I saw this over at Topophilia under the heading “At First I thought this was a joke” and then I seriously thought it was a joke too. But there really is a website dedicate to answering questions about the profession and showing people what landscape architects do. Cool! Check it out: www.iwanttobealandscapearchitect.com

I was driving through an area that had seen a forest fire a year or two back.  I was immediately struck at how beautiful it looked.  The grass was green, the sky blue and the contrast of the white wood with streaks of black against the bright color was stunning.  It didn’t even look like there had been a fire, instead it looked like the slim, twisting trunks had been drawn on with charcoal.  Having grown up in the the northwest I’m used to seeing the aftermath of fires but  nothing like this.  It was calling to me to take a picture…if only I had my camera…  

Just try to imagine the below image with a bright blue sky…

image via www.pbase.com

EVolo has announced the winners of their annual skyscraper competition focused on innovated ways to incorporate new levels of vertical density. These new concepts were to carefully consider quality of life, environmental effects and the urban fabric with a focus on historical and social context and human scale, things that many of growing cities around the world are just tossing aside in order to quickly grow their vertical footprint.

There were many interesting submissions but my personal favorite is the Urban Nebulizer that looks at the human spine as an inspiration with green decks that fly around the central spiraling core.