Its been a year of highs and lows, lockdowns and new normals, and throughout 2021 weve been engaging in some metal escapism courtesy of the written page. As we close out the year, our team share some of their favourite books on The Spaces Bookshelf, from lavish architectural tomes to street photography essays, and much-missed pioneer Virgil Ablohs collaboration with Nike.

Photography: Liz Seabrook

Published by Hoxton Mini PressLiz Seabrook started her Female Chef series in 2021, as the restaurant industry tentatively reopened after lockdown. The book, written by Clare Finney, brings together stories and recipes from women many of whom were photographed against the backdrop of their own kitchens who are not only redefining the food scene but doing so in an especially challenging and fraught climate. The book is a loving portrait of these pioneering culinary talents as well as the spaces they inhabit.

Photography: courtesy Taschen

Published by TaschenTheres just a thousand special editions of this Gio Ponti monograph, billed as the most comprehensive account of his work to date. It follows six decades of the architects contribution to design, delving into over a hundred projects lovingly photographed and reproduced in high res as well as unpublished imagery that tells the bigger story behind his achievements. Included with this numbered collectors edition is a set of prints of Pontis ocean liner studies, and a reproduction of the Planchart Coffee Table handy for displaying the colossal book on.

Get a sneak peek at the book.

Photography: Franois Halard

Published by RizzoliThis limited edition book peeks inside the creative crucible that is interior designer Rose Uniackes home. Only 2,500 copies have been published, all of them reproduced in lavish detail think pages of gatefolds, and a canvas and wool dust jacket. Uniacke guides the tour herself, alongside essays from architect Vincent Van Duysen and landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith.

Photography: Karen Halverson

Published by MW EditionsPhotographer Karen Halverson celebrates the mythical status of Los Angeless Mulholland Drive, with a coffee table hardback that dedicates plenty of space to her panoramic photos. She became fascinated with the road after seeing David Hockneys 20-ft painting of it, and after moving to LA set about documenting its 52-mile stretch from the sweeping rear lights of cars to the lush tropical greenery that borders the tarmac.

Photography: Taschen

Published by TaschenThe fashion world was left reeling earlier this year when Virgil Ablohs death was announced. Tributes to the pioneering designer poured in, celebrating his trailblazing contribution to design, fashion and architecture. A small but significant part of that is collected in Somethings Off a printed documentary of the collaboration between Nike and his label Off-White. Abloh described the book as a catalog of images from my process that are largely not on the internet, and cemented his love of print, sneaker culture and belief in the power of local bookstores.

Photography: Rizzoli

Published by RizzoliTheres interior inspiration aplenty in this hardcover collection of artists homes. Photographer Leslie Williamson has documented studios and houses belonging to the likes of Georgia OKeeffe, Isamu Noguchi and Barbara Hepworth, in an attempt to get under the skin of their creative process as well as their home life. I believe that the spaces where we spend our lives hold an ephemeral part of ourselves long after we have left them; our souls linger in the place where we spent our happiest, most fulfilled times, writes the photographer. This book is filled with those soul-imbued artists spaces.

Photography: Stephen Johnson / Studio Volpe / Mayer Rus

Published by RizzoliSteven Volpe, the titan of interior design and loft-living pioneer, takes readers inside his rule-breaking approach, in this first book dedicated to his work. The hardback delves into 10 projects by the designer, covering a wide range of spaces New York penthouses and modernist Cali homes through to classic city townhouses.

Photography: Stefi Orazi

Published by Prestel PressThis alternative travel guide is perfect for those of us dreaming of a long-awaited trip, going behind the doors of Modernist landmarks around the world. Its stuffed with eye candy, including photos of the exterior of buildings as well as the rooms inside. Author Stefi Orazi has added plenty of extra historical detail, meaning readers can choose their favourite, plan a trip, and visit armed with plenty of facts and figures.

You can find out more about the book, and Orazis itinerary here.

Photography: Ivar Kvaal

Published by Thames & HudsonDreams of remote retreats take shape inside this book dedicated to the work of Canadian architect Todd Saunders, who has designed buildings in secluded locations in Newfoundland and Fogo Island. New Northern Houses is his first major monograph and emphasises Saunders expertise in creating architecture that reflects and blends with the nature that surrounds it. The book features 11 projects across Scandinavia and Canada and delves into the architects creative process and design philosophy.

Photography: Marchand/Meffre

Published by Prestel PublishingAbandoned places are a perennial source of fascination, and the grander they are, the more intriguing they become. Movie Theaters documents the crumbling picture palaces across the US, which photo duo Marchand/Meffre have been capturing for the last 16 years. The books oversized format does full justice to the pairs work, featuring hundreds of images of gracefully decaying movie theatres, filled with mouldering velvet seats and defunct equipment.

Continued here:
10 books we loved this year - The Spaces

A concrete podium topped with a sculptural, glazed volume forms Casa S, a cliffside Chilean house by architecture firms Gubbins Polidura Arquitectos and Ms Arquitectos.

The project is located in Punta Pite, a community that sits between the beach towns of Zapallar and Papudo on the Chilean coast. As indicated by its name punta is Spanish for tip the site juts out into the sea.

Santiago firms Gubbins Polidura Arquitectos and Ms Arquitectos were tasked with designing a second home for a couple with three children.

Their design was heavily influenced by the clients unique property, which is almost 100 metres long and has a steep, rocky drop of 20 metres.

"One of the main objectives of the project was to create a horizontal plane a large podium that allows for habitation and highlights the strength of the landscape, the view of the sea and the sunset," the team said.

The two-level Casa S consists of a V-shaped, concrete podium topped with a glazed, amoeba-shaped volume.

The podium is embedded in the site, making it barely visible from certain vantage points.

"This reduces the image of a large house in the landscape," the team said. "When you are in the pavilion on the upper floor, the rest of the house disappears."

Within the 420-square-metre dwelling, there is a clear division between public and private areas.

"The idea of the proposal was to separate the public and private programs into two pieces arranged one on top of the other, relating both levels to the landscape," the team said.

Upstairs one finds the kitchen, dining area and living room. Each occupies a circular room with a sunken central portion.

Floor-to-ceiling glass enables the rooms to feel integrated with the natural terrain. Granite flooring continues outdoors, further helping the interior merge with the landscape.

At the heart of the ground level is a spiral staircase, which leads down to the sleeping area. One side holds a main suite, while the other encompasses three bedrooms.

Throughout the home, the team used a restrained palette of materials, including stone, wood and board-formed concrete. Stacked plywood boards form the stairs and dining furniture.

Given Chiles high amount of seismic activity, the architects were mindful of earthquakes while designing the building. The upper portion consists of a concrete slab that rests on 21 steel columns.

"The height of the columns is the minimum, 230 centimetres, thus avoiding the possible deformation of the structure in the face of dynamic stress," the team said.

"This height enhances the horizontality of the enclosures, highlighting the views always towards the horizon."

Other coastal dwellings in Chile include a pair of minimalist, timber-clad cabins by Croxatto and Opazo Architects, and a cliffside retreat by the late Chilean architect Cristin Boza that features a winding yellow wall and circular swimming pool.

The photography is by Cristobal Palma.

Project credits:

Architecture firms: Gubbins Polidura Arquitectos and Ms ArquitectosArchitects: Antonio Polidura and Alex BrahmLandscape:Juan GrimmArchitecture collaborator: Hernan FourniesProject calculations: Alberto MaccioniConstruction: Daniel AlemparteLighting: Greene During Iluminacion and Luxia Lighting

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Casa S is an amoeba-shaped home on the coast of Chile - Dezeen

A massive Arvene East project in Queens has been approved and up to 30 million worth of funding was secured from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, by a tri-joint venture consisting of Triangle Equities, The Bluestone Organization, and L+M Development; in order to undertake the first phase of the project. This development is intended to become the first net-zero community in the city.

The Arvene East project will be located on a vacant 116 acres plot, nestled between Arvene and Edgemore neighborhoods along Rockaway Peninsula. Development plans for phase I will cover the restoration of a 116 acre vacant site; construction of a new building, which will house a welcome center, a park ranger office and comfort station; and a nature preserve which will be developed on 35 acres of land between Beach 44th Street and Beach 56th Place. The nature preserve will be managed by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

Also ReadAlloy Sunnyside housing project to be developed in Denver

Design plans for the Arvene East project show that the building plans will incorporate various energy saving techniques, to ensure that the buildings produce more renewable energy than they consume. A net-zero energy status will be attained by using the passive house construction method, which will develop highly insulated and airtight buildings that make use of new efficient mechanical systems to bring in fresh, filtered air. In addition, photovoltaic panels will be used all through the development to ensure that enough energy is produced to offset the energy used in the new buildings.

The Arvene East project, on completion will have about 1, 650 housing units built on the property, with 80% of them to be offered as affordable units and the remaining 20% to be set at the market rate pricing. This new development will also feature numerous retail and public spaces, along with a community center housed within the new building. The community center will be owned and operated by a non-profit group RISE, based in the Greater Rockaway community.

Urbane, a community development consulting firm with an MBE certification will also become part of the tri-venture. The company will serve as development partner on the Arvene East project and will also be responsible for the management of retail and small business, with the aim of promoting the growth of new and existing local, small businesses. Other companies involved in this development include Starr Whitehouse, a certified MBE firm, serving as the landscape architect, and the WBE certified, WXY architecture firm, serving as the nature preserve architect.

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$30m secured to begin Phase I of the Arvene East project in New York - Construction Review

Grappling with flathead catfish: An Oklahoma noodling adventure

David Dishman and Ed Godfrey waded through a creek for a noodling adventure. Noodlers use their bare hands, and some times feet, to catch flathead catfish.

Jordan Green and Paige Dillard, Oklahoman

John Stephens chuckled at the question ofwhetherbabies born in Stuttgart, Arkansas, are given duck calls instead of pacifiers to suck on.

"It seems like everybody that comes from here knows how to blow a duck call," the 48-year-old call maker said.

Stephens is a world duck calling champion who grew up on arice farm nearStuttgart, longknown as the "Rice and Duck Capital of the World."

Atown of about 10,000 residents, Stuttgart is a six-hour drive from Oklahoma City and is hallowed ground to duck hunters. Mallardshave been flocking to the rice fields and bottomlandforests aroundStuttgartfor many, manyyears.

That, plus the maze ofrivers, bayous, sloughs and oxbow lakes makeStuttgart, located 45 miles southeast of Little Rock,a magnet for ducks.

"We have a lot of hardwood bottoms around here that flood naturally," Stephens said. "It's just kind of a natural funnel where ducks come for wintering grounds."

And it's wintering grounds for duck hunters from across the country.

More: 'Every single life matters': WildCare saves wild animals and returns them to the wild

The flooded timber of theBayou Meto Wildlife Management Area, about 15 miles southwest of Stuttgart, is considered thecrown jewel of public lands for waterfowl hunting.

The opening days of waterfowl season can get crowded atBayou Meto, even with its 33,832 acres.

Between1,500 to 2,000 hunters usethe area each day in the early days of duck season and about350 hunters use the area daily therest of the season.

Thirty-five miles southeast of Stuttgart is the White River National Wildlife Refuge, home to the largest concentration of winteringmallard ducksin theMississippi Flyway.

AcrosstheDelta region of southeast Arkansas, near the confluence of the White, Arkansas and Mississippi rivers, there are duck hunting opportunities galorewhen there is adequate rainfall to flood the public hunting areas alongthe river bottoms.

"This is a very dry year for us and we don't have quite the public land available because it's not flooded," Stephens said. "But on a normal year, that's what I think brings a lot of people here. You can just put a boat in and go somewhere and hunt."

Last weekend, Stephens met duck hunters from Florida, Maine, North Carolina, Montana, Oklahoma and Texas in Stuttgart.In additionto mallards, hunting speckled-belly geese has become extremely popular in recent years, he said.

"There's a lot of good hunting in Stuttgart, for sure," Stephens said.

More: Do the dead stick drift: How to catch big stripers in the winter on Lake Texoma

The town of Stuttgart embraces all things duck and duck hunting, during and outside of waterfowl season.

"That's one of thecool things about Stuttgart," Stephens said. "It's kind of duck season 365 days a year.Everything is just centered around the rice harvest and the fall migration of ducks,"

There are numerous of duck hunting guides operating in Stuttgart. Itis home to the world duck calling championships each Thanksgiving weekend.

Mack's Prairie Wings, which advertises itself as America's Premier Waterfowl Outfitter, calls Stuttgart home.

Down the road from Mack's is Rich-N-Tone Calls (also called RNT Calls), one of the largest duck call manufacturers in the world. Stephens is RNT'spresident and chief executive officer.

And his journey to the top of the call making world began when he was a young boyin Stuttgart.

More: Catch and keep: Oklahoma Wildlife Department hopes to change mindset of bass anglers

Stephens first went duck hunting with his dad at age5.

"I don't remember a whole lot about it, but I remember when I got to be the age of 6 or 7 they gave me a duck call to blow when we were sitting out in a blind," he said. "I was just making a bunch of racket, really."

A duck flew inand the hunters shot it. Stephens said there is no way thatduck could have beenresponding to the noise he was making, but it hooked him on duck calling.

In Stuttgart, there was a community of call makers, and a young Stephens would be a frequent visitor to watch them work and pick their brains.

"There were probably a dozen call makers in this town," Stephens said.

One of the bestwas a local craftsman namedButch Richenback, who won a world duck calling championship in 1972 and was the 1975 Champion of Champions caller.

In 1976, Richenback startedRich-N-Tone duckcalls. In the beginning, making duck calls was more of a hobby and not a full-time job for Richenback, Stephens said.

"I grew up going over to his little shop in his garage, learning how to blow a duck call," Stephens said. "And that is where I got interested in making calls."

More than 20 years later, when Richenback began having health issues, he began looking tosell the company. Richenback could have sold Rich-N-Tone to alarger companybut he asked Stephens, whom he had mentored as a boy, tobuy it.

Stephens was working as a landscape architect at the time and was reluctant about taking over for a legend, but he bought the company in 1999.

Oklahoma outdoors: MLB pitcher Archie Bradley turns into a duck hunting outfitter during the offseason

Today, Rich-N-Tone is one of the top sellers of duck calls in the world and the company has its own duck hunting show on the Sportsman Channel. Stephens is one of three co-hosts.

Rich-N-Tone calls aremachine-builtthen finished by hand and tuned, but Stephens also has his own brand of custom-made calls that he still makes by hand. The Rich-N-Tone calls sell from $65 to $200, while Stephens' customcalls start around $500.

Visitors to Rich-N-Tone's headquarters in Stuttgart can view how the calls are made. They can also see a collection of vintageduck calls.

In addition to being a call maker, Stephens is a call collector. He displays old duck calls from different collectors around the country at his store and manufacturing facility in Stuttgart."Right now, we have a duck call collection from Tennessee," he said. "It's over 200 calls dating back from 1880 to 1950. We get a lot of people that come through to see the calls and get a beer."

That's because three years ago Stephens also addeda tap room for craft beer atRich-N-Tone. The company's flagshipbeeris the"Flying Duck."

Rich-N-Tone partnered with Flyway Brewing in Little Rock to makethe "Flying Duck" beer, which is sold in Harps Food Stores and liquorstores across Arkansas and Oklahoma.

The Flying Duck tap room getscrowded during duck season.

"During duck season we are packed," Stephens said of the tap room. "It's cool because you don't go to too many places where the whole placeis filled with duck hunters."

Reporter Ed Godfrey looks for stories that impact your life. Be it news, outdoors, sports you name it, he wants to report it. Have a story idea? Contact him at egodfrey@oklahoman.com or on Twitter @EdGodfrey. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

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Duck, Duck, Beer: What makes Stuttgart, Arkansas, the duck hunting capital of the world? - Oklahoman.com

Kim Frisbie| Special to the Daily News

I was delighted the other day to pass a bright sign outside a garden along the ocean proclaiming, Native Plants bring Life to this Landscape. The sign was outlined with pictures of cardinals, butterflies, coral honeysuckle, dune sunflower, gaillardia, and other native flowers, with the logo FANN, the Florida Association of Native Nurseries at the bottom. Peeking over the gate, I saw a mass of colorful natives thriving happily along the dunes. People are paying attention.

The New York City Parks Department recently jumped on the native plant bandwagon, urging the public to plant natives to help sharply declining bird and pollinator populations, which they acknowledge are in dire need of more natural space.The Parks Departments Pollinator Place Program supports birds, bugs and bees year-round by planting native gardens in city parks.Similar native gardens are springing up across the country, as people become more aware of the urgency to save our existing species, which happen to include us.

We have the all-native Pans Garden at The Preservation Foundation, and Lake Drive Park at the towns new marina hosts an enormous number of native species. The town and The Preservation Foundation are now collaborating on the exciting 18-acre Phipps Ocean Park, a visionary oasis of native plants stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Intracoastal Waterway. Designed by renowned architect Raymond Jungles, the park will include trails through coastal hammocks of native trees, shrubsand wildflowers, educational outdoor classroomsand beautiful vistas overlooking restored dunes and mangrove islands.

These parks play a vital role in reconnecting us with naturebut we shouldnt have to go to a park to hear birds and see butterflies. This should be a part of our everyday lives.

The tropical jungle that was once Florida has been almost entirely replaced with exotic species. Many of these are beautiful and do indeed add to the allure that is Palm Beach, but we need more native plants in the mix to establish balanced ecosystems that support essential polllinators and the birds and wildlife that depend on them.

Diversity of plant material is also crucial; monocultures created by using too much of a single species invite disease and pests. This is underscored by the overuse of Ficus benjamina hedges, which cannot survive without toxic pesticides that poison our air and pollute our water and soil. Native plants have evolved with their insect pollinators in adapting to our specific growing conditions, so they require no chemicals.Once established, native plants will literally bring life to your landscape, providing sustainable habitat for butterflies, bees and other pollinators, songbirds, hummingbirds and interesting wildlife.

There is nothing more joyful than a real, living garden, full of color, fragrance, and activity. This is a far cry from the sterile landscapes to which we have grown accustomed in Palm Beach: lifeless, chemically treated lawns surrounded by sterile, manicured ficus hedges accented with spikes of podocarpus or globes of schefflera trinette provide no environmental sustenance.

A common complaint about natives is that they are too unkempt or not formal enough, but this is not the case if they are planted correctly. Sun-loving plants wont thrive in the shade, and shade-loving plants wilt and yellow in full sun. Its just a matter of learning what to plant in your specific location.

Its also important to take size into consideration: Dont plant a shrub that will grow to 10 feet in front of a window if you want to see out. And understand the natural growing characteristics of plants: tall slender myrsine fits nicely into a shady corner while open spreading fetterbush needs more space, but makes a great hedge or accent plant.

If you want a manicured look, plenty of natives are fine with pruning, including cocoa plum, buttonwood, Simpson's stopperand red cedar. Give plants room to grow; planted too closely, they will not thrive or reach their full potential.

And it wouldnt hurt us to modify our conception of the perfect garden to include more naturalistic plantings. Its fun to experiment with new species to add variety to your landscape; the more diversity you incorporate, the more birds you will attract.

Here are some interesting, beautiful natives that will add grace, distinction and sustainability to your gardens.

Blacktorch, Erithralis fruticosa, is a beautiful accent shrub with glossy evergreen foliage and small star-shaped white flowers followed by striking clusters of shiny black berries. This does well in sun or shade and grows to 6 feet.

Snowberry, Chiococca alba, has drooping clusters of fragrant white bell- shaped flowers followed by lovely bright white berries that glisten against the glossy green foliage. This grows to 8 feet in sun or part shade.

Fetterbush, Lyonia lucida, is a sprawling evergreen shrub growing 3-5 feet, thriving in moist soils in filtered shade. Fragrant white to deep pink flowers appear in spring attracting numerous butterflies, and the fruit is loved by mockingbirds. The evergreen leaves are coppery when young.

Golden creeper, Ernodea littoralis, is a fabulous low-growing, sprawling shrub perfect as a ground cover or in a planter where its arching stems will cascade gracefully over the sides. In coastal areas it forms a spreading mat controlling sand erosion, and the small whitish-pink flowers bloom all year. Heat- and drought-tolerant, it thrives in full sun. This is a threatened species, so you will be doing yourself and the environment a big favor by planting it.

Pearlberry, Vallesia antillana, is another undemanding shrub with beautiful elliptical foliage setting off delicate clusters of milky star-shaped flowers and white, translucent pearl-like berries.This makes a lovely specimen or dense screen in sun or part shade.

White indigoberry, Randia aculeata, is a tough, slow growing evergreen shrub that's perfect for difficult sites with no irrigation. The fragrant white flowers appear year-round, and the white berries enclose an indigo blue pulp. Reaching 10 feet, this can be pruned to a smaller size. It is the larval host for the tantalus sphinx moth and provides nectar for numerous butterflies.

Finally, native plumbago, Plumbago scandens, provides delicate white star-shaped flowers year-round in sun or shade. Growing 3-4 feet, the arching stems intermingle with adjacent plants, making them appear to be blooming as well. The crushed foliage is used medicinally in the Caribbean.

Planting just a few natives will add interest and variety to your gardens, and you will love the butterflies and birds that seek out the nectar and habitat provided by their fruit and foliage. Every one of the plants Ive mentioned can be seen at Pans Garden, and I have them in my garden as well, so I can vouch for their beauty and performance.

There are hundreds of natives from which to choose:experiment with different colors, textures, sizes and shapes. And let the plants natural characteristics dictate where they will be best suited in your landscape. Then sit back and enjoy natures pageant of birds and butterflies.

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Green Gardening: Enjoy the bounties of nature that native plants bring - Palm Beach Daily News

The prize is named for Cornelia Hahn Oberlander,aGerman-born Canadian landscape architect who died in May of complications from COVID-19, weeks shy of her 100th birthday. TheNew York Timescalled her the grandedame of landscape architecture, and she was renowned for socially responsible, collaborative work, from playgrounds to museums, which blended prescient advocacy for environmental sustainability with a modernist sensibility. Perhaps her most celebrated project Robson Square,a three-block public plazain Vancouver, designed with architect Arthur Erickson.

Bargmann, who has practiced for more than 30 years (she is also a Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Virginia) focuseson contaminated, neglected, and forgotten urban and post-industrial sites. Working closely with architects, historians, engineers, hydrogeologists, artists, and local stakeholders, she has transformed Superfund, mining, and manufacturing sites, and created parks, corporate campuses, and housing.She often speaks of her her desire to unearth design elements from cast off places.

Shealsobrings her background as an artist (she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture from Carnegie Mellon University and aMaster in Landscape Architectureat Harvards GraduateSchool of Design) to all of her work, unearthing a narrative for each project that is rooted in its history and offers up alternative and experimental possibilities for the future.

Asked what she might do with the Oberlanders cash award,Bargmanntells Metropolis: It will probably involve a few of my favorite things: A long road trip, defunct and fallow land, the neighbors, mayors, and aspiring landscape architects.

By honoringBargmannan activist, provocateur, critic, and public intellectualas its inaugural laureate, the Oberlander Prize claims landscape architectures increasingly cross-disciplinary mantle with pride and urgent, agitational insistence.

The clear signal that [the Oberlander] sends to the landscape discipline is that those who are working on the margins are those who are creating the most innovation, often, says Maurice Cox, commissioner of Chicagos Department of Planning and Development, in a TCLF video introducingthe prize winner. Bargmann was selected by an independentseven-person jury chaired byDorotheImbert, the landscape architecture chair and director of the Knowlton School at The Ohio State University.

TCLF has been working for years to establish the prize. In 2017, TCLF board member JoanShafranand her husband RobHaimesdonated $1 million to supportits creation; TCLF board members and other supporters have since made significant donations. Honorees will be included in TCLFs oral historyarchiveand their projects will be added to the organizations database of more than 2,100 significant built landscapes. Going forward, their work will be assessed on a regular basis for any threats from neglect or destruction.

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Julie Bargmann Is the Winner of the Inaugural Oberlander Prize; a Pritzker Prize for Landscape Architecture. - Metropolis Magazine

Construction on the Rockford Airport cargo expansion has come right to the edge of Bell Bowl Prairie. (Courtesy of Cassi Saari)

Most battles between development and conservation, or the economy and the environment, are pitched as an either-or.

Supporters of the movement tosave Bell Bowl Prairie, a small patch of rare remnant prairie situated within the boundaries of Chicago Rockford International Airport, continue to hold out for a win-win.

At a meeting held Tuesday evening and attended by 150 people (counting both in-person and online), an alternative layout was presented for the expansion of the airports cargo facilities. Landscape architect Domenico DAlessandro demonstrated how a road, currently planned to plow through Bell Bowl, could be rerouted.

Renderings demonstrating the road (left) that would run through Bell Bowl Prairie as part of the Rockford Airport cargo expansion. (Courtesy of Save Bell Bowl Prairie)

The answer is simple, he said. Lets realign this road. All this road has to do is skim around (the prairie). Thats all we have to do.

Amy Doll, director of Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves, reiterated the stance ofBell Bowl backers: Saving Bell Bowl doesnt mean development doesnt happen. The coalition of conservationists respects the airports economic value to Rockford and the surrounding region, she said, but theres a better way to do this.

Still, with bulldozers stationed at the prairies fence, the time to present airport officials with options may have long passed.

A proposal to reconfigure the road that would plow through Bell Bowl Prairie, and have it skirt the natural area instead (blue dotted line). (Courtesy of Save Bell Bowl Prairie)

Rockford is ranked as the 17thlargest cargo airport in the U.S. and the fastest growing in the world, with business up 300% over the past five years, officials say. The cargo expansion a cornerstone of the airports strategic plan was cleared for takeoff years ago, backed by federal funds, and is barreling down the metaphorical runway.

In June 2018, a contract for design of the nearly 100,000-square-foot cargo facility was approved. Construction began October 2020. In January, $50 million in bonds were issued, and in February, the announcement of a seven-year lease agreement for the facility. This past July, Emirates and Qatar airlines were reported as new cargo clients. These and other milestones can be found in thepublished meeting minutes of the Greater Rockford Airport Authoritys board of commissioners.

Along the way, airport officials say they dotted all their is and crossed all their ts in terms of following guidelines and rules related to Bell Bowl, which is listed on the Illinois Natural Areas Inventoryas an outstanding, high-quality gravel prairie, fewer than 22 acres of which exist in Illinois in total.

The airports outreach included public notices, public meetings, and notices to all media in the area,Zack Oakley, deputy director of operations and planning, said in a statement provided to WTTW News. As required, RFD (Rockford Airport) completed the Environmental Assessment in 2019 and ultimately received a Finding of No Significant Impact from the FAA in November 2019. Construction has since commenced in areas that were included in the 2019 Environmental Assessment.

Bell Bowl isnt referenced in meeting minutes, but notes from theAugust 2018 meetingbriefly state:Were working on environmental studies in order to move forward with any midfield construction in the future.

Those studies were severely flawed, prairie proponents say, and they also dispute the airports version of its communication efforts regarding the cargo expansion.

The two sides have been at a stalemate since August, when the federally endangered rusty patched bumble bee was spotted at the prairie. The airport agreed to pause construction in the area until Nov. 1, a date pegged as the end of the bees foraging season. A plan to relocate two state-listed endangered native plants by Nov. 1 the large-flowered penstemon and the prairie dandelion is being coordinated with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Oakley said.

IDNRcouldnt immediately provide details on the relocation plan.

While the airport pushes forward with its construction timeline, the Save Bell Bowl Prairie coalition continues to pursue legal recourse but is relying largely on a grassroots campaign to drum up support for, if nothing else, a chance to press pause.

Our immediate goal is that on Nov. 1, bulldozers dont go through a high-quality area, said Doll.

Thousands of letters have been sent to elected officials, including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, whose record straddles both sides of the issue: His environmental advocacy recently earned him a conservation leadership award from Openlands, while airport meeting minutes cite the senator as instrumental in the growth at RFD. (The senators office hasnt responded to multiple WTTW News requests for comment.)

Representatives from the Illinois Environmental Council say the action is moving the needle, minimally in terms of putting Bell Bowl on legislators radar, but has yet to produce concrete results.

As the clock ticks on Bell Bowl and its loss creeps closer to reality, its supporters are left with the existential question of why, with climate change crises at hand, these 11th-hour scrambles are still necessary.

Why is the prairie expendable? DAlessandro asked. Why is this happening? It boggles the mind.

Contact Patty Wetli:@pattywetli| (773) 509-5623 |[emailprotected]m

Originally posted here:
Bell Bowl Prairie Proponents Have a Proposal to Save Rare Land and Allow Rockford Airport to Expand - WTTW News

Judy Rose| Special to the Detroit Free Press

Detroit town house was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Classic Mies van der Rohe townhouse in Detroit's LafayettePark has a beautiful setting and glass walls.

Tanya Wildt, Wochit

Set in Detroit's Lafayette Park, this town house by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is a meticulous piece of mid-20th century architecture, updatedwith a cool Ikeakitchen.

Ludwig ("Less is more") Miesdesigned 162 of these town houses, and they are closeto identical but for changes made by owners. Like row houses, they're joined side-to-side in small groups.

They're part of the gracious park and residential mix that forms Lafayette Park just east of downtown close to the city, close to the Detroit RiverWalk, close to Eastern Market,designed and built in the 1950s under the aegis of urban renewal. The other neighborhood components are 24 one-story courtyard houses and two high-rise buildings.

The area is so well-known in architectural circles, said the unit's ownerJennifer Reinhardt, "You look out and see people with cameras, you see Japanese tourists."

This town house has the advantage of looking out into the neighborhood's Plaisance Park, which makes the view from its living room even more spacious.

"I love the landscaping," Reinhardt said.

She noted that Mies and fellow planners, including landscape architect Alfred Caldwell, filled the grounds with young honey locusttrees,which have since grown into a leafed canopy overhead. From a drone shot above, this area looks like woods.

"To think they were planning 40 years ahead," Reinhardt said.

Mies was a proponent of International Style, which emerged in the 1930s. Steel beams carry the weight of his buildings,not wood bracing, nor stacks of stone or brick. That means the exposed walls can be all glass,and in these townhouses they are both front and back.

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Infront, the floor to ceiling glass goes down the side of the entrance and the dining room.At the rear, it's theliving room,with the park view beyond.

In this town house, the living room, dining room and three bedrooms are all the same spaces as designed,all with one glass wall.

The long galleykitchen, which runs along oneside of the building and gets its light from both ends,has beencompletely updated.

It has new black textured cabinets now with stainless steel handles. Appliances are all built-in stainless steel. Its counters are gray granite, and its backsplashes are amix of small blue tiles.

The main floor powder room also has a contemporaryupgrade. It has a floating cabinet now, suspended to give the sense of more space. Its sink and counter are poured concrete. Its floor is concrete tiles.

This row of town houses has one difference from the others. All its units have geothermal heat, which keeps the energy cost low, Reinhardt said.

Realtor Jason Hill said these town houses are especially desired by people whose fields are related to architecture, art,preservation or city planning.

"They like the minimalist style, the art gallery feel,."Hill said.

That would include Reinhardt, whose specialty is preservation planning. After working here for anonprofit group and then for the city of Detroit, she's headed to a job in a new location.

Where: 1415 Nicolet Place, Detroit

How much: $369,000

Bedrooms:3

Baths: 1

Square feet: 1,400

Key features: Classic Mies van der Rohe townhouse in LafayettePark. Beautiful setting, glass walls, close to downtown, Detroit River, Eastern Market and more. Co-op ownership.

Co-op fee: $1,077 per month. As a co-op fee this covers more than the usual condo fee gas, cable, internet, water, property taxes, security and more.

Interesting fact: The great architect beganlife as Ludwig Mies, with Mies meaning misery in German. But he expanded his name to suit the stature he'd achieved. After several versions he settled on adding "vanderRohe," or, from the family of Rohe, his mother's maiden name. This puts him in the company of the self-named Le Corbusier, whose real name was Charles Edouard Jeanneret.

Contact: Jason Hill, Historic Realty Detroit, 313-220-4820.

Original post:
Mies van der Rohe town house with walls of glass ticks all the boxes for artists, architects - Detroit Free Press

Kate Orff is the founder of SCAPE, a design-driven landscape architecture and urban design studio based in New York. (MacArthur Foundation)

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When Hurricane Ida hit the Gulf Coast 16 years after Hurricane Katrina, all eyes were on New Orleanss new levee system. The levees that had failed so disastrously in 2005 had been rebuiltand this time they held. You could almost hear a collective sigh of relief, but MacArthur awardwinning landscape designer Kate Orff believes that gray infrastructure (levees, flood gates, and sea walls) can only take us so far. The infrastructure we really need, she says, is green. Orff, recently profiled in The New Yorker, insists that ecology is the infrastructure of the future. Her work with SCAPE Studio restores and harnessesrather than resistsnatural systems to ensure the livability of our rapidly changing world.

Laura Flanders

Laura Flanders: Kate, you and your firm, SCAPE, work on design projects in many parts of the United States, including in Louisiana and New York. When you saw Hurricane Ida barreling towards both those places and others too, what went through your mind?

Kate Orff: I had a flashback to the evening that Superstorm Sandy hit. You cant imagine watching the meteorology and it looks like a comet headed straight for your region. And in the case of Superstorm Sandy, it went directly up the New York bight. And the case of Ida, it came through Louisiana and up and over the central United States. Just the tale of these two storms describes how the risk that we face is truly diverse. Theres not one kind of climate risk in our built environment. Theres not just sea level rise to contend with or extreme heat. We are looking, in the case of Ida, at a rainstorm that dropped incredible amounts of rain on our built environment, which weve largely paved over. So, we had a very, very different set of challenges here after Idaflash flooding, some very tragic deaths in my borough of Queens, people living in basement apartments that are located in a former lake. So, weve covered up much of our nature-based infrastructure, and we filled it in, and now we are living with the risks that we have built.

LF: Youve just put your finger on a variety of challenges that are changing all the time, unpredictable, complex systems intersecting, not just with our habitat, but our habits of development, and housing, and where we put people. Talk for a minute about how that relates to the point that I hear coming from you that any one solution, particularly, a built concretetype solution wont be all we need to deal with climate change. And instead we need this kind of collaborative approach where we work with nature for something that you call regenerative design.

KO: I feel like 1927 was a seminal time for America. We had major floods in the Mississippi River area, and there was a big movement to build levees and put up gray infrastructure up and down the Mississippi River system. And that set into motion this approach, which was build a wall and then if it floods, build it higher, spend more money, and then more and more money to try to reduce risk through hard infrastructure, to try to lock natural systems in place. But, of course, that is not the way that natural systems respond. And that obviously is wholly insufficient for a climate-changed environment where were experiencing more intense rain in many regions, where we are facing more extreme heat, where sea levels are rising. The old rules, frankly, do not apply.

LF: Am I hearing you right, that it would be a mistake for people to say, OK, look, what weve been doing works. It worked with respect to Ida. Lets just pour more concrete? Current Issue

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KO: We have to do the opposite. We need to remove, depave, and undo many of the mistakes that weve made in the built environment, particularly here in the New York region. We have to soften our shorelines. We need to remove roadways. We have to integrate different forms of non-motorized transport into our built environment. Otherwise, flash flooding will get worse, and our biodiversity will continue to plummet. We will have more incidents of extreme heat, because that is also very related. What Ive been trying to do, and what the SCAPE office has been trying to do in many, many different contexts, is to try to integrate and revive ecosystemsnot just to bring nature back in a kind of a nostalgic way. Its really about propelling us forward into the next century with a vision around how people, nature, and society can co-exist and how we can reduce our climate risk.

LF: Could we even go back if we wanted to? Is rewilding, as some people call it, even an option at this point?

KO: I love the term rewilding because it inspires people. Theyre like, I get that. That sounds great. However, just rewilding for the purposes of bringing species back isnt enough. Ive tried to be very, very vocal about recasting and framing ecosystems as next century infrastructure. So its not just about rewilding, its about thinking critically about design, about engineering, and about this new hybrid world, where were weaving ecosystems back into the urban landscape where they have been decimatedlike in the New York Harbor. Almost 25 percent of our harbor was oyster reefs. That number is now around zero to 1 percent, but those reefs cleaned the water and slowed the waters.The Q&A

LF: You mentioned Storm Sandy, and the lives that were lost then, including in Staten Island, that drew your attention to an area that youve been working in ever since. And your work there has reached a kind of tipping point, it seems to me. Talk to us about what these Living Breakwaters are, and what is happening right now. Will it go ahead after what weve just seen?

KO: Were leading a project called Living Breakwaters, which is a chain of breakwaters that are seededwith oysters, with the Billion Oyster Project. They clean the water, they slow down the water, they take that dangerous wave action out of the equation. They help replenish beaches and reduce erosion. But theyre also designed to foster critical structural habitats. Theres a big social component to the project, too. Its a community organizing project. Its designed to bring educators to the shoreline and to promote citizen science in the form of reef monitoring and oyster gardening. Its a different model from Lets build a wall and throw a billion dollars in this one tiny thing that may or may not help and that may or may not account for that very dynamic environment that we find ourselves in. We have to use more tools in the toolbox. Right now, we are thinking about the future with the tools of the last century. And so I think this way is really the way to proceed.

LF: Is there other legislation that youve also got your eye on, and what would be your best-case scenario outcome of this moment?

KO: We have a dwindling window to act. We desperately need a robust infrastructure bill to pass, and we cannot spend the money on this infrastructure bill on widening roads and on carbon-intensive forms of infrastructure. We have to do the opposite. And so, Im incredibly hopeful that in the bill, there is language in there around nature-based infrastructure. Im truly hopeful that these projects can be moved front and center. Also, Laura, you asked me about what else Im interested in, I do feel like the Civilian Conservation Corps concept has tremendous potential.

LF: So the Civilian Conservation Corps was what we had in the 30s. This time its a climate corps, is that right?

KO: Yes, the Civilian Climate Corps. And Im so excited about the potential of the Climate Corp to be tied to this infrastructure bill. That would be a dream job for me, which would link these two things up because we do need to invest in an infrastructure, but we also need to invest in science-based learning. I think about what the Living Breakwaters project represents, which is integrating, the seeding of the reef by school children, eighth graders, middle schoolers, and high schoolers, and think about the tremendous potential of integrating the next generation who wants to participate.

LF: We need federal government action, but are there things that people can do to change their habitats, their habits, the soft architecture of our lives?

KO: We havent broken through in terms of (A), just making sure that everyone is aware of the risks that they face in their immediate environment. And then (B), I dont think that weve invested enough in preparedness and education. We also will probably face very, very difficult choices in the next decades. I do feel like thats where this kind of softer human infrastructure will come into play. We may need to move people out of harms way. We may need to kind of develop a national framework for equitable managed retreat. And we will need to expand the ways that were beginning to address some of these challenges and not just say, throw billions of dollars at a single wall.

LF: You say you dont ever give up hope. You never despair. What keeps you going?

KO: Oh, I despair. I despair. I just also feel like its an emotion that you have to sit with but then move through. It cannot be the final word. At this moment, when we have this opportunity in front of us to invest in ecology as infrastructure, to invest in the future, to invest in a climate adaptation roadmap for the nation and all kind of bioregions, we simply have to act.

Read more:
Why Ecology Is the Infrastructure of the Future - The Nation

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Differences of working at a practice in another part of the world - Archinect