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Landscape Architect Quarterly
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Round Table Shades of Meaning Features Is Green Always Good?
CSLA Awards
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OALA Awards
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Publication # 40026106
Technical Corner The Basics of Coloured Paving
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Summer 2019 Issue 46
Masthead
OALA
OALA
About
About the OALA
Ground: Landscape Architect Quarterly is published by the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects and provides an open forum for the exchange of ideas and information related to the profession of landscape architecture. Letters to the editor, article proposals, and feedback are encouraged. For submission guidelines, contact Ground at magazine@oala.ca. Ground reserves the right to edit all submissions. The views expressed in the magazine are those of the writers and not necessarily the views of the OALA and its Governing Council.
The Ontario Association of Landscape Architects works to promote and advance the profession of landscape architecture and maintain standards of professional practice consistent with the public interest. The OALA promotes public understanding of the profession and the advancement of the practice of landscape architecture. In support of the improvement and/or conservation of the natural, cultural, social and built environments, the OALA undertakes activities including promotion to governments, professionals and developers of the standards and benefits of landscape architecture.
Councillors Cynthia Graham Cameron Smith Justin Whalen
Upcoming Issues of Ground Ground 47 (Fall) Power
Associate Councillor—Senior Mark Hillmer
Ground 48 (Winter) Death & Renewal Deadline for advertising space reservations: October 7, 2019 Deadline for editorial proposals: July 12, 2019
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Editor Lorraine Johnson
2019 OALA Governing Council
Photo Editor Jasper Flores
President Jane Welsh
OALA Editorial Board Kanwal Aftab Shannon Baker Trish Clarke Jasper Flores Eric Gordon Aaron Hernandez Eric Klaver (chair) Phaedra Maicantis Nadja Pausch Le’ Ann Seely Katie Strang Sarah Turkenicz Andrew Taylor Devin Tepleski
Vice President Kendall Flower
Web Editor Jennifer Foden Social Media Manager Jennifer Foden
Treasurer Steve Barnhart Secretary Stefan Fediuk Past President Doris Chee
Associate Councillor—Junior Leah Lanteigne
Art Direction/Design Noël Nanton/typotherapy www.typotherapy.com
Lay Councillor Peter Hersics
Advertising Inquiries advertising@oala.ca 416.231.4181
Appointed Educator University of Toronto TBC
Cover Photograph of snow by Lynnette Postuma. See page 06.
Appointed Educator University of Guelph Brendan Stewart
Ground: Landscape Architect Quarterly is published four times a year by the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects.
University of Toronto Student Representative Elspeth Holland
Ontario Association of Landscape Architects 3 Church Street, Suite 506 Toronto, Ontario M5E 1M2 416.231.4181 www.oala.ca oala@oala.ca Copyright © 2019 by the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects. Contributors retain copyright of their work. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0847-3080 Canada Post Sales Product Agreement No. 40026106
University of Guelph Student Representative Robyn McCormick OALA Staff Executive Director Aina Budrevics Registrar Ingrid Little Coordinator Sarah Manteuffel
See www.groundmag.ca to download articles and share content on social media. See www.groundmag.ca for a digital, searchable, archival database, listing all articles, authors, subjects, key words, etc. published in Ground over the years.
TO VIEW ADDITIONAL CONTENT RELATED TO GROUND ARTICLES, VISIT WWW.GROUNDMAG.CA.
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Advisory Panel
Andrew B. Anderson, BLA, MSc. World Heritage Management Landscape & Heritage Expert, Oman Botanic Garden John Danahy, OALA, Associate Professor, University of Toronto George Dark, OALA, FCSLA, ASLA, Principal, Urban Strategies Inc., Toronto Real Eguchi, OALA, Eguchi Associates Landscape Architects, Toronto Donna Hinde, OALA, FCSLA, Partner, The Planning Partnership, Toronto Ryan James, OALA, Senior Landscape Architect, Novatech, Ottawa Alissa North, OALA, Associate Professor, University of Toronto, Principal of North Design Office, Toronto Peter North, OALA, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto, Principal of North Design Office, Toronto Nathan Perkins, MLA, PhD, ASLA, Associate Professor, University of Guelph Victoria Taylor, OALA, Principal, Victoria Taylor Landscape Architect, Toronto Jim Vafiades, OALA, FCSLA, Senior Landscape Architect, Stantec, Toronto
Contents
Up Front Information on the ground
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Colour: Round Table Shades of meaning
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Is Green Always Good? An overgrown field under a Hydro corridor becomes a meadow and a community builder TEXT BY LISA MACTAGGART, OALA
CSLA Awards
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OALA Awards
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Grounding Pimadizawin TEXT BY MILLIE KNAPP
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Issues Laneway “No Brainers” TEXT BY MICHELLE SENAYAH AND BRITTANY REYNOLDS
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Technical Corner The basics of coloured paving TEXT BY NADJA PAUSCH
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Notes A miscellany of news and events
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Artifact Orchard by artist Diane Borsato TEXT BY LORRAINE JOHNSON 42/
President’s Message
Editorial Board Message When the Editorial Board was first brainstorming for this issue, one of the ideas we had was to produce a timeline of colour in landscape design over the years. We planned to collect images of significant projects, sample the predominant colours, and arrange them into a sequence that might show a pattern of, well… something. Needless to say, that project would have been overwhelming, and we abandoned it as a whim of curiosity.
As landscape architects, we can all be leaders in planning for and adapting to a changing climate. Landscape architects have an important role in the planning of cities and the urban realm. Outreach To Minister of Municipal Affairs And Housing The OALA recently submitted a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing on the importance of site plan review and quality of the public realm. The letter addressed how landscape architects are responsible for thinking about how people with all abilities use and move through the space; the connections between health and landscape; managing stormwater to address flooding and ice formation; and creating an aesthetically pleasing urban fabric. Engagement of landscape architects early in the design stage allows public realm impacts to be addressed early in the process. We were pleased to have renowned OALA member Janet Rosenberg participate in the April 17 Ontario Association of Architects round table on the site plan improvement process. Outreach To Minister of Tourism, Culture And Sport The OALA responded to concerns regarding proposed redevelopment of Ontario Place with a letter to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. It called for new uses of the site to be for the people of Ontario and to recognize the design legacy of landscape architect Michael Hough and architect Eb Ziedler. Outreach To Allied Professionals OALA has had a busy last quarter. We are continuing to build relationships with allied professions, including the OAA, Landscape Ontario, and the Professional Engineers of Ontario.
Summer 2019 Issue 46
Editorial Board Message
The summer weather makes us more aware of how our world will change with extreme weather, flooding, and prolonged heat waves. In its annual financial system review, the Bank of Canada, for the first time, identified climate change as a risk to the economy and the environment. The report stated that economic activity and the environment are intertwined.
MODERATED BY SARAH TURKENICZ
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President’s Message
Awards This issue profiles the recipients of OALA awards and honours. As well, profiles of the nine projects by OALA members which received CSLA awards of excellence are also included. The CSLA congress inducted four OALA members as Fellows: John George, Lynda Macdonald, Bob Somers, and David Powell. Congratulations to all! JANE WELSH, OALA, FCSLA OALA PRESIDENT PRESIDENT@OALA.CA
However, what the idea acknowledges is that within the practice of landscape architecture, colour is often a marker of change. As I am writing this, in springtime, the colour of the landscape around me is shifting almost by the hour. Colour from year to year can signify shifts in patterns—a meadow that’s lush one summer may slowly shift to droughty dormancy in other years based on changes in rainfall or available water. Colour has deep meaning for our profession. What the Editorial Board didn’t know in that brainstorming session was that change would be thrust upon us in other quarters. When we learned that our dear editor, Lorraine Johnson, was moving on to other pastures and that this issue, the Summer issue, would be her last as editor, we were quite anxious about what these changes might bring. Many Editorial Board members stepped up and doubled their efforts to help with Ground’s transition. At the same time, a search committee was struck to find a new editor. In the end, we received submissions from 18 potential—a good many of them very strong—candidates! After much discussion and a tough process, a new editor was finally selected. The Ground Editorial Board is most pleased to welcome Glyn Bowerman as our new editor. (His first issue will be the Fall issue.) Like a number of candidates for the position, Glyn has a writing and journalism background. What made Glyn stand out to us was his depth of experience in writing about the designed environment, his previous managing editor role at Spacing magazine, his interest in social justice and Indigenous issues, as well as his ideas about where we might take Ground into the future. You will no doubt be hearing from Glyn soon. Colour us excited! ERIC KLAVER, OALA CHAIR, EDITORIAL BOARD MAGAZINE@OALA.CA
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Up Front
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01 CITIZEN SCIENCE
lichen and air quality Lichen is mysterious, even to those who specialize in studying it. Often mistaken for a plant, it is an association between a fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium— although in 2016, scientists discovered that yeast is often part of the equation, too. “That was a shock to the lichen community,” says Carolyn Zanchetta, the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club’s resident expert on this strange, complex, and hard-to-identify life form. “I’ve collected a lot of bird poop accidentally,” says Zanchetta, “thinking it was lichen!”
Up Front: Information on the Ground
I’m standing in an old cemetery in Hamilton with Zanchetta and a group of naturalists, learning about lichen. We’re participating in a citizen science project, Lichen in the City, initiated by the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club and Environment Hamilton to monitor lichen as an indicator of local air quality. You could call it “slow environmentalism” because there’s nothing instant about this study. And nothing instant about lichen.
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We start with a biology lesson. Lichens grow extremely slowly—some species at just 1 mm a year. Tough and hardy, they can survive without water for a year (“they put life on pause,” says Zanchetta) and then start to photosynthesize when hydrated again. They’re one of the longest-living organisms known on earth, with a species in the Arctic clocking in at 8,600 years. Most
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lichens reproduce in the simplest of ways, just by breaking off—by wind, water, animal touch—and “re-rooting” elsewhere, though this term is misleading because lichen doesn’t have roots. Lichen can be found pretty much everywhere, from the Antarctic to the Arctic. Some species grow on rocks, some on bone. There’s a misconception that lichen kills trees—it doesn’t, though it can
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The distinctive red fruiting bodies of the lichen British soldiers provide the inspiration for this species’ common name.
IMAGE/
Diana Gora
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Citizen scientists are engaged in a lichen monitoring project in order to evaluate air quality.
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Lorraine Johnson
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Patterns of rainfall can affect patterns of lichen growth on stone.
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Lorraine Johnson
Up Front
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In 2018, the project surveyed trees in these six Hamilton neighbourhoods, ranking lichen presence and feeding the data into a map. Along with this low-tech method, volunteers also collected data using hand-held air-quality monitors that measure respirable particulate matter in the air. (Hamilton has the highest levels of respirable particulate matter of any urban centre in Ontario—a health hazard that contributes to cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses.) This project is not just about monitoring air quality, though. It is also about galvanizing the public and the City to plant more trees in areas with high air pollution levels. Trees trap fine particulate pollution on the surface of leaves and needles, “effectively reducing human exposure by as much as 50 percent,” according to Environment Hamilton. “By drawing attention to the lichen and low air quality readings from technological monitors, we can encourage more focused tree planting in the neighbourhoods and bring this data to city decision makers.”
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As Zanchetta puts it, “If we keep monitoring every year or so, it’s a good way to evaluate what’s going on.” And so our group huddles over tombstones, peering intently at the lichens fanning down from the rain’s drip lines created by carved letters, noting species and abundance, and possibly misidentifying some bird poop as a rare lichen find. Participating in this citizen science project, I’m feeling a bit “girl detective” (with a hand lens clutched tight to my face), a bit like a nerdy naturalist (such a strange spring outing!), and a lot like I’m immersed in Southern Ontario gothic—looking at lichen on a tombstone labelled simply “Baby 1876.”
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work its way into rock crevasses and cause deterioration. Some lichens look like small, branching shrubs, some like coral, some like hair, some like pins, some even look like Shrek’s ears or witches’ brooms. The variety of shapes and colours is incredible. But the biological feature of lichen that has brought us all together on this early spring day in an old Hamilton cemetery is that lichen does not thrive in the presence of air pollution—in particular, sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxides. This makes lichen a useful biomonitor to infer ambient air quality. As McMaster professor George Sorger found, areas with a high lichen presence have better air quality than those areas with low lichen presence.
TEXT BY LORRAINE JOHNSON, THE EDITOR OF GROUND AND THE AUTHOR OF BOOKS ON ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES.
The project Lichen in the City has hosted a number of workshops in six Hamilton neighbourhoods to introduce community members to lichen identification. These citizen scientists then engage in lichen monitoring to gather a baseline of data that can be replicated in the future to assess changes in air quality over time.
07 ROAD ECOLOGY
landscapes for wildlife More than 275,000 kilometres of roads span Ontario, and the network is in a perpetual state of expansion. Southern Ontario has tremendous biodiversity and the greatest Species at Risk (SAR) richness in the province. The potential for conflicts between vehicles and wildlife seems inevitable—until you consider road ecology, the study of the interaction between roads and the environment. Implementing road ecology practices in transportation planning helps build safe and cost-efficient roads that function in harmony with the local environment. Improving the way wildlife/road interactions are managed in Ontario has been championed by the Ontario Road Ecology Group (OREG), a not-for-profit organization that protects biodiversity from the threats of roads by facilitating partnerships among government and nongovernment agencies dedicated to resolving road ecology issues through research, policy, and stewardship. As a prominent anthropogenic feature on the landscape, transportation networks are a formidable threat to wildlife. The main threats include: 1) habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation; 2) direct mortality; 3) inaccessibility to critical resources; and 4) sub-division of populations, which renders populations more susceptible to local extinction or extirpation. Roads also create perilous habitat that attracts wildlife to nest, feed, or bask, and where there are roads, there is increased access to habitats for poaching, dumping, and other illegal activities. Mitigation measures that keep wildlife safe from roads, such as fencing and dedicated
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Up Front
wildlife tunnels and bridges, are critical infrastructure components that help realize habitat connectivity objectives. Criteria to identify priority mitigation sites include, but are not limited to, areas of concentrated wildlife/road mortality and/or suitable wildlife corridor habitat. Additionally, road planning and design details such as selecting a route alignment that minimizes the negative effects on the local natural landscape, designing lighting systems that reduce ambient light emission, and adding curb and median structures that render the road more permeable for wildlife movement will also influence how roads interact with the environment. Routine road maintenance work such as vegetation management practices (e.g., mowing) may also have deleterious effects on wildlife and may be easily modified to reduce the risk of the activity (e.g., raise mower blades and schedule mowing to avoid key movement periods). Mitigation is best approached as a comprehensive strategy that also incorporates habitat creation (such as nesting beaches for turtles), public engagement, and policy. Ontario has developed policies that direct municipalities to identify, conserve, and link natural heritage features for the movement of native plants and animals across the landscape to ensure the long-term protection of biodiversity. Municipalities across Ontario are becoming more aware of the need for habitat connectivity and the responsibility planners and designers have to consider and contribute to achieving a more permeable landscape for wildlife movement. Using conventional planning tools and applying a road ecology lens allows planners to examine the landscape
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from a wildlife movement perspective, identify where roads (existing or planned) are a threat to wildlife, and apply solutions. In Brampton, Ontario, Heart Lake Road has evolved from a quiet backroad to a busy commuter road. Increasing traffic volumes are the norm as communities develop housing and employment lands. Segments of Heart Lake Road bisect Provincially Significant Wetland habitat where thousands of animals cross and get killed. To address the issue, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, City of Brampton, OREG, and the local community collaborated to initiate a citizen science program that culminated in motivating the municipality to install a dedicated wildlife passage complete with fencing to keep animals off the road and direct them to the culvert. The passage system was complemented by wildlife crossing signs to raise public awareness and habitat creation to augment the mitigation strategy to offer safe, alternative habitat away from the road to serve the local turtle population. The municipality continues to integrate road ecology principles and practices into their standard operations to build a community that is compatible for both people and wildlife.
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the landscape. Even within settlement areas, planners may evaluate different land uses for their capacity to move wildlife and maintain, enhance, restore, and protect these linkages and corridors in the community. The migration of a Blanding’s Turtle (Ontario status: Threatened) among urban habitat types as they fulfill their life cycle, is just as monumental and inherent to our cultural identity as the migration of Caribou (Ontario status: Threatened) across Ontario’s expansive boreal forest. Landscape architects have an invaluable role to play in promoting and instilling road ecology concepts into routine site analyses as well as design plans and implementation. With a unique skill set, landscape architects are able to meet the task of rendering the landscape more permeable to wildlife by designing discrete infrastructure that blends into the environment or by envisioning iconic structures, such as the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario’s wildlife overpass on Highway 69. There are a myriad of opportunities to advance the way society views and influences the relationship between roads and wildlife. Road ecology is a multi-faceted and growing field that ensures a safe landscape in which we can all thrive.
Road ecology principles offer landscape architects a unique toolkit that facilitates the coordinated management of natural and built environments. Connectivity conservation is essential to reduce habitat fragmentation, sustain resilient ecosystems, and enable wildlife migrations. As species’ home ranges shift in response to climate change, planning practices can help convey wildlife through
TEXT BY MANDY KARCH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE ONTARIO ROAD ECOLOGY GROUP.
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A species of Peltigera, or dog lichen
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Carolyn Zanchetta
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Gravestones often host a diversity of lichen species.
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Lorraine Johnson
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Carolyn Zanchetta, of Hamilton’s Lichen in the City project, with a hand-held air-quality monitor
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Lorraine Johnson
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Wildlife tunnel on Eastview Road in Guelph
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Mandy Karch
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Wildlife overpass on Highway 69
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Courtesy of Ministry of Transportation of Ontario
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Snapping turtles are particularly vulnerable on roads.
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Mandy Karch
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Round Table
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Talking about colour MODERATED BY SARAH TURKENICZ
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Round Table
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Although it is often described as white, snow has an incredible depth and range of colours.
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Lynnette Postuma
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ADRIAN GÖLLNER IS AN ARTIST INTERESTED IN HEIGHTENING THE VIEWER’S SENSE OF SELF THROUGH TRANSPOSING ELEMENTS OF SOUND, TIME, AND MOTION. IN AN ART PRACTICE THAT EMPLOYS A WIDE RANGE OF TECHNIQUES AND MEDIA, GÖLLNER DIVIDES HIS TIME BETWEEN CREATING SMALL, CONCEPTUAL WORKS IN THE STUDIO AND IMPLEMENTING PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS AT A MUCH LARGER SCALE. GÖLLNER HAS RECEIVED 20 PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS, INCLUDING FOR THE VANCOUVER 2010 WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES, THE SIXTEEN TOWERS OF CITYPLACE IN TORONTO, AND THE CANADIAN EMBASSY IN BERLIN. GÖLLNER RECEIVED A BFA FROM QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY IN 1987 AND AN MFA FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA IN 2016. WHILE MAINTAINING HIS ART PRACTICE IN OTTAWA, HE HAS CONTINUED TO ADVOCATE FOR ARTISTS’ RIGHTS AND HAS SERVED ON THE BOARDS OF A NUMBER OF LOCAL GALLERIES. ERIC KLAVER, OALA, IS CHAIR OF THE GROUND EDITORIAL BOARD AND A PARTNER AT PLANT ARCHITECT INC. MARK LAIRD IS AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN THE DANIELS FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, WHERE HE TEACHES AN UNDERGRADUATE COURSE ON NATURAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE AND A GRADUATE COURSE ON PLANTS AND DESIGN. FROM 2001 TO 2015, HE WAS SENIOR LECTURER IN LANDSCAPE HISTORY AT THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN, HARVARD UNIVERSITY. AS A TORONTO-BASED CONSULTANT IN HISTORIC LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION, HE ADVISES ON SITES IN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA. FOR HIS REPLANTING WORK AT PAINSHILL, IN ENGLAND, LAIRD WAS JOINT RECIPIENT OF A 1998 EUROPA NOSTRA MEDAL. HE HAS BEEN ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF PAINSHILL PARK TRUST SINCE 2004. HIS RESEARCH ON 18TH-CENTURY PLANTING IS PRESENTED IN HIS BOOK THE FLOWERING OF THE LANDSCAPE GARDEN (1999). EDUCATED AT THE UNIVERSITIES OF OXFORD, EDINBURGH, AND YORK, HE WAS RESEARCH FELLOW AT CHELSEA PHYSIC GARDEN IN LONDON AND TWICE A FELLOW AT DUMBARTON OAKS, WHERE HE SERVED AS A SENIOR FELLOW (2008-14). AFTER CO-EDITING MRS. DELANY AND HER CIRCLE (2009) FOR A YALE CENTER FOR BRITISH ART EXHIBITION, AND WITH A SENIOR FELLOWSHIP FROM PAUL MELLON CENTRE IN LONDON, HE COMPLETED HIS NATURAL HISTORY OF ENGLISH GARDENING IN 2015.
JAMES MACGILLIVRAY IS A PRINCIPAL AND FOUNDER OF LAMAS. HE HAS PUBLISHED WIDELY ON FILM, ARCHITECTURE, AND PROJECTION. HE IS FROM TORONTO AND RECEIVED HIS MASTERS IN ARCHITECTURE FROM HARVARD’S GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN AND HIS B.A. IN ARCHITECTURE FROM PRINCETON UNIVERSITY. PRIOR TO FOUNDING LAMAS, HE WORKED AS A DESIGNER AT STEVEN HOLL ARCHITECTS AND AS A PROJECT MANAGER AT PETER GLUCK AND PARTNERS ARCHITECTS. ALONGSIDE HIS WORK AT LAMAS, JAMES IS ALSO A LECTURER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO. LYNNETTE POSTUMA, OALA, IS A LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT WHO DABBLES IN PUBLIC ART. CURRENTLY THE PROJECT MANAGER FOR THE BENTWAY PROJECT AT WATERFRONT TORONTO, SHE HAS ALSO WORKED AT WEST 8 (EAST BAYSIDE, QUEENS QUAY) AND JANET ROSENBERG & STUDIO (GUELPH MARKET SQUARE, PARC DOWNSVIEW PARK). HER CREATIVE WORKS BRING ATTENTION TO EPHEMERAL MATERIALS SUCH AS AIR AND WATER, GROWTH AND DECAY, LIGHT AND SHADOW. FOLLOWING A PUBLIC COMPETITION, SHE RECENTLY COMPLETED A 12,000-SQ-FT MURAL ON THE WEST TORONTO RAILPATH. SHE HAS ALSO WORKED ON COMMISSIONED MURALS, ART INSTALLATIONS, AND TEXTILE PROJECTS. SARAH TURKENICZ HAS A DOCTORATE IN ANTHROPOLOGY AND IS A STUDENT IN THE MLA PROGRAM AT THE DANIELS FACULTY, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO. SHE IS A MEMBER OF THE GROUND EDITORIAL BOARD.
Sarah Turkenicz (ST): How does colour bring meaning to and inform your work? James Macgillivray (JM): Colour is something our firm is becoming more and more comfortable working with. Initially, we rarely used colour, and our work was mostly monochromatic. But then we did a competition entry for MoMA’s Young Architects Program and, at the time, I was teaching studios about op art, so we went overboard and tried our hand composing with colour.
Round Table
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Lynnette Postuma (LP): I would call myself a colour convert. I’ve always been intimidated by colour, actually. It is only through recent projects that I’ve given myself the challenge to wrestle with colour and learn more about colour theory.
ask you to adopt my more modest rather than your more splendid preference.” Evidently Fischer came back at Olmsted, slightly hurt, saying that he only meant to show nature in “holy day dress.” For Olmsted, flowers were not primary, especially with the professionalization of landscape architecture in urban contexts. The shrubs and the trees would be his enduring legacy—100 years or 200 years from the design’s inception.
Adrian Göllner (AG): As a conceptual artist, if I use colour it falls pretty directly from an idea. There’s a logic to it. Mark Laird (ML): The historical roots of landscape architects’ difficulty with colour relate back through the Italian Renaissance, or French Baroque, to surviving English picturesque landscapes. These landscapes had lost all the original colour of flowers and shrubs, because such colour was ephemeral, and so it was assumed in the 20th century that they were designed with only the gradations of green in mind. Yet 18th-century aesthetics dictated that there must be colour in the landscape (to correspond to the love of colour in interiors, in textiles, etc.). It has been a challenge for historians to undo the misconceptions that landscape architects developed by their judging what had survived in shades of green as true to the original. Moreover, in the 19th century, when colour theory came in, all kinds of conceptual issues arose for landscape architecture, because Victorian plantings were garish and, as part of horticulture, were anathema to early modernists. If you think about 17th-century Dutch painting, small units of colour were spread across the canvas, and that’s what baroque and picturesque flower beds looked like. It’s only with 19th-century colour theory that you get massing and complementary contrast. Obviously, this has its corollary in terms of early-20th-century painting, such as colour fields painting. Artists were not at all bothered by very bold blocks of colour, but modernist landscape architects generally struggled with the legacy of a colour massing associated with horticulture, for horticulture was suspect in the eyes of the emerging profession. AG: Historically, when there was a movement away from colour, colour was viewed as indulgence. Colour was seen as temporary and, therefore, suspect.
Eric Klaver (EK): The idea of texture and monochromatic planting has become key to modern landscape architecture.
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ML: Yes, that is part of it. Frederick Law Olmsted had a dispute with his horticulturist about whether ephemeral colour should be part of permanence. Olmsted thought that once his designed landscapes were established for the long term, supporting his vision, then colour was extraneous and should be eliminated. He viewed colour as just transitional. Perhaps there is an element in this idea that comes out of a religious viewpoint about the frivolity of colour, and I think that Olmsted, being heir to a Puritan tradition, saw colour as troublesome this way. In her fantastic book Frederick Law Olmsted and the Boston Park System, Cynthia Zaitzevsky recounts an 1889 dispute regarding the Overlook area of one of Olmsted’s parks in the “emerald necklace” of the Boston parks system. Olmsted’s horticulturist, Fischer, was clinging to his perennial and annual flower displays, but Olmsted tried to coax him out of that way of thinking: “As to the question of good taste, we often see ladies very splendidly dressed with jewels and bright ribbons and flowers and agree that it is in good taste. We see other ladies dressed quietly without jewelry or any finery of color or material, and we agree that they are also dressed in good taste. If the difference between us is a difference between two ideas, each of which is in good taste, then I think I have the right to
ML: This also has to be put into the context of the dominance of horticultural thinking, in Olmsted’s time, which was about the bright, brash colours of what were called “bedding plants.” That was the locus of a real dispute between Olmsted (and his followers) and the horticulturists. This is quite useful background before we even get to modernism, and the disappearance of the ephemeral when flowers don’t last long. LP: As landscape architects, we think relationally, and that’s an interesting way to think about colour. How we perceive colours is influenced by the adjacencies of other colours. Our language of colour is quite limited. We only have a few words for it, but the range of perceived colour is so much deeper. ML: This ties in with something that is not strictly about colour, and that is ecology. Ecology leads to a different way of thinking about what is happening in various environments and, as a result of that, to designers who are obviously concerned with relationships, systems, and performance. Modeling planting systems according to ecological systems may lead to sensibilities that are not so far removed from 18th-century aesthetics. 02/
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George Brown House replanting, circa 2000 Mark Laird
Round Table
If you look at the work of designers such as Piet Oudolf, Noel Kingsbury, or the Sheffield group of designers, you see a return to a mixed palette, or “intermixing,” which doesn’t mean there isn’t any colour theory. It is simply that they are looking to meadows or prairies for one inspiration just as picturesque theorists began with what they called the natural “embroidery” of meadows and wheat fields. These designers today see such fine points of colour almost like pointillism. This corresponds, as it happens, to the aesthetics that existed within design before landscape architecture, before 19th-century colour theory, and before Olmsted. JM: I almost feel as if, in the pointillist mode, with those individual pieces of colour, there’s not enough of them to get any momentum to be able to do what colour theory does, which is like a field of orange next to a field of blue. They start to vibrate. ML: But you can do that by selectively taking California poppy as bright orange, and then mixing it in with cornflowers, for example, which are a bright blue. So, selectively, you can arrive at effects vibrant enough for that momentum to work as a painterly effect rather than according to colour theory. LP: The English gardens of the 18th century and Piet Oudolf’s designs in recent years really correspond with painting modes and styles, more so than with colour theory. You can see the small brush strokes of English gardens versus the broader, longer brush strokes and mass plantings of Piet Oudolf. And that, to me, is more stylistically akin to painting and the fine-art world. ST: How does your perception affect the use of colour in your work? JM: It’s hard to confirm that everyone has the same perception of colour, that these colours we’re talking about are actually the colours we agree they are. The test is subjective. A lot of the assumptions of colour theory have recently been proven incorrect by MRI technology. The mechanics of colour in the brain is quite
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JM: There still seems to be a bit of fear about using colour in projects, though. Sometimes we’ll use a colour that’s very trendy. In one of my projects, we’re using pink, which is big now. But in a couple of years, maybe it won’t be. And that’s interesting in relation to gardens, because with horticulture, you can depend on things fading away if you don’t attend to them. Everything fades into an all-green garden if you’re not careful to maintain the flowers.
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mysterious. So, in a sense, what we have is a cultural understanding of colour. And we use that in our work. AG: Red, as a colour, is culturally quite different, depending on context. Think about North America’s idea of a red-light district, whereas red in Asian culture is often very lucky. But it’s a very active colour and difficult to use just by itself. The colour blue, though, is generally very welcome. (Blue is often used to light back alleys in Vancouver because then people can’t see their veins and shoot up.) JM: I’ve been researching digital film a lot, and blue is sort of like the underlying colour of all digital media. But that’s why it’s so dangerous to us… There is a receptor in the human eye that goes directly back to something that controls your circadian rhythm, so if you look at your phone before bed, it can disrupt your sleep.
ML: From an historian’s point of view, there are colours that are fashionable one year, but out of fashion the next. Colour can date a work very quickly. But one of the interesting things about working in the heritage sector is that you’re forced to re-evaluate your prejudices about colour. Something might not be to your taste, or might have been criticized in its time period, but it’s very interesting to learn to accept other ways of looking at colour rather than accepting what comes to you instinctively or through subjective preferences. EK: Paint companies try to connect colours to specific things, in the names they use…like raccoon fur, or pewter, or things like that. ML: Pink is an interesting example, because it’s tied to a flower which is called the pink. But pink is not a word that was used in 18th-century colour thinking. It was considered a variation on red, or blush, and so on.
LP: I’ve been reading Kassia St. Clair’s book The Secret Lives of Color. It’s a wonderful book full of stories about colour over the years. At one point in the 14th century, it was decreed that peasants couldn’t wear anything but colours of the earth, russets etc. And so, the wearing of colour would identify the status of a person. Reds and blues signified royalty.
EK: Lynnette, could you speak about your West Toronto Railpath project?
Today, we’re inundated with colour, but I think the rules have opened up, especially culturally. I don’t think there are the cultural stereotypes around colour that used to exist.
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LP: The mural project is called Gradation, and it’s a stylized gradient, essentially, moving from blue to green. The colour takes an outline of the existing vegetation in order to become a growth marker, so
Painshill Park (1738-1773) in Surrey, England, which represents the 18-century English pleasure ground, is now restored to its original colours. Mark Laird
Round Table
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surfaces three or four times. The mural becomes an immersive experience along the West Toronto Railpath, and that doesn’t happen all the time. EK: What about your choice of colour, from green to blue? LP: The history of the site informed the colour progression. The area has always been a route of conveyance. We know it now as a walking and cycling path, but in the last century or two there was the rail line. And before that, this region was known as the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail—a portage and trading route for Native Peoples and also the early settlers. The Mohawk term “toron-ten,” meaning “the place where the trees grow over the water,” refers to this past and present history by informing the colour progression.
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In my piece, it’s the trees, the green, above the water, instead of what you would naturally think of as green vegetation and blue sky. I really wanted to invert that, and contrast the colours of paint against the existing elements.
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Gradation, a mural project by Lynnette Postuma, West Toronto Railpath
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Dale Wilcox
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Gradation, by Lynnette Postuma
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Lynnette Postuma
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Gradation, by Lynnette Postuma
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Dale Wilcox
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Warm By Night, by Adrian Göllner, Optima Tower, CityPlace, Toronto, 2004, HID lighting
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Adrian Göllner
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North (daytime), by Adrian Göllner, Canadian Embassy, Berlin, 2005. Suspended below the glass ceiling is an aluminum and dichroic glass compass rim. The colour seen is dependent on the angle of the sun, and shifts from blue to magenta. At night, the glass reflects a gold colour into the space.
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Adrian Göllner
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Stand, by Adrian Göllner, Shenkman Arts Centre, Ottawa, 2009. Using a combination of tinted float glass and coloured Vanceva glass, the structural glass wall portrays a seasonal progression from winter through to fall along the southern elevation.
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Adrian Göllner
you can see the progress of vegetation as it grows on or adjacent to the wall over time. I constructed a gradient, digitally, but then it came down to paint chips—a million of them. Through mixing standard paint colours, and adding and subtracting, I came up with the 37 versions of colour that are on this wall. It is large, about 12,000 square feet, and uses the building material—the cinder block—as the organizing element.
ST: Is there a space, place, or environment where the experience of colour is inspirational or exceptional to you?
The best part for me was experiencing this view, after the fact. As a landscape architect, I think relationally between buildings or objects, but this project surprised me in ways I didn’t expect—particularly in the ways that light and colour can bounce off reflective 07
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JM: In architecture and landscape architecture, where our client-based practice makes it hard for us to express ourselves with colour, most of my inspiration comes from the fine arts, particularly installation artists such as James Turrell, or painters such as Barnett Newman. LP: Nature is the obvious choice for inspiration. I’m thinking of the colours of the seasons, even in winter. Snow, which you think is white, turns blue the deeper you go—it’s just amazing. Or the first tree buds in springtime—the colour is electric green. AG: I often remark about colour when there’s really poor colour. If I go into an old building where there’s very poor fluorescent lighting, and there are whole wavelengths of light missing, I know what colour should be there, but there’s a dissonant relationship between what I know and what is being represented. You get that with LEDs as well, where sometimes they’re very specific colours and they’ve knocked out other ones. At some places in the urban environment, poor colour speaks loudly at times. JM: There’s an interesting piece by Olafur Eliasson in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, where he took the sodium lights that are usually in parking lots, and he did a whole room with them. Sodium lights are very, very pure. They have only one frequency of light they emit. So, in this room, you have a very strange feeling that
you are in a black-and-white photograph. Anything that isn’t light is turned into a gray scale. ST: Is there a no-go area when it comes to colour? Are there things you won’t do with colour? AG: This applies to almost any element of the arts: things that are obvious quickly become tired. If the colour is relatable to other elements and has a conceptual relationship, then it tends to last. If the colour is simply decorative, it may be victim to fashion very, very quickly. Texture and colour, illuminated colour, and being able to provide variety, the way colour and light can refract off of something—these can add enduring interest. My experience with the lighting on the City Place project, and in other projects, has been that we invite reflection off of objects as a way to add variety and interest and shadow, so that the eye has something to play off longer. JM: In our practice, we try to stay away from the idea that there is a no-go area with colour, because it restricts our creativity. But we also try to avoid colour that has no reason or purpose—for example, having an aluminum curtain or façade with green spandrel glass that doesn’t have a larger purpose. We always try to involve colour in some kind of system that we take time to compose. If you put time and decision-making towards any end, usually there’s the gestalt of a
rigorous process that ends up being visible with any crafted thing that you’ve done. So, thoughtless colour would be the only nogo situation. LP: Le Corbusier was all about form, and he talked about colour as a distraction. Surface colour is the fad that he warned against. Here we are, a hundred years later, and we still want the authenticity of our use of colour. It has to have meaning. JM: But at the end of the day, you have to be comfortable with subjectivity and with the fact that it could all be arbitrary. There’s another aspect to this: can colour simply be about manipulating mood? Sometimes I want to be in a better mood! So I’m comfortable with that… One thing about colour that I try to be sensitive to and yet that I find really hard to wrap my head around, is that we only perceive colour in a very small part of our eyes, and that a lot of what we see is a result of our brains colouring in a line drawing. The real power of colour is the fact that it’s expensive, neurologically speaking. The cones are extremely expensive for your eye, and they take a lot of computing power. Your brain is filling in the gaps, and that’s the powerful thing about colour: it is largely constructed by the brain on an instantaneous basis. THANKS TO KATIE STRANG AND ANDREW TAYLOR FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE IN CONCEPTUALIZING AND ORGANIZING THIS ROUND TABLE.
Is Green Always Good?
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An overgrown field under a Hydro corridor becomes a meadow and a community builder TEXT BY LISA MACTAGGART, OALA
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Rendering, by Owen Moynihan, of what the Guelph Hydro corridor meadow could look like. Owen Moynihan
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The rock outcrop was completely concealed within the buckthorn.
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Lisa Mactaggart
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The penstemon was very quick to establish.
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Lisa Mactaggart
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Clearing of scrubby vegetation, prior to seeding the meadow
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Lisa Mactaggart
Is Green Always Good?
This story begins back in 2015 on a beautiful Friday afternoon of Thanksgiving weekend when Hydro One representatives hung notices on the door handles of 22 houses on a street just west of where I live, in Guelph. The notices announced that routine maintenance would be occurring the next week to clear “all non-compliant vegetation” under the powerlines in the open space behind these homes.
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Thanksgiving Monday, the funds had been raised to hire a lawyer to stop evil Hydro One. Tuesday afternoon’s paper had a headline about the clear-cutting of a beloved parkland forest. Local TV news stations came from Hamilton and Kitchener to do segments for the evening news. By that point, Hydro One had delayed the clearing in order to “work with city staff” and “consult with the public.” Meanwhile, I was wondering, “What forest?”
That open space is part of Silver Creek Park, a linear greenspace along the banks of the Speed River. The houses back onto the western end of the park where it widens out in a triangular-shaped land bump-out. This part of the park contains electrical transmission lines and pathways that connect two neighbourhoods to the river-edge trail system. This was the start of what turned out to be a master class on how not to engage the public. By Saturday morning, the Facebook group Save Our Forest had sprung into existence. As a member of the residents’ association executive, my inbox was flooded with cc’ed emails to and from ward councilors and on-call city staff. By Sunday afternoon, my Facebook page was exploding, and I learned how to turn off notifications. On
I live less than a kilometre from this park, but the area was not part of my daily routine. The few times each year that I strolled along those pathways, I had taken note of the impenetrable wall of buckthorn and the prevalence of garlic mustard. Far from feeling the restorative properties of nature, I found it infuriating that an invasive menace was spreading unchecked. I can understand how this woody vegetation seems like a good thing to most people. The pathway is completely enclosed by vegetation, and homes are hidden from view. Even the neon sign on the Manor Strip Club across the river is not visible from the trail. As a landscape architect, I found myself in an interesting position.
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On the one hand, it was really exciting to see so many people shouting on social media and coming to meetings about saving a forest. On the other, it was sickening that the forest was merely a dense patch of buckthorn. So much energy and money expended for buckthorn under powerlines. Such a waste. Removing that much buckthorn on Hydro One’s dime from open space adjacent to a riverine natural area is an opportunity to be seized. But when the city arborist said that very thing out loud, he was greeted with varying degrees of suspicion and accused of collusion. After the initial shock and after the media went home, other voices started to pipe up. When approached to support the cause to save the forest, folks with GUFF (Guelph Urban Forest Friends), the retired director of the arboretum at the University of Guelph, and a project manager for the Nature Conservancy of Canada quietly stated that there was no forest to save.
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urban areas. I invited all my fellow buckthorn haters to attend and provide back-up should it be needed. It wasn’t. I shared my knowledge about what is permitted under Hydro lines and that there is a list of woody plants that can be planted, albeit at a higher cost than the proposed broadcast seeding. I shared my rolodex, and connected the not-for-profit group Trees for Guelph, led by James Taylor, FCSLA, with the neighbours.
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Not my monkeys, not my circus—or was it? I couldn’t shake the sense of obligation to speak up. I decided to offer my services as a landscape architect advisor to the Save Our Forest group but asked that they change their name. They are now called Silver Creek Park Community. I offered to work for one dollar.
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Post-clearing of buckthorn
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Lisa Mactaggart
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Pre-clearing of buckthorn
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Lisa Mactaggart
Typically, as landscape architects we have a clearly defined role. But in this case, I wasn’t working for the owner of the land (City of Guelph) or the tenant (Hydro One). I was working for the residents who lived near the site. But my role as advisor, educator, communicator, and facilitator only worked because both city staff and Hydro One representatives trusted me and agreed that I could be helpful in this situation. I mapped out a plan to build trust and share information through a series of community meetings. The first meeting was all about why there was no forest to save. None of my neighbours yelled at me. I came with images of restoration projects carried out by the Grand River Conservation Authority, to give an idea of what the space could look like. I talked about the fauna that could be supported by the meadow species in Hydro One’s standard seed mix. I tried to address the fears the neighbours had about a loss of privacy by showing them drawings of the relationship between their homes and the pathway. We discussed what a weed is, the important role of meadows in the ecosystem, and how dangerous buckthorn is for birds in
Trees for Guelph works collaboratively with the City of Guelph and local schools to leverage volunteer energy to plant trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants in parks, school grounds, and private property. With Trees for Guelph on board, the residents and city staff were able to get Hydro One to agree to having a three-metre shrubby buffer of woody vegetation along the rear lot lines of the 22 neighbouring houses. A relentless and effective negotiator from the neighbourhood, Jennifer Harrison, was able to get Hydro One to give Trees for Guelph a $10,000 beautification grant to pay for the plants in the buffer. The expertise from Trees for Guelph coordinator Moritz Sanio for restoration plantings led to some changes in the seed mix composition and helped convince people in the neighbourhood that a meadow might not be all that bad. Sanio and I provided lots of technical information about each species of pollinator that would benefit from the plantings. And, a first for Trees for Guelph, some of the funds were used to purchase larger tree stock for the immediate neighbours to plant within their own back yards. The only condition was that the homeowner had to attend a planting demonstration by the Trees for Guelph coordinator to ensure that the tree was planted correctly. I helped homeowners select the type of tree they wanted and provided some guidance to get the trees planted far enough from the Hydro easement that the tree could develop a full canopy. The balance of the grant was used to purchase 700 shrubs and 2,000 perennial plugs to plant within the three-metre shrubby buffer. In May 2016, more than
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200 people showed up at Silver Creek Park in the pouring rain and planted every one of those shrubs and perennial plugs. And several members of the community handwatered those plants for the next month during a June drought. The survival rate was incredible. Prior to the planting date, I prepared a presentation, for the neighbourhood, in order to share what was going to be happening and to manage expectations. Meadow seed mixes take a long time to establish and this one in particular was being sown into a seed bank containing millions of buckthorn and garlic mustard seeds. We discussed how to protect the meadow from trampling by dogs and people as it was getting established. And lastly, we asked how the community would feel about removing the rest of the buckthorn from the park in areas that weren’t under the powerlines.
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An overseeding of Canada wild rye keeps weeds in check, and this native grass also looks very beautiful in the autumn. Lisa Mactaggart
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Lisa Mactaggart developed materials to educate the community about the meadow.
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Lisa Mactaggart
At the end of the day, I received an embarrassing number of public accolades from far and wide for the success of this project. Embarrassing because I didn’t make any of the financial or technical decisions or do much of the actual work to make any of it happen. I had no say in the content of the seed mix or the choice of the
plant materials for the shrub buffer or any of the timing or resources. Being able to see a bigger picture is what landscape architects do every day. I shared what I saw. I flexed my communication muscles—most particularly those in my ears. Building trust with people who are angry and fearful begins with listening. I acted as a translator between the experts and the neighbourhood. I was a cheerleader—yes, we can dig 2,700 holes in whatever weather. I was the communication strategy planner so that a great number of people were empowered to contribute to success. They continue to do so. The park has a whole crew of garlic mustard pullers and meadow guardians who advocate that dogs remain on leash. The meadow is flourishing. The City of Guelph is continuing to remove buckthorn from Silver Creek Park. Trees for Guelph has been planting trees in the areas outside the Hydro easements and is planning to reforest the areas nearer the river once the buckthorn is almost gone. BIO/
LISA MACTAGGART, OALA, IS A GUELPH-BASED LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT. SHE CONTINUES TO REMOVE BUCKTHORN, GARLIC MUSTARD, AND PERIWINKLE FROM HER OWN GARDEN AS WELL AS ENCOURAGING HER NEIGHBOURS TO DO THE SAME.
COMPATIBLE SPECIES
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NAME Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
NAME Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
TYPE wildflower
TYPE wildflower
HEIGHT 60-120
HEIGHT 60-90
SPECIAL FEATURES Pale purple flowers in July and August
SPECIAL FEATURES Orange flowers in July and August
HABITAT VALUE The nectar attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Leaves are aromatic.
HABITAT VALUE Vital to monarch butterflies
NAME New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus)
NAME Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)
NAME Cut-leaved Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata)
TYPE shrub
TYPE wildflower
TYPE wildflower
HEIGHT 60-100
HEIGHT 90-120
HEIGHT 90-240
SPECIAL FEATURES White flowers in July
SPECIAL FEATURES White flowers in June and July
SPECIAL FEATURES Yellow flowers in August and September
HABITAT VALUE Very attractive to pollinators and larvae and caterpillars of many moth and butterfly species feed on foliage. Adds nitrogen to the soil.
HABITAT VALUE Tubular flowers and very attractive to hummingbirds
HABITAT VALUE Wildflower
CSLA Awards
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CSLA AWARDS Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Awards of Excellence— Ontario Region
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The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Awards of Excellence are given for outstanding accomplishment in landscape architecture. Congratulations to the following OALA members whose projects received awards.
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Project Name: Grange Park Revitalization Consultant: PFS Studio Contact: Jennifer Nagai Category: Medium-Scale Public Landscapes Project Description: An historic Toronto open space located adjacent to the Art Gallery of Ontario, Grange Park demonstrates how an underutilized existing urban park can be reimagined and transformed into a socially engaging, accessible, and sustainable neighbourhood park through meaningful public engagement and responsive design.
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Grange Park Revitalization Courtesy of PFS Studio/CSLA
CSLA Awards
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Project Name: Foot of Lonsdale Plaza Consultant: Hapa Collaborative Landscape Architecture and Urban Design Contact: Joseph Fry Category: Small-Scale Public Landscapes Project Description: The Foot of Lonsdale Plaza sits centrally along North Vancouver’s dramatically reimagined public waterfront. The site was transformed into an instantly treasured destination thanks to intentional placemaking and design. The elegant but bold landscape is harmonious with— and holds its own within—a complex and buzzing context.
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Foot of Lonsdale Plaza Courtesy of Hapa Collaborative/CSLA
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CSLA AWARDS
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Project Name: Toronto Ravine Strategy Consultant: City of Toronto Contact: Jane Welsh and Garth Armour Category: Landscape Management Project Description: This is the first comprehensive, intentional, and coordinated vision and strategy for the 11,000-hectare ravine system in Toronto. It will align efforts and investments across disciplines for greater impact to achieve a bold vision for these extraordinary places so they can be enjoyed for decades to come.
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Toronto Ravine Strategy Courtesy of City of Toronto/CSLA
CSLA Awards
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Project Name: The Bentway Consultant: PUBLIC WORK office for urban design & landscape architecture Contact: Adam Nicklin Category: Medium-Scale Public Landscapes
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Project Description: The Bentway is transforming a 1.75-km space under Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway into a vibrant public place. The multifunctional space is an expression of Toronto’s unique creative energy and serves as a leading example of how the recovery and re-use of existing mono-functional infrastructure can support new forms of public life.
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The Bentway Courtesy of PUBLIC WORK/CSLA
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CSLA AWARDS
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Project Name: TOcore: Downtown Parks and Public Realm Plan Consultant: PUBLIC WORK office for urban design & landscape architecture Contact: Adam Nicklin Category: Planning and Analysis Project Description: In collaboration with the City of Toronto, PUBLIC WORK office for urban design & landscape architecture reimagines the public realm to enhance quality of life within Toronto’s rapidly intensifying urban core. The plan presents new ways of thinking about how we design, maintain, and use our parks, streets, and open spaces to support public life and achieve a bold and transformative legacy for future generations.
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Project Name: Toronto Green Streets Technical Guidelines Consultant: Schollen & Company Inc. Contact: Mark Schollen Category: Research Project Description: The Green Streets Technical Guidelines direct the integration of green infrastructure into all of Toronto’s streets. This precedent-setting document has catalyzed organizational change within the city to facilitate integration of green infrastructure into the design and implementation of Toronto’s streets.
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TOcore: Downtown Parks and Public Realm Plan Courtesy of PUBLIC WORK/CSLA Toronto Green Streets Technical Guidelines Courtesy of Schollen & Company Inc./CSLA
CSLA Awards
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Project Name: John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design—University of Toronto Consultant: PUBLIC WORK office for urban design & landscape architecture Contact: Adam Nicklin Category: Small-Scale Public Landscapes
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John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design Courtesy of PUBLIC WORK/CSLA
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Project Description: The complete transformation of this site, at One Spadina on the University of Toronto campus, enables profoundly different civic relations, more fluid community connections, and new social and ecological environments embedded within a landscape for learning. With its prominent location and dramatic topographical landscape, the project charts a new role for the institution within the campus and the city.
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CSLA AWARDS
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Project Name: Hunting Valley Residence: Classical Stewardship Consultant: Virginia Burt Designs, Inc. Contact: Virginia Burt Category: Residential Landscapes
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Hunting Valley Residence
Project Description: Preserving an historic building and rehabilitating a series of gardens while incorporating 21st-century sustainability melded to create a model for stewardship, this project demonstrates an appreciation of artistic beauty and craftsmanship, proportion and ornament, enhancement of one’s surroundings, sustainability, and dedication to historic precedent.
Courtesy of Virginia Burt Designs, Inc./CSLA
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Project Name: Breakwater Park Consultant: Claude Cormier et Associés Contact: Mark Hallé Category: Medium-Scale Public Landscapes 47 50
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Project Description: Breakwater Park, in Kingston, is a project in three parts: the revitalization of an existing park, a redesign of shoreline infrastructure, and an expansion into a neighbouring terrain. This derelict post-industrial dock has been transformed into Canada’s first deep-water urban swimming pier, providing an immersive encounter with Lake Ontario.
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Breakwater Park Courtesy of Claude Cormier et Associés/CSLA
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OALA Awards
OALA HONORARY MEMBER: The Honorary category of membership is for non-landscape architects whom Council wishes to recognize for outstanding contributions in their own fields to improve the quality of natural and human environments.
2019 OALA AWARDS Congratulations to all those honoured with 2019 OALA Recognition Awards, and a special thanks to the OALA Honours, Awards and Protocol Committee: Doris Chee (Chair), Sarah Culp, Nelson Edwards, Stefan Fediuk, Mark Hillmer, Jim Melvin, and Jane Welsh.
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Nathan Perkins Nate Perkins has been working at the University of Guelph for more than 25 years and is now retiring after 18 years as Program Coordinator. A fellow of the ASLA, Nate is a strong advocate for students moving through the LARE process to become full members of the profession, and he worked with CLARB on a pilot project whereby OALA students were permitted to complete LARE exam(s) while completing their degree requirements. Nate has contributed directly to the OALA, including his work on ushering in a continuing education policy and program in 2007 and implementing the first digital membership survey. OALA RESEARCH & INNOVATION AWARD: This award recognizes the outstanding leadership, research, and/or academic achievements of a member(s), or nonmember(s), who, through scholarly activities, including academic papers, research, publications, books, e-applications, or public presentations, contributes to the knowledge base that furthers the advancement of the art, the science, and the practice of landscape architecture. Nadia Amoroso Nadia Amoroso, an Assistant Professor in Landscape Architecture at the University of Guelph’s School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, is internationally acclaimed as a pioneer in research on creative and analytical modes of visual communication in landscape architecture and education.
OALA SERVICE TO THE ENVIRONMENT AWARD: This award is given to a non-landscape architectural individual, group, organization, or agency in the Province of Ontario to recognize and encourage a special or unusual contribution to the sensitive, sustainable design for human use of the environment by non-members of the OALA. Michael Harrison A strong advocate for Toronto-area rivers and watersheds, Michael Harrison has dedicated more than two decades to researching, communicating, and advancing the cultural and environmental history of the GTA’s lost rivers and associated landscapes. His writings and research have led to many positive environmental and landscape changes along the waterfront and watersheds. He has served on several local NGOs and heritage committees and was a founding member and president of the Citizens Concerned About the Future of the Etobicoke Waterfront. CERTIFICATE OF MERIT FOR SERVICE TO THE ENVIRONMENT: This award is given to a non-landscape architectural individual, group, organization, or agency in the Province of Ontario to recognize and encourage a special or unusual contribution to the sensitive, sustainable design for human use of the environment by non-members of the OALA. Friends of West Toronto Railpath Project Established in 2001 as a non-profit, community-based, citizen-led group, and founded by Scott Dobson, the goal of this group is to assist the City of Toronto in the creation and stewardship of a 6.5km, automobile-free, multipurpose linear corridor running along an abandoned railway line from Toronto’s west-end Junction neighbourhood into the heart of the city. The 2.4-km first phase was officially opened in October 2009, and the second phase is currently in development. CARL BORGSTROM AWARD FOR SERVICE TO THE ENVIRONMENT: The Carl Borgstrom Award for Service to the Environment is given to an individual landscape architect, or landscape
OALA Awards
architectural group, organization, or agency (as recognized by the OALA) to recognize and encourage a special or remarkable contribution to the sensitive, sustainable design for human use of the environment. There are two recipients this year. Linda Laflamme Linda joined the Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC) as the only landscape architect with NEC, and through her dedicated, consistent, and creative input, has had a lasting impact on the direction of many policies and planning and design decisions of the organization. Linda has developed processes and procedures to make development and planning applications environmentally sound, sustainable, and equitable. Linda has been integral to the creation of visual assessment guidelines that NEC uses to ensure that changes in the landscape are in keeping with the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act and Niagara Escarpment Plan. Stefan Bolliger Influenced by Emil Van der Meulen and then, later, Walter Kehm, Stefan became an advocate for cooperative environmental design as the foundation for landscape architecture—the concept that ecological, natural-resource-based planning and design forms are the very basis for sustained survival in our rapidly changing environments. In 1975, the Open Space Plan for Townsend became the successful test subject for his environmental philosophy. In addition to a 40-year practice in landscape architecture, Stefan’s eagerness to teach evolved into an adjunct professorship at the University of Guelph. JACK COPELAND AWARD FOR ASSOCIATE LEADERSHIP AND CONTRIBUTION: Jack Copeland was an enthusiastic advocate for Associate members. The Jack Copeland Award for Associate Leadership and Contribution recognizes the outstanding leadership and contribution of an Associate for going above and beyond to assist fellow Associates, including being an Associate representative on OALA Council.
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Mark Hillmer Mark has contributed significantly to the OALA through his volunteer efforts as the Junior Associate Representative on Council, a member and Council liaison on the Marketing Committee, and as an Associate member of the Honours, Awards and Protocol Committee. Mark has also given his time towards LARE exam information sessions to prepare fellow Associates for exam writing, and volunteers his time providing guest reviews for students. DAVID ERB MEMORIAL AWARD FOR EXEMPLARY VOLUNTEER SERVICE: David Erb was an outstanding volunteer in furthering the goals of the OALA. The David Erb Memorial Award for Exemplary Volunteer Service is the best way to acknowledge the one outstanding OALA member each year whose volunteer contributions over a number of years have made a real difference. Todd Smith Todd has been a tireless volunteer within the OALA for many years. He has had a long and sustained involvement on the Editorial Board of Ground magazine (including as Chair from 2014-2016), led a LARE workshop to assist candidate landscape architects, and engaged with the OALA’s Legacy Task Force, compiling video interviews with notable Ontario-based landscape architects. PUBLIC PRACTICE AWARD: This award recognizes the outstanding leadership of a member of the profession in public practice who promotes and enhances landscape architecture by working for improved understanding and appreciation of the work of landscape architects in both public and private practice. There are two Public Practice Award recipients this year. Barbara Magee Turner In 1991, Barb left private practice with Moorehead Fleming Corban and Partners to start her career at the City of Waterloo in a management role in Engineering Services. She was one of the first landscape architects hired by the City of Waterloo. During the course of Barb’s 28 years at the City of Waterloo, her contributions have
been integral to the city’s transition to a metropolis with height and density targets that focus and direct future growth. Steve Bodrug After several years in private practice, Steve in the early 1990s switched to a career in public practice, progressively moving up to his current position of Manager of Parks Projects & Central Operations at the City of Brampton. As a landscape architect with 30 years of public service, Steve constantly strives for the improvement of city-building and quality of life for Bramptonians by working to improve design standards and seeking to elevate the discussion of landscape architecture from “what can be” to “what should be.” OALA PINNACLE AWARD FOR LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURAL EXCELLENCE: This award recognizes an OALA member and his or her professional work. It singles out specific projects to draw attention to a body of work that demonstrates outstanding professional accomplishment. Carolyn Woodland Carolyn Woodland has accomplished much in her 43 years of practice. Her time as a landscape architect includes 26 years as a private practitioner with the award-winning firm Hough Woodland Naylor Dance Leinster. From 1992 to 2002, she was the president of the firm and responsible for, or contributed significantly to, most of the firm’s groundbreaking assignments. She left this practice to carry on her work for another 17 years at the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. Carolyn was the Chair of the Advisory Committee for Planning, Design and Realty for the National Capital Commission and was an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto in the joint architecture/landscape architecture program in the 1990s. Carolyn Woodland has made a profound difference towards the environment, her community, and the profession of landscape architecture over a long professional life.
Grounding
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Living in balance TEXT BY MILLIE KNAPP
This is the fourth in a series of articles, by Millie Knapp, that share understandings of Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee teachings about the land. As a youngster, Isaac Murdoch pondered the Anishinaabe concept Pimadizawin. An English translation of Pimadizawin means a good life or a happy life. Thirty years ago, Murdoch learned that Pimadizawin is much deeper than that.
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He asked an Elder woman about Pimadizawin. She told him that Pimadizawin is “when the suckers come up in the springtime to lay their eggs. When they share their time with us, we all feast and get nourishment from those eggs and fish.” The fish and eggs meal from the land meant success to her. Western society’s values today do not match Pimadizawin’s meaning. “[Pimadizawin] means living in balance with nature and that success. It’s not having the fancy cars; it’s not having the whatever. Pimadizawin is living in balance with nature and finding peace with that. That’s my understanding of it,” says Murdoch.
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Thunderbird Woman, by Isaac Murdoch. Long ago, an Indigenous woman fell in love with a Thunderbird. Together, they had a baby who is known as Thunderbird Woman. She is here to protect the lands and waters from environmental destruction. She can be seen flying all over the earth helping the people in their mission to restore ecological balance.
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Courtesy of Isaac Murdoch
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Isaac Murdoch
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Marissa Magneson
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Nenaboozhoo, by Isaac Murdoch. Nenaboozhoo is known as one of our spiritual guides who helped create the lands. In this picture, he is holding sacred medicine that is intended to be given to the Anishinaabe.
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Courtesy of Isaac Murdoch
He lives in balance with nature back home at Nimkii Aazhibikong, a traditional village in the forest. Nimkii Aazhibikong means Thunder Mountain and is located north of Elliot Lake in Ontario. Nimkii Aazhibikong is a language revitalization camp. “It’s actually a language community and that’s our nest where we go to get nourished with our language, our culture, and our practices. It’s really beautiful,” says Murdoch. Various local Elders come to Nimkii Aazhibikong to teach language and other cultural practices to camp residents.
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The language camp idea came when Murdoch heard Elders speak of their longings. “For years and years, I heard them talking about going back in the bush and creating a camp so that we can have a language nest where our language would have a chance to be nourished, fed, and feasted. We just went to work one day and started to work on their dream and it’s happening now,” he says about the camp that was put together with family, friends, and community members. “When I’m at home, I don’t have electricity. I don’t have running water. We do a lot of fishing, hunting, medicine picking, and things like that. We live off the grid and we still do our traditional ceremonies. We still do our songs. It’s a language camp so it’s retaining all of that Earth knowledge that’s in the language. For us, it’s really important to maintain that balance of Pimadizawin,” said Murdoch. He believes that Anishinaabe culture produces climate leadership and that one day traditional knowledge will be valued by Westerners. “Traditional teachings we have go back thousands and thousands of years. These teachings, the stories, the songs, the ceremonies hold the ecological code of how to live on these lands,” he says. An ecological code is necessary to live here on Turtle Island. “They haven’t been able to produce any sort of ecological balance so right now, Western society is in ecological debt. In 50 years, it’ll be the traditional people who have songs and teaching that are going to shine for humanity. More and more people are beginning to realize that,” he says.
Grounding
Murdoch’s focus on how valuable Anishinaabe knowledge is led him to ruminate on the suppression of Indigenous thought by government policies and procedures. “Residential schools have habitually tried to oppress that knowledge because they felt it was not good enough but it turned out that traditional knowledge was good enough. It was a highly disciplined education that is needed now,” says Murdoch. Earth knowledge is crucial today to deal with climate change. “There are natural laws that we were given by the animals, the trees, and the spirits. We were given a blueprint. We were given a map of knowledge of how to co-exist here on Earth. The ecological code is something that has been lost through colonialism, lost through Western education. It’s the traditional people who are holding on to this code. They’re screaming at the world, saying, ‘Look we have to smarten up. We have to follow these natural laws that have always been here,’” he says. Natural laws create an equilibrium or a balance that requires attention from everything that lives. “If you take something from the Earth, you’ve got to give something back. You have to respect the plants and
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Free Red Fawn, by Isaac Murdoch. During Standing Rock, a Water Protector named Red Fawn was arrested and sentenced to five years for an incident in which militarized police invaded sacred territory to put through a pipeline.
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Courtesy of Isaac Murdoch
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We Are Here To Protect Water, by Isaac Murdoch. Our animals are important in providing stewardship. It is often said that the animals will always emerge as our leaders and show us how to live on Earth.
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Courtesy of Isaac Murdoch
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the animals. You have to give them their space. You have to communicate with them. You also have to respect the weather. You have to respect the waters. There’s certain laws or certain understandings that we have that we don’t challenge,” says Murdoch. One of the laws or understandings is generosity. “The land insists upon generosity. We’re humble and we have just enough. We only take just enough and we share what we have,” says Murdoch. Colonization and globalization work to erase teachings and stories that connect Anishinaabeg to the land. “The globalization of Western education is wiping out Indigenous knowledges en masse all over the world. It means that we need to disengage from colonial society and systems. That’s where we’re going to find our strength—on the land. That’s where we find our true power and our true gifts.” In order to get the connection back, Murdoch suggests that people be educated on the land and use traditional languages and practices. “Our people were highly educated. They were scientists. They were philosophers. They were mathematicians. They were amazing linguists. They had such a high education when it came to the land. They really understood how the land and waters worked. They also understood our connection to it,” he says. Murdoch further explains that Anishinaabe world beliefs extend to the stars. “Our people were stargazers. They understood the spirituality that connected everything together. That education is a lifelong learning experience. A lot of our old people have that. There’s the old belief that we come from the stars. We were lowered here. When our feet touched this Earth, that’s when our life here started. We really come from the stars. All the old Indians used to say that. We understood the movements of the stars, what they meant, the stories. It’s a map of how to live here on Earth. Our people were stargazers because that’s where they come from and also because there’s important information up there on how to live here. All of the legends, all of the stories are all up there,” he says.
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Understandings of the spiritual fabric of the land, water, and sky guide Anishinaabeg. “While we’re here as a guest, we use our good manners. We make sure we give offerings and give thanks for what we’re using here. We develop a good relationship with the land and waters. When we’re done, we head off back to our home, to Ishpiming, to the West. It’s that old belief that this isn’t really our home and that we’re just guests here. We have to leave it the same way we found it,” says Murdoch. It’s believed that when Anishinaabeg leave Earth, they travel through the Milky Way, a path that leads to the spirit world. Armed with earth and sky knowledge, Murdoch suggests that one way for Indigenous people to live in balance is to exercise jurisdiction over education for their children. “We have to make a stand for the Earth, and how we do that is we raise our children to become Earth people. We raise our children to be protectors of the sacred because we’re in climate change and things are really wrong right now. To give them hope, we have to give them the tools. There’s nothing better than to give them the teachings that our people have because our people know how to live here. We understand what’s needed here. That’s the best way to prepare our young people,” he says. Connections to the land, water, and the night sky helped define and sustain Anishinaabeg communities for millennia. The connections help Anishinaabe people like Murdoch make sense of the world around them and live in Pimadizawin. MILLIE KNAPP IS ANISHNAABE AND WRITES ABOUT INDIGENOUS ART AND CULTURE.
Issues
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01
A toolkit for improvement TEXT BY MICHELLE SENAYAH AND BRITTANY REYNOLDS
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Standard concrete paving can provide a safe and accessible surface when adequately maintained.
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Ralph Kroman
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Proper grading and permeable paving, shown here on Market Street in Toronto, can add character while helping to address drainage issues.
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Urban Toronto
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Danforth Village is a mixed-use neighbourhood located in Toronto. This residential area has been evolving for the past few years as new families have bought homes and joined the existing population of homeowners, private tenants, and Toronto Community Housing tenants. This growing population is largely cut off from local parks by the Danforth, railway tracks, Main Street, and Victoria Park Avenue, and, thus, lacks local-scale outdoor gathering space. It does, however, have quite an extensive network of interconnecting laneways. The Laneway Project began working with the Danforth Village Residents’ Association (DVRA) in late 2017 to develop an action plan that will transform these laneways from utilitarian to complete, living public spaces— supported by Section 37 funds from a new condo tower under construction at the area’s west end. At a visioning workshop in 2017, DVRA members identified the potential for greening, art, pedestrian routes, and monthly community events in their laneways, as well as the need to address the littering, dog waste, insufficient lighting, poor maintenance of adjacent property edges, and speeding that currently impact the usability of the spaces. These improvements were implemented in the summer of 2018.
Over the past five years, The Laneway Project has worked with residents, businesses, BIAs, property owners, developers, universities, civic groups, cultural organizations, and others to improve local laneways in more than 30 neighbourhoods across Toronto and beyond. These projects have made it apparent that, while every laneway is unique, there are a number of elements and issues—including those raised in Danforth Village—that come up each time and are relevant to laneways in general. 1_ Effective Management of Waste and Traffic Laneways provide important service access to properties, for deliveries, waste pick-up, and emergency response. Planning for efficiency in these “nuts and bolts” functions—using things like traffic plans, delivery schedules, and temporary waste storage area regulations—can ensure that the service needs of adjacent properties are met, while also creating more appealing, safe, and sanitary conditions for all laneway users. 2_ Effective Maintenance and Care Toronto’s laneways are currently cleaned and maintained periodically by
Issues Transportation Services—although, in contrast to what exists for city streets, there is no regular cleaning and repair schedule in place. This often leads to “broken window syndrome,” as a state of disrepair and lack of cleanliness cause further lack of regard for the space. Periodic and seasonal maintenance of laneways can help to ensure they are safe, welcoming places for all people. 3_ Effective Mode-Share Planning and Traffic Safety Measures
5_ Pedestrian-Friendly Lighting
efforts on the front or sides of the building. There is an opportunity for new developments to contribute to the beautification of laneways and incorporate them into the design of the overall public realm, increasing the amount and quality of public space available to the local and surrounding community.
Toronto Hydro, which is responsible for the installation and maintenance of all street lighting in Toronto, uses a minimumstandard requirement to set lighting levels in Toronto’s streets. Pedestrian-oriented lighting requirements for the city’s laneways, paired with requirements for shielding and sensoring to guard against light pollution, would benefit all laneway users.
These “No Brainers” suggest the base condition that we need to provide in our laneways to enable their continual use, maintenance, and improvement by local stakeholders as part of the shared space of neighbourhoods. Our hope is that they will act as a guide to planners, designers, and City staff working on laneways and laneway-side sites as they endeavour to create safe, vibrant spaces. We expect this quality in our other shared public spaces such as parks and streets—and as our cities continue their rapid growth, we have the tools necessary to provide quality public spaces in our laneways, too.
6_ Beautification and Creative Expression
Laneways provide midblock vehicular access to garages and loading areas, and also act as midblock routes for pedestrians and cyclists. At 3 to 6 metres in width, laneways do not have adequate space for separate vehicle, cycle, and pedestrian lanes; planning them as multimodal spaces and adding contextually appropriate traffic control and safety features would help all users to share the space safely.
Encouraging and supporting the use of laneways as sites for creative expression—for murals, temporary installations, and performance art—draws attention to these spaces, adds cultural and community value, and promotes their continued use and care by local residents, businesses, and organizations.
4_ Attractive and Well-Maintained Paving
Laneways are typically bounded by hard surfaces—impermeable paving, and stone, concrete, and glass building walls. With some strategic changes, laneways can become a web of greened space that provides local-scale access to nature, improves stormwater management, reduces the local heat island effect, and improves the overall environmental sustainability of our neighbourhoods.
Laneways are typically repaved every 25 years. Spot repairs are sometimes carried out in the interim when they are brought to the attention of Transportation Services and thought to be a public safety issue. Increasing the frequency of pavement repairs in laneways, and expanding the range of standard paving types, could help to improve walking, cycling, and driving conditions, as well as address drainage issues for the laneway and adjacent property owners.
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BIOS/ MICHELLE SENAYAH IS CO-FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE LANEWAY PROJECT. BRITTANY REYNOLDS IS A SENIOR HR BUSINESS PARTNER AT TIFF AND A LONGSTANDING VOLUNTEER WITH THE LANEWAY PROJECT.
7_ Greening
The Laneway Project recently released a set of resources—a laneway typology framework and revitalization toolkit (created in collaboration with Shelagh McCartney of +together design lab and Ryerson University); an interactive digital map; and a collaborative planning guide—that together give people the tools to analyze, understand, and undertake improvements to their laneways. The resources provide information to supplement and organize what people observe in the spaces: key typological aspects to note, a glossary of revitalization tools and an indication of which tools tend to be most appropriate in various contexts, and ways to ensure that laneway improvements gel with the neighbourhood and community. The laneway map also includes an interactive feature that people can use to add their own laneway improvement projects. For more information, visit www.thelanewayproject.ca.
8_ Laneways and Infill Development There is no shortage of new infill projects in Toronto, many of which abut laneways. Typically, new developments pay little attention to laneways and focus streetscaping
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As seen with Toronto’s Graffiti Alley— winner of Tourism Toronto’s 2017 President’s Award—beautiful laneways can act as significant tourism draws.
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Katrina Afonso
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Technical Corner
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extremely durable material and will provide lasting colour and texture. Its strength makes it an appropriate solution even for commercial applications. Limestone, slate, and travertine work well in pedestrian applications. Stone can also offer a wonderful range of colours, including reds, purples, and greens, along with the common range of buff and grey tones.
The basics of coloured paving
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TEXT BY NADJA PAUSCH
Many designers are hesitant to include coloured products in their designs as they have seen too many failed applications. The most ubiquitous criticism of coloured products is that they have a propensity to fade quickly and weather poorly, turning vibrant reds into what a mentor of mine described as “cat food pink,” often within a few years. Another problem is that colours on-trend during the design phase may appear dated a few years later, potentially even by the time project construction is complete. Coloured materials in paving applications can be one way to introduce colour to a design. The suitable selection of materials, colours, and textures can enhance the aesthetic of a project at a relatively low cost. However, with so many options and competing information, it can be difficult to discern which material is best. What follows is a brief overview of a few of the most commonly used coloured paving solutions.
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Natural Stone Natural stone, when sourced appropriately, is one of the most reliable materials to utilize in the landscape. The main consideration is to ensure the stone is hard enough to endure our climatic conditions–for example, limestone can vary significantly in hardness depending on the region in which it was quarried. Proper detailing (primarily of the base assembly and joints) and installation of stone products is important to ensure lasting value. When properly installed, the maintenance requirements of natural stone are minimal. Granite is a notably well-performing option; it is an
Clay Brick The colour of clay bricks (usually ranging from white/buff to deep red and black) is due to the varying mineral content of the raw material, which is formed and fired in high temperatures, and, like natural stone, will not fade over time. Despite the colour steadfastness of this material, brick does not always weather well in our northern climate, commonly due to installation issues rather than product failure. That is, brick requires proper installation in order to remain durable in the landscape; it should be installed on a concrete base with a mortared setting-bed and joints, as sand joints do not provide enough rigidity and cause the units to shift and crack. Brick is best used in residential landscapes or commercial areas in non-vehicular applications. 01/
Concrete pavers, Discovery World, Taiwan
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Courtesy of FORREC Ltd.
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Paving at Queens Quay, in Toronto, conveys information to pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers.
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Jasper Flores
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Clay brick residential paving
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Courtesy of Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute
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Poured-in-place coloured concrete, Discovery World, Taiwan
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Courtesy of FORREC Ltd.
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Rubberized surfacing in a playground
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Courtesy of Rubaroc
Technical Corner
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both integrally and surface-applied coloured concrete, manufacturers recommended regular coatings of a surface-sealing product.
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Concrete Concrete in all its forms may be coloured integrally (with pigment present throughout the full depth of the material) or with a surface coating (pigment present only in the outer/upper layers of the material). Integrally coloured concrete has pigment added to the concrete mixture before it is poured, and the available colour range tends to be more subdued than with surface applications. Through mixing bags of standard colours, a range of custom colours can be achieved. Surface coating applications are achieved by applying a layer of powdered colour hardener atop freshly poured concrete. While this application method provides a more uniform appearance and a more vivid palette of available colours, it should always be backed by a solid integral colour, even at an added cost. Concrete in our northern climate inevitably chips; thus, providing an integral colour beneath a surface application provides a longer life cycle by ensuring that chips and cracks do not reveal the grey concrete beneath. While certain pigments—most notably reds and purples—perform notoriously poorly when added to concrete, there are a few preemptive strategies that can increase the longevity of coloured concrete applications. One option is to specify a darker colour than is initially intended, because it will fade over time. Another is to specify a higher “colourloading” of the concrete mix–for example, two bags of the desired pigment per cubic volume instead of one. As with all poured-inplace concrete applications, the installation, curing, and finishing techniques used are critical to the longevity of the surface. For
Precast-concrete unit pavers face some of the same problems of discolouration and fading as poured-in-place applications; however, as they are manufactured in a controlled environment, they tend to be more uniform in finish, colour, and strength. The most commonly available colours are similar to those available for integrally coloured poured concrete; however, the sizes and textures available with precast pavers offer the designer a wide array of potential solutions.
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Rubberized Surfacing Rubberized surfacing, most commonly used in safety surfacing applications, is a combination of synthetic rubber and resin applied atop an existing surface. It does not conduct heat, is UV stable, and can withstand even harsh winter conditions. Products come in a wide range of colours, from earth tones to vibrant neons, and many manufacturers offer custom paving patterns. Two main factors affect the colour steadfastness of this material: the concentration of synthetic rubber (made of ethylene propylene diene terpolymer or EPDM) and the quality of the binding resin. Products with a lower concentration of EPDM require more fillers, which break down in high UV, reducing the lifespan of the product. When choosing rubberized surfacing, it is important to specify a manufacturer whose product has integral colour in each rubber granule as well as a high concentration of EPDM, as this allows the
product to have a remarkable lifespan in both colour and durability. Clients can expect only a 10-percent colour fade over a span of 20 years. Given the longevity of rubberized surfacing applications, it is of particular importance to specify the colour and paving pattern wisely. While this material is extremely durable, it must be installed properly in order to last. And while it has a lifespan twice that of concrete, its application opportunities are limited mainly to playground areas requiring play safety surfacing. However, its ability to reduce fall injuries makes it an interesting product to consider in the design of trail systems, care and rehabilitation facilities, and seniors housing. In Conclusion While each of the products discussed performs differently in the landscape over time, one common consideration is the importance of proper base assembly and installation in ensuring the long-term success of any material. As well, identifying the right product for the right place is key. Is the space residential or commercial? Will the paved surface need to withstand vehicular traffic or only pedestrian traffic? These initial questions will help the designer hone in on the optimal paving solution for the project. Designing with colour can also become less daunting if we understand the materials and communicate to our clients that all colours change over time. As with all coloured products, earth tones have slightly longer colour steadfastness than bright colours. We can adjust for these known variations in the design phase through careful selection of colours and materials, and by avoiding those which we know have poor success rates. Employing design strategies that combine timeless colours with more vibrant hues in select areas can also extend the product’s sustainability on a project. By advocating for what we know will perform well over time, we can avoid “cat food pink” while still bringing a bit of colour to the ground plane. BIO/ NADJA PAUSCH IS A MEMBER OF THE GROUND EDITORIAL BOARD AND A LANDSCAPE DESIGNER WITH FORREC LTD.
Notes
Notes: A Miscellany of News and Events
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books
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ravines Save the date, October 10, for the annual Ravine Symposium, held at the Toronto Botanical Garden. This always informative event brings together ecologists, researchers, designers, activists, and others to discuss issues and learn about recent research and approaches to ravine protection. One of the highlights this year is Henry Hughes, former Director of Education at the Birmingham Botanical Garden, who will be giving the keynote address on the highly successful Centennial Tree Program of Birmingham, Alabama, which has engaged a diversity of groups in mapping trees, collecting and storing seed, and growing, planting, maintaining, and monitoring the urban forest. Along with his keynote at the Ravine Symposium, Hughes will also be delivering an urban tree conservation workshop on October 11. For more information, visit www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca. 01/
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A new book, Vacant to Vibrant: Creating Successful Green Infrastructure Networks, by Sandra L. Albro, recently published by Island Press, explores how communities can effectively repurpose vacant lots as urban green space. The author, project manager for Vacant to Vibrant, recounts the challenges and successes she and her team faced in piloting the creation of green infrastructure networks in Gary, Indiana; Cleveland, Ohio; and Buffalo, New York. Through this transformative project, vacant lots were converted into small stormwater parks that provided recreation and stormwater management in neighbourhoods recovering from population decline and disinvestment. Albro provides lessons about designing, building, maintaining, and funding urban green spaces as well as the limitations of green infrastructure networks. For more information, visit www.islandpress.org.
Alissa North, Associate Professor at the Daniels Faculty at the University of Toronto, recently published Ravine Re-Create: Design Ideas for Toronto’s Ravines. The book highlights work from Daniels Faculty students who worked in collaboration with the City of Toronto, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, Waterfront Toronto, and Evergreen, to develop designs and ideas for reimagined landscapes that address specific action items and priorities identified by the Toronto Ravine Strategy. The book retails for $47.50 (including tax) and can be purchased by emailing Alissa North at alissa.north@daniels.utoronto.ca.
new members The Ontario Association of Landscape Architects is proud to recognize and welcome the following new members to the Association: Walter Bone
Carla Lipkin *
Angela Chieh *
Kaly Manson
David Craig
Leslie Morton
Marlise Eguchi *
Andrew Naylor *
Shannon Gallant
Adam Novack
Alexandra Hossfeld
Adele Pierre
Aisha Jiao
John Slack
Hyun Chung Kim *
Laura Williams
Asterisk (*) denotes Full Members without the use of professional seal.
soil The Glen Road Organics is hosting a conference “Organic Matter Matters” on July 20, in Woodville, Ontario. Featuring well-known soil expert Dr. Elaine Ingham, the conference will focus on linking the soil foodweb to organic matter and regenerative soil health. For more information, visit www.theglenroadorganics.com.
The League of Urban Nature Artists, led by Alan Li, will be presenting at the Ravine Symposium, to be held at the Toronto Botanical Garden on October 10. Alan Li, courtesy of TBG
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Notes
In 1959, he started work in Toronto with John B. Parkin Associates. He then launched Sasaki Strong Associates with partner Hideo Sasaki in 1961. During this time, they led the profession with projects that included Queen’s Park and Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto, and La Ronde and the Ontario Pavilion at Expo67.
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in memoriam Richard Strong
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awards Each year, the OALA selects a project from the Grow Op exhibition, held at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto, to receive an award. The 2019 OALA Award went to Noni Kaur’s Microbial Feast. Noni Kaur’s practice explores how culture and materials are adapted or transformed in different spaces and environments. Rangoli is an Indian/ Singaporean practice that uses coloured materials to decorate floors in domestic and public spaces. Building upon this tradition, Kaur works with desiccated coconut—a commonplace domestic commodity—to draw on the ephemeral nature of the practice and its connections to cycles of life and death. 02/
The new book Vacant to Vibrant, by Sandra L. Albro, looks at the transformation of vacant lots into urban green space.
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Alissa North’s new book Ravine Re-Create highlights work, by University of Toronto students, that reimagines ravine landscapes.
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The OALA is saddened to announce the passing of Richard Strong on April 22, 2019. Richard was a full member of the OALA (1968-1977 and 1995-2019) and was awarded the honorary status of OALA Emeritus member. Richard Strong was one of the three founding members of the OALA, listed on the 1968 Letters Patent. Richard Strong had a long and very accomplished professional life. He graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture in 1957 and then completed his Master of Landscape Architecture at Harvard University in 1959. Throughout his long career, Richard Strong provided leading design and inspiration to the profession in Canada, Australia, and around the world.
Richard went on to work with Steven Moorhead from 1972 to 1977 when he moved to Calgary, Alberta. He was based in Alberta until 1997, when he moved back to Ontario where he continued to practise until his retirement. Richard’s impact on landscape architecture reached beyond his work. He taught or influenced many of today’s landscape architects. He founded the program and was appointed the first Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Toronto in 1968. He was also a visiting critic and lecturer at 16 universities across Canada, the United States, and Australia. During this time, he also published books and articles on landscape architecture. The impact of his thought on the subject is globally recognized. He is one of the pioneering landscape architects featured by the Cultural Landscape Foundation and holds numerous awards and honours from the CSLA, ASLA, American Interior Plantscape Association, Ohio State University, and Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. From the Government of Canada, he received a 1967 Centennial Medal and a Queen Elizabeth Medal in 1977. He is an Emeritus member of the OALA and a Fellow of the CSLA. As is the OALA’s custom, a book will be added to our library and a memorial tree will be planted at the Guelph Arboretum WallCustance Memorial Forest in Richard’s name. 07/
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Courtesy of Island Press
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Courtesy of Alissa North
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Noni Kaur’s Microbial Feast
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Gabby Frank
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OALA Award winner Noni Kaur [2nd from left] with Ground Editorial Board members Jasper Flores [far left], Phaedra Maicantis [2nd from right], and Eric Klaver [far right] Courtesy of Grow Op Richard Strong Courtesy of OALA An article about Richard Strong appeared in the July 1967 issue of Toronto Life. Courtesy of OALA
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www.hausersite.com Hauser - GROUND 46.indd 1
4/30/2019 11:54:01 AM
Introducing The Iconic Collection
The perfect balance of classic style and modern design
800.716.5506 | maglin.com
We bring brilliant playground concepts to life.
ALDERGROVE CREDIT UNION COMMUNITY COMPLEX Langley, British Columbia Collaboration: van der Zalm + associates inc.
info@earthscapeplay.com | earthscapeplay.com | 1.877.269.2972
Made in Ontario
ACO Drain - Freestyle Iron Grates No drain looks as good as an ACO Drain. But looks aren’t everything No other trench drain system offers a wider selection of gratings - more materials, more designs, more finishes. As proud as we are of our drains aesthetic qualities, we also encourage you to look beneath the grating. You’ll find the trenches themselves are made of strong, light, ultra smooth polymer concrete; and that they’re packed with cleverly engineered
(877) 226-4255
features offering years of high performance. So when you complement your design with a good looking trench drainage system from ACO, remember you’re specifying the longest lasting, most efficient drains around.
And that’s the real beauty.
ACO Systems, Ltd. I info@acocan.ca I www.acocan.ca
Landscape Architects Sponsored Professional Liability Insurance Program HUB International Limited, is proud to be sponsored by the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects and provide our services to the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects
Why Select HUB International? HUB International reviews client contract forms that their design professional clients are asked to sign. It will not come as a surprise that client contract forms are written to protect the client. Often times there are many uninsurable provisions within the contract. These services are provided at no additional fee.
Seminars HUB International is capable of providing in-house loss prevention, contract review and professional liability seminars. The topics may be tailored to meet the unique needs of each firm.
Loss Prevention Assistance HUB International is set up to help the design of professional develop a formal loss prevention program. Elements of a formal loss prevention program can include regular seminars, pre and post project evaluation check list forms, consultants pre-qualification checklist, contract review and other products are designed to lower your firm’s exposure to loss.
Complete Commercial Insurance Program HUB International is equipped to handle all of your property and casualty needs. In other words, you can deal with one broker for all your Commercial insurance needs. Annually we systematically review your entire program to make certain it is appropriate and priced competitively. If you have questions regarding our program, please feel free to contact one of our knowledgeable team members. Contact: Dafna Warshager, Account Executive dafna.warshager@hubinternational.com
HUB International 675 Cochrane Dr., Suite 200 - East Tower, Markham, Ontario L3R 0B8 O: 905-305-1054 | hubinternational.com
www.hermanns.ca
�905� 939 1230
MARKET LEADER IN MANUFACTURING AND SUPPLY OF ORGANIC MATERIAL
Quality. Accountability. Transparency. FLL Green Roof Mixes. Region Design Soil. CU Structural Soil. Soil Cell Soil. Bio Earth. Phosphorus Absorption Media. Low PH BioRetention Media. Aged Pine Bark Substrate. ProTurf Top Dress. Cedar Mulch. IPEMA Engineered Wood Fiber. Pine Mulch.
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Artifact
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Soil testing for Orchard, 2018 Diane Borsato
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Mixed found apples, Guelph area, 2018
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Early varietal apple tasting at Borsato’s home, 2018
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Diane Borsato
Diane Borsato
TEXT BY LORRAINE JOHNSON
Diane Borsato is an artist who admits that “for the past few years, I’ve been making things that hardly look like art.” Instead, she describes her creative practice as a chance to explore, deeply, her “obsessive nature preoccupations.” She’s worked with bees, clouds, mushrooms….and now she’s branching out to apples. For an upcoming project, Borsato is creating an urban apple orchard at the Small Arms Inspection Building in Mississauga. On this decommissioned, contaminated, ex-industrial site, where real-life Bomb Girls made weapons for war, Borsato is doing the long, slow work of cultivating rare, unusual, and historic apple varietals. “These are cultural artifacts, they’re precious,” she explains, relishing the eccentric and evocative names
by artist Diane Borsato, at Mississauga’s Small Arms Inspection Building that carry decades of meaning and agricultural wisdom: Sleeping Beauty (bright red on the outside, pure white on the inside), Pink Pearl (red fleshed), Pineapple Reinette, Winter White Pearmain, Pixie Crunch… Borsato’s curated, deliberate collection of old varietals, grafted from apples kept alive by orchardists over the years, is a testament to values inherent in small-scale, local tinkering: waiting, hoping, waiting, hoping… She asks, “Can you think of a sculpture better than a tree?” For more information, visit www.dianeborsato.net. TEXT BY LORRAINE JOHNSON, WHO WRITES ABOUT NATIVE PLANTS, URBAN AGRICULTURE, AND RELATED ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES.
GREYFIELD, SMOOTH
NATURAL, SMOOTH
TIMBERWOOD, SMOOTH
Tame any tough space.
GREYFIELD, SPLIT
NATURAL, SPLIT
TIMBERWOOD, SPLIT
Steep, sloping terrain can be difficult to tame without the right materials for the job; and sometimes you just need a little help selecting the right product. That’s exactly why Oaks Landscape Products developed the Proterra™ wall system. This engineered retaining wall ensures a stable structure, even in a true vertical installation with its patent pending M-Lock technology, while providing stylish options in colour and texture. When your design calls for steps, Proterra™’s modular units are the ideal choice or Oaks Aria Step system is designed to complement Proterra™ wall perfectly.
OAKSpavers.com | 1.800.709.OAKS (6257) |
THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS.
Our team has been trusted for over 45 years to provide technical expertise and project support in the exploration of segmental paving product options. Optimizing color, finish, texture and size, we have what it takes to bring your vision to life.
PROMENADE ™ PLANK PAVER Contemporary, linear pavement systems. Multiple sizes. Special order finish and color options. Ready-to-ship finishes and colors available.
PROJECT: West Eau Claire Park, Calgary, AB DESIGN: O2 Planning + Design PRODUCT: Promenade™ Plank Paver 8 x 24” & 12 x 24” Il Campo® & EnduraColor™ Smooth finish
Contact your Unilock Representative for samples, product information and to arrange a Lunch & Learn for your team.
UNILOCK.COM
1-800-UNILOCK