I’m not sure why this stands out so much for me, or even what kind of mushroom it is. Although it’s hard to tell from the photo, it was probably the size of a dinner plate. It’s not the size though. I think it’s just the way it breaks in certain parts. Also the texture and color against such dark soil. What does it have to do with cities? Maybe nothing. Or maybe it will come to me later, hopefully.
[Originally posted to Where] Cities throughout the world face the challenge of providing healthy and attractive places to live. A recent post by Jackson titled Bringing Soil Back offers a striking example. There is a need for solutions that are ecologically and economically sound. One approach might be the establishment of local research sites to monitor and improve the health of urban ecosystems. While I don’t know of any exact precedents, there is a related concept in a translated Soviet planning document from 1967. *
The translation was made for a study on “the provision of social facilities for large-scale housing developments.” Given the history of such initiatives in Russia and the U.S., it would seem an unlikely source of inspiration. However, the section on “Tree Shrub Nurseries and Flower Greenhouses” is especially interesting. It calls for a certain amount of space per person to be allocated for planting on the periphery of cities. I wonder how these sites fared in Russia. Could they possibly be established on abandoned properties within cities and used for ecological research? (more…)
Of Desert, Water and Wells, Gardens from Mauritania to India was an exhibition on historic and contemporary gardens in the arid regions of the Muslim world. Photos, drawings, and plans of these amazing gardens are posted on the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (IFA) website. The site also includes features on the garden designers Abdelhalim I. Abdelhalim, Kienle/Makiya, Kamran Diba, and Fernando Caruncho.
Photo by G. Niedermeiser
Quoted: This exhibition presents not only traditional and current examples of water management, but also a number of contemporary gardens which have succeeded in merging form and function, traditional and modern ideals and different cultures.