For the want of a nail the shoe was lost, For the want of a shoe the horse was lost, For the want of a horse the rider was lost, For the want of a rider the battle was lost,…
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Posts on Urban Design (+ see introduction to urban design)
London. There is no better place in the world than this wondrous city
In writing about London for Der Spiegel Christoph Scheuermann starts with three problems to which the landcape architecture profession can make a contribution. The crap weather, the traffic, the noise, the obscene amounts of money, the horrific rents, the Central Line during rush hour,…
Posted in urban design
Westminster Bridge should be pedestrianised
We argued in 2015 that Westminster Bridge should be pedestrianised. Following this afternoon’s tragic attack on pedestrians we repeat the call.
Posted in urban design
Landscape, Townscape and Seascape Character Assessment
LI London held a meeting about Character Assessment on 28.11.2016. It was chaired by Robert Holden and the speakers were Christine Tudor (Natural England) Chris Drake (Kent County Council), Jon Rooney (AECOM) and Ben Croot (LDA Design). Having given the subject little…
Posted in landscape planning, urban design
Environmental impact design EID
I first came across the term Environmental Impact Assessment in 1974. Bill Gillespie had been part of a four-firm consortium which won a UNDP contract to produce a plan for the Suez Canal Zone. He sent me (with Paul Taylor)…
Posted in landscape planning, landscape urbanism, urban design Tagged with: environmental impact design
The knights of landscape architecture who planned the British New Towns
Thank you to FOLAR for holding a seminar on the landscape architecture of Britain’s New Towns. The above video, which was my contribution to the event, celebrates the contributions of the Four Landscape Knights (Sir Patrick Abercrombie, Sir Frederick Gibberd, Sir…
Posted in landscape architecture, urban design
Beijing tackles air pollution by shifting the muck around.
Beijing is planning a network of “ventilation corridors” to promote air flow and blow smpg away. Five main corridors will be 800 m wide and minor ones will be 80 m wide according to Wang Fei, deputy head of Beijing’s…
James Corner interview: the High Line and Intimate Immensity
James Corner was born in Preston and began his study of landscape architecture at Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK. The Time Magazine interview with Corner was published in 2012 under the title: Game Changer: James Corner, Urban Dreamscaper. Corner defines landscape…
More London urban design by Townshend landscape architects
More London is an office development on the south bank of the River Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. The brief given to the landscape architects, in 1998, was to create a unique place with both an individual character…
Bank Junction to be pedestrianised with a Democratic Allocation of Street Space DASS
The Guardian reported (on 20th November 2015) that ‘The City of London Corporation, local authority of the Square Mile, is to close off the whole of the famous yet famously inhospitable Bank junction to all motor vehicles except buses, starting…
Posted in cycleways, urban design
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