Contemporary Trends in Landscape Architecture

Book excerpt: Contemporary Trends in Landscape Architecture Steven L. Cantor This comprehensive and beautifully illustrated sourcebook presents new trends in landscape architecture with particular focus on recent scientific research, historic preservation, and international practice. Contemporary Trends in Landscape Architecture includes more than 300 illustrations and photographs, and features world-renowned landscape architects describing in their own words dozens of plans, sites, and projects. With this volume, author Steven L. Cantor provides an excellent companion to his Innovative Design Solutions in Land-scape Architecture, a detailed reference source for landscape architecture practice. He adopts a modern and practical approach, following projects from the planning stage to built form, identifying patterns in professional practice and their design implications. Trends and selected projects include: The Impact of Scientific Research Horticultural and botanical displays, Charlotte, NC; wetlands restoration, Hambleton Island, MD; timber rattlesnake study, Woodbury, NY AIDS Memorial Gardens AIDS Memorial Grove, San Francisco, CA; Joel Schnaper Memorial Garden, New York, NY Populations with Unique Needs Mental health facilities, New York, NY; Lesbian and Gay Community Center, New York, NY; Endangered Species Garden, San Francisco, CA; Lion's Garden for the Visually Impaired, New York, NY Historic Preservation National Park Service, historic landscape initiative, Washington, DC; Stuyvesant Square Park, New York, NY; Ellis Island National Historical Park, New York, NY International Practice Karambunai Beach Resort and Golf Residential Community, East Malaysia, Island of Borneo; National Parliament House, Canberra, Australia; urban design in Brno, Slovakia Eclecticism Japanese influenced residential pool design in Georgia; public plazas with fountains in Tennessee; sculpture based on Renaissance models, Long Island, NY; courtyards for the Katherine Delmar Burke School, San Francisco, CA Residences and Housing Gaines residence and stallion barns, Lexington, KY; tract house with gazebo, San Diego, CA; dormitory complex, University of Maine, Orono, ME; Greystone Manor, Westchester, NY Parks and Recreation Mount St. Helen's National Monument, Toutle, WA; Steinbrueck Park, Seattle, WA; Philadelphia Zoo, Philadelphia, PA; Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD Computer Technology Access roads to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Washington, DC; landscape planning studies, Uxbridge, MA; Seattle central waterfront, Seattle, WA; Paris Pike, KY Each firm and landscape architect contributes his or her own style and personality to these projects, and offers personal insights, anecdotes, and perspective. In a thoughtful conclusion, the author examines and discusses patterns discovered within the total body of work. An inclusive and thoroughly cross-referenced index also assists in the process of analyzing project types and making comparisons. Landscape architects, architects, students, planners, project managers, and those in allied fields will greatly value Contemporary Trends in Landscape Architecture as a rich source of information and inspiration for both professional and academic application.