Boston Flora

Tag: Michael Van Valkenburgh

  • Friday, November 18 – Second Wave of Modernism II: Landscape Complexity and Transformation

    In recent years there has been an accelerating attitudinal shift: a departure away from the modernist’s tabula rasa exemplified at varying scales by icons such as Philip Johnson’s Beck House in Dallas and the Lincoln Center Campus in New York. Today designers are returning to modernist sites with new motivations, attempting to balance the complex values of natural and cultural systems.

    To investigate this significant evolution of professional practice, three groups of thematic presentations have been assembled that will collectively explore landscape transformations at residential, urban and metropolitan scales. The conference follows and continues dialogue initiated at the sold-out first conference convened in Chicago in 2008.

    This full day conference on Friday, November 18, sponsored by The Cultural Landscape Foundation, will be held at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. You may register online at www.tclf.org. Participants will include Julie Bargmann, James Corner, Lisa Gimmy, Kathryn Gustafson, Gary Hilderbrand, Raymond Jungles, Christopher LaGuardia, Elizabeth K. Meyer, Charles Renfro, and Michael Van Valkenburgh.

  • Monday, November 8, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm – Season’s End Summit: Taking Stock and Looking Forward

    Join Ecological Landscaping Association on Monday, November 8, from 8 am – 4 pm for a full day of “Taking Stock and Looking Forward.” The day will include morning and afternoon panel discussions with industry leaders in sustainable landscaping practices. Lunch is included and will feature Keynote speaker Laura Solano, from Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, with over twenty years of designing, building, and restoring award-winning landscapes for for public, private, and corporate clients.  The seminar will be held at the Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary, 10 Juniper Road, Belmont (sumac field pictured below,)  and you may register for $55 if an ELA member, or $75 if a non-member.  For more information, log on to www.ecolandscaping.org.

  • Wednesday, August 5, 7:30 p.m. – Designing Gardens and Landscapes: 25 Years on Martha’s Vineyard

    A beautiful and dynamic landscape results from a design responsive to the natural environment, history, and social context of the site, as well as the user’s needs.  Join the Polly Hill Arboretum staff for an illustrated presentation of Vineyard landscapes designed by summer resident and award-winning landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh.  From his first Island garden in 1984, to public projects like Ag Hall and the Polly Hill Arboretum parking lot, to a contemporary green roof, Van Valkenburgh will take the audience through a variety of Island landscapes.  Discover how practical issues like soil, micro-climate, and functionality are integrated with cultural history to create successful gardens and landscapes. $10 admission ($5 PHA members). Sponsored by Middletown Nursery.  For more information, call Karin Stanley at 508-693-9426, or email her at karin@pollyhillarboretum.org.