Canadian landfill to be world’s largest pollinator park
Honeybee (Apis mellifera), photo by macropoulos via flickr
City planners in Guelph, Ontario have approved a master plan to transform a 200-acre decommissioned landfill into the world’s largest pollinator park. The former Eastview Road Landfill, which operated as a municipal dump from 1961 to 2003, has been capped and outfitted with a methane capturing system that converts landfill gas into usable energy. Filled land, which constitutes about half the site, will host some recreational amenities but primarily shrub and meadow plantings that provide habitat for pollinator species such as bees, butterflies, bats and birds. These species are surprisingly vital to food production: pollination research suggests that three out of four flowering plants require animal pollinators in order to produce seed and fruit.
Pollinator populations have been in decline in recent years. Honeybees, in particular, have experienced what beekeepers call “colony collapse disorder“; other causes for decline include pesticide misuse, light and air pollution, hive destruction and farming practices that destroy habitat.
In conjunction with non-profit group Pollination Guelph, the city is developing a plant palette with a wide enough range of blooming seasons to accommodate both early and late pollinators. Other park amenities include toboggan runs, a trail network, demonstration gardens, basketball and volleyball courts, soccer and football fields, a natural ice rink and a playground.
Eli Cohen on sustainability and phytoremediation
Eli Cohen gave a terrific talk Monday night on his work, as director of Ayala Water and Ecology, using plants to remove pollutants and contaminants from water, soil and air. We’re grateful to the huge crowd that poured into the Arsenal gallery for the event, to Laura Starr and Yamit Perez for putting us in touch with Eli and, of course, to Eli himself for sharing his work and his thoughts.
One of his bigger themes, telegraphed by the title of the talk, “Sustainability in Practice,” was his strong belief that “Natural Biological Systems”– systems constructed of plants, soil, rocks and other natural materials and supported by forces like gravity and sunlight–are not only just as effective as more expensive, technological solutions to environmental remediation, but also, literally, much more sustainable. He walked through a number of Ayala’s Natural Biological Systems, which filtered and cleaned runoff and sewage from a variety of sites including private residences, a dairy farm, a landfill, a cosmetics plant and an entire city (Hyderabad, India). His full slideshow is available as a PDF (6MB).
You can stream the entire audio of the talk, below, as you page through the slides. You can also download that audio directly as an MP3 (71 minutes, 66MB).
James Corner at Cooper Union, tonight
James Corner, founder and director of landscape architecture and urban design firm Field Operations, will speak about the firm’s current projects this evening at Cooper Union, hosted by the Architectural League of New York. In addition to designing the Freshkills Park master plan and first phase projects, Field Operations continues to tackle a number of diverse and high-profile projects including The High Line and the 4,500-acre Shelby Farms Park in Memphis. Should be an inspiring talk.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
7pm @ The Great Hall, The Cooper Union
7 East 7th Street in Manhattan
Free for Architectural League of New York members; $10 for non-members.
Discussion following the lecture with Corner and landscape architects Kate Orff and Ken Smith.
Orange County Great Park launches first phase
A rendering of the Orange County Great Park, including the park's observation balloon. The completed park will implement sustainable design in establishing a canyon, a perennial stream, a lake, botanical gardens and an aviation museum.
The first phase of development is underway for 1,347-acre brownfield transformation project Orange County Great Park. $65.5 million will fund the expansion of a 27.5-acre “Preview Park,” which opened in 2008 and features an observation balloon providing visitors a high-flying view of the entire site. Scheduled to be complete by the end of 2011, the new phase of construction will develop 200 acres and include sports fields, arts and cultural space, a 100-acre farm, a 2,500-tree orange orchard, a community garden and an agricultural pavilion. The park is being constructed on the site of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, which operated from 1942 until 1999.
High Line-inspired projects
Three High Line-inspired projects clockwise from top left: San Francisco's new Bay Bridge and the old structure that park advocates would like to save; The Embankment in Jersey City, envisioned as an open space oasis; and a proposal for a 3- mile greenhouse and hydrogen-generation facility to be situated on Chicago's former Bloomingdale Rail Line.
Inspired by the success of the High Line, proposals to reimagine abandoned rail lines have popped up all over the country.
- Faced with the replacement of a section of San Francisco’s Bay Bridge, Rael San Fratello Architects have proposed the creation of the Bay Line, a hanging neighborhood complete with housing, cultural and commercial buildings and bike and pedestrian paths. Inhabitat notes, however, that the bridge section is being replaced for structural reasons and would have to be stabilized before it could be re-purposed.
- In Chicago, a design collaboration between Gensler and 4240 Architecture envisions the old Bloomingdale Rail Line as a 3-mile greenhouse containing a 100-acre urban farm and, on its underside, a hydrogen-powered generator. The energy source, dubbed the “HYDROGENerator,” would be placed along an old aqueduct that runs under the railway, and would be used to power local schools.
- Just across the Hudson from the High Line, The Embankment Preservation Coalition has been advocating for the preservation of an elevated stonework structure that runs a half mile and spans 6 acres in downtown Jersey City. The Embankment is part of what was once a freight railroad line comprising seven tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It’s envisioned as part of the 2,600-mile East Coast Greenway: a traffic-free path spanning from Florida to Maine.
(via Inhabitat, BLDGBLOG and High Line Blog)
The Infrastructure of Urban Ecologies, tomorrow
Wednesday the 28th, Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) will host a discussion called The Infrastructure of Urban Ecologies. Speakers will include William Morrish, Dean of the School of Constructed Environments at Parsons, and Kazys Varnelis, Director of Network Architecture Lab at GSAPP. Morrish is an urban designer focused on community-based projects, and Varnelis is the co-founder of the experimental architectural collaborative AUDC. October 28th, 6:30PM to 8:30PM in Wood Auditorium, Avery Hall, 1172 Amsterdam Avenue.
Maya Lin’s landscapes, big and small
Artist Maya Lin is exhibiting both architectural sculptures and environmental installations this fall in and around New York City. Among the sculptures on view at Salon 94 are number of “asteroids” constructed from children’s toys, bottle caps and other recycled materials, as well as topographical formations carved from atlases and phone books. The small scale works are a departure from her larger reflections on landscape, which are also currently on view at Pace Wildenstien and the Storm King Art Center.
Hybrid infrastructure in new Singapore gardens
Rendering of a new botanic garden in Singapore, to feature giant, solar 'supertrees.'
A master plan by Grant Associates of the UK has been selected from an international competition for the design of Singapore’s largest garden project to date, Marina South Gardens. The architecture and landscape for the ambitious plan are inspired by orchid anatomy and include a series of micro-ecosystem conservatories to house plants from Mediterranean, temperate and tropical climates. Now the “wow, we live in the future!” part: these facilities are proposed to be powered by 50- to 150-foot tall ’supertrees,’ vertical gardens that contain solar hot water heaters, photovoltaic collectors, rainwater harvesting systems and venting ducts. In addition to creating renewable energy, the supertrees will provide shade and evening lighting, and some will be connected to each other by aerial walkways. The first phase of construction is expected to be complete by 2011.
(Via Inhabitat)
Preview Brooklyn Bridge Park this Sunday
The Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation will be leading free public tours of one of its first phases of park development this Sunday, October 4th, as part of the Atlantic Avenue Development Corporation’s Atlantic Antic street festival. The Pier 6 section of the park, which connects with Atlantic Avenue, is scheduled to open in early 2010, will include a 1.6-acre playground, a dog run, a promenade, a restaurant and three sand volleyball courts. Part of Pier 1, which is not part of the tour, will include lawns, paths, overlooks and a small playground; it’s scheduled to open later this year.
Tours will run every half hour from noon to 3:30 p.m this Sunday, October 4. Meet at The Moxie Spot, 81 Atlantic Avenue at Hicks St. Wear sturdy shoes.
The asphalt jungle, revisited
A permeable landscaping project organized by PlantSF in San Francisco's Mission District.
Two projects in San Francisco are turning underused and unsightly public spaces into green urban gardens and meeting places. Pavement to Parks, a program run by the city’s Planning Department, converts wasted street space and rights-of-way into plazas and parks. Taking a cue from the success of similar projects in New York City, specifically its Green Light for Midtown program, San Francisco has opened three parks and hopes to develop nine more by 2010. The parks are meant to be temporary, cheap and easily moveable; designers are encouraged to use reclaimed and recycled materials; and community residents are invited to volunteer.
PlantSF encourages community members to develop permeable landscaping projects for the sidewalks abutting their properties, to reduce stormwater runoff and to reintroduce native plants to the urban landscape. After seeking approval for sidewalk landscaping permits from the city, residents can have concrete removed, lay down soil and develop planting projects.
(Via The New York Times and Polis)
