Plant of the Week: Beach Sunflower
Helianthus debilis - Often called beach or dune sunflower, this Compositae family member is a herbaceous perennial, Florida native wildflower that can be use as sprawling groundcover or border plant in many full sun, low maintenance environments.
The “Low Line” Delancey Underground Park Project
The New York based firm RAAD is developing exciting new ideas for a park located three stories under street level in New York City. RAAD is challenging the current perception of parks and public open space. After the success of the Highline designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, James Corner, and Piet Oudolf, RAAD is proposing a subterranean park system known as the Delancey Underground which is gaining recognition as “The Lowline.”
Plant of the Week: Royal Palm
Roystonea spp.- When vacationers and visitors enter into tropical Florida, the Royal Palm is there to signify their arrival. Tall and graceful with a bright green crownshaft, the Royal Palm is hard to miss. Its statuesque nature and towering heights have made it a trademark of the South Florida environment. Several species exist in the Caribbean and Gulf and are all restricted to sub-tropical latitudes. Roystonea elata is the contested Florida native species and is said to be better adapted to swampy, everglades environments in the wild. Roystonea regia, native to Cuba, is the more common species found in the nursery and landscape.
Park Review: Soundscape, Miami Beach, FL
As reported online 9 months ago, West 8 opened their first U.S. landscape design in Miami Beach, Florida. The park plays counter part to Frank Gehry’s unclad and reposed Music School and complements both the architect, the city and the client brilliantly. The 2.5 acre (1 hectare) park serves as a gathering space for the city of Miami Beach and maintains an open and inviting entry to the New World Symphony and successfully parallels the tropical and contemporary art culture the city is renowned for.
St. Pete Pier Design Finalists
St. Petersburg, Florida held a competition to redesign their beloved, antiquated inverted pyramid pier, built in 1973. Since last August the jury has narrowed the submissions to three finalists: “The Wave” from BIG Architects, “The People’s Pier” by West8, and “The Lens” by Michael Maltzan Architecture and Tom Leader Studio (LA’s).
Check Out the Landscape Invocation Tumblr
The Landscape Invocation Tumblr is new project we are starting to share some happenings, links, and projects from some of the sites we enjoy exploring when we are not writing for Landscape Invocation.
Martha Schwartz Interview via ASLA’s The Dirt
Take some time out of your day to check out this thought-provoking interview of Martha Schwartz by the people over at ASLA’s The Dirt. Its a good one.
Plant of the Week: Pink (Gulf) Muhley Grass
Muhlenberghia capillaris- Pink Muhley grass is medium sized, perennial, native grass, ranging from Massachusetts down through the Gulf Coast. It has become quite prevalent in the nursery trade; partly due to the New American Style grassy, swaths of plantings by Oehme van Sweden and partly to the plant itself. It possesses a fine and compact habit with late season, show stopping blooms of misty pink inflorescences and excellent tolerance to both wetland and dry conditions, winter hardiness and ease of maintenance.
AECOM wins Rio 2016 Olympic Park Competition
Congratulations to AECOM for winning the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Park Design Competition. Along with the traditional olympic competition, the grounds will play host to the 2016 Para-Olympic Games, 2014 World Cup, and the 2011 Military Games.
Shanghai Houtan Park
Built on a brownfield of a former industrial site, Houtan Park is a regenerative living landscape on Shanghai’s Huangpu riverfront. The park’s constructed wetland, ecological flood control, reclaimed industrial structures and materials, and urban agriculture are integral components of an overall restorative design strategy to treat polluted river water and recover the degraded waterfront in an aesthetically pleasing way.
