ON THE COVER: A model of the Narikala Ridge project in Tbilisi, Georgia, by Ruderal. Photo by Giorgi Kolbaia.
FEATURED STORY: “Range Rover,” by Jessica Bridger. Tbilisi, Georgia, is an unexpected place for a well-established American designer and educator like Sarah Cowles, ASLA, to launch a new practice, but the vibrant city, wild Caucasus Mountains, and go-go business climate suited her. With Russia, China, and western Europe jockeying for ever-bigger infrastructure projects, Georgia, and increasingly, Ruderal, is right in the thick of a global crossroads’s rebirth.
Also in the issue:
FEATURE: “The Butterfly Effect,” by Anjulie Rao. For more than five years, only a small site of remembrance marked the place where 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot by the police while playing with his sister. To create a space for healing, Tamir’s mother, Samaria Rice, knew they would need more. Led by DesignJones LLC with DERU Landscape Architecture, the new Rice Butterfly Memorial is a testament to a community’s commitment and a mother’s determination to make a safer world for children from the ashes of grief (online April 13).
NOW: A pilot program for rural schoolyards launches in Oregon (online April 6); green burials and urban park space go together; a new podcast views the Green New Deal from abroad (online April 27); more money for coastal resilience is out there, and more.
INFRASTRUCTURE: “If Buffalo Could Roam,” by Timothy A. Schuler. After an old bridge became unsafe, plans for a replacement took an unexpected turn when a proposal for a wildlife crossing began to gather support. Landscape architecture students jumped in to take the idea from concept to (maybe) reality.
PLANNING: “The Heart of the Hill,” by Sarah Chase Shaw. Once known as the “Richest Hill on Earth,” Butte, Montana, has fought to move on from copper mining’s aftermath in the form of a Superfund site and the notorious Berkeley Pit. After decades of federal negotiations and community activism, the city is set to step forward with a new vision led by Land Design, Inc. (online April 20).
GOODS: “Public Relations,” by Kristen Mastroianni. Durable furniture for convivial spaces.
THE BACK: “Ten Topographic Acts,” by Marc Treib, Honorary ASLA. An excerpt from The Shape of the Land: Topography & Landscape Architecture looks at land formation and deformation in 10 iconic projects.
BOOK REVIEW: “Thoroughly Modern Marjorie,” by Elissa Rosenberg. A review of Marjorie Sewell Cautley: Landscape Architect for the Motor Age, by Sarah Allaback.
BACKSTORY: A planting design installed at Madison Square Park with numbers at its core.
We need better infrastructure and movement towards green construction. Madison Square Garden is a great example.
What a fascinating read! The blend of culture, environment, and business in Tbilisi sounds truly inspiring. The Rice Butterfly Memorial’s message of healing through design is deeply moving. It’s intriguing to see how landscape architecture can facilitate positive change on so many levels.