As a fascinating design means, water creates a focus in many outstanding projects. But water is also a precious commodity, a vital resource. The challenge is in combining striking design with sustainable water management, integrating flood protection and storm water management in usable urban spaces. This issue of Topos presents new parks and waterfronts as well as comprehensive planning projects for entire cities ? including examples from Singapore, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, Chile,...
Point Fraser Wetland in Perth
An inner-city wetland site in Perth, Western Australia, is designed within its urban context, purifying water and providing recreational use at the same time. The wetland is an example of an ecological approach to urban development. Author: Quinton, James
Where City Meets Sea
New Zealanders live in a land that has very strong physical and cultural connections to the sea. The coastal edge is where the land slips beneath the salty water; it is this constantly moving ephemeral space that continues to provide the site of significant design responses by New Zealand landscape architects, like the the New Plymouth Foreshore and the Oriental Bay Enhancement in Wellington. Author: Johns, Ralph
New Waterscapes for Singapore
Singapore is addressing the challenges of urban water management through comprehensive and complex initiatives that combine water collection measures with recreation and ecological programmes. Author: Dreiseitl, Herbert
Aerated Lagoon Park in Ho Chi Minh City
The construction of an aerated lagoon in Ho Chi Minh City has shown that such interventions can improve the environmental conditions of polluted water courses and also reserve open space in mega-cities where land is at a premium. Author: Legrand, Benoit
Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle
The Olympic Sculpture Park was constructed on a former industrial site. The new landscape rises over the existing infrastructure and connects the city with the waterfront. Topographic variations offer different prospects and different settings for art. Author: Manfredi, Michael , Weiss, Marion
The Ray and Maria Stata Center
The landscape design for the Ray and Maria Stata Center in Cambridge shows that innovative storm water management practices can create the impetus for meaningful space-making. Author: Zheng, Xiaodi
Interventions in Hydrology
Landscape architects are uniquely qualified to synthesize a desire for public parks that are environmentally rich with the concerns of stormwater management and flood control. Eight projects by Hargreaves Associates exemplify a combination of natural systems and urban life. Author: Hargreaves, George, Campbell Kelly, Liz
The Conquest of Arid America
Photographer Dorothea Lange recorded in 1939 the transformation of sagebrush desert in Oregon into farmland by irrigation. More than 60 years later Anne Whiston Spirn revisited the places. Author: Whiston Spirn, Anne
Rio Piedras Restoration Project
The restoration plan for the Rio Piedras in San Juan, Puerto Rico establishes a framework for healthy habitats, an opportunity to control flooding waters, and an innovative platform for future education and research. Author: Tamir, Karen
Water Management in Mexico City
Mexico City has sprawled across a mountain-enclosed basin of former lakes. Today, the supply of drinking water and wastewater treatment are among the main problems of the city. Initial steps of a Regional Water Management Plan are a success. Author: Martínez, Desiree
Jardim do Lago, Brazil
A forest worthy of protection and a man-made swamp in Buzios near Rio de Janeiro are turned into an urban pioneer project by creating a lake and park landscape. Author: Chacel, Fernando
Termas Geométricas
The architectural lines of the Termas Geométricas Hot Spring Complex in Chile reveal the Volcan Villarrica National Park?s primitive and natural splendor. Author: del Sol Guzmán, Germán
Platja Llarga, Cap de Salou
Two seaside projects address landscape?s relationship with tourism and water. Located in Salou, near Barcelona, the Platja Llarga and nearby Beach Club underline the relevance of landscape by reinventig tradition for contemporary uses. Author: Andreu, Xavier, Bellmunt, Jordi
Levadas as a Design Principle
Modelled on the historical levadas, open watercourses and pools made of Corten steel shape the park at Saõ Vicente on Madeira. Author: Hauswald, Kerstin
Redevelopment of Antwerp’s Quays
The Belgian city of Antwerp is seeking ideas to revitalize its quays along the River Scheldt. This poses the challenges of reintegrating the area with the city and of incorporating its flood protection system within the new design. Author: Borret , Kristiaan, Teughels, Phillipe
Landscape Architecture in Japan
In Japan landscape related projects were developed by architects and engineers for a long time. Today, landscape architects have formed an individual design language and landscape architecture is a recognized profession. Author: Rahmann, Heike
New Japanese Urban Housing
Author: Shimoda, Ryosuke
