Courtney Embrey – Urban Design

Bike Station

Upon arriving to Washington DC for a weekend getaway, of all the great sights to see I was mostly excited to see the “bike station”. A place where you can store or rent a bike and the structure guards against theft and weather damage…. it’s conveniently located at the central station. Supposedly, it’s getting a lot of use and is an archetype for other cities who want to find ways to up their bike friendliness — I believe Philadelphia is now looking into building one near a busy transit station. I think in the near future of urban transportation we’ll be seeing a lot more of these pop up.

A Typical Sunday at the Farmers’ Market

A great way to bring a disconnected community together is a weekly market day. Events like farmers’ markets, local cultivar festivals, permanent outdoor marketplaces, or even a simple local produce stand can create social connectivity and can promote healthy organic sustenance and locally purchased produce. Currently, the majority of America’s suburbs depend on large chain supermarkets for their goods creating a great dependency on fossil fuels for distribution transportation — not to mention packaged produce is more expensive for the consumer.

Cold apple cider, a horseradish pickle, Greek salad and some quiche while strolling through the flea market on a hot and humid day in Manhattan’s Green Market livens up a Sunday afternoon.

Cambria, Morro Bay and Moonstone Beach

Here are some snapshots from a four day retreat to the California Central Coast — flowers, grasses and other pretty things (amid seasonal allergies)…

Great Places in Eastern US

Rain has been keeping me indoors… it’s taunting me… I really want to get out and go on another one of my little fact-finding explorations to “somewhere”. In the mean time, to keep myself occupied I’ve compiled some photos of my latest road trip around the Northeast and southern Atlantic Coast… some of the places we traveled through were magnificent.

An Urban Garden… a Hydroponic Experiment

You’d imagine that New Yorkers could care less about gardening. I mean, with their busy schedules, limited space, and copious pocket parks and botanical gardens in walking distance there really isn’t a reason that warrants a jungle of houseplants strewed across an eighty-year-old fire escape outside your window. Not to mention, with a produce stand on virtually every street corner why would you want or need to tend to your own domestic vegetable garden? Well you don’t. But if you want to do it for fun, get a Prepara Power Plant!

I was delighted to discover that there is a culture of city-dwelling experimental urban gardeners out there that think it’s possible to grow a vegetable garden in an apartment — some industrious folk even have livestock. Although, I’ve yet to find a chicken coupe in Manhattan, while briefly conducting some research on the subject I found that some areas in Brooklyn and the Bronx partake in private or communal chicken raising. Apart from the ingenuity and convenience of urban farming and gardening, it’s nice to see that people want to, at least in moderation, have control over the source of their food. I will definitely harvest my little crop as soon as it matures… then I will use it for cooking. I’ll keep updates on the progress.

UPDATE: The Power Plant was returned back to it’s manufacturer because the rotating disk was malfunctioning. Apparently, there are a few kinks that need to be worked out in the system and Prepara is doing so for their next generation Power Plant.

I am still growing lavender and two cacti in ceramic pots, however.

Visit to Avalon, New Jersey

A couple months ago I visited the small town of Avalon, NJ, the location of my client’s summer home. As we drove through the tiny downtown, Dune Drive, the place was a winter ghost town. Businesses were closed until the spring or summer and most of the homes were unoccupied. The desolation felt a little eerie being fresh off an outbound bus from New York City and all… anyone who has experienced the anarchy of Port Authority could relate.

Not that I was expecting to be bombarded by a slew of young Philly socialites or the cast of Jersey Shore (a show I have never seen) but I did expect to see a little more liveliness. I guess I’ll have to come back next summer.

Well, if anyone is interested in seeing the cute little beach town of Avalon and greater Cape May County NOT during peak season here you go.

The High Line at Night

Only partially completed, I was drawn in by the attractiveness and mystery of The High Line, New York City’s newest, and subjectively most innovative, adaptive reuse public park project. I’ve been anxiously waiting to visit the narrow strip of green elevated 30′ above the streets since its opening date 4 months ago. Last night I finally snapped a few shots; putting my 50 mm lens to the test with the dim lit walkways and florescent clad corridor — not an easy environment to photograph in but I think I got what I came for.

At night, the park demonstrates an understated and restrained lighting plan. Light is not used as an expression of grandeur but rather to embrace the simplicity of the planting plan, outdoor furniture, and slightly zigzagging pathway. The LED light fixtures are aimed downward as so they will not contribute to the surrounding light pollution but do serve their purpose to light the way down the narrow vertically directed pavers below.

The plant palette, a creative product of Piet Oudolf, is inspired by the original natives that took over as the abandoned railway sat deserted for over 20 years. The variety consists of uncommonly used perennials, grasses, trees and shrubs that can sustain themselves with little maintenance and irrigation and with diverse blooming times during the fall season. Due to a high volume of public use, I did notice some deterioration of the plant material flanking the pedestrian walkway. I witnessed the park crew redirecting visitors and threatening fines if they were caught wandering into the wild sidelines of gentle and dainty grasses and shrubs that weaved into the pathway. As for a park violation at its worst, I observed a woman sifting through the planter to pose for a snap shot — why do people think they can trample all over brittle prairie grass?

In all, the attention to detail is noticeable in every element of the park, from the use of historic symbolism that reflects throughout design elements to the quality of material used; it is a place to come and appreciate the great works of landscape architects and architects.

www.thehighline.org

Yesterday’s Client Meeting

I had a successful second meeting yesterday with the home owners of my project in the Queens Borough of New York City. I’ve been designing an overall concept that would transform their 7500 sq.ft lot into a haven of entertainment, relaxation, and privacy. The clients are dance enthusiasts and desire to practice the salsa on their outdoor dance floor between trips back and forth to a Manhattan dance venue. They also want a yard that complements their high-end existing and future modernizations to the 1920s “colonial revival-ish” home. So far, I’ve managed to meet all their requests whilst keeping the design simple, clean and contemporary.