Recent Posts
My Passion for Parks
I recently had an opportunity to share my passion for parks and public space as part of my advocacy role with the Indianapolis Parks Foundation. I did this because as a board member of the Foundation, I have come to realize how important it is to advocate for parks.
Funding is constantly in jeopardy and yet parks and public space play such a critical role in the quality of life. Click on the image below to view the video, and if you live in Indianapolis, please consider “sharing” your voice, your resources or your time to help make an even better parks and greenway system!
The Package is the Product
Recently the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) sponsored a fascinating webcast about campus design called Campus Landscaping; Impact on Recruitment and Retention. The session was presented by Phil Waite, a professor of landscape architecture with Washington State University. Waite has spent a considerable amount of time researching what effects the appearance and design of campus landscapes has on the recruitment of students and faculty.
Virtual Water
Did you know that only six percent of water goes to drinking, washing and other household uses? According to an article in the January edition of Landscape Architecture magazine, the other 94 percent is virtual water, or the amount of water it took to make the products we consume each day.
An article in Mother Jones magazine titled, “What’s Your Water Footprint,” had some interesting facts to share. Did you know that a cotton T-shirt requires 719 gallons of water to manufacture? Or that a pint of beer takes 20 gallons of water to make before you can enjoy it. Never mind that the trip to the pub wouldn’t happen if not for the mid-sized car that uses 39,090 gallons.
Fostering Sustainability Through Playgrounds: The Outdoor Classroom
When I was a kid, recess was a key part to my day. It gave my friends and me a chance to relax our mental activities and focus on physical ones. Despite the season, we looked forward to the fresh air and freedom of roaming around our school’s playground.
The playground at Buffalo Public School 90 unites learning and play in an educational environment in a way that I would have loved. The playground is designed with the school’s curriculum in mind, creating outdoor classrooms for students studying science, geography/geology, music, language arts, math and physical education. It’s truly the best of both worlds – at least in my mind.
The Impact of Urban Parks
Think of the last time you visited one of our nation’s large cities. I would bet that you experienced the benefits of urban parks, even if you never set foot in one.
Urban parks are more than just large open spaces with playing fields and playgrounds, hiking trails and picnic facilities. Sure, most offer these amenities – and the community benefits from them. But urban spaces have a great impact economically and environmentally. Recently, USA Today ran a cover story on the topic.
Prairie - So Cool, But Takes Patience!
A one year old prairie at Mulberry Fields Park in Zionsville, Indiana.
It probably doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone that lawns composed of cool season grasses take more resources and time to maintain than areas planted with native forbs (flowers) and grasses. Consider a ten acre park planted in turf. At an average maintenance cost of $500 per acre, that’s $5,000/year. Over ten years, that’s $50,000. By contrast, meadows and prairies - once established - require only yearly mowing in the early spring. Better yet, if the prairies can be burned by trained and qualified personnel, the ground can be re-charged with beneficial nutrients and burning will do an even better job of keeping invasive plants at bay. It’s also just cool to see a prairie on fire.
It’s About Quality, Not Quantity
The ability for alternative stormwater management systems to substantially reduce the quantity of water entering sewer systems is pretty well documented. There is less documentation, however, about the effects these systems have on the quality of the water.
Fortunately, a student at Indiana University researched and wrote about Miller Showers Park not long after it was completed. In 2006, Allison Wade evaluated water quality at several different locations throughout the Park as part of a senior research project. The analysis focused on measuring nutrient data (soluble reactive phosphorus, nitrate, and ammonia), total suspended solids and fecal coliform. Her findings are encouraging: › Continue reading
Indiana’s Largest Rain Garden
Approximately half of the storm water from downtown Bloomington, Indiana, passes through Miller Showers Park before making its way to Cascades Creek. For years, the water from this 180-acre urban watershed was conveyed through the Park via a narrow, badly eroded channel. The channel was for the most part a straight shot from a large culvert at the south end to another culvert at the north end of the nine-acre site. During larger storm events, the channel was almost immediately overrun. Water flooded the bottom of the park (primarily cultivated lawn) and received very little quality treatment before gushing into Cascades Creek full of non-point source pollutants.
Rain Gardens To The Rescue – Part II
Portland advanced the rain garden concept a number of times in different ways. One of the most intriguing applications is the Glencoe Elementary School Rain Garden. The need arose due to frequent flooding in homes near the school caused by overloaded sewers. At just 1900 square feet in size, the rain garden receives runoff from a 34,000 square foot residential area watershed. Flow volumes measured over 9 months prior to the construction of the rain garden indicated that sewers received 2,418 cubic feet per inch of rain. Volumes measured after construction showed that only 156 cubic feet per inch of rain entered the storm sewer system – a total runoff reduction of 94%.
Raingardens to the Rescue
Portland is one place that has realized what natural systems can achieve relative to urban water quality and quantity management.
In 2003, the City installed their first urban raingardens in a residential neighborhood on NE Siskiyou Street. The raingardens consisted of curb extensions located on either side of the street at the low end of the block, and serve a 10,000 square foot watershed.
Search
Categories
- An Architect's Bike Ride from Colorado to the Midwest
- An Architect's Ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway
- An Urban Designer’s Grand Unified Theory of Everything
- Bryan with a "Why"
- Clif's Notes on Higher Education
- Earth Day Indiana 2010
- Graphic Design
- GreenBuild 2009
- Historic Preservation
- Indy Green Scene
- Interior Design
- Landscape Architecture
- Photogenic
- Sustainable Design
- Uncategorized
- Urban Planning
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Aug | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | |||