Landscape Architect Archives - Page 67 of 100 - Home Builder Developer, Interior Renovation and Design Home Builder Developer, Interior Renovation and Design

Award-winning landscape architectural firm Nelson Byrd Woltz achieves beautification and excellence through ecological revitalization, indigenous design, integrity of historical intent, and stewardship of space hallmarks the Memorial Park Conservancy prioritized for Memorial Parks Long-Range Master Plan. It is precisely this synergy of approach and vision that made Nelson Byrd Woltz the perfect partner for planning Memorial Parks sustainable future.

Need for a Master Design Plan for Memorial Park evolved naturally from collective concerns by the City of Houston, The Uptown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) #16, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, along with the Memorial Park Conservancy. Issues ranged from reforestation, traffic, accessibility, and ecological decline to a need for a way to address growth, improve facilities, and achieve balance for the park as a recreational and environmental asset.

It is very exciting to have Thomas Woltz design the blueprint for the future of Memorial Park, said Mayor Annise D. Parker. His vision, innovation, and influence will render a healthier, more bountiful public amenity for Houstonians near term, and provide a rich, lasting legacy for future generations. Equally as exciting, we hope every Houstonian will be engaged in the process.

The Memorial Park Conservancy secured approval from the Houston Parks and Recreation Department in 2012 to lay the groundwork and embarked on a lengthy research and interview process for the selection of a landscape architect to develop the Long-Range Master Plan. In May 2013, the Uptown TIRZ boundary was expanded to include Memorial Park, which provided much needed financial support.

The selection of Nelson Byrd Woltz not only ensures a healthy, sustainable future for Memorial Park, but also through ecological and landscape transformation, designed with robust public input, can exponentially elevate its asset significance for generations to come.

In 2011, as we began developing a long-term forestry management plan for Memorial Park we experienced a historic drought, said Joe Turner, director, Houston Parks and Recreation Department. This drought was the driving force behind the need for a new master plan for the park. We look forward to a plan that will steward one of Houstons most beloved parks while it addresses the changing environmental conditions and the needs of the daily users.

Already Houstons largest urban-center park and a sentimental favorite for millions of Houstonians, Memorial Park encompasses 1,500 acres that attracts 4 million residents each year. Some 10,000 visitors use the parks Seymour Leiberman Exer-Trail daily, the premier running facility in the city. A highly regarded 18-hole golf course, active tennis, swimming, cycling, bird watching, and fitness facilities are accentuated by the parks wooded character, which has been devastatingly damaged by drought and human interaction.

Nelson Byrd Woltz has the extensive experience in ecological restoration we desire, explained Memorial Park Conservancy chair Jim Porter. The sheer beauty of their work masterfully triggers a cascade of positive ecological benefits, where depleted landscapes are brought back to life using native plants and the resurgence of local animals. This expertise is precisely what Memorial Park needs and deserves.

Firm owner Thomas L. Woltz is widely considered the rising star in landscape architecture. The New York School of Interior Design recently awarded him the inaugural Thomas N. Armstrong III Award in Landscape Design. In 2011, he was invested into the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Council of Fellows, one of the highest honors achieved in the profession. Woltz creates models of biodiversity and sustainability, replete with beauty, form, and function, recognized by more than 80 national, regional, and international awards.

This is a rare opportunity to set Memorial Park on a more resilient course; to ensure its longevity for the thousands of people using it every day; to create a rich and varied ecosystem further enhancing the experience of the park for its many users; and to envision and articulate the critical balance between intense and active use and preservation, said Thomas L. Woltz, owner of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. It is time to celebrate and embrace the unique ecology of southeast Texas and the natural and cultural history of the park. With the help of Houstonians we can create a beautiful and enduring park for tomorrow and for future generations.

Ballard Library
Architect: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Landscape Architect: Swift Co. Green Roof: 20500 s.f Waterproofing: 2500 s.f. Completion: 2005 2006 Green Roofs for He...

By: American Hydrotech

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Ballard Library - Video

Oak Park Library
Oak Park Library - Oak Park, IL Architect: Nagle Hartray Danker Kagen McKay Landscape Architect: Carol H. Yetken Green Roof: 12500 s.f. Year: 2003.

By: American Hydrotech

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Oak Park Library - Video

St Louis Zoo
St. Louis Zoo Orthwein Animal Nutrition Center - St. Louis, MO Design Architect: Fox Architects Landscape Architect: SWT Design Green Roof: 5500 s.f. Vertic...

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St Louis Zoo - Video

The Solaire
The Solaire, 20 River Terrace - New York, NY Design Architect: Cesar Pelli and Associates Landscape Architect: Balmori Associates, Inc. Green Roof: 15000 s....

By: American Hydrotech

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The Solaire - Video

Mark Jenkins

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From his longtime home studio in Vermont, Dan Kiley could see low-slung mountains, rippling Lake Champlain and trees grouped thickly and randomly. But when the influential landscape architect went to work, he emulated not such natural vistas but the geometric layouts of both baroque and modernist France.

The Landscape Architecture Legacy of Dan Kiley, at the National Building Museum through May 18, celebrates the centenary of the designers 1912 birth; it also marks a decade since his 2004 death. The photographs in the exhibition showcase Kiley landscapes that abide, as well as ones that have been neglected or may be threatened.

The Boston-born Kiley served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and his assignments included designing the courtroom for the Nuremberg Trials. The most significant aspect of his time in Europe, however, was his exposure to the work of Andr le Ntre, who designed the Gardens of Versailles for Louis XIV.

Le Ntres formal style was a defining influence on Kiley and made the American a natural collaborator for architects who exemplified the rationalist, streamlined International Style. In his more than 900 designs, Kiley rarely arrayed water, grass and trees without using some sort of grid.

Dan Kiley at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Courtesy Aaron Kiley/Courtesy Aaron Kiley)

1. A methodical approach

Dan Kiley, in an undated photograph, stands at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Behind him is a methodical arrangement of square pools, the centerpiece of his design to both celebrate and contrast the schools flat, dry environment.

Banneker Park. Landscape design by Dan Kiley. (Frank Hallam Day; Courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation/Frank Hallam Day; Courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation)

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Dan Kileys landscapes

Architect Robert Hull, a co-founder of the Miller Hull Partnership LLC, died April 7 from complications related to a stroke suffered while he was on sabbatical in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He was 69 years old.

During his 46-year career, Hull had a significant impact on the architecture of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. Along with numerous residences throughout the San Juan Islands, regional design credits include the Open Window, Epiphany, Bertschi and Bush Schools in Seattle, Conibear Shellhouse at the University of Washington, Seattle Pacific University Science Building and University Center for Performing Arts, Discovery Park Visitors Center and the Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center. In Oregon, his work includes the Tillamook Forest Center and Yaquina Interpretive Center on the Oregon Coast. He also led the design of waterfront developments in San Diego, including the Wharf and Pier 32 marinas.

"When you sat down for a design meeting with Bob, you had to be at the top of your game, whether you were an architect, an engineer or a landscape architect," says Craig Curtis, a Miller Hull partner who worked directly with Hull for 27 years. "But Bob challenged you in such a genuine and constructive way. It was a pleasure working with him."

Hull began his design career in the New York City office of Marcel Breuer. He and David Miller, whom he met while studying architecture at Washington State University, Pullman, formed the Seattle-based Miller Hull in 1977. The 66-person firm, which also has an office in San Diego, received the 2003 American Institute of Architects National Firm Award for "sustained design excellence."

Miller Hull has long been known for sustainable buildings. It is the architect for Bullitt Center, in Seattle, which was recently selected as the Editors' Choice among ENR's Top Projects of 2013. The year-old building is on deck to become the nation's first urban mid-rise speculative development to be certified under the International Living Future Institute's demanding sustainable-building rating system, called the Living Building Challenge.

"Bob possessed incredible talent, passion and compassion," says Jon D. Magnusson, a senior principal of structural engineer Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Seattle. "He will be missed by the design community and communities throughout the world."

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Architect Robert Hull, Co-founder of the Miller Hull Partnership, Dies at Age 69

David Hughes, a landscape architect with an affinity for native flora and natural landscapes, often rips out dead, overgrown or otherwise undesirable plants to make way for new ones.

But he doesn't haul away that nasty Japanese honeysuckle, Chinese white mulberry or Norway maple for delivery to the dump, curb or chipper. Instead, Hughes prizes what other designers and gardeners dispose of -- more so if it's scarred by deer browsing, insect damage or disease.

That's because, in addition to designing ecologically responsible landscapes in the Philadelphia region, Hughes, 46, is a skilled woodworker who makes rustic furniture from garden "debris."

A bench built by David Hughes from red cedar and black locust. (Courtesy of David Hughes/Philadelphia Inquirer)

"To me, it's a nice marriage -- landscaping and woodworking," he says. In fact, his 5-year-old business in Doylestown is called Weatherwood Design. It comprises about 70 percent landscaping and 30 percent woodworking.

Storm-felled trees and gnarly vines make good raw materials, Hughes says. So do pruned branches, old barn boards and stuff plucked, with permission, from the side of the road.

One of Hughes' friends, an arborist, scouts out intriguing branches and discarded trunks. And Hughes helps local preserves thin out invasive or dead trees. Each July 4, again with permission, he rescues unwanted driftwood from death by bonfire at a public beach in Maryland.

The rescued materials might sit for years on the one-acre property Hughes shares with his widowed dad, Merritt, a retired English teacher. Logs, planks, sticks and scraps are stacked along the driveway, in the yard and in and around Hughes' densely packed 8-by-12-foot workshop.

"It's hard to throw anything out," he says a bit sheepishly of the jars of nails, screws and bolts and the saws, planes and other tools of his trade.

David Hughes created this 4-foot-tall garden gate using native Eastern red cedar and Moravian tiles. (Courtesy of David Hughes/Philadelphia Inquirer)

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Craftsman transforms garden debris into outdoor furniture