Call for Entries
Deadline for entries – June 4th, 2012

The international garden architecture competition best private plots – Die besten Gärten 2012  was launched on the 2nd of April 2012.

The award best private plots – Die besten Gärten 2012 recognizes exemplary sustainable design of private outdoor spaces, highlighting the garden as a contemporary dialogue between architecture, ecology and landscape, as places of inspiration and creation, as habitats that tell stories.

The award criteria include artistic and conceptual quality, ecological use of plants and materials, delimitation and organization of outdoor space. A focus lies on variety of uses and sustainability. The outdoor spaces must be clearly identifiable as intended for private residence and use, and must have been created no more than ten years ago. The competition is international. Landscape architects, architects, artists, gardeners, garden owners and combinations thereof from all countries are eligible.

Prizes: First prize: 7,000 € | Second prize: 5,000 € | Third prize: 3,000 €

Jury 2012: Stig L. Andersson (DK), SLA Urbanity Strategy Landscape | Franziska Bark Hagen (CH), cultural scientist | Teresa Moller (CL), Estudio del Paisaje | Vladimir (Tom) Sitta, Terragram | Tom Stuart-Smith (GB), Landscape Design

Award ceremony and International symposium on garden architecture: September 29th, 2012, Essl Museum, A-3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria.

The bilingual catalog best private plots – Die besten Gärten 2012 will present about 30 outdoor spaces and gardens nominated for the award. The catalog will be launched at the award ceremony on 29th September 2012 and can be ordered at www.privateplots.at.

best private plots 12 competition brief
best private plots 12 folder
best private plots 12 Jury
best private plots 12 poster

8th Contemporary European Horticulture and Garden Show

“Water in the art of gardens and nature”

Károlyi Mansion,

Fehérvárcsurgó, Hungary

June 1-2-3 2012

Lectures, Nurserymen,Commercial Gardeners Breeders and Producers

Distributors of Horticultural Specialties Garden Accessories and Furniture Designers

Greenhouse and Fountain Manufacturers Lighting Firms, Crafts, Professional Associations

Landscaping Schools, Landscape Architects, Activities for Children, Concert,

 Exhibition and Sale in the 50 ha park

Honorary Chairwoman:

Mrs Pál Schmitt, wife of the President of the Republic

European Guests of Honour countries:

Denmark, Cyprus, France

Supporting Groups:

Magyar Turizmus Zrt-Közép Dunántúli Régíó

Institut français, Budapest, the Embassies of Denmark and Cyprus

 Patrons:

Virágos Magyarországért (‘Hungary in bloom’)

«Kertészek és Kertbarátok Országos Szövetsége»

(Gardeners and friends of Gardens association)

 Program of the conferences

Friday, 1st June : opening : Danish and Cyprus heritage

The Royal Gardens in Denmark: Jens Hendeliowitz, landscape architect

Cyprus and its heritage: Mrs Anna Marengou “The Venetian wall in Nicosia”

Opening concert by the Danish Quartett

 Saturday, 2nd June: Art of fountains and landscape architecture

Fountains of Villa d’Este, Italy: Marina Cogotti, responsible for the fountains

Fountains of Versailles, France: Gilles Bultez, responsible of the hydraulic system

Jámbor Imre, Corvinus University: « Water in historic and contemporary garden architecture»

 Sunday, 3rd June: Water in the nature: heritage to be preserved

Water and environment: Dr Jenö György Fekete, University of Pécs

« L’eautonomie » or sustainable water management: József Országh,
former researcher at the Mons University

Gábor Ungvári, REKK Water Economics Unit Budapest Corvinus University:
the European EPI-Wasser project

 For Further Information: Joseph Károlyi Foundation

00 33 1 45 48 44 48; 00 36 22 578 080

kastely@karolyi.org.hu www.karolyi.org.hu

Call for NEW EDITOR Journal of Landscape Architecture, with special responsibility for ‘Thinking Eye’ Section.
JoLA, The Journal of Landscape Architecture invites applications for the position of Editor to join the Editorial team, with special responsibility for the journal’s peer reviewed visual essay section ‘Thinking Eye’.
The new editor would be appointed during the Summer 2012.

‘Thinking Eye’ aims to support critical investigations into visual concepts, methodologies and media, and to promote scholarly discourse on visual culture in landscape architecture.  We publish peer-reviewed experiments and methodological innovation, including those practices and ideas drawn from the fine and other arts and related design and environmental disciplines that have demonstrable relevance for contemporary landscape architecture theory and practice.

Applications are due by June 1 2012.

Further information on the position and how to apply can be  found at JoLA at: www.jola-lab.eu/

LANDSCAPES IN TRANSITIONS
is the topic of this year World Landscape Architecture Month. It is also the topic IFLA World Congress in Cape Town, South Africa!

How?
Easy! We are interested in photographs and videos that show LANDSCAPES IN TRANSITIONS of everyday life. We are looking for informal and spontaneous landscapes in transitions made by communities or individuals which show how they deal with a changing world. Here is a text that may inspire you.
“All landscapes are in various states of Transition, being changed by various forces and processes over time. Humankind inherited a world of natural processes and forces which created the landscapes that people first inhabited. Through dynamic interaction people have altered their environment by cultural practices which have in turn themselves been fundamentally shaped by the particularities of that environment. Three often referred to categories of landscape which arise from the dynamic relationship between humans and their environment are natural-, cultural- and urban landscapes.”

Categories
Natural Landscapes in Transitions
Cultural Landscapes in Transition
Urban Landscapes in Transitions

Format
Each participant can send one image and/or video by category. In addition, please send us a short description of where the image was taken (in English). It is not compulsory to send material for all the categories.
Photos: 3MB (max)
Videos: HD 1920×1080 (1 minute max)

When?
During the month of April 2012. The World Month of Landscape Architecture!

Send us your material by email to iflaphotovideocompetition@iflaonline.org

Prize?
The best five photos and videos will be presented at the World Congress in South Africa where the winner will receive a diploma of recognition for this achievement. In addition, we will publish the winner photos and their credits on our web page and in IFLA Newsletter that is distributed all over the word.

The Jury
Ms. Desiree Martinez, IFLA President
Mr. Carlos Jankilevich – IFLA Vicepresident Americas Region
Mr. Nigel Thorne – IFLA Vicepresident European Region
Mr. Philip Ngunjiri – IFLA Vicepresident Africa Region
Mr. Ilya Mochalov – IFLA Secretary General
Mr. John Easthope – IFLA Treasurer
Mr. Herman de Lange – President of the Institute for Landscape Architecture in South Africa (ILASA)
Ms. Paula Villagra – Chair Communication Committee of IFLA
Ms. Christine Bavassa – IFLA Executive Secretary and webmaster

 

Desiree Martinez Uriarte, IFLA President & Albert Dubler, UIA President.
Paris, France. 9th March, 2012

NEW DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS MAY 11, 2012

The Rosa Barba European Landscape Prize, sponsored by Banc de Sabadell, will be announced within the framework of the 7th European Landscape Biennial which will take place on the 27th and 28th September 2012 in Barcelona. http://www.coac.net/landscape/

The Rosa Barba European Landscape Prize is opened to all kinds of landscape projects and planning created in Europe from 2007 to 2012. Deadline for presenting project’s documentation is March 30th, 2012.

There is a sole AWARD, which has an economic value of 15.000 euros. It will not be declared void under any circumstances.

To participate, fill out the on – line registration form at www.coac.net/landscape.

Deadline for Presenting project documentation on–line is 30th April 2012.

IFLA Europe (EFLA) Regional Congress / VI:th ICON LA International Conference
June 11-15, 2012. St. Petersburg (Russia), Uppsala and Stockholm (Sweden)

“Green Infrastructure: from global to local”

Details at http://www.icon-la.org

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IFLA/SAP Americas Regional Conference

October 17-20, 2012. Medellin (Colombia)
“Borders: Landscapes on the Alert”

Find more at http://www.iflasap2012.com/

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2012 IFLA Asia-Pacific Region Conference
October 20-22. Shanghai (China)

http://www.2012iflaaprc.com/Front/index_en

The 2012 IMCL International Urban Revitalization Award will be awarded for Ecuador’s nation-wide program “The Plaza: A Place of Encounter”, a visionary project to revitalize social life and economic vitality by restoring the country’s historic plazas.

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

 

When the landscape and its resources are highlighted as one of the most obvious forms of resistance to economic and social crisis, the need to optimize the relationship between their design, management and communities that experience it is intensified in a sustainable use of resources perspective.

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