LANscapes

No National leadership - even Obama - has ever addressed racial and income disparity in a meaningful or egalitarian way. It has and continues to exist with no meaningful discussion about a real plan that highlights the areas of the country where it’s really hard to make it, and implements a plan to fix it. Why?  Americans are faced with a cross-generational system that is so politically corrupt that it is not even interested in what it needs to do. It is interested in doing the bare minimum it can do to prevent revolt. Even this has failed and it now has revolt on its hands. Solutions need be at the causal level. The current system offers a choice between candidates from two morally corrupt parties most interested in self-preservation than the public they are supposed to represent. Both are hell bent on stealing well-being from the other and passing it on to their respective constituents. How did we get here? Facing a global pandemic, rioting in the streets, a movement that is chal...

I wonder if we still possess the ability to see the unusual in the everyday and an interest in capturing life’s in-between moments.

Grant me the clarity to face the things I cannot change with the desire to investigate and learn, the courage to fail, and the curiosity to persist at perpetual improvement.

Earth revolves around her axis in one day; the Moon orbits around Earth in one month; and Earth around the Sun in one year. How we engage in this rotational journey is unique to each of us. Forever within the common confines of 24 hour time, and forever seeking synchronicity; attempting to seek balance amongst the geophonies, biophonies, and anthrophonies of our worlds.  If one cannot physically and audibly connect with the natural world, how are we supposed to grasp its implications beyond cerebral understanding?

In a culture that attempts defiance of the realities that its people do not have constant meaning, recent regressive political paradigm shifts bring great concern for the emergent meanings that will be fashioned in the context of this new culture; what we will make things mean or signify moving forward.  Islamism or Africanism might substitute Orientalism, but its the upholding of such binary perspectives that masks a hybrid  nature of a colonial encounter and the postcolonial condition. According to Edward Said, “anyone who teaches, writes about, or researches the Orient is an Orientalist” (quoted in Sardar and Van Loon 1999, 109), and what they say or do is Orientalism. Orientalism is a cultural derivation of, primarily, the European and American search for self-identity. This search has led to a destructive and omniscient spread of colonial persuasion. Formulating a distinction between the “orient and the Occident ” results from the West’s changes in cultural constru...

I wish to be clear about my position on the proposed development at Pier 6 adjacent my home at 1 Brooklyn Bridge Park as t his 'piece' , along with mentions in curbed ny and other recent commentary written by the Gothamist , even Ms. Robbin's ramblings in the NY Times  - author of this weekends conversation-igniter - seems more contexomy than journalism. Mr. Colon, in fact, seems rather proud of his abilities to write editorial between "drunk tweets . . .  and . . . listening to arguments drift in through [his[ window".  I am NOT opposed to development at Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park, nor am I the resident "Gladiator" out to lead the resistance of "dunderheads"  (the office reference is lost here) against an "incursion of housing" in our community. A Landscape Architect by profession, I am a designer and lover of Parks and Public Space as part of smart development and urban design. I am also NOT opposed to living within a cult...

Not two years ago Hurricane Sandy swept across the Northeastern United States and Canada bringing a sobering blow to our (in)humane ability to test natures resolve. A new park on Governors Island emerged from Sandy's wrath with a stunning outcome that confirmed its preparedness and long vision for a changing world; a testament to 'designing-in change'. Raising the height of the Island's Park did not come without much debate. The beneficial effects of such debate, however, were ultimately revealed; the visionary planning and design can manifest by the Park's resilience and current use.  Across the Buttermilk Channel stands Brooklyn Bridge Park; still emerging as a regional if not national success story in the world of parks and public spaces, but steeped in debate and writhing in controversy over it's recently misconstrued reputation as a " residential enclave for the wealthiest New Yorkers " . . . " going full-NIMBY and waging war over the scou...

With a leap in scales both personally and professionally, and a momentous and celebratory opening to one of our firm's most celebrated and satisfying achievements  - Miami Beach Soundscape - Madfish 004: 10X was unleashed.  Almost immediately, the yearning for something equally as satisfying lingered. "A dormant entity lurks throughout our thoughts and emotions quietly unnoticed - however, there are those of us who perceive this Passenger and learn to accept it as a part of ourselves." With a hunger that drives me to the near brink it is only through an exploratory and carefully crafted appreciation for the poetic composition of mood through melody that this hunger can be sated. Life's moments of inspiration come most unexpectedly and when they do it is necessary they be seized; celebrating them in a carnal way that leaves a heightened senses, an agile step, and a determination to succeed.  When in harmonious synchronicity, the Passenger is both controlled...

From firsthand experience overseeing the construction of one of the more elaborate and unique park spaces I have personally encountered - personally or professionally -  it is with much anticipation that I continue to drive toward the completion of the recently endorsed "Miami Beach Soundscape" (formerly referred to as Lincoln Park). This will be West 8's first built work in the United States and has been, in 'concert' with the New World Symphony's ambitious vision for it's newly completed facility, a work of art and architecture that I think seeks to aid the evolution of music . As David Byrne reflects on his own musical ruminations and hypothesizes a model of creativity; do artists write stuff for specific rooms? Do we have a place, a venue, a context in mind when we make things? From the sparse outdoor 'friendship circles' of the African desert to the hymns of gothical cathedrals, Mozart's parlors to  the symphonic chambers of Carnegie Hal...

Cover 003.BLOG | In an attempt to further identify and discern the tonal colour of our auditory world, DJ Madfish is set to release his third musical composition. Anticipation of his wife’s impending delivery of new life has renewed his vocational journey through the tonotopic landscape of our receiving world. His first release since leaving Canadian soil, accompanied by a shift in sonic colour, is the direct result of both a perceived and real experience of his auditory landscape.  DJ Madfish cross-pollinates his occupational pursuits with his extracurricular aspirations and vocational talents. As left brain and right brain work to create visual smells and tangible sites, it is the potential born of the auditory landscape that inspires madfish to bring you tasty sounds. “These phenomena get to the heart of what it means to have memories. Most of us have a set of memories that we treat something like a photo album or scrapbook. Certain stories we are accustomed to telling to...

Snow fencing - $200. Chain link - $750. Saving another mature tree - priceless.  Mischievousness? Sociopathic lack of conscience? Ignorance? Unbelievable? Perhaps all the above reflect a recurring abuse of direction and care associated with tree protection measures on our building sites. Arguably analogous to storing ones kitchen-ware in a baby's crib, or setting up extending a "slip n' slide" across the neighbours tulip bed, battling the abuses of contractor 'oversight' is a never-ending few of us will ever have to endure.   It is comical in its predictability; at the same time shocking in the apparent and conditioned lack of regard. But, I believe it fair to say that as landscape architects it is all too common for us to reprimand contractors for their flagrant abuse of tree protection measures. Met with raised eyebrows, head scratches, and "who me?" looks, it is never surprising how egregious their mistakes are. Arguably, they are not mistakes...

With slightly more than a year under my belt living in New York City, I remain simultaneously curious of and resilient to the anesthetizing effects of such a vibrant, mentally wearing (often hostile) yet threateningly exciting cityscape. While my discoveries and adventures extend beyond the confines of this urban jungle, my observations remain disturbingly consistent - "bigger is better" here, and one's perceived requirement of protection from an increasingly hostile and dystopic environment resists the increasing pressures and realities of resource scarcity and a decaying urban infrastructure. We continue to elude ourselves of these worldly realities and select biophobic armatures that perpetuate our dissociation from that which we hold in cautious reverence. (Original publication here). "Instead of struggling to keep the public domain in good repair, we find it more effective to take action at the personal level, to defend ourselves from the urban environment wi...

A volcanic island emerges from the still and placid waters of lake Titicaca? Perhaps a virtual eden off the shores of Second Life? Sorry - neither. This virutal landscape, better known as the island of "twitter land New York" is a graphic representation of collected geospatial data, compiled from its inhabitants better known as the "tweeters of twitter". Sweden may have been first, but social media tools have arguably brought the potential for expanding awareness of the design and construction industry. Social media is no longer a novelty and has, in fact, given way to a new form of social exchange economy - socialnomics . Like a word cloud that takes on scaleable proportions not dissimilar to our chaotic urban environments, perhaps there is some method in the madness. As opportunities to create space for the voracious appetites of a continued and expansive growth of our fellow man worldwide, it strikes me as entirely possible that a new form of understanding mu...

As I work toward notching another " built accomplishment " on the proverbial belt, I find myself pondering the likelihood of emerging from the experience buried in change order ink, frustrated client with "busted budgets", and an overwhelming sense of helplessness about my ability to affect change within a crippled industry - an industry where the design professional's role as "masterbuilder" continues to fade as quickly as an owner's costs continue to rise. According to construction lawyer Barry LePatner , however, we (designers) are simply one cog that helps spin the wheel in "an industry that consumes $1.23 trillion and wastes at least $120 billion each year." Why is the construction industry fraught with such lackluster performers and skyrocketing costs that outpace inflation? With such lofty ambitions accompanied by unprecedented developments in materials and technology, why is it that productivity within the building industry fal...

"The idea of people walking in landscape and looking at sculpture is part of the heritage of English landscape design," says Mr. Murray, director of Yorkshire Sculpture Park in England. "But the development of a permanent space for contemporary sculpture is, relatively speaking, new." Storm King Art Centre in the Hudson Valley would beg to differ as 2010 sees it celebrating it's 50th year. Not dissimilar to Dia:Beacon in its mysterious draw as a destination for locals and visitors from the far reaches of the Hudson Valley and beyond, the sprawling well-crafted grounds of Storm King are guaranteed to please. Perhaps over-intellectualizing this place by attributing it's very appeal to something more than simply a great 'park' to exercise one's children or to pass a lazy day winding (by foot or tram) its many trails. I cannot help but feel a certain learned sensitivity, however, to centuries of social activity in the pastoral garden traditio...

Beyond the trips of Ichabod Crane, the Headless Horseman, and the Legendary town of Sleepy Hollow lies a gallery/exhibit space unlike any other. Still striving to retain it's expansive production and manufacturing history, the refurbished printing plant (built by Nabisco) turned art gallery - Dia:Beacon - is a site that elicits intrigue and solicits participation up close and from a distance. Although the rotational and permanent exhibits of the Dia facility are left open to interpretation, its experientially and sequential stories (legends) induce a unique understanding of art-in-place. Dia:Beacon is a satellite campus of the NYC art juggernaut competing for pole position with the likes of the Met, MOMA, and many other converted industrial facilities. A site that houses spatially ambitious contemporary and modern art installations, paintings, and multimedia experiences also serves up an exploratory gallery experience like no other. For the ambitious and curatorially curious,...

While actors the likes of Jamie Foxx and Russel Crowe attempt careers on the microphone, and singers such as 50 cent attempt to make a dollar or "die tryin'" on the big screen, an evolution of "starchitects" have resorted to shift their sights on the built forms of the theatrical arts. A multitude of theatrical performances in New York City this spring - ballet, opera, and theatre - incorporate architectural design in various ways. Thematic or set design, it is perhaps not entirely surprising that this synchronistic phenomenon comes at a time when development continues to wain, employment remains stagnant, and hope for the advancement of investment in the public realm remains cautious. Architecture of Dance, The Glass House, Attila, The Bilbao Effect, and Theatre for One are architectural interventions that provide an exciting new layer within the performance arts, and instigate a new dialogue with their respective audiences. Calatrava's kinetic d...