contributed by Karen August 5, 2010, 10:40 am  Landscape architects often have the job of balancing the conflicting interests of preservation and development. One example is at National Parks, where visitor access and circulation is a necessary element that still has to be careful not to destroy the resource people are there to see in the first place. We face the same issues on private lands, where the sustainability of the area is often at war with the uses we demand of it. Stacy Levy is an artist that captures the fragility and power of an ever-changing habitat, using wind as the paintbrush or temperature as the sculptor that defines the shape, movement and outcome of her installations. Her Melting Point exhibit, for example, seems to contrast our need for air conditioned lifestyles with the impact it has on our global environment. Doesn’t hurt that her message is wrapped in beautiful and evocative pieces that dare you not to pay attention what’s really going on right before your eyes…
 Melting Point is a two part installation. The exterior sculpture is a tall, hanging column filled with hundreds of glass balls, each containing different vegetable oils that respond to the ever-changing temperature outside. The response of the oils to the environment marks the ordinary seasonal fluctuation of temperature, but also hints at the sensation of an impending heat looming on the horizon. This exterior piece is coupled with a series of tear-drop shaped vessels inside the gallery, highlighting the contrast between our small, climate-controlled spaces and a global climate that is out of control.
Riverine is comprised of 600 stems installed on a floodplain, the cusp between land and water. These stems move like tall grasses responding to the choreography of the wind. After six months, the stems will be removed and live willows will be planted in each hole.
We often walk on the land without any idea of the underpinnings of our world. This Water Map gives the students, faculty and staff a sense of how the geology of this area influences the watershed patterns. People can see how their landscape works: where the rain water flows and where the mountain ridges are, and they can get some idea of the locations and names of the streams where they live.
Seeing the Path of the Wind: A weather vane and anemometer, placed on the roof of the gallery sends wind speed and direction data into a digital weather station inside. This station turns off and on eight fans at the cardinal points of a thirty foot diameter compass made of 1,300 organza flags. As the wind direction outdoors changes, the corresponding fans would turn on and off, to simulate the wind flowing through the building. Depending on the velocity of the wind speed, the flags will ripple of fully extend. Incoming storms can be detected by changes in the wind’s prevailing direction.
View more images of Levy’s work (below):
contributed by Cliff August 3, 2010, 2:15 pm  Calatrava’s hotel and light rail station is nice but disappointingly rectangular from a distance. Upon closer inspection, it contains some magical forms and spectacular structures. The Westin lobby, light rail station, and the plaza above should all be wonderful spaces. Unfortunately, the location of the project, its height, and its forms guarantees that it will forever be at war with the old Fentress terminal.
I hate to criticize one of the most intriguing architects of our time, but is a Westin Hotel really more important than the iconic terminal building at DIA? Is a Westin really the desired new arrival experience? Even a Santiago Calatrava designed Westin? What about the terminal that is, according to an AIA survey, one of the most recognizable and beloved pubic buildings in the United States? Travel & Leisure designated the Jeppesen Terminal at DIA as one of the world’s most beautiful airport facilities. If nothing else, aren’t there metaphorical difficulties with the “mountains” being dwarfed by a building? It appears that views to the terminal will be largely non-existent from the south. Calatrava’s attempt to allow a view to the terminal in the dip between the hotel towers seems like it will only work from a helicopter. Views 14 & 18 in the Denver Post slide show appear to show this. There are many distant views to the terminal as you drive along Pena that will probably not be blocked by the Westin, but the hotel towers will (at the very best) add a discordant and out of scale southern bookend to the terminal. At that distance, Calatrava’s structure will not match the visual interest and grace of the existing terminal building – it will only distract from it.
To put a hotel on this site requires a deep capacity for humility. I would prefer the hotel be something simple, understated, and lower if it must be attached to the terminal. An even better option would be to delete the hotel and let Mr. Calatrava focus on the light rail stop – something we all know he excels at. Or, perhaps Mr. Calatrava would be willing to design Concourse D? We could really turn him loose on that!
Here’s a link to some info on Calatrava’s design for a hotel and light rail station on the south side of the Terminal at DIA.
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:
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