MetaFilter posts tagged with landscape

Lawrence Halprin: July 1, 1916 - October 25, 2009

otherwordlyglow — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:58:30 -0800

Influential landscape architect Lawrence Halprin has died at the age of 93. "He was the single most influential landscape architect of the postwar years," said Charles Birnbaum, president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation. "He redefined the profession's role in cities." Noted projects include The Sea Ranch a 5,000-acre residential development on the coast of Sonoma county in northern California; Ghirardelli Square, the first major adaptive re-use project in the United States, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C; and a new trail from which to experience Yosemite Falls. He was truly a pioneer in his field. For a generation that often divided landscape practice into landscape art versus ecological design, Halprin’s works and his writings demonstrate how to link creative artistic impulses with the ecological sciences. He excelled at connecting phenomenological experience with environmental awareness and ethics. Halprin considered the design process as important as the end result. He analyzed user needs to create diagrams and designs. He developed a design methodology involving client and user in which their desires were synthesized into a final design statement. His work is archived at the University of Pennsylvania. His death at 93 ends a long, creative life that left a distinctive imprint across many landscapes.

Great photographers

Matthias Rascher — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:28:41 -0800

Great photographers: Clark Little (surf photography), Nick Brandt (mostly African wildlife), John Hyde (mostly wildlife and Alaska), Veronika Pinke (landscapes), Dale Allman (miscellaneous; particularly beautiful are his Australian cityscapes and the HDR/DRI photos), Ansel Adams (the undisputed master of nature photography who died in 1984; famous quotes: "You don't take a photograph, you make it.", "A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words. "), Michel Rajkovic (mostly marine landscape, exclusively in black and white). And again, as a tribute to a gifted artist who died far too early, the work of Bobby Model (adventure photographer). Last but not least: Onexposure, probably the biggest collection of quality photography on the net.

American Stonehenge

Artw — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:24:16 -0800

The Georgia Guidestones - Monumental Instructions for the Post-Apocalypse.

American Landscape Artist George Inness

ecorrocio — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:37:01 -0800

19th century American landscape artist George Inness. 19th century American landscape artist George Inness. His work was influenced, in turn, by that of the old masters, the Hudson River school, the Barbizon school, and, finally, by the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg, whose spiritualism found vivid expression in the work of Inness' maturity. His early works are rich depictions of rural landscapes. His mature works featured more abstracted handling of shapes, softened edges, and saturated color, with a mystical, ethereal, and spiritual component. "Of particular interest to Inness was the notion that everything in nature had a correspondential relationship with something spiritual" and the idea of consciousness as a "stream of thought"

magic places

dhruva — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:19:04 -0800

The incredible landscapes of game designer Daniel Dociu.

Perennial New Wave Planter: Piet Oudolf

hortense — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:42:09 -0800

"The vision (pdf)I have developed on gardening (pdf)and especially in my work with perennials (pdf)is based not only out of respect for nature(pdf) but also the power, energy(pdf), emotions, beauty and aesthetics(pdf) it gives." - Piet Oudolf He is designing the plantings on the HighLine in NYC. Any links you may have of this abandoned railway are warmly welcomed.

NatGeo Photo Tips

oxford blue — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 23:09:47 -0800

Like to faire une photo? You're not alone. The inimitable (but perhaps for not much longer) National Geographic magazine has advice for taking portraits, travel photography, landscapes, excitingly vague 'adventure' photos and even plan old digital photography. After you've created magic how about selling it or getting published? Sharing is so 2007.

Prairie photos by Larry Schwarm

sleepy pete — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:05:50 -0800

Larry Schwarm is best known for his photographs of prairie fires and landscapes in the Flint Hills of Kansas. On May 5, 2007, he visited his hometown of Greensburg, Kansas to take photos of what was left after an F-5 tornado leveled the town the day before. There's some browser resizing, just so you know... or at least there is for me.

Earle of the land of Imagination

Ambrosia Voyeur — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:35:15 -0800

4 Artists Paint 1 Tree, a segment from Disneyland included on the recent DVD release of Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty, features the artistic process of one of my favorite painters and cartoon modernists, Eyvind Earle. If you've seen Sleeping Beauty, Lady and the Tramp, Paul Bunyan or Peter Pan, you're familiar with the fantastical and brilliant landscapes he produces. His paintings show a particular fondness for Big Sur and Central Cali fornia.

JMW Turner - Broadening the landscape

kliuless — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 11:11:30 -0800

If you like 'fantasy' art (as opposed to comics :) and you're in DC I'd highly recommend checking out the JMW Turner exhibit at the NGA! I know very little (next to nothing) about art history but to me he's like the godfather of fantasy/SF art (if not impressionism); pre-Crystal Palace.¹

John Stilgoe wants you to go outside and look at things a little differently.

jquinby — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 08:28:02 -0800

John Stilgoe is a professor at Harvard who teaches his students how to, among other things, mindfully observe the urban and suburban environments they inhabit. Moving slowly and deliberately throughout the sprawl, one can (if properly trained) read the entire history of an area in the minute details of the overhead power lines, road surfaces, rail lines, survey markers and even drainage lines. He urges his students (and everyone else for that matter) to go outside, walk deliberately, and observe the spaces in and around their landscape. He wrote a book awhile back to help get you started, but it might not hurt to pick up a field guide or two before setting out to reclaim a sense of history and place in your neighborhood. By the way: he wants everyone to know that passing a picket fence at 11mph will render it invisible. Stilgoe, previously. (Special thanks to occhiblu who answered my question about Stilgoe in this AskMefi)

High Quality Photos of Scilly.

Effigy2000 — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 05:10:31 -0800

Scillywebcam. A frequently updated website with high quality photographs of Scilly. Here are some of my favorites.

Souvenir Glass Collection

tellurian — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 20:06:44 -0800

Thomas Graz has a collection of glasses with pictures on them. Mainly from the countries of the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the German Empire, but including some other countries too. A novel way to navigate history, architecture, people and landscape. Oh! and he needs help with some of them too.

Deja View: Historic landscape "rephotos" (1800s, 1970s, 1990s)

taz — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 06:15:41 -0800

The Third View project is a fascinating presentation of "rephotographs" of over 100 historic landscape sites in the American West that presents original 19th-century survey photographs, photographed again in the 1970s, then once again in the '90s - from the original vantage points, under similar lighting conditions, at (roughly) the same time of day and year. [Flash, and you'll probably need to allow pop-ups; a little more info inside...]

James Niehues: Ski Resort Trail Map Painter

mmascolino — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 13:36:19 -0800

"First of all, it's a map; second, it's a piece of art." Look closely at the corner of a North American ski resort trail map and you will probably see James Niehues' name tucked away in the trees. Examples of his work include Alta, Snow Basin, Winter Park, Killington and Vail.

Vertical architectural gardening.

loquacious — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 22:44:11 -0800

Vertical gardening in architecture. Gorgeous walls and other vertical architectural features covered in lush, growing greenery.

My favorite government agency

the Real Dan — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 12:27:47 -0800

More than 16,000 photos related to the USGS from the years 1868 through 1992 are now available online where they may be easily searched, viewed, and downloaded free of charge. These are old stereo pairs, sites drowned by dams, geologists and surveyers in horse drawn wagons, petroglyphs, national parks, Mount St. Helens, John Wesley Powell, hoodoos, arches, ruins, mines...

Group of Seven

ashbury — Mon, 30 Jun 2003 07:18:33 -0800

The Group of Seven. Arguably Canada's most important artists, the Group of Seven "popularized the concept of an art founded on the Canadian landscape, gave many Canadians a sense of national identity and enabled them to discover the beauty of their own country." Peruse an art gallery and marvel at the beauty they portrayed. (Mangled quote from the Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery) Equally important was Emily Carr. While her style was similar to that of the Group of Seven, her interest in First Nations became her trademark. Some of her paintings.

iceberg273 — Thu, 15 Nov 2001 14:19:26 -0800

When academics rebel. A group of economists is attempting to redraw the landscape of academic research publication by injecting new electronic peer reviewed journals into the marketplace. Electronic publication of research certainly has its merits at times. Case in point: Because of the pressing medical importance of analyses of the recent anthrax cases, JAMA has published the results of two studies (one of patients who survived and one of those who did not) online in advance of the print publication in order to inform health care professionals as soon as possible. Do situations like this argue in favor of a change in the way that research is conducted and/or reported?