The Olympics In China, Is Green...Really.
You may have seen this already, but there are a lot of very elaborate hedge trimming happening in China.

Link via inhabitat.

Mapping Nature With a Pen.
Originally I found this artist, Tim Knowles, from Inhabitat and their little blurb about Tim's work with trees creating drawings. He pretty much sticks some pens on some branches and puts a canvas/paper in front of it and let the tree do the work, but then I went to his webpage and there is a lot of very interesting works that he has done. In particular are the ones in which he used apparatus of some description, looks like a richter scale, to map a journey through the Alps, and also another one where he placed a pen in a homemade drawing box thing that would draw as it was posted from one place to another...have a look...

Link Tim Knowles
Link via Inhabitat

Environmental Eyesores.

It's a start to a sunny future.
So here we have a new development in Canada that is supposed to rely solely on solar power as its main source of power. Pretty nifty, and energy efficient ain't it? So all they need now is some bioretention, rainwater storage from the roof and solar panels, dedicated bike paths, porous paving...

Link via inhabitat
Link Drake Landing Solar Community

Aila Fresh Going For Green.
A call out to all the professionals out there...Would you like to exhibit your projects? Is it leading edge sustainable design?

Submit 2 x A3 landscape pdfs with 100-200 word blurb to fresh.aila@gmail.com by August 15th.

Please do not place rubbish in skip.
This is pretty cool, a guy in the UK called Oliver Bishop has made these temporary installations all over the place. He has appropriated skips in all kinds of fun and wacky ways...check out the link.

Via Dezeen
Find a skip

PLEASE GREEN ME!
As part of our next event we will be having a competition for students...the above picture is to be 'greened' as in made pretty with unique and innovative sustainable ideas. Do it through collage, 3d modelling, stick figure men...whatever. Just have some fun!

Entries close August 15th, Entry to comprise of A3 Landscape PDF with 100-200 word blurb. Email entries to fresh.aila@gmail.com. Good Luck!

If you need a better photo...email.

So who wants to do another street tree planting?
Well actually this looks like an interesting design competition, it's for a New York streetscape, 9th Street and 4th Avenue. Registration for entries has been extended to the end of this month, not too sure if we can enter but...keep an eye on this one.

Via 21stCenturyStreet

What Happens When We Have Gone?
Nature is an uncontrollable beast, it is beyond the microlimates that we create, it is past the aesthetics that we desire. An exhibition at the New Museum in NY called 'After Nature' explores the future of a world where nature takes control. Since most of us are on this side of the world and can't afford a flight to New York before September the 21st...there is an online exhibition as well at the New Museum website.

Link via Inhabitat
Link NewMuseum.org

Victoria The Place To Be.
For all those that don't really check out what is happening around the country...including me...the Victorian design festival officially started yesterday...so check out the official website for some up and coming events...There is a lot going on. Some quite big ones and then there are always the nice small ones tucked into small little laneways.

Link: State of Design

Who Said They Hated Developers?
Bet you don't hate them as much as this guy...
He cut his head off with a chainsaw because his flat was earmarked for demolition...

Link Via Mail Online

The sweeping curves and segmented pieces represent the...
Ya di ya di ya...This thing looks pretty cool and it was designed and constructed by students as part of the London Festival of Architecture...check it out...

Link: Via Dezeen

Let's Go to Philly.Right Now.
You know Second-life? That program that you download and register, create your own avatar and then wonder around a virtual city, buying property, flirting with other online peoples...just general everyday life but you are sitting on a computer somewhere in the world.

Well GeoSimPHILLY is very close to that, and probably better, it's like Simcity with a real city. It's the same rules as above but you are interacting within a city modeled on a real city. There are tours and interactive things that reflect the real city. You can learn more about the planning of the city, see some sights that you missed on your last trip there and possibly even buy things that you forgot to get.

Link: GeoSimPHILLY

Steel Trees holds up concrete canopy.
This aviary designed for a Swiss public park by Group8 uses thin steel structures to hold up an undulating concrete roof. Birds can perch on the steel frame using them as places of rest, and to gawk at passer bys.

Link via Dezeen

Vertical Elements from Horizontal Elements.
In every landscape project there always has to be a vertical element...I don't know why, but there just has to be...people don't just walk around staring at the ground...So let me introduce you to Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey, artists that used grass as a photographic medium. They grew the grass in a dark room while projecting images onto the grass, creating an effect similar to photographic paper and chemicals used with good old film.

Link Via Inhabitat

Bit behind on this one, but if you happen to be in London...
The London Festival of Architecture is an interesting one, with many talks and exhibitions around London showing the processes that created the city as we know it today. Now if only our design festival will become something as big as this...give it a few years...

Link: Official Site

Vertical Walls and Patrick Blanc
Patrick Blanc is presenting for the Design Festival at BMW edge on July 18th, 6pm. For a small fee of $10, which could get you a Veal parma at The Riversdale on a Monday evening, you can watch the french scientist and artist talk about green walls and the applications of such technology.

Link: NDC website
Link: Patrick's Homepage

7 New Natural Wonders of the World...and a Butterfly.
Click on the links to look at the pretty pictures and to find out more about the new natural wonders.

Link: New Scientist
Link: Guardian.co.uk