Green Metropolis

ASLA - the Dirt

"I Have a Dream"

Watch close, listen well, great speech.

Portfolios

For all those working or plan to work on their portfolios check out this one I came across. Click on his undergraduate work to see that portfolio as well. The work from sophomore more year looks familiar.

http://www.alexhogrefe.com/

GeoEye

Google Offers Satellite Images of Haiti, Post-Earthquake
"In a post just published by Googlers Dylan Lorimer and Jessica Pfund, they write, "We hope that Google Map Maker can also play a role in disaster relief efforts...Today, we have made this Map Maker data for Haiti available to the UN in its raw form for the earthquake relief efforts."

Climate Change

A study completed by the Center for Remote Sensing in Boston University has revealed that at a 1 meter sea level rise 7 million people (8.5% of the countries current population) could be forced to evacuate and about a third of the Nile Delta would be engulfed by water. The study also revealed that in a possible 5 meter rise 58% of the Nile Delta, 10 major cities, and 14% of the countries population (11.5 people) would be threatened. In Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, the local government is spending $300 million to build concrete walls to protect the cities beaches. Egypt, it appears, would be the most affected Arab country.

Source: "Bikya Masr"

Design - Dezine

For some reason today I had been thinking about "silent letters". Words like know, debt, psychology, rhyme, what, etc. Now why, or should I spell it "y", do they even exist, is it just so we can misspell them? They neglect the conventional way of sounding out to spell a word and confuse young children just learning how to spell. In my search I came across the concept known as "etymology", the study of the history of words and how their form and meaning have changed over time. Silent letters serve as clues revealing the history and origin of the word, relating them back to their Latin ancestors. I knew that certain words had Latin roots, but I didn't know all silent letters were related to that idea. I'm not sure who thought of this idea but as annoying as it can be at times, it is interesting to witness the evolution of words. This brings to light the continual transformation of words today. The "txt" that has developed online and in cell phone messages continues to take over. Cyber words such as "googling" and "lol" have become popular phrases in song and conversation. Many of the other words we use online or when texting ignore silent letters and it becomes more about speed than proper spelling. I wonder how today's society will lead to a deeper morphing of the English language. Linguistics proves to be a wide and interesting subject and especially since "words" are among our most powerful weapons.

Here is one guy that is also curious about silent letters. Warning offensive Language.

Burj Dubai

Today marks the grand opening of the $1.5 billion dollar Burj Dubai, total height of 2,684 ft. Dubai overcame its $26 billion dollar debt, completed construction, now 90% of the building space has already been sold. Meanwhile the skilled laborers and construction workers took home between $4-$8 dollars an hour. The $217 million musical fountain, largest in the world (completed April 2009), led the grand opening for the worlds tallest building. The fountain was designed by WET Design and the Burj was designed by SOM Architects.


Fountains remind me of a scene out of a Disney movie.

Sigh of Relief?

US News has listed Landscape Architecture as one of the 50 best jobs for 2010 with an expected increase over the next 10 years. sounds good to me, but this part of the article seems wrong -

Stress level:
Reasonable. The hours are pretty regular.

By regular do they mean regular for an insomniac.

New Year Reflection

What better way to start the new year than with a post. The blog hasn't been as active as it should have been and I apologize to the 4 or 5 committed viewers who have been complaining.

The start of the new year is a great time for reflection. What changes to lifestyle will be your New Year's Resolution? How long until you break the commitment? We must all learn to self reflect to understand and examine our decisions and actions. We must know where our weaknesses lie and how we can strengthen them. Setting goals, practicing, and positive thought can all assist.
Here are a few resolutions that seem like great suggestions for students.

This is the only time your allowed to break a resolution.

Time

Sometimes you wish there was just more time or an extra day in the week or a way to freeze time, but sadly there isn't.

“Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't
own it, but you can use it. You can't keep
it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it
you can never get it back.”
-Harvey MacKay

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.”
-Albert Einstein

"It's not how much time you spend, but how you spend it that matters".
-What a professor said to me earlier today, not sure who said the original.

Capturing Climate Change

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34238661/ns/multimedia-picturing_climate_change/?gt1=43001
9 photographers from the NOOR photo agency have captured climate stories from around the world. The photos and captions combined deliver powerful messages and imagery.

The Maldives faces the risk of being the first nation to dissappear due to the risk of sea level rise.

Bing 3D Mapping

Microsoft has released a beta version introducing 3D imagery to Bing maps. Especially interesting is the new photosynth technology which allows users to upload images to create 3D experiences. According to the partner architect from Microsoft, the company no longer views maps as an application, but as an empty canvas. I'm ready for the Google come back now.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10410320-2.html

Flood Designs

The future of New York and Tokyo if they were to flood.
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/city-and-its-flooded-double_13.html

Otherworldly Landscapes

http://www.bing.com/travel/content/search?q=Otherworldly+Landscapes%3a+Blue+Lagoon%2c+Iceland

A slide show of amazing natural landscapes.

Sea Level Rise

At a lecture yesterday on "Urban Climate Change Adaptation Planning: Lessons from the Global South", I was guided by JoAnn Carmin, associate professor of Environmental Policy at MIT, to take a look at steps being taken by Oregon and Maryland to address the sea level rise issue. So far all I have been able to discover is Oregon's "Goal 20" plan and some stuff here and there about Maryland, but still no major regional plan or design stuff. If any one has come across any information or can find anything else I would love it if they shared it on here. It would definitely be useful to take a look at some other initiatives being taken as our studio class begins designing for sea level rise in Cape May County.