Cities are never completed, they are always in progress. Topos presents projects for the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing, the Waterfront in Toronto, Orange County Park in California, the Mission Bay Project in San Francisco and the new landscape in Sydney's Harbour.
The Dragon's Tail
Beijing seems to have lost track of its Chinese urban heritage. Despite trying to counter the damage of the Cultural Revolution, new urban projects in preparation for the Olympics evoke traditional Chinese urban morphology as a commodity yet neglect the spirit behind traditional Chinese city design. Author: Selugga, Malte
The Axis to Nature
In preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing undertook massive public works projects. This time, the goal is to create an ecologically sound, publicly accessible open space. Author: Belle, Iris
The Red Ribbon Tanghe River Park
China looks back on a long history of water management, taken to extremes in recent engineering projects of dams and canalized waterways. The Red Ribbon Tanghe River Park takes an entirely new approach in its design with nature and for people. Author: Stokman, Antje, Ruff, Stefanie
Island of Innovation for Aviles
The Spanish town of Aviles and the Asturias region were inspired by the famous example of Bilbao in wanting to reinvent their image by means of ambitious and comprehensive planning projects. Author: Ryser, Judith
Simultaneous Landscapes
One of the aims of the Bossuit-Kortrijk Canalpark is to introduce specific public spaces to the dispersed development of West Flanders in Belgium. Various new spaces and activities are attached to the backbone of the canal, creating a new regional park that has a multitude of local spaces. Author: De Meulder, Bruno
Flooded Valleys and Exploded Escarpments
Four recent projects by local landscape architects seek to celebrate the topographic drama of Sydney Harbor with new design approaches. Author: Hawken, Scott
Redefining Toronto’s Waterfront
The following six projects are the first steps in the wholesale redefinition of the city of Toronto’s waterfront. Designed as catalysts for urban regeneration, these landscape architecture projects will become the organizing structure for the entire waterfront. Author: Roche, James
Mission Bay: Mission Creek Park North
The first major park in one of San Francisco’s largest redevelopment projects gives life to the new neighborhoods through water access, evocative landforms, sports fields, and a linear, water’s edge esplanade. Author: Fry, Marta
Sites of Transition: Urbanizing the Mojave Desert
The photo essay documents processes of urbanization in the Las Vegas Valley and the Mojave Desert beyond the well-known spectacles of the Las Vegas Strip. Author: Huber, Nicole, Stern, Ralph
The Orange County Great Park
A new park on the site of a former air base in Southern California aims to strike a balance between the needs of humans and the natural world. Through an innovative Preview Park, visitors can engage with the development of the park whose implementation will be phased over a timeframe of decades. Author: Smith, Ken
Parque da Juventude, São Paulo
The grounds of a former prison were transformed into a public park in a district of the Brazilian city of São Paulo that lacks public open space. Author: Moll, Claudia
New Parks for Buenos Aires
The old port of Buenos Aires, Argentina, lay derelict for many years until a private-public partnership proposed an ambitious masterplan. This incorporates a green network composed of a series of urban open spaces, including two parks which have now been implemented Author: Martignoni, Maria Jimena
Landscape Architecture in Finland
Landscape architects have been around for some decades in Finland, but professional and societal challenges remain and new challenges arise. Especially the past fifteen years have seen a substantial increase in the number of practitioners and their occupational diversity. However, the profession is still not as widely established in society as it could be. Author: Jaakkola, Maria
