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Mind Your Gap
_COLUMN_ by Marleen Buizer Some metaphors work brilliantly well. Take tips of icebergs, or glass ceilings, or better still, the cherry on the cake. Other metaphors are less friendly. Did you notice, that war-terminology is on the rise?
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Designing a Design-Thesis
_ARTICLE_ by Simon Swaffield Landscape Architecture students are often confused whether the thesis should be creative or scientific. Simon Swaffield, author of the book ‘Design Research’, provides us an insightful notion on how to design our design-thesis.
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Farming the sun
_GRADUATION WORK_ by Fan Yang The involvement of the landscape architect is needed in the process of renewable energy transition in order to achieve a sustainable development. The spatial arrangement of these new technologies is a relatively new subject to landscape architects. It is important to study how to make new technologies fit into the landscapes by designing. Solar Photovoltaic is one of these new technologies. In this thesis, the design strategy and principles of fitting solar parks into the landscape are studied.
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Three Unhelpful Claims on the Protection of Nature and Landscape
_ARTICLE_ by Kris van Koppen In this somewhat provocative essay for TOPOS, I will dispute three often-heard claims in debates on nature and landscape planning. While plausible at first sight, none of these claims is valid. Moreover, none of them is helpful in protecting and improving our natural environment. In this essay, I will explain why I think so, and argue for forms of nature and landscape planning in which government, citizens, and experts all play significant roles. I will take the Netherlands as example, but the arguments have a wider relevance.
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Announcement: NRGlab guest lecture by LAGI (LandArtGeneratorInitiative)
_OTHER_ by Editorial board Dirk Oudes and Sven Stremke have managed to convince the directors from LAGI (LandArtGeneratorInitiative) to give a Skype presentation to Landscape Architecture students on the 7th of January. Elizabeth Monoian and Robert Ferry are outstanding and, by now, have run 3 global competitions with mind blowing propositional designs of which the first ones are being implemented now.
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Designing ecosystems: the Ebro Delta
_GRADUATION WORK_ by Davide Caspani This is the Ebro Delta, Catalunya’s territory, with Spanish blood and Moorish roots. Likewise many other historical landscapes, the Delta is facing several transformations in its local cultural identity. At the same time, changes on the global natural assets are threatening many natural and manmade ecosystems.
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A waterproof environment
_GRADUATION WORK_ by Hannah de Winter Extreme precipitation causes nuisance in daily life in many urban areas. This thesis researches possibilities to create an adapted sustainable environment by using a landscape based design approach with Veenendaal-oost as pilot case. This approach searches for a renewed connection with the landscape and seeks for site-specific challenges and opportunities the landscape offers.
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City Shrinkage: Renewing the Casco Approach for Shrinking Cities
_GRADUATION WORK_ by Inge Hoekstra and Joëlle Mulkens Researchers from various fields are already investigating how to deal with the phenomenon of shrinking cities. We believe that landscape architects can deliver a great contribution in these investigations, since the developments in shrinking cities are no longer determined by the constructed areas but by the open spaces in the city.
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The phenomenology of publicness
_GRADUATION WORK_ by Tesse Bijlsma “Landscapes include land plus man,” Ann Whinston Spirn (1997) wrote in her famous book about the language of landscape. A clear notion, which is actually fundamental for landscape design disciplines since every adaptation in the landscape is eventually made for the benefit of man or mankind.
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Doorstep Landscape: Agroparks as driver for food security and an attractive rural landscape
_GRADUATION WORK_ by Renze van Och Till 2050 the demand for food will increase rapidly by the growing population of the large metropolitan areas. Still, food production is just limited taken into account in the planning of these metropolitan areas. Agroparks can create a ‘space-pump’ and thereby enhance both food-security, and an attractive rural landscape.
