Every week, we bring you the latest news in placemaking, landscape architecture, the nature-mental health link, and much more. Check back each week for new roundups and items.
New Research: Parks Alleviate Brain Fatigue
What many landscape architects and designers know intuitively is increasingly becoming proven scientifically. In fact, more and more exciting research appears showing the cognitive and mental health benefits of being out in nature, in places like parks, or even just meandering down leafy streets. According to The New York Times, a new study from Scotland shows that brain fatigue can be eased by simply walking a half-mile through a park.
Finding New Ways for Our Kids to Connect with Nature
The decision to have a kid is an act of imagining. You imagine a baby, and then the childhood it deserves: a Huck Finn existence in the marshes, frog in hand, alert to wonder. But then there’s the fact that you live in a city, and when summer comes, you still have to work. So you investigate computer camp, fashion camp, Glee camp, camps that look good on university applications. All these pursuits are worthy, but it’s been interesting to notice anecdotally that in the past few years, camp, camp programs with some variation on kid + nature = fun is a hot ticket. Where I live, my kids could go canoeing around Toronto Island, or learn about animal tracking and wild edibles at the PINE Project, or explore the ravines at the Evergreen Brickworks.
On Angel Mountain: In a Place Beyond Facebook, Time Stops
On the night before the roundup, the professor stood out under the river of stars. He watched satellites and listened to the coyotes. He said something quietly to the dog, and the dog padded back up to the house. From the plateau, he could see the dark hollows lined with Live Oaks that live so long and change so little that they seem barely alive. He could see the black ridges of the Cuyamacas, and Mexico to the south, and no human light.
Rock, Tree, Human
At the base of this fallen [tree due to Hurricane Sandy], someone left a bouquet of flowers still encased in plastic wrap from a corner deli. What seemed to matter most was the connectivity between the two events. Humans use nature as symbols, typically rocks, trees and gardens to celebrate life and to mourn death. We convene around these symbols to mark the passage of time. Here, the tree, or perhaps this former union of rock, tree, and human, was the object of our memorialization. Amidst the grave destruction of human life and property, someone paused to mark the tree’s death.
