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Trinity River Park: Huge New 10,000 Acre Urban Nature District for Dallas

18 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

green-park-dallas

Designed to restore and augment the city’s floodplain, this new green recreation space features thousands of acres of forest as well as playgrounds, lawns and trails. Upon completion, it will be one of the biggest urban green space initiatives in the country.

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In a state not exactly known for its greenery (or environmentalism), this project in Texas by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates is designed in part to address a critical and ongoing issue: flooding damage during severe weather events.”I believe we can create the most value and the greatest benefit to our citizens when we complete projects around nature,” said mayor Mike Rawlings of the project.

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The park aims to serve both recreational and engineering purposes, shoring up the city against future floods while creating a great green asset for citizens and visitors. Developed in collaboration with government engineers, it will be part community resource but also (and critically) part infrastructural insurance against the effects of climate change.

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The development is part of a larger series of projects along the flood plain and will link into over seventy miles of regional trails. At an estimated cost of $ 50 million, the park is not cheap but surprisingly inexpensive given its scope and aims. So far, a private donor has stepped forward offering $ 20 million of the funds needed, leaving a smaller bill for the city and state governments as well.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Park City Bridals by Jake Garn

03 Dec

I do not normally shoot weddings, however, I do provide fine art and fashion style bridal photography! For this shoot we went to a popular location in Park City, the […]
Jake Garn Photography

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Reconnecting Atlanta: Elevated Park to Bridge a City Divided by Highways

17 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

downtown-atlanta-elevated-park

Connecting fragmented sections of a divided metropolis, this new elevated park will help stitch together downtown Atlanta while providing fresh public green space in the heart of the city. The raised park will ultimately span nearly a half mile across the center of the city, tying into existing parks, paths and trails.

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Like many American cities, a mid-century rush to facilitate car traffic ended up leaving a legacy of disconnection in Atlanta. The downtown core is wrapped in high-speed roadways and bisected by busy streets, which the Buckhead Park seeks to overcome with a strategy similar to that of Freeway Park in Seattle.

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The park is divided into a series of different areas with varying amenities, which in turn will also help with staging the construction (much like the segmented Highline in New York City, built in iterative steps).

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The northern portion features a commons with an amphitheater. The southern section boasts a lush garden space. In the middle, a plaza is designed to serve area retail and restaurants. Native plants will be irrigated with collected storm water reclamation systems, helping provide shelter from the hot Georgia sun.

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Designers from Rogers Partners and Nelson Byrd Waltz aim to bring coherence to the disparate areas of downtown, allowing safe and easy options for pedestrians. Their project will also connect to Park 400, a cycling and jogging trail currently in the works. The project’s creators also hope their work will inspire other cities to think about ways to reconnect divided downtowns.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Urban Food Park: Scandinavia is Growing a “Silicon Valley for Agriculture”

03 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

danish-food-park

An expansive master-planned complex to facilitate urban agriculture and private/public collaboration, The Agro Food Park is Denmark’s version of “Silicon Valley” for food research and development. From experimental greenhouses to vertical farm prototypes, the park is bringing together academics and businesses to work on creating a sustainable future via global food security.

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Co-designed by an array of architecture, engineering, technology and agriculture firms, the food park was first opened in 2009 and already hosts nearly 100 companies in 44,000 square meters of space. The newly-expanded plan, however, will grow the park by 280,000 square meters over the coming decades, requiring careful strategic planning reflecting environmental considerations.

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The long-term master plan features a communal Lawn showcasing experimental developments, a main-street Strip hosting various gathers and activities, and a series of Plazas to facilitate interactions between companies and researchers. The huge complex is also designed to recycle its own waste efficiently and minimize its footprint, a “practice what you preach” approach to ecological urban agriculture.

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“Innovation occurs best when knowledge is concentrated in clusters and cross-pollinate. By linking food production to urban life, we have tried to create an environment where people, knowledge and ideas meet. The dream is to create the framework for agriculture’s answer to Silicon Valley.”

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Though the plan is complex, the mission of the place is simple: to feed the world in a healthy way. The expressions of that mission, however, vary greatly, from initiatives to use clean energy and create biodiversity to facilitating healthy air and clean water. In short: it is not just about good food, but how best to produce edible goods in a sustainable way.

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“Embracing Agro-Urban Ecosystem Design, the AFP treats urban and agricultural development together as a unified, productive and restorative ecosystem,” said the project architects.

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“By integrating the carbon cycle and other ecological processes into large scale urban systems and their surroundings – buildings and energy flows, water cycles and wastewater treatment, land use and food production – the AFP creates economic value within the urban and agricultural infrastructure.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

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Park Places: 10 Paved Painted & Personalized Driveways

03 Oct

[ By Steve in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

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Do you drive on a parkway and park on a driveway? These unusual painted driveways prove that when it comes to painted pavement, nobody’s really asphalt.

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The Milne Boys Home in Gentilly, a neighborhood in New Orleans, LA was built in 1933 to house “orphans and troubled children” – an all too common social phenomenon in the Great Depression. Featuring a cluster of seven antebellum-style buildings, the facility closed in 1986 and was used only sporadically thereafter. Fast-forward to 2005 when Hurricane Katrina caused enough damage to make the campus completely unusable unless one was a squatter or drag-addict – or both.

In 2008, however, things began to change at the old Mllne Boys Home thanks to a multimillion-dollar injection of funding from the state, the city and FEMA. One of the site improvements concerned the campus’s winding driveway, contracted out to AORTA Projects.

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“With the help of a crew of approximately 20 volunteers,” explains lead artist Jacqueline Bishop, “I painted the asphalt driveway of the Milne Boys Home with approximately 5,000 simple black bird silhouettes that were individually cut from original drawings and applied with Industrial Zone and Marking paint. Considering there are approximately 460 bird species in Louisiana, we stenciled a variety of these species in an effort to celebrate and raise consciousness about our unique and fragile environment.”

Bishop titled the finished work “Field Guide”. “After experiencing the power of Katrina while sitting in my house, the most immediate, haunting memory after the storm was the deafening silence. There were no birds for ages. It seems appropriate that this project can bring attention to birds who in turn bring life to abandoned areas in post-K New Orleans.”

Tile Of The Century

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There’s not much we can tell you about the dazzling, impressionistic tiled driveway above, other than the fact it was photographed on April 1st of 2011… no foolin’! Kudos to Betty Broccoli of Betty’s Fashion Corner page at Tumblr for bringing some much-needed color into the gray monotony that is the pervue of far too many driveways.

Shock & Oz

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Alas, there’s no Emerald City at the end of this yellow brick, er, asphalt road though the homeowner must be a wizard of sorts. Located just off Hwy 28 in Bailieboro, north of Port Hope, Ontario, this “brilliant” idea makes a weird sort of sense being there aren’t any visible road signs in the vicinity, so this is one way to attract notice (and alert the pizza delivery guy). On the other hand, the lemon-yellow laneway leads not just TO the highway but oozes over a significant portion of the soft shoulder… Mr Wizard can expect a visit from the Wicked Witch, er, the local county mountie sometime soon.

Treads On Me

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You’ll find this patriotic piece of roadwork in Spafford, NY, fronting a home at the intersection of routes 41 and 174. Something tells us the jacked pickup that probably gets parked here sports a Confederate flag on its rear window, because freedom.

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Park Places 10 Paved Painted Personalized Driveways

[ By Steve in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

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The Racetrack Playa in Death Valley National Park marred by vandals

21 Sep

Landscape photographer Kurt Lawson captured these images while on a photography trip to complete a special project about this area.

Check out his Website, Facebook, Flickr and 500px.

It seems like only yesterday, a few weeks ago really, that we were writing about the vandalism at Cape Kiwanda on the Oregon coast. Yet here we are again with yet another case of vandalism – this time in Death Valley, California’s Racetrack playa. The area is known for its ‘moving stones’ and it appears that vandals have driven onto the playa and caused irreparable damage to the landscape.

The Racetrack in Death Valley National Park is a protected area in which large stones seem to move of their own accord across the playa. In reality they move whenever it rains – as the rain water freezes and winds cause the rocks (sometimes boulders of up to 600lbs) to move across the playa floor leaving a meandering trail behind them. Evidence of this was actually captured for the first time back in 2014. There are only two places in the world where this occurs naturally.

As he documented on his blog, landscape photographer Kurt Lawson was in the area scouting shooting locations for a project when he discovered the damage. He entered the protected area in the park and began to notice car tracks. It appeared that a group of individuals had driven a car across the the playa, thus carving car tracks permanently into an area where rain is a rarity.

Deep tracks were carved across the rock trails that take years to form.

What this means is that these tracks will be there for a very, very long time – if not forever. Some of the tire tracks cross trails made by the rocks. There are three parking lots in the Racetrack area, so vandals would have likely ignored the signs and at each one of them in order to carve their own paths through the playa as they left the designated parking areas.

What appear to be initials have been chiseled about 1/8″ deep into the rock.

The type of damage that they caused isn’t repairable. What’s even more concerning is that whoever is responsible for it more than likely knew exactly what they were doing – there are ‘No motor vehicles beyond this point’ signs posted at every parking lot and along the roads between them.

The area that was vandalized is well marked with these ‘No motor vehicle’ signs. You can see tire tracks off in the distance.

After Cape Kiwanda, Yellowstone and now this – I’m really starting to question if what we’re doing to protect these areas is enough. Only time will tell.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Park Like a Girl: Women Frustrated with Pink “Ladies” Parking Places

19 Sep

[ By Steve in Culture & History & Travel. ]

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Sexism or security – why not both? Pretty pink women-only parking spaces show once again that best intentions can bring about unintentional consequences.

A curious fact about designated women-only parking is that many of the most obvious examples can be found in developing nations – societies not exactly known for egalitarianism and women’s rights. Travelers from First World countries who notice these “pink paradises” are often bemused by both the concept and the location, as is the case with Canadian blogger Maiya of Hungry Woman Eats who snapped the Ladies Parking section at the Gandaria City Mall in Djakarta, Indonesia.

Shanghai Surprise

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Women-only parking has come under fire, however, from (among others) women’s rights groups who are offended by the pink paint, cutesy signage and (in some cases) the extra width allotted to each space. Some men are peeved as well, including a netizen who posted on xinmin.cn “Isn’t it a kind of discrimination against men drivers? Some men may be less skilled at parking than women.” Hurt feelings aside, who’s taking the fall for the glossy floors of these women-only parking spaces at the Wandu Center in Shanghai, China? You try navigating that slick expanse on a rainy day, loaded down with shopping bags, and wearing stilletto heels.

One Tire Over The Line

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Without the benefit of a distance-shot, we’ll just have to assume this rather stark and (mainly) sexism-free Ladies’ Parking sign at a Brescia, Italy rest area denotes at least two parking spaces reserved for the fairer sex. We’ll refrain from commenting on the above driver’s parking technique, however, and make no allusions to their gender. Kudos to photographer Stefano Bolognini, who visited the location – that may even be HIS poorly parked car – in 2007.

Turkish Delight

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Why did ladies’ parking get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the Turks’… and business must be very good indeed at the MarkAntalya Mall in Antalya, Turkey. Not content with working up a couple of pink parking spots just for show, the mall has designated a whopping 450 parking spots for women, most of them selected for their convenient location to mall entrances. It’s “positive discrimination” in action – their words, not ours.

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Park Like A Girl Women Frustrated With Pink Ladies Parking Places

[ By Steve in Culture & History & Travel. ]

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Opinion: Park vandals need to be stopped

07 Sep

Cape Kiwanda is one of the most beautiful locations on the Oregon coast – having visited the area on multiple occasions I can tell you first hand that no photo could ever do the area any sort of justice. It’s just that beautiful.

This rugged stretch of coastline that’s located near Pacific City, Oregon is home to a number of famous and much-loved rock formations that really can’t be found anywhere else on the West Coast. One of those rock formations known as ‘Duckbill Rock’ was a unique sandstone pedestal formation that was a compositional favorite amongst landscape photographers from around the world.

This image by Colby Drake Design illustrates how beautiful this sandstone pedestal was before vandals decided to put their own creative touch on the area. Instagram: @colbydrakedesign

In recent years, the rock has seen its fair share of abuse with various incidents of folks standing on top of it, leaning on it and laying on it for social media fame. I knew at some point that the rock would eventually succumb to the treatment, but I couldn’t have imagined that a group of tasteless individuals would have the audacity to push the rock formation over. Well, that’s exactly what happened on the afternoon of August 29th, 2016.

As Resource Travel and several others have reported, a group of three individuals approached the sandstone formation and started to push on it, rocking it back fourth until it toppled to the ground. Supposedly, their reason for doing this was because their friend jumped off the formation and broke or injured his leg. David Kalas, a bystander who witnessed the incident, decided to film the whole thing once he saw what was happening and post it to social media. Now, the Oregon State Parks and Recreational Department, in coordination with Oregon State Police are reviewing the incident and are determining how best to respond to the matter.

This isn’t the first case of vandalism in our parks and it certainly won’t be the last, so what do we as a community need to do stop this from happening? This year alone has seen several acts of vandalism such as the filmmakers who decided to trample over the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone. How can we convince people that doing things like this for social media fame is just not okay?

It may be that tighter government regulations and harsher penalties for vandals would help. Casey Nocket, for example, plead guilty to seven misdemeanor counts of damaging government property. A self-identified artist, Nocket graffitied protected rock formations, posting photos of her work to an Instagram account. A misdemeanor can be punished by a fine of up to $ 100,000 and/or one year of prison, but Nocket received two years of parole and 200 hours of community service.

What do you think? How do you think we can deter individuals from doing things like this in the future? Feel free to share your thoughts by commenting below.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Winter Morning at Swinging Bridge, Yosemite National Park

26 Aug

Morning light on Yosemite Falls amidst rising winter fog – Yosemite National Park

To celebrate today’s 100th birthday of the U.S. National Park system I thought it would be fitting to share a favorite image of mine taken in Yosemite National Park “Winter Morning at Swinging Bridge”. The NPS is often considered America’s Best Idea and I think most would agree. I have made so many amazing memories in our National Parks and witnessed jaw dropping beauty that has warmed my soul. We are all so fortunate to have this great resource. Now get out there and explore it.

The post Winter Morning at Swinging Bridge, Yosemite National Park appeared first on JMG-Galleries – Landscape, Nature & Travel Photography.

JMG-Galleries – Landscape, Nature & Travel Photography

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Noah’s Ark: Creationist Theme Park Opens Amidst Regional Flooding

11 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]

great ark

A biblical theme park contained within a huge ark (the largest timber-framed structure in the world) has opened in Kentucky, just as the region was hit hard by heavy rains and flash floods. Expecting an initial rush of visitors, the ark will have extended hours of operation for 40 days and 40 nights, coinciding with duration of the biblical fable of the great flood.

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Built by Amish carpenters to dimensions described in the Bible, the main Ark Encounter structure is close to 500 feet long, 100 feet wide and a 50 feet tall. It was created by Answers in Genesis, a fundamentalist Christian organization, close to their existing Creation Museum. The megastructure is meant to serve as an education center as well as adventure playground.

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The original ark, as the story goes, was designed to save Noah, his family and pairs of animals from a great flood that swept the world clean of sinners. “In a world that is becoming increasingly secularised and biased, it’s time for Christians to do something of this size and this magnitude,” said Answers in Genesis chief executive Ken Ham. The new version employs somewhat more contemporary materials and construction techniques, connecting large timber logs with steel braces.

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The modern-day complex is designed to be accessible to all Americans, located less than a day’s drive from most of the country. In addition to scenes of dinosaurs living on the ark alongside humans, it features zip lines, petting zoos and camel rides.

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Controversially, the $ 100,000,000 project was made possible in part through sales tax incentives, a fact that does not sit well with all residents of the state. Alas, anyone seeking to survive the next great global purge will find that the ark itself does not float, though it may provide some high ground in a storm.

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Posts Tagged ‘Park’

Trinity River Park: Huge New 10,000 Acre Urban Nature District for Dallas

Park City Bridals by Jake Garn

Reconnecting Atlanta: Elevated Park to Bridge a City Divided by Highways

Urban Food Park: Scandinavia is Growing a “Silicon Valley for Agriculture”