go: 732-390-6870
The meetings for Edison Township are held on the third Monday of each month in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building at 7:30 P.M. This month that would be the 21st. Check before you go: (732) 248-7249
The East Brunswick Planning Board holds public hearings on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 8:00 pm in the Municipal Building. The next one looks to be February 16th. Check before you go: 732-390-6870
The meetings for Edison Township are held on the third Monday of each month in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building at 7:30 P.M. This month that would be the 21st. Check before you go: (732) 248-7249
Crime mapping, sort of
This map of organized crime didn't require GIS, but does show quickly social networks can get complicated.
Summer program: Feb 21 deadline
Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas + Company is accepting applications for its class of 2011 Summer Design Scholars. This is a juried selection, open to upper-level undergraduates and graduate students in architecture, urban design, landscape architecture, and interior design.
We hope you will distribute this link to your students, friends and school acquaintances. The submission deadline is Monday, FEBRUARY 21. Selection will be made by March 15. If you are not the person who should receive this information, we would appreciate your assistance in getting it into the right hands. You can learn more about our program (and applicants can apply) at this link:
www.hewv.com/scholar
This is the ninth year of the program, and our scholars have reported their experiences to be rewarding and life-changing. Scholars, including international students, have come from the Savannah College of Art + Design, McGill, Universidad de Monterrey, UPenn, Yale, Carnegie Mellon, Tulane, Virginia Tech, UVA, Clemson, Penn State, Ohio State, Kansas State, Iowa State, Georgia Tech, and Hampton University. Several Summer Scholar “alumni” have accepted full-time positions with our firm.
If you have other questions, please contact Nick Vlattas, nvlattas@hewv.com, or 757-321-9608.
We hope you will distribute this link to your students, friends and school acquaintances. The submission deadline is Monday, FEBRUARY 21. Selection will be made by March 15. If you are not the person who should receive this information, we would appreciate your assistance in getting it into the right hands. You can learn more about our program (and applicants can apply) at this link:
www.hewv.com/scholar
This is the ninth year of the program, and our scholars have reported their experiences to be rewarding and life-changing. Scholars, including international students, have come from the Savannah College of Art + Design, McGill, Universidad de Monterrey, UPenn, Yale, Carnegie Mellon, Tulane, Virginia Tech, UVA, Clemson, Penn State, Ohio State, Kansas State, Iowa State, Georgia Tech, and Hampton University. Several Summer Scholar “alumni” have accepted full-time positions with our firm.
If you have other questions, please contact Nick Vlattas, nvlattas@hewv.com, or 757-321-9608.
07 February 2011
Lecture: Tree Selection for Survival in New York City
LA Spring Lecture Series presents Jennifer Greenfeld
Wednesday, February 9 at 4:00 pm,
Cook/Douglas Lecture Hall;
3 College Farm Road
New Brunswick, NJ
Wednesday, February 9 at 4:00 pm,
Cook/Douglas Lecture Hall;
3 College Farm Road
New Brunswick, NJ
Tree Selection for Survival in New York City
With the creation of PlaNYC, a sweeping plan to enhance New York's urban environment, Mayor Bloomberg promised to fill every available planting space along the streets of New York City. Ms. Greenfeld will describe how the Department of Parks & Recreation is fulfilling this mandate with particular
focus on how her department met the challenge of locating large quantities of high quality nursery stock, while increasing species diversity. The talk will also discuss how they monitor success.
Since 1997, Jennifer Greenfeld has worked for the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. As the Director of Street Tree Planting she manages what is arguably the largest street tree planting program in the nation, planting nearly 20,000 trees annually as part of MillionTreesNYC and Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC 2030. She also managed the 2005 street tree census, created the Trees for Public Health program, developed forestry management plans for community parks, and coordinated a mortality study of 40,000 recently planted trees. A graduate of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Jennifer has also worked in Washington DC and San Francisco.
Alternative to a Planning Board Meeting
EnvPlan Students: If you are looking for a Planning Board Meeting for Assignment 1, I might consider this Hunterdon County meeting if you asked in advance.
Phil Lewis
University of Wisconsin Landscape Architecture Professor Emeritus Phil Lewis is on MySpace. His book, on the other hand, is starting to get scarce.
You can see how Fitchburg WI has their Regional Design guidelines online based on his work.
Here is a local blog writing about Phil Lewis' work. You can see a great photo of one of his large models. The Wisconsin Idea Center features a classic Lewis-ian diagram.
Perhaps the continuing relevance of his ideas is reflected in the fact that students still write about him.
You can see how Fitchburg WI has their Regional Design guidelines online based on his work.
Here is a local blog writing about Phil Lewis' work. You can see a great photo of one of his large models. The Wisconsin Idea Center features a classic Lewis-ian diagram.
Perhaps the continuing relevance of his ideas is reflected in the fact that students still write about him.
06 February 2011
The Northeast Sustainable Communities Workshop
04 February 2011
A World of Change: Climate Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
"A World of Change: Climate Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" featuring Susan Solomon
February 10, 2011, 6 p.m.
Susan SolomonSusan Solomon is a senior scientist at the Earth System Research Laboratory at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She is internationally recognized as a leader in atmospheric science, particularly for her insights in explaining the cause of the Antarctic ozone "hole." Her current research focuses on issues relating to both atmospheric chemistry and climate change.
Please join in for this dynamic presentation, which is part of the Ecologies in the Balance year-long seminar series to examine possible solutions to sweeping and unprecedented global environmental, social, and economic challenges and to explore the opportunities for intervention that these changes represent. A reception will follow Dr. Solomon's talk.
Contact the Office of Community Engagement to register for this event at 732-932-2000, ext. 4205, or discovery@aesop.rutgers.edu.
February 10, 2011, 6 p.m.
Susan SolomonSusan Solomon is a senior scientist at the Earth System Research Laboratory at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She is internationally recognized as a leader in atmospheric science, particularly for her insights in explaining the cause of the Antarctic ozone "hole." Her current research focuses on issues relating to both atmospheric chemistry and climate change.
Please join in for this dynamic presentation, which is part of the Ecologies in the Balance year-long seminar series to examine possible solutions to sweeping and unprecedented global environmental, social, and economic challenges and to explore the opportunities for intervention that these changes represent. A reception will follow Dr. Solomon's talk.
Contact the Office of Community Engagement to register for this event at 732-932-2000, ext. 4205, or discovery@aesop.rutgers.edu.
03 February 2011
New Census numbers: Hispanics outnumber African-Americans
The 2010 aggregate Census numbers are out for New Jersey and one of the most notable findings is that the 1.5 million Hispanics now represent the largest minority group in the Garden State. On the whole, New Jersey grew 4.5% which has political ramifications both within and beyond New Jersey.
Scholarship opportunity
If you are a junior who has been active in the community, you might want to look into the Wells H Keddie Scholarship. If you haven't been active, you might want to consider getting off campus and getting engaged.
02 February 2011
Mixed economic news for LA Firms
It is hard to tell which way is up in the latest quarterly report from the ASLA. Billable hours are down but more firms are looking to hire.
Invasive Species Talk
Ecology & Evolution Graduate Program Seminar
Dr. Alycia Crall
Department of Land Resources
University of Wisconsin, Madison
“The Art and Science Of Invasive Species Monitoring with Citizen Scientists”
Citizen science programs have widespread applications to invasive species science where educating the public and increasing collaboration could prevent new introductions and control existing ones.
During this seminar, Dr. Crall will discuss efforts by the National Institute of Invasive Species Science citizen science program to answer the following research questions: 1) Can citizen scientists effectively contribute to established professional monitoring programs for invasive species? 2) Can p roper training provide skills necessary to collect data comparable to professionals? 3) Can participation in the training program improve knowledge, attitudes, and promote scientific inquiry? Trained as a plant ecologist, Dr. Crall will also remark on the benefits and struggles of an interdisciplinary approach to research when developing programs of this type.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
4:00 p.m.
Alampi Room, Marine and Coastal Sciences
Host: Dr. Rebecca Jordan
Refreshments at 3:30
Dr. Alycia Crall
Department of Land Resources
University of Wisconsin, Madison
“The Art and Science Of Invasive Species Monitoring with Citizen Scientists”
Citizen science programs have widespread applications to invasive species science where educating the public and increasing collaboration could prevent new introductions and control existing ones.
During this seminar, Dr. Crall will discuss efforts by the National Institute of Invasive Species Science citizen science program to answer the following research questions: 1) Can citizen scientists effectively contribute to established professional monitoring programs for invasive species? 2) Can p roper training provide skills necessary to collect data comparable to professionals? 3) Can participation in the training program improve knowledge, attitudes, and promote scientific inquiry? Trained as a plant ecologist, Dr. Crall will also remark on the benefits and struggles of an interdisciplinary approach to research when developing programs of this type.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
4:00 p.m.
Alampi Room, Marine and Coastal Sciences
Host: Dr. Rebecca Jordan
Refreshments at 3:30
01 February 2011
DeBoer Travel Prize reports
LA Spring Lecture Series presents Roy DeBoer Travel Prize winners reports
Wednesday, February 2 at 4:00 pm,
Cook/Douglas Lecture Hall;
3 College Farm Road
New Brunswick, NJ
Traveling is an essential experience for landscape architects. That is even more important for students of landscape architecture—learning creative design for livable places demands first hand studies of existing landscapes. The Roy DeBoer Travel Prize offers students of our depar tment the opportunity to travel and experience landscapes in the US and abroad. In this presentation the four 2010 prize winners will share their experiences and impressions:
Zena Zahalan, Paris
Erin Greenwood, Pacific Coast Highway
Jenna Gatto, Grand Canyon & La Bash
Alexandra Bolinder-Gibsand, Sweden
The presentations will be followed by a reception at Blake Hall.
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