Jacobo Herdoíza, Director of this project, will give a public presentation on Monday evening, May 21, at the 49^th IMCL Conference that takes place at the Governor Hotel, in Portland, OR, May 20-24. This will be followed by presentation of the Award to Mr. Herdoíza, who will receive it on behalf of Ecuador’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage (Ministerio Coordinador de Patrimonio) on May 22.

The project was launched in Ibarra, in April 2011. The website identified the challenge: “The Plaza, in most Latin-American cities, was the point from which the city, public life, commerce, symbolic space and the seat of power developed. Today, the Plaza’s functionality is negatively affected by environmental and social factors, by problems of accessibility, and by urban development pressures, causing deterioration of the urban image, as well as civic activity. The potential for social integration in the city depends on possibilities for social encounter and exchange among people. In this sense, the use of public space, and particularly the Plaza, is an effective instrument for social cohesion.”

Ecuador’s National Plan for Good Living (El Plan Nacional para el Buen Vivir) is developing directions for community participation in the revitalization of these public places. A book about the project is in preparation.

The theme of the 49^th IMCL Conference, Planning Healthy Communities for All, is perfectly exemplified by Ecuador’s visionary project, “The Plaza: A Place of Encounter”.

About IMCL: The International Making Cities Livable Council was founded in 1985 to enhance well-being, strengthen community, improve social and physical health, and increase civic engagement by reshaping the built environment of our cities, suburbs and towns. A current IMCL focus is to inspire cities to build or revive multifunctional town squares that, like the ancient agora or medieval marketplace, can regenerate civic engagement and democratic participation.

Contact:
Suzanne H. Crowhurst Lennard, Ph.D.(Arch.)
Director, International Making Cities Livable Council
Suzanne.Lennard@LivableCities.org
Tel: 503-208-2817

The Landscape and Community International Congress: Design, Management and Public Participation, organized by the Portuguese business magazine “Arquitecturas”, will present in a novel and practical manner, the ways and the international cases in which this relationship is expected.

The Landscape and Community International Congress: Design, Management and Public Participation will gather professionals, policy makers and interested citizens in the most pertinent issues and challenges facing the land use planning, the creation of new productive landscapes integrated in urban areas and facing the correct development and recovery of protected landscapes.

This two-day congress presents a unique set of experienced speakers in Landscape Project and Management, as well as in the direct involvement of the community in the Landscape. The second day of the Landscape and Community International Congress: Design, Management and Public Participation will be dedicated to a practical learning, with visits and workshops on the topics discussed.

Landscape and Community International Congress

www.jornalarquitecturas.com

Registration and Information:
+351 218 806 129
geralarquitecturas@about.pt

Navy Pier is in store for a makeover, and the changes could be dramatic.
Five teams of celebrated designers from Chicago and around the world unveiled competing plans for remaking the public spaces of Illinois’ most popular tourist attraction.
•Zigzagging boardwalks that would jut out from the pier, bringing visitors close to Lake Michigan and even offering opportunities for swimming in the lake.
•A grand staircase that would sweep upward from the park around the pier’s Ferris wheel and offer dazzling views of the city skyline.
•A tower, called the Glacier, which would rise out of the lake just east of the pier, becoming a jagged ice sculpture in winter.
•An aerial gondola that would carry visitors to and from the pier, lifting them over congested downtown streets.

Until a winner is chosen, Chicagoans have some spectacular design plans to ogle and a chance to debate the latest grand schemes for a city that revels in Daniel Burnham‘s often-quoted aphorism: “Make no little plans.”
The competition is “not just to pick a design or an architect. It’s also to raise public awareness,” said Stanley Collier, editor of Competitions, a Louisville, Ky.-based magazine that focuses on design contests.
The five teams are charged with re-imagining the pier’s public spaces, which stretch from the Gateway Park on the west end to the east end plaza that overlooks Lake Michigan.
The spaces also include the elevated park around the Ferris wheel, which is known as Pier Park; the Dock Street pedestrian promenade, which lines the pier’s south side; and the Crystal Gardens, an indoor space festooned with palm trees and fountains.

Here are the lead firms of each team, and the key elements of the plans:

•AECOM/BIG — The Crystal Gardens would become a “vertical urban farm” to supply produce to restaurants at the pier. A grand staircase would sweep over a proposed addition to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and offer uninterrupted skyline views. On the pier’s far east end, a tiered platform would create a “lifted corner” that would rise above the Dock Street promenade, providing another lookout. A tier on the other corner would descend directly to the water.

•Davis Brody Bond/Aedas/Martha Schwartz Partners — A series of boardwalklike extensions on the pier’s southern edge would include a variety of features, among them slips for tour boats, an outdoor theater, fishing areas and a beach. A “flyover” ramp would connect Pier Park to the boardwalks. A gondola would carry visitors to the pier from Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive.

•!melk/HOK/UrbanLab — Curved platforms would extend over the pier’s southern edge, providing lookout points. Boardwalks at the pier’s eastern end would let visitors get closer to the lake; below the platforms, and visible to the visitors, would be underwater “fish resorts” where fish would congregate. The towering structure called the Glacier would rise out of the lake off the pier’s eastern end.

•James Corner Field Operations — Undulating steps would join Pier Park with the Dock Street promenade. The plan also suggests turning the interior of the Crystal Gardens into a striking display of hanging gardens and putting oval-shaped cabs on the nearby Ferris wheel. A swimming pool with a sand beach would run along the pier’s southeast corner at lake level. A stepped amphitheater would lead down to the eastern end of the pier, where a platform would extend into the lake.

•Xavier Vendrell Studio/Grimshaw Architects — Circular arrangements of trees and plants would be installed to soften Pier Park. They would enliven the South Dock with pocket parks, terraces and kiosks. A wedge-shaped “horizon walk” platform would extend outward and upward from the pier’s east end, creating another vantage point to gaze over Lake Michigan and providing another reason for people to walk the entire length of the pier.

The contest is the most visible result of a long-range revamp of the pier that officials announced last summer.
By Blair Kamin, Chicago Tribune critic (bkamin@tribune.com)
Chicago Tribune

The research must be completed in calendar year 2012 with a requirement for a subsequent dissemination of the research in the form of a public presentation, essay, or small publication to be delivered within six months after the archival research period.  Penn State will consider additional funding for particularly ambitious and meritorious research dissemination.

Applications in the form of a letter of interest that defines the parameters of the research, including anticipated dates, should be submitted to the e-mail address below.  The letter should not exceed two pages and must be accompanied with a current curriculum vitae with e-mail contact information.  The Fellowship is open to scholars, professionals, and researchers in all disciplines.  Ph.D. candidates and above are welcome to apply but students are not eligible. This call is also viewable online at: http://stuckeman.psu.edu/larch/endowed-lectureships

The Archives Research Fellow will receive an honorarium of $2,500 at the beginning of the research period. The stipend will be used at the discretion of the Research Fellow to cover transportation, lodging, and all other costs. Any amount remaining from expenses shall be retained by the Research Fellow. The Department of Landscape Architecture will provide administrative support during the research period.

The Fellowship is funded through the Landscape Architecture Chair in Integrative Design at the H. Campbell and Eleanor R. Stuckeman School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

Applications are due on or before March 7, 2012. Applicants will be notified of the selected Fellow on or before March 28, 2012. Selection will be made by a committee of the department head and appointed faculty. Inquiries and Fellowship applications (PDF, less than 2Mb) should be sent via e-mail to:
Kelly Riser
Penn State Department of Landscape Architecture
kjr1@psu.edu

To download a PDF of Submission Guidelines, click here

Categories:

DESIGN
Furniture
Furniture systems
Lighting
Interior products

ARCHITECTURE
Residential buildings
Commercial and institutional buildings
Landscapes
Temporary and demonstration spaces 

INTERIORS
Residential interiors
Commercial and institutional interiors 

CONCEPTS
Unbuilt competition entries
Other unrealized concepts 

A+ AWARD
$5000 cash prize awarded for the best design product, architectural structure, interior space or concept developed by a student enrolled in a design or architecture program in 2011. Sponsored by George Brown College

31 janvier 2012 – C’est avec grand plaisir que l’Association des architectes paysagistes du Québec remettra à Mme Claude Benoît, Présidente et Chef de la Direction de la Société du Vieux-Port de Montréal, la plus haute distinction attribuée par l’AAPQ soit le Prix Frederick Todd – catégorie public. Ce prix, décerné depuis 1995, honore des personnalités publiques qui ont contribué de façon exceptionnelle à promouvoir l’architecture de paysage au Québec. Mme Benoît se verra remettre son prix lors du Congrès annuel AAPQ 2012 qui aura lieu à Québec, les 30 et 31 mars prochains, sous le thème « L’architecte paysagiste : leader créatif ». 

En attribuant le Prix Frederick G. Todd à Mme Benoît, l’Association désire souligner son parcours professionnel et son engagement de longue date dans la valorisation du cœur historique de la ville de Montréal. Elle a su élaborer une vision de l’essor du Vieux-Port de Montréal dans une plus vaste stratégie de développement; celle d’une ville moderne à la rencontre de sa genèse historique. C’est sous sa gouverne que la Société du Vieux-Port de Montréal a déployé les grands équipements (pensons au Centre des sciences de Montréal) et événements qui ont su dynamiser ce secteur de Montréal. De plus, son engagement dans les discussions et le développement des grands projets urbains a toujours accordé une place de choix au paysage et à l’aménagement d’espaces publics rassembleurs et conviviaux.

Le thème du leadership créatif guidera le congrès de cette année et il sera donc d’autant plus à propos de célébrer le travail de Mme Benoît qui a démontré des qualités de leader exceptionnelles dans les projets qu’elle a mené. Tracer la voie, convaincre et développer les qualités d’un leader sont les idées qui sous tendent les diverses conférences qui seront présentés les 30 et 31 mars prochains. Les formateurs et conférenciers invités sont des créateurs de haut niveau qui, chacun dans leur domaine respectif, ont fait preuve d’initiatives en contribuant à faire évoluer la vision de leur milieu quant aux façons de faire.

C’est lors du Grand Souper de Clôture qui se tiendra à L’Espace Dalhousie le samedi, 31 mars prochain, que Mme Benoit recevra son prix. Pour consulter la programmation complète du Congrès annuel AAPQ 2012 et s’y inscrire : aapq.org.

 * Frederick G. Todd, pionnier de la profession au Canada, fut aussi le premier architecte paysagiste résidant et œuvrant au Québec.

Informations : Katerine Boisclair, responsable des communications
AAPQ (514) 990-7731 info@aapq.org

Dear participant,

You are very welcome to our joint conference in St. Petersburg and Uppsala. We are expecting a participation of many good professionals from all around the globe.

There will be 6 subthemes in the conference: Green Infrastructure in different scales; Green Heritage; Green-Blue infrastructures; Built structure-Green infrastructure and their interactions; Green infrastructures: ecosystem services; The link between green and social infrastructure; Transportation and green infrastructures.

The scientific output will be in the form of a peer-reviewed conference abstract proceedings (will be completed before the conference) and a special issue in one of the peer reviewed publications (Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, Landscape and Ecological Engineering or Nordic Architectural Research etc.) after the conference.  Editors of these scientific journals will be invited to the conference.

The conference will consist of total 5 days: two days of conference presentations and a technical excursion in St. Petersburg, one day on the train St. Petersburg-Helsinki plus boat-ferry between Helsinki and Stockholm and two days of conference presentations and technical excursions in Stockholm and Uppsala.

The keynote speakers are world leading academics and practitioners: Martha Schwartz (USA, UK), one of the leading world’s landscape architects, Professor Nancy Rottle from the University of Washington, USA; Professor Stephan Pauleit from Munich Technical University, Germany, Dr.  Larisa Kanunnikova, the Main Landscape Architect of St. Petersburg, Professors Clas Florgård, world specialist in indigenous vegetation and Per G Berg, DG Environment (EU) expert for the European Green Capital Award from SLU, Sweden. 

Abstracts
The due date is 1^st of March (please see on our website the abstracts and posters requirements)

Conference fee
The registration fee is 300 Euro for 5 days which includes coffee breaks, lunches, ticket to the Allegro train (St. Petersburg to Helsinki), the ferry trip with one meal (From Helsinki to Stockholm), excursion buses in Uppsala and St. Petersburg and a copy of the conference proceedings.

Please register on the conference website and use your registration number for further steps such as payments, accommodation and visa’s arrangements

The LAbash 2012 Conference will be hosted by the Florida International University Student Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects in its main campus in Miami and their newly inaugurated facilities at 420 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach [ Miami Beach Urban Studios - MBUS ]. Main activities throughout the conference will be based from our Miami Beach location, so please make your arrangements accordingly! If you have any questions, please refer to the website, as it is constantly being updated, or email back at info@fiulabash2012.com

The theme, Urban Oasis, will focus on the dynamic function that urban landscapes have in shaping the future of our cities. In recent years, landscape architecture has taken a more prominent role as a force that informs the urban condition and the critical relationships between humans and their urban environments. All students and professionals are invited to participate in this exciting discussion and register today!