contributed by
Nathan July 29, 2010, 1:04 pm
From the humble beginnings of a swing and a sand box, playgrounds have evolved into full-blown destinations with intricate themes, colorful structures and summertime splash pads. However, research has shown that a playground, regardless of its’ extravagance, is successful only if it facilitates unstructured and imaginative play. A project in New York City by David Rockwell illustrates the idea perfectly.
Continue on to the full article.
Watch the Imagination Playground Video
The only things missing in this experiment are the mud and grass stains!
contributed by
Heather July 27, 2010, 12:48 pm
My daughter is headed to Virgina Beach for the Junior Olympics next month…for Jump Rope!
Watch This!
She is a member of the Jumping Eagles, a group that began at Ute Meadows Elementary school in Littleton Colorado in 1992 and is open to children of all ages. There are 4 teams; A-D with the A team as the top kids in the program. This summer Jumping Eagles have participated in the National event in Galveston Texas, World Event this week in England and the Junior Olympics next week in Virginia Beach.
The D team is the introduction group to jump rope. The kids are taught 39 different tricks with a jump rope. Once a child masters the tricks they can try out for the C team. In order to advance to the B team, the child must be able to do 120 jumps in 1 minute with a speed rope. Several current Jumping Eagles hold world records for their times in speed and “double unders”. There are numerous different events to compete in including speed, “double unders” where you jump twice for each cycle of the rope, individual freestyle, pair’s routines, long rope tricks, Chinese Wheel routines and Double Dutch. Jump Rope is one of 18 different sports represented in the Junior Olympics.
contributed by
Charlie July 22, 2010, 3:19 pm
Brooklyn-based company, Macro-Sea is a development and design company “that is working to re-think and develop a series of exploratory interim use projects in order to transform and energize our urban landscape, everyday objects and surroundings”. Their recent installation, Dumpster Pools will be installed and opened to the public along Park Avenue for three weeks in August. The pools are above ground, roughly 8 feet wide by 22 feet long and 3-5.5 feet deep. They will be surrounded by a five-foot-wide lounging deck and accompanied by several changing-room cabanas, portable showers and portable toilets.
Read the full NY Times article.
This will be the second installation of the mobile pools. In 2009, Macro-Sea came up with the concept and converted a Brooklyn Scrap yard into a country club oasis. View images from the 2009 installation:
contributed by
Graham July 20, 2010, 7:15 am
Here is another campus overview that I recently received from the ASLA Campus Planning and Design Professional Practice Network. This is a virtual trip to the upper Midwest and a great campus: University of Wisconsin – Madison. Mark Hough and Gary Brown created this profile for the PPN. Being a southerner, I was always wondered if the snow actually melted in Wisconsin. Definitely looks impressive when it does melt. Lots of green and even a lake for the campus to front upon.
“Attached is the Campus profile for University of Wisconsin-Madison. I have not been there yet but it looks like a beautiful campus in an incredible setting and well worth a visit. Thanks to Gary Brown for his help with the photos.
View the Campus Profile
The pdf photos just tell a fraction of the story so I have added links to some websites that present more of the campus and the beautiful landscape associated with it:
Interactive Campus Map
Campus Planning and Landscape Architecture – Gary’s office
Lakeshore Nature Preserve
UW Arboretum
Enjoy Summer,
__________________________
Mark Hough, ASLA
Chair, ASLA Campus Planning and Design PPN
Campus Landscape Architect
Duke University
919.684.3989
contributed by
Bailey July 15, 2010, 8:19 am
The City of Denver is conducting a trial program that uses goats to control invasive weeds in urban parks. Lani Malmberg, a weed scientist with a Master’s degree from Colorado State University was awarded the $50,000 contract to control weeds for Denver City Parks with her herd of Cashmere Goats. Goats prefer eating broadleaf plants to grass, so when they are released into portions of the city’s parks, they ignore native prairie grasses and eat plants like thistle and bindweed, which are highly invasive plants in the west.
In Denver, laws require that landowners control noxious weeds on their property or risk being fined or criminally prosecuted. If weeds are left uncontrolled, they can have disastrous effects on the native ecology, out-competing native plants, endangering the food supply of wildlife, and possibly choking out streams and rivers.
”We can lose it all if we allow weeds to take over,” said Dr. John M. Randall, an invasive-weed specialist with the Nature Conservancy in Davis, Calif. ”It’s not a stretch to say invasive species — and that includes insects and wildlife as well as plants — are the biggest threat to natural habitats next to development, the subdividing land for housing and shopping malls.”
View a list of invasive plants in Colorado.
Goats are no silver bullet for weed management, but the hope is that they will significantly reduce the use of herbicides and pesticides. This method cuts down on air pollution from mowers and contamination of groundwater from chemicals and is economically viable, costing an average of $100 per acre using 50-100 goats.
View a video of the hard-working grazers.
