The Freeway Park is a significant historical landscape as a masterwork of functional space structure and new land-use for American cities. It brings to mind the time after the post-war and shows great design was built above the highway at that time. The spectacular features of the park make a recreational facility in the area. It is one of the best examples of the architectural freedom, expressed in repeated elements and multilevel elevation, which form particular blocks with functional zones and architecturally united, and the rich greenery.
The Freeway Park has a long history to its creation. The full name of the park called “Jim Ellis Freeway Park.” Jim Ellis is a civic leader who worked whole life on the creation of this park. He put a lot of effort to drive its establishment and opening. The idea of Freeway Park is old and same age as the Interstate five segment of Seattle. The park has been undergoing change and it is expected that more changes will take place under the original designer. The Freeway Park is a feature of the world landscape design until now. As a result of its uniqueness, the park is under the consideration of getting to be nominated so that it becomes a landmark. Freeway Park has been a symbol in the landscape of Seattle since it is a placement on the primary city’s North South Thoroughfare. The twelve lanes which were constructed in 1966 made a chasm in between downtown and first Hill. Many residents were have no idea of this intrusion which opened the urban environment. The Park was opened so that the public could use it on July 4th 1976. The designer is the Landscape architect of Lawrence Halprin, under Angela Danadjieva’s supervision. Those who designed the park are some most honored land designers who...
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...at. Having achieved the saving qualities of the park, and reserved the natural uniqueness of the architecture the Freedom Park manages to reflect the unique mood it had in the past and until now. Freeway Park is a site to describe of cultural richness and is a good historical preservation.
Works Cited
Goldberger, Paul. "Seattle Park Sensible Response to Freeway." The New York Times 9 Mar. 1977, 14. Print.
Bradley, Gordon A. Urban Forest Landscapes: Integrating Multidisciplinary Perspectives. New York: University of Washington Press, 1995. 38. Print.
Robertson, Iain M. "Replanting Freeway Park: Preserving a Masterpiece." Landscape Journal 31.1/2 (2012): 77-99. Print.
Freedman, Adele. “Halprin wants architecture with all-round sensual appeal.” The Globe and Mail 17 Oct. 1981, 5. Print.
“A New Vision for Freeway Park.” Seattle Parks Department 14 May. 2005. Print.
Riverbank, a large city, has a district with a huge problem. Grant’s Valley, although booming with business, is a quaint and historic part of Riverbank that the residents want to keep that way. The business aspect of Grant’s Valley has an ever growing need for more space for tourists to park and there is just too much traffic for the area to withstand. Riverbank’s historically quaint Grant’s Valley would benefit from the destruction of the unused junior-high on 35th and Princeton and the new construction of a one hundred space parking lot and a new park. This would attract more people and lessen the unattractive curb appeal of the parking lot in the residential area of Grant’s Valley that the residents want
Throughout the book Tom Lewis goes back and forth between the good and bad that came about from building highways. While the paved roads connected our country, made travel time faster, provided recreation, and pushed the development of automobiles they also created more congestion and travel time, divided communities, and made us slaves to automobiles. The author is critical of the highways, but he does realize the great achievement it is in the building of America. Lewis said, “As much as we might dislike them, we cannot escape the fact that ...
Gehry draws his inspiration from famous paintings such as the Madonna and Child which he qualifies as a “strategy for architecture” (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 42) and which he used as an inspiration for a project in Mexico . Through his interpretation of the paintings and artwork, Gehry looked for a new kind of architecture. His search for a new type of architecture culminated in 1978 with his own house in Santa Monica. What was once a traditional Californian house would be redesigned to become one of the most important and revolutionary designs of the 20th century, giving Gehry international prestige and fame. Frank Gehry’s “Own House” uses a mixture of corrugated metal, plywood, chain link and asphalt to construct a new envelope for an existing typical Californian house. This house has been inspired by Joseph Cornell, Ed Moses and Bob Rauschenberg. Gehry comments on his house by saying that there was something “magical” (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 54) about it. He admits having “followed the end of his [my] nose” (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 54) when it came to constructing the “new” house, which led Arthur Drexler, former Director...
Many mass construction projects in the history of the United States have had a major impact on the economy and culture; however, not many of these have had as large as an impact as the Interstate Highway Act of 1956. The Interstate Highway Act revolutionized the way that we think about highways today. The act created an extremely easy mode of transportation for people across the country. Not only was the Interstate Highway Act extremely helpful in making rural and urban transportation for normal people, but it also helped commercial businesses in increasing sales across the country. These businesses were now able to transport their goods cheaper and faster. The Interstate Highway Act was tremendously beneficial in regards to its economic, social, and cultural significance. The legislation was significant economically in the way that it promoted business and cut travel costs, it was significant socially in the way that it allowed people to see friends and family even if they did not live close, and it was significant culturally in the way that it allowed people to move out to the country for low costs in order to live a happier life.
Landscape architecture has been around since the beginning of time, but it was not until Frederick Law Olmsted came along that the idea of integrating design into the landscape with plants, water, and structures that it turned into a thriving profession. To many, Olmsted is considered “a pioneer in the profession of landscape architecture, an urban planner, and a social philosopher, one of the first theoreticians and activists behind the national park and conservation movements” (Kalfus 1). Growing up, he did not ever graduate from formal schooling and just sat in on a few classes while at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut. Instead, he acquired his education from being out in the world through traveling and reading. He had a hard childhood. His mother died when he was just four years old and on his journeys around the world to Europe and China, he became sickly with seasickness, paralysis of the arm, typhoid fever, apoplexy, sumac poisoning, and at times suffered from depression. For many years he went on a journey within himself to find out whom he really was and what he wanted to do with his life, career wise. Frederick had one brother, John Hull, who died in 1857. This left Olmsted feeling empty and at loss of what to do. That was when Calvert Vaux came and filled the space in Olmsted’s life that his brother left. Vaux convinced Olmsted to enter the Central Park Commissioner’s design competition with their design entitled the “Greensward Plan.” With the success in that project, Olmsted figured out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, which was to become a landscape architect. Olmsted practiced from the years of 1857 up until he retired in 1895. Olmsted’s two boys, adopted son John Charles and biological son Frederick La...
She also introducing new urban building standards. This this article she talks about, the idea some people have of tearing it down and rebuilding. She also talks about ideas people have about some parts of towns. In Boston, she talks about the area of North End, and the change that it was over gone. During her second visit to this area, she discovered that it had changed. She talked to other about it, although the statistic were higher than the city, the people still saw it as a slum. They felt that they needed to tear it down in order to build something better. This leads to the conclusion that the urban planners to do understand that the people of the city need. They have ideas that were developed years ago that they are still using. These ideas do not take account what the people want. The author also introducing new ideas of a perfect city to live in and what it would look like. The idea of a garden city was introduced. This city would be built around a park. Although the new ideas sounded great they could not be put into place today. The idea of a Garden City is something that sounds nice, but it is not possible in society today. Today a city should reflect economic status, and in order to achieve this the city should be big, and convey an image of power. A city that has aspects of nature in it would not convey that image. That upkeep of a city of that kind would also be difficult. The do understand the author's point of view. The planners often times do not take into account the desires of the people. The town that I grow up in want to become more urbanized. In order to do this, they are building a large shopping center. This shopping center is located in the canyon rim. This canyon rim has been important the people for many years. We come to the area to walk, what bass jumpers, and enjoy the scenic views. This new shopping center took away this area. Many of the people
Hills dominate much of San Rafael’s geographical profile. Partially located on a large rock quarry, San Rafael’s jagged edges provide stark contrast with its smooth, rolling hills and the nearby China Camp State Park, an almost unknown escape filled with lush greenery and forests. 10 years ago, both the state park and the surrounding hills were covered with oak trees. Recently however, the disease Sudden Oak Death has posed a serious threat to every oak tree in the area. Forestry officials have been forced to burn out any trees that have been infected with the disease, leaving the skeletons of these once mighty trees to dot the landscape. These reminders of nature’s tr...
The High Line [see Figure 3.3] is a park built on top of an abandoned train track in the middle of New York City and is one of the most influential works today in regards to integrating landscape and architecture. One must only look at the design team to see the physical interdisciplinary manifestation: landscape architect James Corner, architects Diller, Scofidio and Renfro, artist Olafur Eliasson, and garden designer Piet Oudolf. They incorporated their interdisciplinarity into the project, stating, “Our strategy of agri-tecture combines organic and building materials into a blend of changing proportions that accommodates the wild, the cultivated, the intimate, and the hyper-social.” The High Line’s formation is deeply rooted in the principles of land art. Like Robert Smithson’s Spiral...
Residential, commercial and industrial development is the largest contributors to landscape change in the state of New Jersey. When buildout occurs in one region, development pressure begins in another, virtually insuring the Megalopolis concept of one huge urban corridor stretching between Boston and Washington D.C. Year after year, farmland dwindles, roads become congested, and more residents are left to compete for diminishing natural resources. Desperate measures and newer technologies are incorporated to replace poor planning and lack of vision on behalf of decision-makers caught between competing interests. When the long term health and wellbeing of the established population and the short term gain of a limited number of people compete for vital natural resources there should be no question who's interests should prevail.
Over the next 160 years Central Park has seen many transformations. An early decline in the 1900’’s followed by a revitalization by Robert Moses
Temko, Allan. (1993). No Way to Build a Ballpark: and Other Irreverent Essays on Architecture. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
Boarnet, Marlon G. "National Transportation Planning: Lessons from the U.S. Interstate Highways." National Transportation Planning: Lessons from the U.S. Interstate Highways. Elsevier Ltd., 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
“The Edge of the Wild” is a documentary that discusses the overall situation of urban development and its effects on the extinction of native species. The documentary began by displaying graphics and videos of the beauty and native lifestyle of the Mission Blue butterflies and other native butterflies and the changes that can be resulting of urban development. Then, the documentary discusses about a battle over privately-owned property that is a reserve for endangered butterflies and the significance of the Endangered Species Act. This documentary is set at San Bruno Mountain that has a remarkable wilderness that is surrounded by urbanization.
A city has to be beautiful, though the definition of “beauty” is so vague. The beauty can be physical, such as enjoyable parks, streetscapes, architectural facades, the sky fragment through freeways and trees; or it can be the beauty of livelihood, people, and history. As landscape architects, we are creating beautiful things or turning the unpleasant memorial.
Thomson, Steve. "Saving B.C's Forests through the Trees." The Filipino Post 12-18 July 2012: 12. Print.