Boston Flora

Tag: Boston Architectural College

  • Saturday, October 30, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Victorian Flowers We Still Love

    On October 20, from 2 – 3, at Berkshire Botanical Garden, Thomas Mickey discusses the new book All about Flowers: James Vick’s Nineteenth-Century Seed Company . He illustrates how this nineteenth-century seed company influenced both gardeners and the kind of garden that became essential, the Victorian flower garden. James Vick’s story has not been told yet. He is known in his hometown Rochester, NY, but he played a key role in gardens everywhere in nineteenth century America, whether of the wealthy, the middle class, the working class, or the city dweller.  Vick inspired gardeners everywhere with his own passion for gardening with flowers and his desire to spread the love of floriculture. Vick published yearly seed catalogs and a popular monthly garden magazine. He systematized the seed business: growing seeds, drying them, packaging them, and shipping them around the country, well before Sears or Montgomery Ward sent out their first catalogs. 

    Thomas Mickey, from Quincy, MA, is Professor Emeritus of Communication Studies at Bridgewater State University, where he taught public relations writing and directed student interns. He is also a graduate of the Landscape Institute at the Boston Architectural College. He is a Master Gardener and has been gardening for over 30 years. Professor Mickey posts weekly on his blog americangardening.net. He is the former garden writer for the Seacoast Media company that publishes newspapers on New Hampshire’s seacoast and southern Maine. He is the author of three books, including Best Garden Plants for New England. The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries nominated his book America’s Romance with the English Garden for its annual Literature Award. The UK magazine Spectator named the book ‘best garden book of the year’. He is a past speaker with The Garden Club of the Back Bay.

    BBG members $15, nonmembers $20. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/victorian-flowers-we-still-love

  • Wednesday, September 12 – Saturday, November 17 – The Landscape Architecture of Lawrence Halprin

    The Landscape Architecture of Lawrence Halprin, a traveling photographic exhibition about the life and work of landscape architect Lawrence Halprin (1916-2009), will be on view in Boston, Massachusetts, at the Boston Architectural College, 320 Newbury Street, Boston, from September 12 through November 17, 2018. Created in 2016 during the centennial anniversary of Halprin’s birth, The Cultural Landscape Foundation exhibition features 56 newly commissioned photographs by leading landscape photographers of dozens of Halprin’s major works, including recently rediscovered residential projects created early in his career in the 1950s; the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C.; capstone projects such as the Yosemite Falls approach and Stern Grove in San Francisco; the Los Angeles Open Space Network; and Plaza Las Fuentes in Pasadena.

    Halprin was, without doubt, among the foremost landscape architects of the twentieth century. His prolific career spanned more than six decades, with highlights that also include Freeway Park (in Seattle, Washington), and the Portland Open Space Sequence (in Portland, Oregon). His firm was a seedbed for many talented designers now celebrated in their own right, and the innovative techniques he pioneered changed the field forever. While the traveling exhibition will honor Halprin and his career, it will also call attention to the need for the informed and effective stewardship of his irreplaceable legacy. Like much of the work of prominent landscape architects in the post-War period, many of Halprin’s designs are now in a diminished state, while some face an uncertain future.

    For more information, and to view the online exhibition, visit https://tclf.org/landscape-architecture-lawrence-halprin-boston

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  • Thursday, June 9, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm – Eco-Tour: The Native Plants at Connecticut College Arboretum

    The Connecticut College Arboretum is located in southeastern Connecticut, about 5 miles inland from Long Island Sound. Established in 1931 on 60 acres, today the Arboretum’s diverse 770 acres include the landscaped grounds of the College campus as well as the surrounding plant collections, natural areas and managed landscapes. The forests include a wide range of native trees including oaks, huckleberry, maples, tulip tree, ash, beech, and black birch. Located on the coast, within the Arboretum there are many wetland types, including forested wetlands, bogs and tidal marshes.

    From the outset, 60 acres was aside to create the Connecticut College Arboretum. Twenty acres of the original allotment were dedicated as the Native Plant Collection. Expanding over time, the Native Plant Collection now includes 30 acres of woody plants and wildflowers indigenous to eastern North America, demonstrating the long-standing commitment to native plants at the Arboretum.

    The Native Plant Collection contains 1,021 trees, 1,255 shrubs and 22 woody vines native to eastern North America and hardy in southeastern Connecticut. Accessioned plants are from both wild and cultivated origins. The various species take turns displaying their beauty throughout all the seasons: shadbush in April; dogwood and azaleas in May; mountain laurel in June; giant rhododendron, sourwood and sweet pepperbush in July; brilliant autumn foliage in October; evergreens and conifers year-round.

    Some of the points of interest include:

    The Laurel Walk, a long, sloping trail lined with mountain laurel.
    An oak and hemlock-forested Bolleswood natural area.
    The grassy outdoor theater overlooking the Arboretum Pond.
    Plant collections including: holly, viburnum and azalea.

    The Native Plant Checklist provides more information about the native plants on display.

    The Ecological Landscape Alliance will sponsor a tour on Thursday, June 9 from 10 – noon. Maggie Redfern is the Arboretum Assistant Director, responsible for coordinating the design and implementation of education programs for the College and community. Maggie brings several years of experience in the field of visitor services from the Arnold Arboretum to this position. She also managed a successful grant application and traveling exhibition entitled Palaces for the People: Guastavino and the Art of Structural Tile. Maggie received a certificate in landscape preservation from the Landscape Institute of the Boston Architectural College and a bachelor of architecture from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

    $23 for ELA members, $33 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/eco-tour-spring-splendor-the-native-plants-at-connecticut-college-arboretum/#sthash.GebEKzMM.dpuf

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  • Thursday, June 18, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – The Green Alley at Boston Architectural College: Urban Solutions for the Future

    The “Green Alley” is the first project of the Boston Architectural College’s (BAC) Urban Sustainability Initiative created to highlight its academic initiatives in sustainable design and landscape architecture. BAC selected a team led by Halvorson Design to develop comprehensive plans for site sustainability improvements at its Back Bay campus and serve as a replicable model for the City of Boston and Back Bay. The initial phase involves Boston’s first sustainable public alley project, which redirects, collects and infiltrates stormwater runoff from adjacent rooftops through permeable paving surfaces. Ecological benefits include:

    – Localized filtering of pollutants
    – Infiltration of groundwater on site which helps Back Bay’s depleted groundwater table
    – Significantly reduces the first flush stormwater pollutants from entering the Charles River.
    – To date, the system has successfully infiltrated 100% of the stormwater on the site.

    This project includes stormwater monitoring equipment designed and coordinated by Linnean Solutions allowing the BAC to actively monitor the effectiveness and actual benefits of the system.

    This Ecological Landscape Alliance Tour takes place Thursday, June 18, from 10 – noon, and participants will learn about the Green Alley permitting and construction process from both the design team and BAC perspectives; the monitoring aspects including process, tools and challenges; and an overview of how the project contributes to the BAC’s LA program.

    Registration ($30) is limited.  See more at: http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/the-green-alley-at-boston-architectural-college-urban-solutions-for-the-future/#sthash.kKka7fql.dpuf

  • Sunday, May 10 – Lilac Sunday

    This year’s Lilac Sunday T-shirt was designed by the Boston Architectural College Student Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Olivia Fragale, a 2014 Hunnewell Intern at the Arnold Arboretum’s plant propagation and nursery facility, led the initiative and worked collaboratively with the Arboretum’s Lilac Sunday organizers and printer Evan Webster of Evan Webster Ink in Shelburne, Vermont. Celebrate spring at the Arboretum on Lilac Sunday, May 10, 2015.

  • Thursday, April 23, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Spring Into Design: Celebrating Urban Sustainability

    The Boston Architectural College is at the forefront of educating forward-thinking designers who are invested in building sustainable urban neighborhoods. Join them on Thursday, April 23, from 6 – 9 at the Innovation and Design Building, 23 Drydock Avenue in Boston, for an extraordinary evening celebrating the work of the BAC and its community, in support of their mission of designing a sustainable future.

    The Spring Into Design benefit will be a lively reception-style event and will focus on the wide theme of Urban Sustainability and what that means for the community and the future of design practices. Guests will enjoy night-long entertainment by local musicians and a Food and Beverage Showcase, which will feature food and drinks from various local and sustainable restaurants, producers, and caterers. Individual tickets are $300, and may be purchased online at https://the-bac.thankyou4caring.org/pages/2015-gala-tickets.

  • Tuesday, April 7, 2:00 pm – Obento and Built Space: Japanese Boxed Lunch and Architecture

    You are invited to the McCormick Gallery at the Boston Architectural College on Tuesday, April 7 at 2 pm for a brief gallery talk accompanied by Japanese snacks and cherry blossom tea.  You will explore the exhibition Obento and Built Space: Japanese Boxed Lunch and Architecture.  The exhibition examines the material and social culture of bento boxes, while highlighting how bento boxes inspire architects and designers to think about the potential of emptiness, craft, portability, and sustainability.

    Using miniature environments that individuals carry with them as a touchstone for good design, the exhibition explores formal and experiential principles, which you will experience during your visit.  You will have the chance to learn about the story of one manufacturer of bento boxes and the art of making a carefully crafted boxed lunch in relation to the recipient, to the season, and to the maker’s intent.

    Like good architecture, bento boxes are ordered and arranged, set within the landscape of furoshiki (cloth that serves as both bag and placemat.)  The bento boxes on display at the BAC are from the collection of Debra Samuels, Japanese food specialist and cookbook author, and work of architects and artists Hiromi Fujii, Sou Fujimoto, KOKO Architecture + Design, Glenn Murcutt, Hiroshi Nakamura, Patkau Architects, and Aat + Makoto Yokomizo.

    The exhibit and programming are generously supported by the United States-Japan Foundation and the Boston Architectural College.  Please rsvp by emailing catalina.ianetta@the-bac.edu no later than Tuesday, March 31. Free of charge to the Back Bay community.

     

  • Wednesday, February 18, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm – Green City, Clean Waters: The Philadelphia Story

    Mark Focht is the First Deputy Commissioner for Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, the Immediate Past President for the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), and a fellow of the ASLA. He completed a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University and received a Master in Landscape Architecture from the University of Massachusetts. He is a licensed landscape architect in the state of Pennsylvania.

    Focht will present his keynote address titled Green City, Clean Waters: The Philadelphia Story, in the Fishbowl of the Boston Architectural College, 320 Newbury Street, on Wednesday, February 18 from 5:30 – 7 The lecture will focus on the innovative and strategic green stormwater management practices of the City of Philadelphia. Join the BAC to hear about how Focht helped the city accomplish a revitalization and stewardship plan that has beneficially impacted the way urban communities handle stormwater. From Focht we will also hear about the important partnerships and public outreach that have contributed to the success of his leadership and Philadelphia’s Green City, Clean Waters Plan.

    This lecture is sponsored by the student chapter of the ASLA. For more information email Olivia Fragale at sasla@the-bac.edu.

  • Tuesday, July 15, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Garden in the Woods: Enjoying the Present, Planning for the Future

    The Ecological Landscaping Association, New England Wild Flower Society, and Boston Architectural College will present Mark Richardson, Director of Horticulture, New England Wild Flower Society, on Tuesday, July 15, from 1 – 3, at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, speaking on Garden in the Woods: Enjoying the Present, Planning for the Future.

    New England Wild Flower Society’s Garden in the Woods is a 45-acre botanical garden.  With over 1,000 native plant species on display and 150 rare and endangered species, the Garden is a valuable resource promoting conservation of native New England plants and their habitats.  The Garden serves as the Society’s laboratory for horticulture, gardening, conservation, and education, and has long been a model of naturalistic garden design.

    Today, Garden in the Woods must grapple with a future of uncertainty in the face of climate change.  Get a behind-the-scenes look at the master plan recently completed by Andropogon Associates to envision the future and advance the sustainable operations of this botanical gem.  $20 for members of sponsoring organizations, $30 for nonmembers.  Register on line at https://www.eventville.com/catalog/eventregistration1.asp?eventid=1011136.  

  • Wednesdays, July 9 – July 30, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm – Perennial & Shrub Planting Design for Seasonal Color

    This Massachusetts Horticultural Society four session workshop with Maria Von Brincken of The Boston Architectural College examines planting design, color combinations and effective bed layout. In this workshop students will learn to combine the user’s experience and circulation systems, with massing and form to create stunning plant combinations.

    Students will practice design applications based on color theory, texture, and form to create seasonal planting combinations, winter form, and backdrops to highlight waves of color. Students will design a front and back garden focusing on impact through planting design and form, students may select their own sites.

    Learn personalized color palettes and planting layouts to create combinations for ongoing colorful displays. The role of planted containers will be discussed and included in design. The class format includes lecture, discussion of reading, design support and review of weekly design exercises.

    This workshop, taking place Wednesdays, July 9 – 30 from 9:30 – 12:30, is best suited for individuals who have working knowledge of some garden plants and a strong interest in horticulture.

    Cost: $240 for members of Mass Hort, $265 for non-members. Register on line at www.masshort.org. The class will take place in The Parkman Room at the Education Building at The Gardens at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley.