March 17, 2013 - Boston Flora

Monday, April 1 Deadline for 2013 I-Park Foundation Landscape/Garden Design Residency Program

March 17, 2013 by Boston Flora

Applications are due April 1, 2013, for the I-Park Foundation, Inc. 2013 multi-disciplinary artists-in-residence program. Landscape/garden designers and landscape architects can expand and enrich their creative practice in a retreat-like, collegial setting in East Haddam, Connecticut – in the company of visual artists, composers, writers and, beginning in 2013, architects. Self-directed residencies will be offered from May through November 2013. Most residencies are four weeks in duration, though split (2-week) sessions can occasionally be arranged to accommodate busy career schedules.

There is also a special Environmental Art Program in 2013 (residency and exhibition) for which landscape/garden design proposals are being solicited. International applicants are welcome. To defray the cost of travel, four $750.00 grants, to be distributed among all the disciplines, will be awarded to non-North American participants whose work is held in particularly high regard by the Grant Committee. Program details, application form and comprehensive FAQ are available online at http://www.i-park.org/residency-programs/2013-residency-program. For more information, contact Amanda Baker, Residency Program Manager, by e-mail: iparkapplications@gmail.com or by phone: 860-873-2468.

Thursday, April 11, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – A City is (Not) a Tree: New Models of Urban Space

March 17, 2013 by Boston Flora

In the face of persistent change, the recurrent geological and biological metaphors in modern urban theories may betray a collective fear of not being able to produce an environment with the â€œsecond natureâ€ feeling of the traditional city. But rather than dream of a brave new world we should reconsider our practice of â€œgraftingâ€ new spaces on the existing ones, because inevitably, the landscape of the new world will be a mixture of man-made and natural environments. The beauty of the city may overwrite that of nature but we can take comfort in its imperfection, however multiple, occasional, and fallible it may be. Reflections on these themes will frame a critical review of urban and architectural design experiences in Italy and Europe by Cino Zucchi Architetti (Milan). Cino Zucchi is the John T. Dunlop Visiting Professor in Housing and Urbanization. The program, sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Design, will take place Thursday, April 11, from 6:30 – 8, at the Piper Auditorium, Gund Hall, 48 Quincy Street in Cambridge, and is free and open to the public.