Dark Rift - Oglo + PPil

There is a constant battle between good and bad, light and dark, the Natural and the Artificial, which is emphasized in the French Architects '2nd Public Prize in the Ponte de Lima International Garden Festival in Portugal.'

"Cyclones, earthquakes, seism, and burn down, break suddenly their work which crushes, collapses, burns off. Linear, homogenous and fruitless chaos both tears apart and moves closer nature and craft.

Chaos’ constant, inexorable and infinite strength appears through the horizontality of the dark fault, it represents the zero point, which is the reference level. Our garden aims to show the superiority of the chaos in front of natural and artificial."

Using arranged Perennial herbs, and randomly spread chaos, using curved forms, vs sharp edgy corners, this 'spit' of land perfectly emphasizes man's constant struggle against chaos, as we try and use the natural form to distract us.

http://www.archdaily.com

Shanghai Houtan Park - Tuurenscape

"Built on a brownfield of a former industrial site, Houtan Park is a regenerative living landscape on Shanghai’s Huangpu riverfront. The park’s constructed wetland, ecological flood control, reclaimed industrial structures and materials, and urban agriculture are integral components of an overall restorative design strategy to treat polluted river water and recover the degraded waterfront in an aesthetically pleasing way."

http://www.landezine.com

Prides Rest - St Croix - U.S Virgin Isles

Designed by Lindsay Brown, inspiration was drawn from the clients passion for water, and sailing, hence trying to integrate the design with the landscape, and its interaction with water. The design carefully "utilizes the site’s climatic conditions to drive many design elements such as breezeways, pools, covered areas and orientation."

With materials specifically chosen to mimic the rock and earth textures that are found in the surroundings, as well walls carefully placed to withstand hurricane force winds, and design methods that allow water to be self sufficient (Leach field, power production, and potable water storage) this is a good example of biomimicry.

http://www.archdaily.com