Press Releases

May 22, 2020 -- The James Rose Center for Landscape Architectural Research + Design and EarthCam received an Honor Award in the category of Historical Preservation/Restoration for the Rehabilitation of the EarthCam headquarters landscape, formerly owned by Texwipe. Given to only a handful of projects each year, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) describe Honor Awards as representing the highest level of achievement distinguished by “superior professional accomplishment.” 

James Rose’s original design for Texwipe’s corporate campus, completed in 1985 for Florence and Edward Paley, sat dormant for more than a decade when EarthCam’s founder and CEO, Brian Cury, discovered the decaying site on Memorial Day weekend in 2013.  Although it was in disrepair, Cury, a trained filmmaker, immediately recognized its significance as a work of modern art.  “I knew right away it was special,” he noted.  “I knew that instantly when I walked onto the property.”  Long considered one of the maverick designer’s “lost” gardens, this late corporate project features vegetation, geometry, and materials characteristic of Rose’s palate. Sculptural broad-leaved evergreens; wooden, obtuse-angled retaining walls; swales lined with river stones; and meandering bluestone paths guide one through an always-changing, contemplative environment formed not by landscape “effects,” but by choreographing an experience of moving pictures and sensations within the site itself. The James Rose Center provided EarthCam with historical documentation and on-site consultation throughout the rehabilitation process focusing specifically on the repair of essential infrastructure, precise reconstruction of bluestone paths, rebuilding of wooden landscape elements, and restoration of the site’s ecology. EarthCam used their custom webcam technology and artificial-intelligence based timelapse editing to create a three minute video that captured the entire restoration. Davis Brody Bond, in collaboration with Spacesmith and Vanessa DeLeon Associates managed the redesign of the site’s architecture helping once again restore views between office space and the garden, and thus the integral fusion of in- and outdoors characteristic of Rose’s work.   

Considering Rose’s intuitive design process in which he sculpted sites in situ rather than relying on conventional forms of design documentation, EarthCam’s unique skillset was applied to the documentation of both as-built and rehabilitated conditions of the site. Aerial drone photography was used to locate the exact positions of the irregular bluestone paths so they could be palletized and subsequently re-positioned after the completion of repairs to subterranean infrastructure. A global leader in providing webcam content, technology and services, EarthCam has similarly documented some of the world’s most significant construction and landscape projects, including the 9/11 Memorial Museum, the Statue of Liberty, restorations to the Washington Monument, Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island, Manhattan and China Basin Park at Mission Rock, San Francisco. EarthCam’s solar-powered Solstice Cam technology is also being used to document the restoration of the James Rose Center itself.

ABOUT THE JAMES ROSE CENTER

The James Rose Center is a non-profit landscape research and study foundation headquartered in Ridgewood, New Jersey. The mission of the center is to contribute to a more sustainable suburban condition through preservation, research, and design. It provides and sponsors authoritative lectures, tours, classes, symposia, professional historical documentation, modern landscape preservation, consultation and research, student and professional awards, programs and student internships.

ABOUT EARTHCAM

EarthCam is the global leader in providing webcam content, technology and services. Founded in 1996, EarthCam provides live streaming video, time-lapse construction cameras and reality capture solutions for corporate and government clients. EarthCam leads the industry with the highest resolution imagery available, including the world’s first outdoor gigapixel panorama camera system. This patented technology delivers superior multi-billion pixel clarity for monitoring and archiving important projects and events. EarthCam has documented over a trillion dollars of construction projects worldwide. The company is headquartered on a 10-acre campus in Northern New Jersey and maintains 13 additional offices internationally.

Learn more about EarthCam’s innovative solutions at www.earthcam.net.

VISITOR INFORMATION

The James Rose Center for Landscape Architectural Research + Design is located at 506 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ. Beginning May 15^th, it is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00am – 4:00pm. $10 per person or charitable contribution. To schedule a special visit or event email Assistant Director Kevin Hofmann [email protected].