ZDA Fall Updates

Greening Diverse Neighborhoods: The Tale of Three Alleys

American Society of Landscape Architects Annual Meeting & Expo
Boston Convention and Exhibition Center – Boston, MA
November 15-18, 2013

This November, MaraLee Olson will join panelists from the Trust for Public Land, the University of Washington, and the Council for Watershed Health during an education session addressing alleys – specifically, the benefits and challenges associated with greening this often-overlooked but important community infrastructure. This session is among over 21 professional development hours being offered at the annual event for landscape architecture professionals. MaraLee will moderate the session on Friday, November 15, presenting the lessons learned through three green alley projects located in diverse neighborhoods.

For more information, please visit the American Society of Landscape Architects website.

PARK(ing) Day – Friday, September 20th, 2013

ZDA and fellow landscape architecture design studios SAA Design Group and Smithgroup JJR, each hosted a one-day pocket park in downtown Madison, as part of PARK(ing) Day 2013. During this annual world-wide event, a metered parking stall is transformed into a temporary public park in order to explore alternative, people-based uses of these short-term borrowed spaces. This year, ZDA’s PARK(ing) space provided fun and interaction through a bit of natural playground – visitors stopped by to enjoy the green grass, comfy pine bench and admire and pontificate to the 6-legged “octopus” created by re-purposing a dying maple. Rumor has it that there will be more pocket parks in downtown Madison in the fall of 2014!

To learn more about Park(ing) Day, visit parkingday.org.

Access – and water – and fun – oh my!

Phase two of the natural playground installation at the Madison Community Montessori School (MCMS) added fun, new features. ZDA coordinated the planting of shade trees and an oak grove and re-structured a rain garden. The trees are providing cool respite under their shady canopies. A newly installed gravel bike path is both accessible and permeable, and provides access to almost the entire playground. Kafka Granite partnered with us on this project, which is the first playground application of their permeable gravel in the Madison area. Children of all ages, especially the 3-5 year-olds, are having a blast testing the durability of this unique material.

This fall, ZDA will coordinate a community-build day for families and friends of MCMS to complete the finishing touches and celebrate the playground.

Stay tuned for the latest updates on this exciting project!