Landscape Architecture

Get Your Garden Room Right

Springtime is outdoor living time. Make the most of yours with Susan Henderson's handy guide to garden rooms.

April 14, 2013 - PlaceShakers

Mixing Architecture and Landscape Make for Potent Cocktail at Seagram Building

Phyllis Lambert explores the evolution of the Seagram Building, focusing on Mies van der Rohe's profound concern for the relationship between building and nature.

April 14, 2013 - Places Journal

Los Angeles Smog Skyline Zoom

Inspiring Ideas for Solving L.A.'s Biggest Challenges

With 279 submissions received, the pubic voting period has begun for determining who will receive the $1,000,000 in grants being awarded to improve the quality of life in Los Angeles along eight key indicators.

April 2, 2013 - Good

ASLA Launches National Landscape Architecture Month

The American Society of Landscape Architects and its local chapters are organizing a series of events during April to celebrate National Landscape Architecture Month. The theme of this year's events is "Healthy Living Through Design."

April 2, 2013 - ASLA.org

Vision for Chicago Riverwalk Set to Get Big Check from Feds

An ambitious vision for transforming a six-block segment of the Chicago River into six themed recreation areas looks almost certain to become a reality now that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has promised the project a $100 million federal loan.

April 2, 2013 - Chi.Streetsblog

Exposing the Fallacy of Sky Forests

Have you noticed the architectural trend in spicing up bland glass skyscrapers with forests of foliage? Tim de Chant strips away this veneer of extreme greenwashing by explaining why trees won't grow on a ledge 500 feet high.

March 28, 2013 - Per Square Mile

Parks: An Antidote to 'Brain Fatigue'

Scientists have long theorized that natural settings can help us manage the stress induced by urban living. New research made possible by advances in EEG technology has confirmed the restorative effects of parks.

March 28, 2013 - The New York Times

Queensway Viaduct

Plans for Queens' 'High Line' Has Competition: Bringing Back the Train

Queen's version of Manhattan's High Line is known as the QueensWay, an abandoned LIRR branch that went from Rego Park to Rockaway. Two congressmen have now endorsed a plan to bring the train back - though planning for the new park has already begun.

March 27, 2013 - Queens Chronicle

Empty Swings

The Prevalence of Play Deserts

A new study analyzing the amenities in 165 parks in the four-county Kansas City metro region found that low-income neighborhoods suffer from a lack of play spaces, despite having more parks per capita, reports Emily Badger.

March 25, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Gehry's Controversial Eisenhower Memorial Comes Under Congressional Attack

On Tuesday, several members of Congress overseeing the approval of Frank Gehry's design and the budgetary requirements for the Eisenhower Memorial expressed their disapproval at a subcommittee hearing.

March 21, 2013 - Architectural Record

New Pavilion Reflects Marseille's Revitalization

A sleek new pavilion made of reflective stainless steel, designed by Foster + Partners, is helping to reshape the image of France's rough-and-tumble port city as a destination.

March 20, 2013 - Fast Company Co.Design

New York Sandy Power Outage

Top Trends 2012-2013

Over the course of the year, the editors of Planetizen review and summarize thousands of articles, books, studies and editorials related to planning and urban development. Here are our picks for the most notable planning trends of the past year.

March 19, 2013 - Jonathan Nettler

Future Looking Brighter for Landscapes of the Recent Past

While modernist buildings have fared somewhat better in the minds of preservationists, recent trends seem to indicate a more promising future for protecting the significant modernist landscapes of the recent past, says Charles Birnbaum.

March 19, 2013 - Dwell

Building a Better Playground

Cecilie Rohwedder profiles playground designer Peter Heuken, who's at the vanguard of a trend towards bespoke play spaces that challenge children as much as they entertain them.

March 18, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal

Glamorizing the 'Humble' Park Bench

The semi-finalists competing to design an iconic ‘street seat’ for Boston's growing Innovation District have given "the city a glimpse of what the often-overlooked park bench could be when reconsidered through sustainable, beautiful design."

March 9, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Santa Monica Unearths Its Civic Heart

Terry Pristin examines two pivotal projects currently under construction in Santa Monica that are poised to reconnect the city's historic civic center to the vibrant, walkable beachfront community.

March 7, 2013 - The New York Times

With Mayoral Election Comes Hope for Fixing L.A.'s Broken Public Spaces

LAX, the LA River, Pershing Square; the list of Los Angeles' under-performing public spaces could sadly continue for a while. As the city votes for its next mayor, Christopher Hawthorne offers some "some straightforward ideas" about how to fix them.

March 4, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Can L.A. Recapture the "Green Heart" of Downtown?

An editorial in the Los Angeles Downtown News commends burgeoning efforts to rethink the city's historic Pershing Square, and offers some ideas for principles to help guide the process.

February 28, 2013 - Los Angeles Downtown News

What Will it Take to Transform Chicago's Riverfront?

With dozens of riverfront revitalization projects completed across the world in the past couple of decades, lessons abound for how Chicago can best integrate its waterfront and downtown. Whet Moser considers three examples.

February 27, 2013 - Chicago Magazine

Innovative App Calculates the Benefits of Planting Trees

With more than 10,000 downloads in the U.S., i-Tree calculates the environmental and economic benefits of planting trees.

February 20, 2013 - Next City

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.