threshold

6/4/2010

Adam Arvidson is now blogging at threshold.  This recently revamped design blog focuses on the built environment of the upper Midwest.  Adam is one of three editors and one of eight regular contributors.

You can still follow the Treeline Travelogue here, by clicking on destinations to the right.

2008 Travel (a brief best of)

8/27/2008

This spring and summer, I got to travel a bit around the midwest to see some new and not-so-new designs.  Here's a brief list of my standouts.

The Lurie Garden in Chicago's Millennium Park graces the August cover of Landscape Architecture Magazine, because it won ASLA's general design award of excellence this year.  It's been written about widely, so it was with some hype-averse skepticism that I went to see it last May.  Yes, May.  Before the plants looked as good as they do in the oft-seen images. 

Though I am often disappointed with some national award winners (see One Wacker Plaza, also in Chicago), this one deserves it.  Even in the raw time of year, the bones are good and the plants still work.  There are enough early bloomers to carry it through to the heart of the season.  Kudos to Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (landscape architecture) and Piet Oudolf (planting design). 

Of course everyone agrees the Crown Fountain, with its spitting Chicagoans, is pretty cool.  But I just love the rustic wood benches along the sides.

I tend to feel Rem is a little sensationalist, so my hackles were again up as I walked through the IIT Student Center (officially the McCormick Tribune Campus Center).  It is odd, yes, but fitting its use.  And what guts to cram it underneath the El (though from the Seattle Library to the CCTV Tower, Rem is mostly about guts).

It's befittingly gritty for Chicago, and actually feels like a student center for students.  This is no ivory tower or hallowed hall.  This is a rec room, complete with garish colors, weird little seating nooks, and unfinished sheetrock.  I have to say: I totally wanted to just hang/chill/veg there for a few hours.

It is extra fun to take the train through the center.  Like an amusement park ride.  Check out a short video here.

I wrote about the Indianapolis Cultural Trail for Metropolis, so it's obvious I like it.  But that was the masterplan.  I hadn't seen any of the finished product, but this spring I rode it with the landscape architect (Kevin Osburn of Rundell Ernstberger) and one of the implementing foundation's staff.  It's so European -- but is stealing traffic lanes in the heartlandiest of heartland cities.  No where else is doing this kind of project at this scale.  Good for you, Midwest!

Oh, and the ride is very comfortable, and Indianapolitans were out in droves.

I'm working on a piece on the White River Promenade for Landscape Architecture Magazine.  It's having its 20th birthday, and has matured in spectacular fashion.  Designed by Angela Danadjieva (who was also the lead designer for Seattle's Freeway Park), this little corridor defies typical urban riverfront design.  It's narrow, secluded, offers only occasional views of the river, and is (because of all this) tremendously engaging. 

And simple: nothing but limestone blocks, an asphalt path, and native trees.  If you're scratching your head, trust me.  If you're ever in Indy, see it for yourself.

Canal Park in Indianapolis is one of the unsung masterworks of urban design.  It has been underappreciated even in Indy, but is a well-crafted and well-planned public amenity.  The general environment is pleasant, and there are unique details at every turn.  Here's one of my favorites: a wide pool flanked by fountains, classic but elegant.