There have been three four main phases in London Cycle Network Planning 1930s: segregated cycle lanes beside new arterial roads Leslie Hore-Belisha was an innovative Minister of Transport, remembered for introducing pedestrian crossings, a 30 MPH speed limit in built…
Blog Archives
The history of cycle network infrastructure planning in London
Posted in cycleways, London cycle network
Kipling’s Recessional & the Stop Killing Cyclists 2013 TfL Die-in
In church, a recessional is a hymn or piece of music accompanying the withdrawal of the clergy and choir from the chancel to the vestry, at the close of a service. The term is also used for the music after…
Posted in landscape architecture
Lecture on London Cycle Network Planning
Lecture by Tom Turner on 23rd April 2018, the LI London Branch The Landscape Urbanism Design Method should be applied to the problem of giving London the Cycleway Network it deserves: for getting from A-to-B, the aim should be to…
Playing chess on the Stockwell Street University of Greenwich roof garden
Does London have a better place for a game of chess than the University of Greenwich’s Stockwell Street roof garden? If so, please tell me about it. While smelling the sweet scents of spring flowers, you can pick mint, gaze…
Posted in green roofs, landscape architecture
Hal Moggridge lecture: Slow Growth: On the Art of Landscape Architecture
On Wednesday 21st February, Hal Moggridge lectured to the London Branch of the Landscape Institute on the theme of his 2017 book Slow Growth: On the Art of Landscape Architecture. A Wikipedia article explains that Slow Food is ‘an organization…
Posted in landscape architecture
Desire lines are a key principle in landscape architecture
‘Desire line’ is one of landscape architecture’s most useful concepts. Less romantically, Wikipedia calls it a ‘desire path’ and explains the idea as ‘ the shortest or most easily navigated route between an origin and destination’. OK, but as everyone…
Posted in urban design
A new agricultural landscape for the UK, post-Brexit – 2018 FOLAR Symposium Day
FOLAR organised a really excellent symposium on 14 April 2018, at MERL in Reading. Videos of the seven speakers are below. I plan to comment in more detail but, for the moment, only emphasise a point made the President of…
Posted in landscape planning
Ian McHarg’s boyhood in Glasgow, Clydebank and Craigallian Loch
Ian McHarg was born on Clydeside and became the most famous landscape architect of the 20th century. The importance of Clydebank in the development of his Design with Nature philosophy is explained in McHarg’s last book: A Quest for Life: An…
Posted in landscape architecture
Jeremy Vine tells the truth about London cycle infrastructure, to the GLA London Assembly Transport Committee
London transport policy favours motor-power transport and discriminates against human-powered travel. This may be compared with official discrimination against women, gays and ethnic minorities at the start of the twentieth century. Jeremy Vine was interviewed by the London Assembly Transport…
Posted in cycleways, London cycle network
Which is the older art: Landscape or Architecture?
Short history of the word ‘landscape’ The word ‘landscape’ was formed by adding ‘-scape’ (or ‘-skip’ or ‘-ship’) to the noun ‘land’. This made it an abstract noun. When it came into English, from Anglo-Saxon, the word ‘landscape’ had a…
Posted in landscape architecture
Recent comments on LAA