Infrastructure is always political, and energy transitions have always been contested, pitting established players against upstart technologies and new coalitions. How can a radical reimagining of energy infrastructure create opportunities for an inclusive and participatory conversation about climate change and social justice? Who has the power to talk about infrastructure, and who gets left out?

The landscape we see happens above ground, yet much of its true intelligence lies beneath the surface.

If we accept that ‘the city’ is now a continuous system of global exploitation, then any discussion of the ‘urban forest’ should also scale up its thinking and ambition.

Long described as an “emerging” practice, landscape urbanism—with all of its ambiguity and complexity—has in fact already emerged and represents a significant 21st century design and planning ethos.

The deployment of offshore wind power on a massive scale is driving new forms of marine management and cartographic representation, and upending traditional ideas about what constitutes national territory.

Tomorrow’s cities will need to perform better than today’s. To meet this challenge, designers (and their clients) have assembled a host of goals for urban projects—from encouraging smart transportation to protecting wildlife, from remediating toxic sites to building diverse neighborhoods—and increasingly, landscape projects are sold on such claims rather than their formal or aesthetic value alone.

Project: Living Breakwaters Location: Staten Island, NY Firm: SCAPE / Landscape Architecture Year: 2013 Competition: Rebuild by Design Website: Rebuild by Design – Living Breakwaters  Project Description: The Living Breakwaters concept design was developed by the SCAPE / Landscape Architecture team for the U.S. Department of … Continue reading →

What is landscape urbanism? What are we? Where do we want to go? Deliberately avoiding definitions? What is landscape urbanism? What are we? Where do we want to go?

Migration is an instinct shared across many species, and a fundamental process for communities’ survival. Today, all kinds of populations are on the move in unprecedented and dramatic ways. Some migrations bring threats, perceived or real. The design of cities, landscapes and infrastructure can support or inhibit migrations. Scenario 6 explores selected facets of this complex topic, told from a range of disciplinary perspectives.

Waste legibility can be an asset shared by active power generating operations, a novel ecological community, and recreational uses. At the Blue Lagoon, the formalization of a wasteland commons created instead a high-end, privatized spa that conceals the underlying landscape and its unique conditions.