landscape.is.deb

Focus 4 - Dalston Print Club

2010-05-04T19:07:00.005+01:00

Went to a crazy exhibition put on by The Dalston Print Club in a damp, dark subterranean bunker-type space just off Dalston High street. There were a couple of eerie projections of shadow-like kids playing with leaves if I can remember......another room with a spiders web covered in lights....a harpist lit by candlelight....and lots of bodies moving about in the dark. The last room was lit by UV with a table tennis table lit with neon tape and matching neon bats....dim fondling of balls with a bunch of strangers.

The second part of the exhibit was at another spot around the corner...above ground....also lit by UV but this time a series of screen prints by local artists all influenced by the patterns and shapes of the various ethnicities found in the Dalston area.

+ Dalston Print Club

Focus 4 - ROA

2010-04-29T11:19:00.004+01:00

ROA is an artist from Belgium who's recently been painting in his distinctive sketchy black and white style, huge urban wildlife all over the east ends........

Pure Evil Gallery in Old Street has just held his first exhibition of works....painted on random pieces of metal and wood, ROA's collection is quite beautiful and gritty. Old locker doors are closed and painted with giant rabbits or foxes, and when the doors are opened, the animals internal organs are on display.........brilliant.

New street pieces are popping up on 'abandoned' walls every week. Keep an eye out for that giant bunny...

+ Pure Evil

Japanese Knotweed - Could the fight be over?

2010-03-09T13:54:00.005Z

http://www.lincolntown.org/depts/ComCom%20assets/Japanese%20knotweed%201.jpg

Just watched a news report on ITV about scientists at Cabi - a not-for-profit agricultural research organisation who are doing trials on introducing a tiny Japanese insect called Aphalara itadori which only feeds on Japanese Knotweed. They apparently stunt its growth which could mean the end to the fight we have with this invasive species.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01448/Aphalara-itadori_1448862c.jpg

Japanese Knotweed was introduced to the UK in Victorian times as an ornamental plant, and it grows over 1meter a month. It has no natural predators in the UK so it's growth here has been rife. The scientists have confirmed that the Aphalara itadori eats nothing else and they will be releasing the insect to selected sites this year.

Apparently, knotweed is edible by humans, and tastes like rhubarb. Nettle is another invasive species that is edible, and great for teas, risottos and tastes like spinach........there should be more people or restaurants promoting eating these plants to assist in controlling them. Time to get cooking!

The BBC News website has a time lapse video showing a knotweed plant growing more than 1 meter in 3 weeks, and also a time scale plan of knotweed spread in the UK since 1890 which is quite interesting.

+ BBC News

+ National Biodiversity Network

Focus 3 - The Day the Olympics came to Town

2010-03-08T21:38:00.012Z

I watched this program on BBC's Inside Out programme, about London's preparations for the 2012 Olympics.

They approached creative directors from a few of the capital's top advertising agencies to discuss promotion of the games using London's iconic buildings and landmarks. Some ideas of the brainstorming sessions looked at including four more London Eye's to make five rings......

Or projections onto some of our cities best known structures......

Londoner's are also per household, apparently spending £200 over the next couple of years to help pay for the Games, and thanks to the Olympic family, (advertisers, etc) there will only be 16,000 tickets available for everyone else. And Londoner's receive no preference over someone from Estonia or Italy. Since we are hosting the games, we invite the world. This is understandable, but why should so many millions of seats be available to the 'Olympic Family'??

The other issue raised in the programme, is that this is supposed to be the 'Green Games', BUT, VIP's and senior officials are residing in Park Lane for the Games, and an Olympic Route Network is planned for them to reach the games in Stratford. The estimated time for travelling in the Olympic lane from Park Lane is 22 and a half minutes, but this means that everyone else loses a lane......I am all for having less cars on the roads but why could they not have stayed in a hotel nearer to the Games site? Why does the whole of central London have to suffer so that the officials can stay in Central London? Absolutely CRAZY.

Aside from the problems, there are so many opportunities the Games can bring to London. They touched on sites that could be used for world music venues etc, and one was the site surrounding Battersea Power Station. The latest design proposal I am working on is about greening this particular area, with a river regeneration project incorporating green spaces on the Grosvenor Road/Chelsea Embankment and Nine Elms edge of the Thames. I think the Thames could be used much more for the Games, perhaps with extra transport routes to Stratford from Central and West London. This traffic route could incorporate new green spaces where events are televised and so allowing for more people to enjoy the Games.

+ all pictures screenshots from The Day the Olympics came to Town

Focus 3 - Graffik Warfare

2010-03-08T20:59:00.005Z

Some buddies of mine with a graffiti store in Portobello, conveniently had an exhibition in the last Focus week of the year. The theme was yellow and black, and the weekend was sponsored by cutty sark. All so well coordinated.

And this my present to me.

Pics from the show below......

+ pics courtesy of graffik

Got Milk?

2010-03-07T17:43:00.004Z

I used to joke that one day I wanted to go into a Starbucks with a container of soy milk, and ask the coffee maker to prep me up a breast milk latte. A sick joke, bad taste yes. But this article is just gross.

New York City chef, Daniel Angerer has created a cheese made from his wife's breast milk, and put it on the menu!!! Klee Brasserie if anyone's up for it. Yum.

+ from inhabitat

Focus 3 - Aerial London at Night

2010-03-05T15:52:00.005Z

Come across some great aerial photographs of London at night - Jason Hawkes has taken these amazing pics while hanging out a helicopter.

Some people choose interesting ways to hang out.

http://www.jasonhawkes.com/lightbox/5

Focus 3 - Palm Oil and the devastation to Orangutan rainforest habitats

2010-03-03T13:33:00.007Z

When I first set out the third year extended essay, my intentions were always to put a piece together about urban farming, but a chunk of the body was going to address the damage to developing countries and natural habitats, in the struggle to feed the world. I changed my mind at a point and instead chose to focus on how city communities can become more self-sustaining through community supported agriculture (CSA) schemes and Transition Town Movements.

Last night I watched BBC's Panorama program entitled 'Dying for a Biscuit'. It documents the rapid and in most cases, illegal deforestation of Borneo's rainforest - the natural habitat of the orangutan - for Palm Oil.

Undeniably terrifying for our closest cousins, it is just so sad to see what this agri-business schmizness is doing to some of the last magical places we have left on our earth. The orangutan population in this area has been estimated by the International Union for Conservation to have declined by 50% in the last few decades, while the Indonesian government has admitted that deforestation has killed 50,000.

The palm oil industry is estimated at £5 billion ($7.7 billion) in Indonesia. The Panorama team went to a plantation with a peat specialist to test the land that the plantations are grown upon. By law, any land that has a peat depth of 3 meters or more is not to be touched at all. Any interference with the soils will release huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. They tested the soil with a 3 meter testing pole, and what do you know, there was peat over 3.5 meters deep, on land that had palm oil plantations upon it. Duta Palma Group is responsible for this, and for logging illegally on high conservation land. The Indonesian agriculture minister gave the usual bureaucratic answers to questions posed to him by Panorama why this is happening.

Panorama has gone on to sending out questionnaires to UK supermarkets and leading product manufacturers about their use of palm oil in products. Sainsbury's is the only brand to have addressed a substantial portion of its palm oil footprint since it first began its sustainable palm oil programme in 2008. On their boxes of fish fingers they clearly state the palm oil is sourced sustainably, and a spokesman said they can go right to the source, knowing where the palm oil is from.

As a consumer, I do my damndest to ensure that the products I use are not tested on animals, and much prefer organic meat over any other, I'd rather go without if there is no choice. But when it comes to palm oil, manufacturers are so vague about ingredients in their products, stating simply that the product contains a percentage of vegetable oils. How can we as environmentally aware consumers be confident about what we are buying?? How can legislations be placed upon consumer products? There are already so many arguments about unclear salt levels, sugar levels, e numbers....etc etc.

The problem is that no price can be put upon what is being lost, until it is gone. Why is this so hard for governments to understand.

My other argument is that we wouldn't have these awful situations if it wasn't for human overpopulation. That's probably something for another day. I can feel body temperature warming rather swiftly.

+ BBC iplayer - Dying for a Biscuit

+ Orangutan survival and the shopping trolley - article

+ Palm oil products and the weekly shop - article

Thames Clean up

2010-03-02T14:27:00.005Z

A gorgeous sunny day with temps in the two figures, and the lowest day time tides in five years....what else to do but head down to the river and do some cleaning.

This was a call by Thames21 for volunteers to help clean up various sites along the river that are not normally exposed. Tuesday morning was at the Isle of Dogs. A good turnout, dirty job but so worth it.

Focus 3 - Seoul's Cheonggyecheon Stream regeneration

2010-03-01T09:32:00.006Z

Seoul has made a commitment to its people and flushed away any divisions the past had between North and South, by demolishing a highway that covered the Cheonggyecheon stream, which was formed during the Joseon Dynasty. For three decades, the stream was hidden beneath the highway, and it has now been turned into a gorgeous 5.8km urban river park.

The stream was designed to provide drainage for the city, and lasted hundreds of years until a shanty town developed next to it due to the city's overpopulation, with obvious pollution issues. This was in the 1940's, and over the next few decades the stream was gradually covered with concrete, and finally by 1976 a 5.6km highway was built over it.

Of course authorities were satisfied with the modernisation of the new highway and connections it created, but in 2003 city planners developed the Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project. The purpose was to revitalise the stream, and place Seoul in a position of being a more environmentally friendly city. The project cost around £186 million, and took two years, but is a beautiful example of how an inner city river or stream can bring new life, and create community pride.

After researching many city river regeneration projects, this project has influenced me the most. Perhaps it is the graphics, but I think more so, it is seeing city planners creating spaces that are sympathetic to the environment, and peeling away the layers of man-made infrastructure to expose the earth's beauty beneath.

+ pictures courtesy of inhabitat

For Sale at Deb's Bookshop

2010-01-27T20:50:00.007Z

If anyone does actually read this blog.....I need to get rid of some books that helped me through my first year of uni....and make room for the new ones!

Landscape Architecture, Fourth Edition, A Manual of Environmental Planning and Design, by John Ormsbee Simonds and Barry W. Starke. Hardcover.

£40 (excl p&p).

Perfect condition. Really.

A steal if you look at how much its going for on Amazon.

Design Drawing by Francis D.K. Ching with Steven P. Juroszek. Paperback with CD Rom.

£15 (excl p&p).

Very good condition with a small dent in the lower right corner of the cover. The CD Rom hasn't even been opened.

Here's how much is is on Amazon

Plan and Section Drawing by Thomas C. Wang. Paperback. No dust cover as issued. Very light wear around edges. Great book for learnign to draw landscape elements. New version on Amazon is £26.....this copy £10.

Please contact me if you want to buy any of these books.

k0731746.kingston.ac.uk

Focus 2 - Heart of Africa in Chester Zoo

2010-01-27T19:30:00.006Z

Chester Zoo unveiled today a new £225 million project that is said to transform it into the largest conservation, animal and leisure attraction of its kind in Europe. Chester Zoo's website describe it as the first domed ecosystem in the UK, with an African rainforest-themed sanctuary for a band of Gorillas, a large troop of chimpanzees, Okapi, and a variety of tropical birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish and invertebrates, moving freely among lush vegetation.

It really saddens me that we have to save these animals from the natural environments that we have ruined over the years. The cgi images are seductive, and the concept no doubt gets many people very excited, but for me, it just seems such a shame.

Proctor and Matthews Architects were responsible for the Gorilla Kingdom in London Zoo, and the Lions at the Whipsnade Zoo, both projects commissioned by the Zoological Society of London.

Looking into the Heart of Africa project at a little more detail, the dome itself is to be constructed from a material called Ethylene Tetraflouroethylene (ETFE). I wanted to know what it was comprised of and what environmental issues if any, it had. I came across a blog called Greenline which has a good explanaition of what EFTE is. Very basically, it is a plastic which is very strong and was designed to have high corrosion resistance over a range of temperatures. Its one of these new brilliant materials that has self-cleaning qualities, thanks to its chemical composition. It is super light, weighing only 1% of a comparable glass panel, and as a result, Proctor and Matthews Architects could design a space in excess of 10,800m2 of column free planting, with a longitudinal span of 165m and cross span of 75m. Finally, EFTE transmits more light than glass, is completely recyclable and installation costs are between 24% and 70% less than for glass panels.

Some buildings that have used EFTE are The Eden Project in Cornwall, The Beijing National Aquatics Centre and The Allianz Arena in Munich.

+ pictures courtesy of archinet

+ Chester Zoo

+ Proctor & Matthews Architects

+ Greenline blog

Focus 2 - Capital Growth

2010-01-26T21:03:00.004Z

''We want to help Londoners transform the capital by creating 2,012 new food growing spaces by the end of 2012.''

The Capital Growth campaign offers practical advice and support to communities around London, and helps people get access to land to create successful food growing spaces.

+ Capital Growth

+ London Food Link

Focus 2 - Tree Cube

2010-01-26T19:53:00.008Z

I found this article in an airplane magazine and thought I'd look into it this Focus week....When I began this blog I looked at various treehouses around the world....I fantasise about living in the trees!

This is the Harads hotel, created by Swedish architects Tham and Videgard and is perched high up in the treetops. Its a room for two, with a large bed, kitchenette, bath AND a living room and roof terrace. To me it looks like a hologram! Access to the cabin is by rope ladder or rope bridge.

Apparently, to avoid accidental bird collisions, the laminate glass will have an ultraviolet colour screenprint which is only visible to birds. Clever.

I do wonder though, how the structure is attached to the tree....not enough detail in the drawing below. I would imagine the tree is protected, since they've considered the birds.

+ Tham & Videgard Architects

Focus 2 - 2012 Park - Green Oasis

2010-01-26T19:39:00.005Z

Today's Evening Standard article showed some interesting cgi's of the Olympic Park and surrounding parklands.

4000 semi-mature trees will be planted in time for the opening in 2012...A company I worked for in the summer are the landscape architects for the Olympic Village, and were incredibly frustrated because as usual, the landscape budget is continually reduced as the realities of the other costs surface. This meant that hundreds of trees had to be removed from the initial proposal. 250 acres of parklands will hopefully not look too sparse.

The wetlands is probably one of the most exciting elements to this project....little is mentioned in the article so I shall say no more. . . .

As much as I hate the travel to that side of the world, I am really looking forward to seeing the end results, and considering various budget cuts, hope it will be as lush and rich in habitats and wildlife as the landscape architects and other environmentalists intend it to.

+ Evening Standard

Focus 2 - Growing Communities

2010-01-26T18:27:00.008Z

Today some of us landscape arch's volunteered our brains and brawn in the freezing cold to help Growing Communities in their new urban growing site located on the grounds at the Castle Climbing Centre in Stoke Newington.

Growing Communities is a social enterprise run by local Hackney residents, with volunteers from the area and surrounds. They work to create sustainable food systems in the form of urban growing projects and sourcing perishable fruit and veg from local farmers and selling it via local box schemes.

The people at Growing Communities are a real inspiration, with 4 growing sites in the area and a packing site from which the boxes are then distributed. Whilst digging up the new grow sites, we got to engage in chatter with everyone, finding out how they help out and the various social opportunities Growing Communities nurtures. Everything they grow is completely organic and approved by the soil assciation.

This particular site is quite interesting, and since the Castle Climbing Centre has its own environmental policies, its quite appropriate for the disused land surrounding the castle to be used for a productive landscape. the Castle Climbing centre also has an environmental blog found here.

After working on this site we were taken to Allens Gardens, one of their other growing sites that has been established for a few years now. Mainly growing salad veg and herbs, it also has a little classroom with a sedum roof and composting loo for the beds. And a rainwater harvesting system. I did ask the lady who showed the site to us how they compromise with Hackney council the uses of these plots of land. Urban growing schemes are renowned for encountering barriers with land owners and councils...I imagine since Growing Communities is quite well established, they have been able to over the last few years prove their sustainability and economic viability.

Since I have been working on the thesis, I've discovered many urban community farming initiatives, but very few are researched and documented, and some are just too small to probably warrant websites. Growing Communities is probably one of the most effective entrepreneurial growing schemes I have come across in any of my research, and they have a very informative website, with good links too.

Brilliant for the focus week, the volunteering opportunity, meeting new people who are driven to make these much needed changes, and also to inform my extended essay. Thanks to Ida for providing the opportunity to help out. Will definitely squeeze in more time over the coming months to keep in touch and see how this garden grows!

+ growing communities

+ the castle climbing centre

+ the castle environmental blog

Focus 2 - Container City in Mexico

2010-01-23T16:47:00.009Z

A new container city has opened in Cholula, about 2 hours outside of Mexico City. It is beautiful, brightly painted, hip and looks like a brilliant spot to hang out and drink afternoon coffees. Created by a small community of businesses, it covers an area of about 4500 sq m and consists of restaurants, juicebars and normal bars, bookstores, art galleries, and even living spaces.

The clever layout of the 50 containers has also created alleys courtyards, streets and even an open public space with ping pong tables and bands playing for various events. I think this is such a brilliant project, and I have posted other container projects around the world in the past but this is by far the most attractive and sensible use of containers. One of the 1st floor containers even has a slide access to the ground!! So so cool. It puts container city in Greenwich to absolute shame.

The Container City website is also quite cool...........

+ Container City Mexico

Focus 2 - Sustainable Habit Reminders

2010-01-23T15:41:00.007Z

Came across these cute household stickers to create a visual focus around wall plugs and light switches, in order to increase people's awareness about electricity consumption....created by London-based studio hu2.

There's a selection of images for each room in the house....the one below is probably a neccessity in plenty homes.............how many times I've walked out without the keys.....

And the studio's run by a couple of hotties. Nothing wrong with that.

+ Hu2 Design

Focus 2 - A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash

2010-01-21T14:06:00.012Z

Focus Week 3 started a few days early with the viewing of a multi-award winning documentary A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash at a new little cinema in Kensal Rise - The Lexi. My local transition town movement Transition Kensal to Kilburn is quick on the mark inviting members to events, talks, market days and important events like this documentary viewing.

The documentary, produced and directed by Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack highlights the frightening issues surrounding our exhaustion of this non-renewable fossil fuel, in a manner that even a toddler will understand. Oil is described as the excrement of the devil, black blood, the blood of the earth and the bloodstream of the world economy, the latter seemingly the most appropriate when you consider pretty much every single thing we use, wear, consume has come to being thanks to oil.

The viewer is shown disturbing imagery of some of the world's most prominent ex-oil mining sites, dry, deserted and incredibly depressing - McCamey Texas, Maracaibo Venezuela and Baku Azerbaijan.

McCamey, Texas

Maracaibo, Venezuela

Baku, Azerbaijan

By 1900, 95% of Russian oil came from Baku, thereafter Venezuela discovered oil in 1914 and became the largest importer in the world. The USA is described as being the Saudi Arabia until the 1950's, being the largest oil producer for 100 years. Noone thought it would peak, yet a Geophysicist, the late Dr. M. King Hubbert had said for years that it will come to an end. He was laughed at. He created a graph of oil discovery and production called Hubbert's Peak which showed quite clearly the concerning issue's in relation to oil supply and demand.

The message throughout is that oil has peaked, but there are doubts about the middle east. Every year, oil producing countries have the same numbers for oil reserves and production, and some even rise, which according to those interviewed, does not make sense. If countries like India and China continue to grow, and strive for the standards of living that the rest of the world is used to, how are decreasing oil reserves meant to cope with these new demands for cars, food, products and industry? Worryingly, if Saudi Arabia does in fact exceed its sustainable oil supply, then the world has reached its supply.

We will continue to have multi-generational RESOURCE wars if the world's behaviours and attitudes do not change and look seriously for energy alternatives.

There are interviews with hugely influential people in the world-wide oil industry - a list of whom can be found here. Matt Savinar, interviewed throughout the film is an attourney from California with a political science degree and an informed individual in the peak oil crisis (often quoted in the US Congress, and US journals). His website lifeaftertheoilcrash is assigned reading at multiple university courses around the world, and worth adding to favourites.

I hope this documentary makes it onto the mainstream cinema circuits, with household effects like that the Inconvenient Truth did, but then again, like all things political, it probably wont.

+ oil crash the movie
+ transition kensal to kilburn
+ the lexi cinema
+ Hubberts Peak
+ lifeaftertheoilcrash

Durban Botanic Gardens

2010-01-02T17:10:00.005Z

Today I took my mum to the Durban Botanic Gardens in my hometown. I actually don't remember if I'd ever been in the 18 years living here before I left. Shameful.

It traces its origins to colonial times, when it was founded in December 1849 for the introduction and trial of potentially useful commercial 'economic' crops by Dr Charles Johnston.

The Gardens later developed collections of sub-tropical trees, palms and orchids. The Durban Botanic Gardens remains a classic botanic gardens, reflecting the universality of the plant kingdom. It has, for over 100 years, had a fine mixed arboretum of African, Asian and American trees. For my recent project I had been researching the banyan tree, or 'strangling fig' (Ficus citrifolia) in India, and how the natives in the jungles form living walkways and bridges out of its vinelike aerial roots. The first tree on entering the Gardens was none other than this amazing tree.

Orchids, Palms and Cycads are the main collections of the Gardens which is currently ranked among the top ten botanical garden cycad collections in the world.

Pancakes with syrup and cream topped topped the morning. Yum.

+ Durban Botanic Gardens

Underground Green Belt Development

2010-01-01T10:08:00.005Z

An interesting article of 2009 is that of a proposed development at Hersham Golf Club in Surrey. ReardonSmith Architects is designing the 5-star hotel for the Golf Club to be built underground. The 200+ guest rooms will be covered with a green roof, respecting the surrounding countryside and natural habitats.

While the construction will surely create a degree of damage to the landscape, there is proposed extensive on-site re-vegetation and re-organization of existing spaces (such as parking) that will actually leave the site even more eco-friendly than it is now.

Matthew Guy, ReardonSmith’s project designer, states “Our concept integrates hotel, spa, and golf facilities into a single architecturally exciting and organic composition below and above ground. The design fulfills the requirements of the brief for a bespoke five star hotel while returning hard standing to the Green Belt and improving the physical layout and visual attraction of the entire site. It represents a commercially viable solution to developing in the Green Belt and is, we believe, a world-first.”

Pictures courtesy of Inhabitat

I think many landscape architects welcome subterranean developments, but more needs to be done in urban areas to combat urban heat island issues.

Having a quick look on the web, I found a project in Italy which I'd never come across before. It is an underground parking system which solves many of the traditional problems associated with urban parking; congestion, pollution, land space and security. The underground parking 'silo' is a continuous, reinforced concrete, diaphragm cylinder, 18.8m internal diameter.

It offers a number of environmental advantages over conventional parking systems, including reduced energy consumption, air and noise pollution. Its compact construction allows for minimal impact on existing architecture and road systems. It fits in with existing structures without being a concrete eyesore.

Currently systems are being constructed in Stockholm, Turin and Rome. Systems are subject to planning permission in London and Copenhagen.

+ ReardonSmith Architects
+ Inhabitat
+ Road Traffic Technology

Gardens by the Bay - Singapore

2009-12-23T08:49:00.005Z

Gardens by the Bay is a massive £350 million project in Singapore, with UK Landscape Architects Grant Associates leading the masterplanning team. Grant Associates won the international design competition for the Marina South Gardens as part of the National Parks Board Gardens by the Bay project.

A series of tree structures act as vertical gardens that collect rainwater and solar energy to sustain the garden and light the way at night. They range from 30-55 meters in height and will be wrapped in ferns, vines, and tropical flowers.

The gardens also comprise two botanical biospheres: a cool moist biome with plants from the Cloud Forest and a cool dry biome featuring Mediterranean plants.

The first phase opening is set for 2011, and a second 32-hectare development called Bay East is also under development which will feature water gardens and an aquatic education center.

Below is a description of the project from Grant Associates website:

'This is the largest garden project ever undertaken in Singapore, and a landscape project of world significance. It is intended to raise Singapore’s profile and cement its image as the leading garden city in the east. It is therefore integral to the future planning of Singapore as a major global hub and business centre.

The masterplan takes its inspiration from the form of the orchid, and has an intelligent infrastructure that allows the cultivation of plants that would not otherwise grow in Singapore. The centrepiece of this infrastructure is the cluster of Cooled Conservatories along the edge of Marina Bay. The Cool Dry and the Cool Moist Conservatories showcase Mediterranean, tropical montane and temperate annual plants and flowering species. They also provide a flexible, flower-themed venue for events and exhibitions.

The Supertrees are magical vertical gardens ranging from 25 metres to 50 metres in height. These structures are an iconic landmark for the Gardens and Singapore. They are also the environmental engines for the Conservatories and Energy Centre, containing solar hot water and photovoltaic collectors, rainwater harvesting devices and venting ducts.

The dual theme of Marina South is ‘Plants and People’ and ‘Plants and Planet’. Each narrative encompasses the length of the gardens, with the Conservatories providing the focus and main educational message. '

Squint Opera have done the visuals for the project and an amazing moving image of the proposal. Found here.

+ Grant Associates
+ Squint Opera

Geometries & Topologies

2009-12-07T16:58:00.016Z

Last week we had a separate brief from the current design projects: to create as a group, two 60sec films demonstrating our given key words.

We met at the BFI on the Southbank, and our group was given an interesting topic for the location.

Geometry: the pure mathematics of points and lines and curves and surfaces

Topology: topographic study of a given place
Both definitions from the freedictionary.com

Film one was to be uncut, and played at the speed it was filmed.....First site was the skate park found under the Purcell Rooms. Unfortunately the film size is too large to upload but I will get onto resizing this for upload soon.

Film two was to demonstrate more, the key words given. It could be cut with sound and other media. We decided to take a walk along the Southbank from the BFI to the Tate Modern, recording images of all the geometries and related typologies along the route.

Pillow talk

2009-12-06T20:06:00.004Z

I should know about these things but I was so impressed recently when buying spare pillows that the polyester filling is made from recycled plastic bottles.

A few clicks and I found a website called Wrap, which describes the various uses of recycled plastic products, and M&S is mentioned as one of the companies that use recycled products in their product ranges.

I'm pleased things like this are indicated on products, hopefully it brings home the importance of recycling.

Focus 1 - November 2009

2009-11-21T12:19:00.005Z

Last week our London branch of the field study took us back down to the Embankment to look at and record waterfront landscapes.

We headed off first to Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens or Spring Gardens, which hold quite an interesting history. The gardens opened in 1661, and were most popular during the early 1800's, with various entertainment activities including faires, hot air balloon ascents, fountains and fireworks. I found it to be quite a bland space, surrounded by housing and with the Vauxhall City Farm on one end. It didn't feel unsafe since there wasn't very much inthe way of shrub planting or hiding space but there was something about the absence of people during the day that made me think I would rather take a detour than walk through there at night. Either way it seemed well maintained and clean.

The City Farm is a great example of a community taking ownership of their environments to create a facility for their pleasure and purpose. The squatters on thsi site in the 70's grew their own vegetables and looked after livestock.

Our next stop was Harleyford Road Community Garden which links to Bonnington Square Gardens, both for me such inspirational community spaces. The central square of Bonnington Gardens was going to be turned into a car scrap yard after the war, and the local residents, a mix of squatters, home owners and tenants, joined forces to oppose the council's scrap yard decision and proposed a community garden. From its conception it was so successful, people living around the square started planting window boxes and greening the streets, creating bespoke street planters. Today it is a garden of Eden.....I was completely blown away at how beautiful it is.....the atmosphere is amazing, even in the last few days of autumn, the street is awash with leafyness. Brilliant precedent for greening streets, for the local community by the local community. A guy called Drake, local resident and landscape architect gave us an overview of the area, and what they had to deal with over the years with the council etc......the website is worth looking at too with some interesting stuff in the byelaws.

Finally we took the Tate to Tate boat which gave me time to take in the tight birch planting around the Tate Modern, a project of Vogt Landscape Architects who I worked for in the summer.

+ Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens (Spring Gardens)
+Vauxhall City Farm
+ Gross Max
+ Bonnington Square Gardens
+ Harleyford Road Community Garden
+ Vogt Landscape Architects

Dig for Victory

2009-11-15T11:41:00.010Z

This year's module of Management Plan and Extended essay have had me doing much research for each, and a few topics here and there form parallels and inform both of these documents. One of which is the Dig for Victory Campaign from the 40's. Second World War and it's effects on food securities saw the Ministry of Agriculture's 'survival' campaign to get people growing. Private and public spaces were transformed in an urban growing initiative consisting of mini allotments.

A photo that has surfaced on a few occasions in a couple of books is this below of farming in Kensington Gardens: http://cwr.iwm.org.uk/upload/img_100/D_008334_Dig_for_victory_in_Kensington_Gardens.jpg

The postal propaganda is brilliant...of all easily searchable images, the graphic design is so subtle but so in-yer-face with a massive message. People were very encouraged and in the article on 'Home Sweet Home', by 1943 over a million tons of vegetables were grown in gardens and allotments. Modern day propaganda and graphics still use similar formats.

In 2004 I went to the Stay Gold Gallery in Brooklyn, right in the eve of the Republican Convention and New York's streets were transformed with anti-Republican poster campagin by various well respected and outspoken artists.

Both the types of graphics and the messages behind them, from today's 40's inspired and the original campaigns, have parallels with these particular years' themes of troubled times. While the messages from the Second World War era, minus internet and fountains of information sources as we have today, reached so many people, our population numbers now (as well as so many other factors) have meant that these messages don't neccessarily get it accross to the responsive audience they require to make changes happen. The naked cowboy is in there because he too, has a message.

A couple personal favourites with witty and inspirational stuff are Shepard Faiery and futura 2000. Good websites which keep you for at least a half hour.

+ home sweet home

+ Stay Gold Gallery

Focus 1 - Teach-In: 2012 Imperative - Day 2 Workshops

2009-10-13T18:42:00.004+01:00

Day 2 of the Teach-in was an organised day of workshops at the participating universities and colleges. All of the students were to work together on various schemes and initiatives suggested by their tutors or themselves which will create awareness or change for their local community/ies in adapting to climate change.

The group I worked in looked at creating a community supported vertical urban farm. We had a lot of good input from various Kingston tutors who joined the workshop, as well as sustainability rep's and also local residents who are involved in various schemes in and around Kingston.

Below is a flow chart I created with the help of a group member, which using the context of the a south facing building of our campus - Knight's Park - describes the processes involved in creatinf this vertical farm, supported by students and supplying produce to the canteen.

The Brixton Pound

2009-10-12T20:18:00.004+01:00

Transition Town Brixton is one of the most successful community-led initiatives seeking to raise local awareness of Climate Change and Peak Oil. They propose that it's better to design that change, reduce impacts & make it beneficial than wait to be surprised by it. As is the template for all Transition Towns, they vision a better low energy/carbon future for Brixton. A Brixton Energy Descent Action Plan is being designed - the route-map to the future and the intentions are to make it happen.

A Transition Town considers the challenges of the future as opportunities to rethink the way we do everything, to reconnect with our planet and our community and to relocalise. Themed working groups are formed to vision and plan a transition to a better low energy future in food, health, work, culture etc. Localisation is key and will require that we rediscover many lost skills. TTBrixton aims to be inclusive, imaginative, practical and fun. And to build a local community that is more interconnected, resilient and self-reliant. http://www.site.transitiontownbrixton.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71&Itemid=53

Much to the Brixton community's excitement, on Thursday 17 September Transition Town Brixton launched the Brixton Pound. 800 people pledged to convert more than £12,000 into 'money that sticks to Brixton.' More than 70 businesses had signed up to accept B£s.

What I find interesting, is that quite a few people I know who live and work in Brixton, have been quite unaware of this new and exciting achievement. These are not people living with their heads in the ground, but involved, open-minded and aware 30-somethings, and while some have overheard younger neighbours speaking of this 'Brixton money' others have very little knowledge of what is happening on their doorsteps. Since I don't live in Brixton, I cannot speak of how the message has been spread. What I do know, is that thanks to my current educational position, I am exposed more to these sorts of movements, and as mentioned in a previous post, I am becoming actively involved in my own neighbourhood's Transition Town movement (http://ttkensaltokilburn.ning.com/) and will sure as hell make sure everyone knows about it!

See a video here about the Brixton Pound: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brq1NY2tiWA&feature=player_embedded

+ Transition Town Brixton
+ The Brixton Pound

Focus 1 - Teach-In: 2012 Imperative

2009-10-12T20:03:00.008+01:00

The first Focus Week of this year and we were invited to take part in a one day set of presentations by pretty influential folk, aimed at invoking changes in the way University and College curriculums adapt teachings to climate change, through ecological literacy.

It took place at the Lecture room at the V&A on Monday 12 October. Organised by Jody Boehnert (established EcoLabs in 2006 and also co-founded Transition town Brixton) the various presenters each had some really interesting things to say, and an enthusiatic outlook in changing they way we and future students are taught.

I think the most important lesson to be learned from the day, was about changes happening from the bottom up. Curriculums and the issues surrounding changing these are swamped in beauracracy and red-tape......we cannot rely on governments to adapt at the speeds we need them to.

Below are some of the websites of associated peoples who spoke at the Teach-in:

+ Teach-in

+ Eco-labs

+ Climate Safety

+ New Economics Foundation

+ Doors of Perception

+ Tactical Technology Collective

Focus 1 - Serpentine Pavillion 2009

2009-10-12T19:30:00.008+01:00

I visited the latest Serpentine Gallery Pavillion of 2009 before it closed on a gorgeous Autumn sunny day. Designed by Kazuyo Sejima & Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA Architects.

They describe their structure as: ‘The Pavilion is floating aluminium, drifting freely between the trees like smoke. The reflective canopy undulates across the site, expanding the park and sky. Its appearance changes according to the weather, allowing it to melt into the surroundings. It works as a field of activity with no walls, allowing uninterrupted view across the park and encouraging access from all sides. It is a sheltered extension of the park where people can read, relax and enjoy lovely summer days.’

I really liked its delicateness, the organic curves, and the reflective peacefulness of such a simple structure. I think I may have read some bad reviews when it first was constructed but as with everything, it's all a matter of personal choice.

+ Serpentine Pavillion

+ SANAA

Radical Nature

2009-10-12T18:48:00.005+01:00

Went to Radical Nature at the Barbican on Sunday....I'd been seeing the posters up when I take the tube every now and then and thought it time I go and have a look before it finishes. I have to say it was such a let down, a real shame.

I remembers going to this exhibition space at the Barbican a few years ago to see the Future Cities exhibition and that was unbelievable. Some really exciting projects and models and a sense of real organisation. That was not the case with Radical Nature. First of all taking photographs was not allowed which I thought to be unquestionably stupid, especially considering there was nothing really original or amazing being exhibited.

While to some it may be considered art, and with all due respect to the artist, I thought Henrik Håkansson's Fallen Forest was a waste of space and good plants. They have been on display since June and seemingly struggling to stay alive. I don't think this could be a realistic template for vertical planting, it may make more sense to keep to planting that will gravitationally survive.

The hydroponic system in the centre of the room of Tomas Saraceno, entitled Flying Garden, I found interesting, nonetheless that the plants here too were pretty much on their last legs. It did remind me of a project I posted months back of the Parisian hydroponic Living Green house of R&Sie Architects for the white which (found here). I understand that this is an exhibition but I think in order to keep it a successful piece, it needs to be properly maintained since it is situated indoors. Just my opinion.

Aside from that, the others were really forgettable, some vegetable patches, a mirrored room for the inhabitat with a tiny garden. Upstairs there were some interesting projects from designers of yesteryear.

I loved the handdrawn images of Newton Fallis' Autopia (1978) and also Wolf Hilbertz's Autopia: Internalised Oceanic (1985). (A beautiful image can be found here)

Agnes Denes' Wheatfield and Tree Mountain were the most inspirational for me. In 1982, she carried out what has become one of the best-known environmental art projects when she planted a two-acre field of wheat in a vacant lot in downtown Manhattan. Titled, Wheatfield - A Confrontation, the artwork yielded 1,000 lbs. of wheat in the middle of New York City to comment on "human values and misplaced priorities". The harvested grain then traveled to 28 cities worldwide in "The International Art Show for the End of World Hunger" and was symbolically planted around the globe.

As part of Agnes Denes' Wheatfield exhibition, Paris-based experimental architects EXYZT re-created the Wheatfield on a smaller site with a very different backdrop, in part of an abandoned railway line at The Dalston Junction Eastern Curve. The Dalston Mill was also designed by the Parisian architects, as a temporary structure created in 2008 with Sara Muzio for the Architecture Foundation which was based around the idea of "a community of users actively creating and inhabiting their urban environment [as] key to generating a vibrant city". Both pieces in fact form a temporary functional ensemble and eventually the mill will be processing grains from the field when the wheat is ready to be harvested. More inforamtion about the Dalston Wheatfield and Mill can be found at http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2009/07/the-dalston-mill-wheatfield.php

+ The Barbican

+ EXYZT

Focus 1 - Community Involvement

2009-10-07T23:22:00.007+01:00

Harnessing the skills and knowledge of residents of any area is vitally important to the overall success and community spirit of any area. This was a large part of learning for me in a technical and theoretical project for Dalston's Gillett Square in 2nd year's second semester.

I've recently come across an article which highlights ideas exchange and what they are calling Crowd Sourced Initiatives to create a more 'livable' New York City. It's basically a call by Obama's government for open-source programming and city governance to come together and start accepting the importance of working together rather than against or independantly of one another, in order the create better neighbourhoods.

This US initiative is about exchanging ideas and visualising space digitally, it shows that urban planning using crowd-sourced development, public data libraries, and web forums results in an idea exchange needed to make smart and case-specific decisions about the needs of a community. There are a few sites mentioned in the article worth looking at: http://connectingnyc.org/, http://openplans.org/ and http://www.oasisnyc.net/.

Here in the UK, our community-led regeneration initiatives and schemes are very similar, with the general consensus being that they are intelligent, efficient and sustainable. They incorporate knowledge, creativity and social capital. While bureaucracy has in the recent past, viewed these sort of initiatives as oppositional movements, and resulted in their decline, it is becoming more apparent that these schemes are incredibly important to the growth of every community. We are now seeing, especially in the wake of ecominic crises, community-led programmes such as Transition Town movements, with really positive results.

This year I plan to focus my attention and whatever spare time I may find, to get involved in my own neighbourhood's trnasition town movement - http://ttkensaltokilburn.ning.com/. The idea behind transition towns is about neighbourhoods and local communities becoming less oil dependent, localised and ultimately self-sustaining. This can include anything from community markets, skills sharing and lending green space for food growth. Watch this space!

+ inhabitat
+ oasisNYC
+ connectingNYC.org
+ the open planning project (TOPP)
+ transition towns
+ Kensal to Kilburn Transition Town

Back to Reality

2009-10-07T22:36:00.002+01:00

Work Experience #2

2009-10-07T22:23:00.005+01:00

The second spell of work experience was spent with Townshend Landscape Architects, in Old Street. A very different scenario from Vogt, although none the less a good learning experience.

The office is involved in various large and medium scale projects, UK based and abroad. My duties over the two weeks were to help each team in whatever was required, whether it be researching, putting together indesign presentations, or various CAD related jobs.

What I did appreciate about Townshend, is their design process, with much site and contextual analyses. I feel I was able to walk away and be much clearer of what is expected of me as a graduating landscape architect.

The only shame was that I didn't get to spend much time with various people in the office, nor ask as much as I'd wanted to - the workload for everyone was massive. Either way, a much appreciated experience.

+Townshend Landscape Architects

Work experience #1

2009-09-01T11:47:00.011+01:00

August has been my work experience month, with the first week spent at Vogt Landscape Architects in Borough. While the location is amazing (right above and overlooking Borough Market) the office is small and busy.

Unfortunately I only had a week with Vogt since I'd secured 2 weeks with another practice after. However in the week I was there, I worked with a lovly Columbian product designer turned landscape architect - Maria. Vogt's approch to almost all of their designs, is to make models first. Maria left me to make a 1:20 model section of an embankment - retaining wall - filtration pond - concrete wall - path - embankment, for a major project the company is working on. Since model making is not always top of my list when it comes to the design process, it was brilliant experience to spend the time doing something physical and tangible.

The point of the model was to make decisions on the concrete wall, what finishes they want and gradients of the embankment. (which the client had changed from one to one then back to the first one again)

Plaster cast in its mold waiting to dry. Man standing for scale 1:20.

Results of the plaster wall - with exposed aggregate finish.

Plant population.

Gravel detail.

This is the section of the main model (1:50) that I was reproducing at 1:20.

The 1:50 model.

In a short week, I learned a lot....did some other research for the company and spoke to various suppliers. If I had the opportunity, I'd definitely consider a company like Vogt. Thanks to them all.

Vogt Landscape Architects

Bamboo Taxi!

2009-07-10T12:47:00.006+01:00

A small city in the Philippines, Tabontabon, has a mayor with the right idea. Rustico Balderian has commissioned two taxi's constructed of 90% bamboo, which run on coconut biodiesel. While the city is home to about 10,000 people, two taxi's won't get everyone from A-B but it is setting the right precident for tropical countries with an abundance of natural resources that can be utilised in this manner to improve fuel-efficiency, safety on the roads, and increase environmentally and aethetically friendly transport.

They are just brilliant and I can imagine all the tropical places I have travelled to incorporating their own individual styles into versions of these cute, ingenious taxis.

An article about Tabontabon Organic Transport Industry can be found here - Toti eco

+images courtesy of inhabitat

Barbican Urban Farm - Squint Opera

2009-07-01T11:00:00.004+01:00

Following on from the Urban Farm installation at PS1, Squint Opera have worked on imagery for an Urban Farm on the rooftops at the Barbican.

Urban farming is the topic of June's issue of Icon Magazine.

Queens Urban Farm @ PS1

2009-06-30T13:49:00.003+01:00

PS1 gallery in Queens, New York City has opened an urban farm installation. 50 types of vegetables in 280 cardboard tubes filled with soil are installed on the roof of the gallery.

An irrigation system that makes use of collected rainwater waters the plants and is heated by 16 solar panels. It is estimated that there is enough surplus power to run a mobile-phone charging station and a sound and video column.

People on the ground can look through a periscope over the growing plants, which are lifted 12m in the air.

Hooray for urban agriculture.

+images courtesy of iconeye

High Line is open!

2009-06-13T09:43:00.004+01:00

Ten years in the making, New York city's High Line is finally open and providing New Yorkers with yet another green space, ready for summer!

The City of New York is full of parks - in fact, there are 1700! There are the enormous parks (Central, Prospect, Flushing) with medium-sized offerings (Bryant, Madison Square), and not forgetting little pocket parks everywhere like Stuyvesant and Washington Market. People such as Jane Jacobs and Jan Gehl would be the first to advocate green spaces for great cities.

On a newly renovated stretch of an elevated promenade that was once a railway line for delivering cattle — surrounded by the community activists, elected officials and architects who made the transformation happen — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg cut a red ribbon on Monday morning to signify that the first phase of the High Line is finished and ready for strolling.

As you can imagine with such an eagerly anticipated event such as this, there are plenty of online reports dedicated to its opening:

The New York Times has posted a great panoramic here.

Treehugger and the Daily Green have put up slideshows here and here.

The Huffington Post added some great aerial shots here.

+ main image courtesy of inhabitat.

Lego Architecture

2009-05-29T13:03:00.008+01:00

Brilliant...for all those of us growing up with Lego, the new edition for adults is out, with licensed Frank Lloyd Wright LEGO sets. Created in conjunction with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Brickstructures, Inc. and the LEGO Architecture brand, the first two sets in the series are The Guggenheim and Fallingwater.

Other structures soon to be Lego-ed are the Sears Tower, the Empire State Building, the Seattle Space Needle and the Burj Dubai Tower.

+ images courtesy of independent online

2009 Design Projects Submission

2009-05-21T12:29:00.006+01:00

Project pdf's have been uploaded to scribd.com. These are both submissions for May 2008/9.

The Wey & Arun Re:Visit is as the name suggests; we revisted the site a season and a semester later with a brief to either continue and compliment our first proposal, or create something new since seeing it with fresh eyes. My proposal compliments the first, looking at transition towns as precident and proposing a site that is self-sustaining for the local community, with productive woodlands, coppiced woodlands and wildflower meadows to provide fuel. The second proposal addresses more the continuity and the issues relating to regenerating this section of canal, as well as focussing on creating a biodiverse 'hotspot'.

Wey & Arun Re:Visit - http://www.scribd.com/doc/15685947/13Wey-Arun-ReVisit-Final-Presentation

The PLAY Module was a live project in Richmond - Hampton Hill Junior School. The caretaker's house attached to the school was redesigned to incorporate an Adult Learning Centre, and the small garden area between the junior school and ALC was to be redesigned for 2-5 year olds. The project uploaded below is a new submission since I was unhappy with the first proposal and wanted to better the mark from the first submission.

Play: Hampton Hill Junior School Garden Project - http://www.scribd.com/doc/15686671/30PlayResubmissionMay09

Streetlife: Technical & Theoretical Reports

2009-05-21T10:30:00.009+01:00

Part of our landscape module is to write a technical & theoretical report about a landscape project in London. The aim is to help us to engage in research, investigation and critical appraisal to support the technical and theoretical elements of the project.

In the first semester I selected the landscape project at More London by Townshend Landscape Architects. In the second sememster, various east London regeneration projects were selected for us, mine being Gillett Square just off Kingsland High Road in Dalston.

I have uploaded my recent submissions to scribd.com and both can be found here:

More London (semester 1): http://www.scribd.com/doc/16214574/Parklife-Module-More-London-TechnicalTheoretical-Report

Gillett Square (semester 2): http://www.scribd.com/doc/15683450/StreetLife-ModuleGillett-SquareTechnicalTheoretical-Report

Vancouver Vertical Farm

2009-05-19T14:02:00.003+01:00

Paris has competition it seems, (as do many other world-wide cities) since The City of Vancouver has ambitious plans to become the most sustainable city in the world.

Vancouver based Romses Architects have designed a vertical urban farm, complete with a tower for growing fruits and vegetables, livestock grazing plane, boutique dairy farm, commercial space, transit lines, renewable energy and more. Entitled the Harvest Green Tower, Romses proposal is that it has the potential to be a food growing, energy producing, living, breathing sustainable transit hub.

The tower consists of interlocking tubes that grow various fruits and vegetables, house chickens and contain an aquaponic fish farm. A rainwater cistern is at the top of the tower to collect and water all the plants and animals. At the base of the tower is a livestock grazing plain, as well as a bird habitat and boutique sheep and goat dairy facility. At the ground level is a grocery store, farmer’s market and restaurant.

Renewable energy is produced from rooftop mounted wind turbines and photovoltaic glazing on the building with the additional help of geothermal heat pumps and also methane generation from composting.

This spring Vancouver held the FormShift Vancouver Competition to develop and improve the city’s livability through greener, denser developments. The Harvest Green Tower received an honorable mention in the Primary category for a mixed use primary (arterial) site along a major Vancouver street.

+images courtesy of Romses Architects
via inhabitat

Urban agriculture for NY

2009-05-19T13:18:00.005+01:00

Still in keeping with the Extended essay topic choice for 2009/10, I may consider Urban agriculture as an option. There is a lot of precedent of current day urban farms found in cities such as central London and Cuba as well as historical models of urban farms such as Machu Picchu. As well as these, there are future models for urban farming that might be a little out of this world for now, but could be changing our skylines in the not too distant future.

One of these is the latest concept design from Vincent Callebaut Architects - The Dragonfly. It has been designed with the intention of easing the ever-increasing need for ecological and environmental self-sufficiency in the urban cityscape. The proposed development, designed around the Southern bank of Roosevelt Island in New York, follows a vertical farm design which, it is hoped, would cultivate food, agriculture, farming and renewable energy in an urban setting.

While urban farming has been quite a trendy move for some urban dwellers, there is without a doubt that in boroughs belonging to cities like NYC, what little space is left is disappearing fast. So new growth must come vertically.

The Dragonfly spans 132 floors and 600 vertical meters, and accommodates 28 different agricultural fields for the production of fruit, vegetables, grains, meat and dairy. The concept scheme outlines that it's inhabitants are responsible for cultivation and along with a combination of solar and wind power, it becomes %100 self sufficient.

Offices, research labs, housing, and communal areas are interspersed between orchards, farms, and production rooms. Plant and animal farming is arranged throughout the Dragonfly’s steel and glass set of wings so as to maintain proper soil nutrient levels and reuse of biowaste.

More beautiful CGI imagery is on the architect's website: vincent callebaut architects

+images courtesy of inhabitat

More Veg.itechture

2009-05-17T10:46:00.003+01:00

Green your workspace with a grass mat! These grass squares were designed at the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, Israel, in 2009 as a way to combine nature and architecture. Who needs an S.A.D lamp...

And these mossy bath mats are beautiful....I think I have posted them before but they deserved to be dug up again! I love it...they would be great as shower wall tiles as well. La Chanh Nguyen is the creator.

+ images courtesy of inhabitat

The Green Door

2009-05-15T16:40:00.011+01:00

I absolutely LOVED this entry at last year's Chelsea Flower Show!!

Entitled ‘Midori no Tobira’, which means ‘Green Door’, designer Kazuyuki Ishihara created it with the concept from his childhood, when he created secret bases on his rooftop garden, into which he could escape and enter a new and exciting world.Sedum and moss covers nearly every surface, including the walls and roof, giving it a hidden secret garden feel.

The garden’s green walls and water feature relax visitors and heal tired hearts. The garden is also attractive to, not only people, but also wildlife.

It is like something out of a dream world. So cute, so girly, so fairy tale....I want one.

+ images courtesy of cee

Meghna Residence:living in delta, Bangladesh

2009-05-15T15:40:00.005+01:00

Constructed 2003 - 2005, this 1st cycle winner in the World Architecture Community Awards is a residential building in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In a very densley populated city, this project with residential buildings and single storey houses must be like the garden of Eden.

In the photographs you can see the swimming pool, ghat and garden for big trees at level five. The foral green and sound of water away from the ground - the library & garden at level 3. The courtyard offers privacy & connectivity, while the water layering adds to the Deltaic ambience.

+ images courtesy of WA Com

Elok House - Chang Architects

2009-05-15T15:12:00.006+01:00

'Concrete, glass, timber and steel meet space, light and nature'.

This house is any urban city dweller's dream: to live in a forest setting, at one with nature, and quite possibly an architect’s interpretations of this dream.

This Singaporean house was conceived as a three-dimensional landscape installation, whereby the spaces were then inserted. The space features interchangeable rooms floating in a bigger volume of space with a 2-storey high retaining wall at the rear, transformed into a pebbled waterfall that opens up to the sky. There is also a pond in the living area that collects rainwater.

The house also boasts a rich arrangement of garden types; a kitchen entrance grove of trees, a 2-storey internal enclosure of fern walls to the living spaces, moss pebble entrances to bedrooms. the inhabitants of this house will smell the wet soil in the air, pick and clear up dead leaves while the plants grow and mature. This is part of the design's living, organic quality.

The need for air-conditioning and artificial lighting are reduced thanks to the configurations of the spaces and luxuriant use of plants and water elements, which generate a cool microclimate within the house.

+ images courtesy of WAN

What initally caught my eye with this project was the image of the kitchen above with grove trees growing through the floor to ceiling. I recently travelled to the Yucatan province of Mexico which is reknowned for it's lime stone caves. I snorkled in one and what intrigued me were the roots of trees growing directly through the limestone roof and dangling into the fresh water (see below). I wondered if anyone had used this in a design before and I think this may be the closest I have found yet.

Roof maintenance

2009-05-15T14:51:00.002+01:00

+ image courtesy of vi.sualize.us

Green Paris in 2030

2009-05-15T14:30:00.002+01:00

Last year French President Nicholas Sarkozy called upon ten of Paris' top planning companies to imagine the city in 2030. His plans are to make Paris the most green and environmentally sustainable city in the world.

Urban planning & Architecture firm Castro Denisof Casi has selected a southeastern suburb of Paris with concept images of high-rises lush with greenhouses and rooftop gardens. The buildings would be powered in part by wind and solar energy and connected to the city center by elevated rapid transit.

There is currently an exhibition of the groups ideas and sketches entitled "Le Grand Paris" at the City of Architecture and Heritage (Citi de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine) museum.

+Images courtesy Atelier Castro Denisof Casi

Veg.itecture

2009-05-15T14:10:00.004+01:00

I came across a website called madarchitect.org which had some interesting structural concept by Ken Yeang involving green buildings.

Entitled Veg.itecture it is based on vegetation as the primary component of a building. Ken is one of the most active promoters of this architecture and his designs are considered masterpieces. Most of his buildings are bioclimatic skyscrapers but the technique is not very simple because the structures need sun alignment, adjustment to the climate conditions throughout the year and to make use of lighting and ventilation.

+ images courtesy of madarchitect.org

Elements of a green Roof

2009-05-15T13:50:00.003+01:00

They may be popular interventions of the 21st Century, but green roofs are in fact thousands of years old. The first recorded appearance of a green roof occurred in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon around 500 BC. The site is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

It was the Icelandics who came up with the original design, with constructed houses and sod ceilings and walls. With a lack of natural construction purposes, they made do with what resources were available. The ceilings were usually constructed of turf, but the walls were built up with stone and alternating strips of sod and turf. They realised the green roofs and walls provided extra insulation during weather extremes.

The 18th C Germans constructed green roofs as a sign of wealth and status. They were constructed on the manor houses and castles. The trend then spread across Europe in the 19th century and the first signs of green roofs in the United States occurred in the 20th century in New York City.

With that short introduction I attach an image courtesy of the American Wick Drain Corp showing the elements of Green roofing.

Extended Essay: Year 3 Dissertation

2009-05-15T13:36:00.004+01:00

The summer probably wont be seeing too much of the word 'holiday'. At least not for me.

These coming months will see the preparations for the notorious Dissertation, or Extended Essay as Kingston is calling it, in an attempt to make it sound a little less scary.

I have a few topics in mind, all of which I believe will incite some enthusiasm, interest and most importantly motivation. ITs just chosing which one. I have my heart set on my 1st topic: Greening the Future: Living Walls & Green Roofs. The two others I proposed were: The importance of small/green spaces for urban inhabitants and Damage Control: The role of the landscape architect of the 21st Century.

As they all fit the required criteria of sustaining oneself whilst writing a dissertation, I think my interests lie chiefly in modern urban greening practices of living walls and green roofs.

My following articles over the next few months will find their focus here. I will be doing extensive research on the subject to get things going early.

The joys of being a nerd.

Future movements

2009-05-07T17:43:00.005+01:00

The 4 week Easter break passed in a haze of 2 weeks mad work and 2 weeks lazing in the Mexican sun.

This break away from all things work and uni and more work, allowed me to cast my thoughts to which paths I might see myself following post graduation.

Year two has allowed me the opportunity to widen my vision of what a landscape architect could do. Particularly, the lectures I attended at eco build in March introduced to me some interesting professions. I am quite convinced at this stage that I would like to follow a horticultural and/or ecological path.....

The travels I have made to Madagascar over the last 3 years have enabled me to understand a little bit more about this incredible country and the ecological diversity it has managed to keep separate from the rest of the world for so many years. While there may be a lot of scientists and ecologists working and learning here, landscape architecture expertise is very much required here. There are various large scale mining projects taking place in the south east which are huge masterplanning projects as they are constructing new 'towns' almost, with 1000's of new homes for mine workers. As well as this, there is a huge agricultural farming issue all over the island: traditional practices of razing land to create farms which are killing fauna and flora, most importantly, the world's slowest growing tree - the baobab tree. (6 species of the world's 8 are found in Madagascar)

I found some writing online regarding the fires in Madagascar which was quite interesting -

http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/madagascar.htm

Once I have finished my Landscape architecture undergraduate degree, at this stage I feel I will be working outside the UK. There are some Landscape architects with good philosophies and practice that I would be interested working for, some in the UK and some based elsewhere, but at this stage, who knows.

Some of these practices are:

Grant Associates - Bath

Kinnear Landscape Architects - London

L.D.A - London, Oxford, Peterborough, Exeter

Field Operations - NYC

Gross Max - Edinburgh

Nicholas Pearson Associates - Bath, Tiverton

Hargreaves Associates - London, Cambridge, NYC, San Francisco

Other professional bodies:

Groundwork - UK based offices

Design for London - London

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew - London

Limestone caves - Tulum, Yucatan Province, Mexico

Hillier Tree Nurseries

2009-03-18T22:12:00.006Z

On Wednesday 18 March the landscape students of year 2 visited Hillier Tree Nurseries at their 500 acre site in Hampshire. It was originally arranged for the week of London's snow but rescheduled to March which turned out to be the most glorious 17degree wander in the spring sunshine.

Caroline Swann, Landscape architect and Marketing manager and James Alexander kindly showed us around. We got to see how so many of London's and the UK's trees are grown, from fields of large specimen trees, sculptured multistems and architectural shaped trees of every form, all the bare root trees, root balled, and container grown varieties, getting a real understanding of how these are grown.

We got some tips on how to specify 8 key trees just by looking at their twigs and also see their tree cloning techniques. It was a really inspirational day.

http://www.hilliertrees.co.uk/containergrowntrees.php

Wey & Arun Re:Visit

2009-03-18T19:11:00.011Z

On Friday 6 March we re-visited the Wey & Arun site in Guildford. It was great to return at a different time of the year - the first visit was in October 2008 - and experience it at spring season.

The long grasses that obscured most of the views had been cut back, as were the stinging nettles, surprising most and leaving us with new ideas for revisiting the project and our initial design.

My major issues now, are focussing more on the realities in proposing a canal, the changes in water levels between Cranleigh waters on either side (approx 2-4ft rise and fall), including a lock to deal with the level change, and new proposals for biodiversity and habitat creation.

I 'd like to retain at least part of the productive woodland and coppiced woodland proposed before, but now that the understanding is that the canal is a wet corridor through a wet landscape, a wet productive woodland would be more suited. Doesn't really change the initial selection of foliage - they are all suitable for damp/wet conditions. The foraging aspect will also remain, with the potential to drive towards a sustainable community.

I suppose to sum the project up in a few words/sentences would be 'to create a recreational space with new opportunities for wildlife and habitat creation, whilst allowing the neighbouring community to define open spaces for their own interventions.'

My focus now and over the Easter break is defining what type of edges for the canal, with major consideration to vegetation and bio-engineering, flood prevention using basins and ponds with specific intentions for habitat creation and possible integration of water filtration systems (since the canal will link up with a navigable river). I will carry over elements from the first semester project to compliment the new proposals. Wheeewww.

Some pics of the return to the Wey and Arun below...

Year 1 Portfolio

2009-03-17T12:30:00.004Z

My year one portfolio is too large to embed in the blog so can be found at this link:

http://www.scribd.com/full/13240846?access_key=key-td711ckcz42p5sxo6at

Hampton Hill Junior School

2009-03-13T15:52:00.002Z

Since I am on the pdf upload....below is a proposal for Hampton Hill Junior School's old caretaker's garden. No the caretaker's not old. It's the garden belonging to the house of the ex-caretaker.

Hampton Hill Junior School Client Presentation

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Presentations Academic Work

The whole document with analysis and precident can be found here:

http://www.scribd.com/full/13246185?access_key=key-vxlqs1aw3wt8bmo130y

Year 2: Semester 1 Project: Wey+Arun Canal Regeneration

2009-03-13T12:32:00.004Z

So its taken me ages to get onto uploading pdf's onto blogger. I've found a site called scribd.com where one can upload and then embed the pdf.

The document is too large to embed into the blog so can be found here:

http://www.scribd.com/full/13241096?access_key=key-r9m8i6wnrzpwzjp5vz2

Damage control

2009-03-13T10:58:00.004Z

London (possibly) in the not too distant future.....get yer flippers out.

+ from environment.uk.msn.com

Living wall - Mexico City

2009-03-12T21:38:00.005Z

South America is on the top this week! Another favourite of mine is a gorgeous lush living wall......indoors or outdoors - it just makes a bare wall delicious. This is a restaurant in Mexico City, Restaurant Japoneze, double height ceiling with a glass wall exposing great city views, lots of wood and a beautiful living wall.

Its also great to see the 'trendy' living wall being used for more than just decoration. It is designed too to keep the thermostat steady throughout the year as well as the obvious - cleaning the interior spaces as plants do so brilliantly.

I particularly like the graphics the designers at Serrano Cherrem Architects have produced, simple, clear and effective.

http://www.cheremserrano.com/

+ from inhabitat

Brazil - Sao Paulo Eco Park

2009-03-12T12:19:00.009Z

This is a fantastic and really inspirational project in Brazil I've just come across, very relevant to the seminars I attended at last week's ecobuild regarding building on brownfield sites.

Its based in a dense urban environment in Sao Paulo, Brazil, upon a once contaminated brownfield site which was previously a garbage incinerator. The architects ingeniously designed a deck floating on a stilted steel structure 3 feet above the ground, with the intention of minimizing soil excavation.

The deck is constructed from a Brazilian hardwood, sourced from distributors that follow strict rules on extraction and deforestation, and instead of using other materials for the rest of the park, the designers decided to retain a visual uniformity by using the same hardwood throughout. Rooms appear to grow out of the deck creating a fluid three-dimensionality.

It also features solar panels to produce energy and a water filtering system which I am guessing relates to the picture of the wetland below.

In this urban area, recreational and community facilities make the space an invaluable amenity for the neighbouring communities. They can enjoy music and events under a covered ampitheatre as well as a comminuty centre for eco-centric workshops. Without a doubt the site improves the social and environmental health of the surrounding neighbourhoods and it's inhabitants.

Self Directed Field Study - The Grand Union Canal

2009-03-11T10:03:00.016Z

On Monday 2 March I visited the Grand Union Canal as part of a self-directed field study trip. The aim was to visit a canal that has been regenerated in some way and that will inspire our final project for year 2 - Re:visiting the Wey and Arun canal project.

I chose the Grand Union because of it's character and the very different identities it has along the stretch from Scrubs Lane through to Little Venice. It has a Nature Walk and a small 'Mary Seacole pocket park' near the gas works and Scrubs Lane. Here although it is overlooked by an industrial zone, it feels quite rural, with a wide sky above your head and little traffice noise.

Below is a map I put together showing the different identities of the stretch between Scrubs lane in the north west, moving east to Little Venice.

Once you pass Kensal Green Cemetery and Sainsbury's, it becomes more of an urban canal, with the odd splash of graffiti and denser buildings.....these buildings (aside from the old Virgin building with green lawns) have 'turned their backs' on the canal but the newer developments further down are restricted from doing this and must agree to British Waterways standard of embracing the canal and opening up to it.

The most inspirational part of this trip, was the Meanwhile Gardens Wildlife Garden. I touched on something vaguely similar in my initial Wey and Arun project which was a healing garden for the special needs children of neighbouring Gosden House school. Meanwhile Gardens however works in conjunction with Kensington and Chelsea Mind, an organisation involved in rehabilitating people with drug and alcohol addictions and mental health issues. They are encouraged to help out in a small section of the Wildlife Garden, involved in things such as planting and trimming hedgerows etc.

Aside from this, Meanwhile Gardens is a small (4 acre) urban sanctuary, in an area where a lot of people do not have gardens. It is a wonderfully peaceful space, creating habitats for various species of wildife - birds, insects and microinvertebrates. The history behind it is inspirational too, that a young sculptor 33 years ago looked at the derelict land left over after the council tore down terraced houses, and wantedto build a community garden. The council gave him 'temporary permission' and so he named it 'Meanwhile Gardens'. The gardens prospered and the name stuck and it really is a wonderful place, with access for everyone, the Nature Walks, Moroccan Garden, Meanwhile Skatebowl (oldest in the UK) and the Playhut.

Moving further down the canal brings more mixed housing and residential moorings. A new pathway specifically for cyclists was laid due to the narrowing towpath and heavy moorings. It runs alongside the canal and old church. Marked out with green gravel and a brown pedestrian alongside, it has taken the strain off pedestrians on the small towpath.

There are many things worth mentioning down this end but since Meanwhile is my focus the only other thing I will mention is Rembrandt Gardens at Little Venice - a lovely 'English Garden'....with manicured lawns and enchanting planting. It has wondeful views over the island at Little Venice and so the benches have been laid diagonally facing the canal. Behind some terraced planting climbs the wall and due to the sunken nature of the garden, the traffic surrounding the garden is drowned out.

GU Canal SSFieldTrip

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Academic Work

Earth batteries by Marieke Staps

2009-03-11T09:44:00.003Z

Product designer Marieke Staps has an ingenious way of harnessing power from the hidden energy conducive metals like zinc, copper, iron and microbial fuel cells contained within soils.
The fuel cells (often called the earth batteries) convert the electrolytes in the soil into usable energy.

Marieke Strap's soil lamp uses conductive plates made from copper and zinc buried within the soil to provide constant light for an LED bulb. The Soil Lamp takes pride in its simplicity and innovation, baring all in a transparent bulbous base.

The implications of creating energy from soil are promising - as a free and abundant resource -dirt is accessable to almost everyone in the world, apart from desert or urban jungle dwellers. Due to its naturally occurring conductivity, soil is easily converted into energy that will last far beyond the lifetime of an incandescent bulb, so long and its properly watered.

The Soil Lamp is simple and innovative, with maintenance as simple as watering a plant - just feed it a splash of water every now and then to keep the energy flowing.

In places like London which seemingly has more rainfall than sunshine, the Soil Lamp may be a winner in the sustainable garden light stakes, beating the sun-powered options. If designed on a more large scale, perhaps even street lights and other electrical requiring objects could start using this technology?

ecobuild @ earls court

2009-03-05T18:08:00.006Z

**** INFORMATION OVERLOAD!!! ****

5 amazing seminars over the last two days at ecobuild. I didn't expect to come back as inspired as I am.....I didn't know where to start so thought a hot bath would be best.

Wednesdays attended lectures were:

Lecture 1 - The Future of Urban Trees with Martin Kelly of CapitaLovejoy as the chair, and introducing an interesting history of London's trees. The second speaker was Martin Ennos, Faculty of Life Sciences at Manchester Uni, presenting The Physical Importance of Trees. Thereafter, Rachel Hine of Essex Uni speaking about Health, Wellbeing and the social importance of Nature, and closing, Jim Smith of The Trees and Design Action Group, talking about What are we doing to protect our trees. Many many interesting facts....flood preventions, iTrees project, ASCCUE project in Manchester, cooling potential and potential air pollution reductions.

The Trees and Design Action Group have a website: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7KDEHU and are trying to get as many completed surveys in by 30 April 09 with regards to the loss and protection of London's trees.

Lecture 2 - Outdoors Insight: sustainable public spaces, chaired by Liz Lake, of LiZLake Chartered Landscape Architects + Urban Design. First speaker was Dr Bill Addis, Sustainability Strategic Consultant of Buro Happold, Materials Division. (what a mouthful) who presented information about Sustainability and Landscape Design. A good presentation to remind us landscape students to specify environmentally friendly materials over those that arent. Mentioned the Waste Resources Action Plan - a government initiative: http://wrap.org.uk/construction and gave a lot of very interesting examples of recycled materials used in landscape design. Liz Lake was up next speaking about her hottest personal topic - Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems, and thanks to her I now know exactly what it's all about, and from her presentation have walked away thinking of creative SUDS in current projects. Very informative, definitely not dull and some fantastic examples. Next up, Carolyn Steel, author of Hungry City, How food Shapes our lives.

Sadly she ran out of time as she was getting to the juicy bit but she presented some great images of historical agricultural paintings and maps of london representing the major food transport and market areas, still around today. Mentions of Ebenezer Howard's Garden Cities of Tomorrow, Thomas More's Utopia, Cuba's Organic Urban Farming and Arup's Dontang project of Vertical Farming. Final speaker was Roseanne Law, Director of Urban Design at Arup, presenting their SUDS project at Upton, Northampton. Again, enlightening the urban drainage issue, with very interesting examples which are so so easily incorporated into urban landscape practice and are long-term money saving, habitat creating and environmentally excellent!

Lecture 3 - Floods 'n SUDS. Admittedly this was the first seminar on my list to attend and was the most dull. I had heard far more interesting speakers and seen great examples so inbetween speakers slipped out quietly. The first speaker was from Hydro International, with some good examples of his company's SUDS products. Second up was Jill Thatcher of DEFRA, speaking about Water Quality and the need for SUDS.

Thursday's seminar:

Lecture 4 - Practical Biodiversity: Making it Happen, chaired by Dr Carol Williams of the Bat Conservation Trust, Project Officer. Matt Shardlow of Buglife - Invertebrate Conservation Trust gave a great presentation about the importance of Brownfield sites, what they are, their ecological importance, what's living in them and some positive examples of brownfields and SSSi's. Next up was Tom Webster of the Campaign for Dark Skies. Not really a topic a young landscape architect would consider but I now realise what an important issue this is. There is too much badly used, intrusive lighting in our cities, creating skyglow, glare and a general nuisance ans those are just the effects on humans. Fauna such as bats and seagulls were mentioned to be affected, they dont know the health effects but their behaviour at least is enough to notice. An example of affected flora was a picture of a London Plane tree with a lamppost set amongst it's branches. During winter, the leaves nearest the light were still attached which meant there was still moisture within the leaves and branches which would freeze and kill it during the coldest months. Slovenia is the first country in the world to pass legislation against light pollution.

Next speaker, Graeme Duckworth of the London Wildlife Trust speaking about the Barking Riverside Project. Very interesting what they are planning to do with this brownfield site along the Thames. Dutch Company Max Wang are the masterplanners. Plenty plenty of SUDS in this site with proposed 40% of all roofs to be living roofs. Positive. http://www.barkingriverside.co.uk/ Last speaker was Kate Vincent, Senior Ecologist of Baker Shepherd Gillespie, talking about Provisions for Birds in [urban] Buildings. This again, not a topic I would have considered but so so glad I am now informed. Because of modern urban buildings and redevelopments, the species of urban birds has been on a massive decline. House sparrows, starlings, house martins, swallows, swifts & black redstarts. Each of these birds use houses for either breeding or nesting and her presentation put forward how we can retrofit existing buildings to include bird friendly designs. This in turn creates biodiversity, internal nesting opportunities for the birds we sadly don't see anymore. Some inspirational examples were the Nottinghill Housing Trust, Islington Borough Council offices, London Zoo and a custom made example at Oxford University Tower. Also see http://swift-conservation.org/.

If there are 5 things I have taken away from these lectures to keep in mind for any future designs:

Professionals need to work together to make good things happen - those of the natural environment disciplines & of the built environment.

The use of lighting in any site: is it neccessary and is it correct.

The use trees, current or proposed: right tree, right place, in NATURAL ground with enough space to grow.

Provision for birds and invertebrate habitat creation [falls into the next category]

Creative SUDS systems.......ensuring people and all other species we share our spaces with have a pleasant, safe and sustainable environment to exist in.

That's me....over and out.

Focus: Free lecture series

2009-02-28T12:11:00.007Z

On Friday evening I attented a lecture at Birkbeck University, part of a free lecture series for Spring 09 encompassing all freshwater habitat issues in the UK. This particular lecture was presented by Paul Raven, Head of conservation and Ecology at the Environment Agency in Bristol and entitled 'Getting on with the job: taking practical action for freshwater ecology and conservation'.

The lecture itself could have been extremely dull, but the speaker flew through the Agency info at the start to get to the 'interesting bits' as he calls it. Some of the facts were in fact quite interesting, what the Agency's budget is spent on, top environmental pressures (nitrates, invasive alien species, water asbtraction etc) drivers (EU Biodiversity Strategy 2010, Improving conditions of SSSI's, Climate change adaptation etc) and blueprints & plans for investors and the general public to see how their money is spent.

Client of Environment Agency

There were some interesting examples of work carried out by the Environment Agency, the science behind what they do is a mammoth task: a fair amount of it was bordering on gobbeldegook to me.......Some examples were:

Iron-oxides removed from minewaters in Gwenffrwd, Wales. Dissolved and recovered in early 1990's.

Sheep dipping in Wales: Agency workers had to walk the length of rivers to understand why levels of macro-invertibrates were so low.

Barton Broads-manipulation: Dredging sediment and the science behind it. http://www.ukcpi.org/educ/broadsauthority.html

Barton Broads Picture courtesy of http://www.ukcpi.org/

Flood defences - Calvert of the River Ravensbourne in Lewisham

River Ravensbourne courtesy of http://www.beckenhamplaceparkfriends.org.uk/

The Jubilee River in Maidenhead - flood relief channel creating a new recreational resource with approximately 1000 visitors per week. http://www.maidenhead.net/information/flood.html

The Great Fen - re-instating wetlands, Won £10m Lottery Fund, National Trust. http://www.greatfen.org.uk/index.php

Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) http://www.ciria.org.uk/suds/

And non-native invasive species of plants.........

Japanese Knotweed Courtesy of http://www.lincolntown.org/

A lovely little story that did come up was about improving economic resilience, or maybe it was ecologic, but an example somewhere was putting up barn owl boxes, which found new owners very quickly - see below. The management regime of the area in question changed and so was managed better.

Barn owls courtesy of www.bioweb.uncc.edu

The Phoenix Garden

2009-02-27T15:22:00.006Z

Today I thought I would spend a little bit of time in the most peaceful urban community park I know and love - The Phoenix Garden.

Situated just off the madness of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road, and overlooked by St. Giles-in-the-Fields parish church, it is a wonderful little haven of seasonal blooms, butterflies and bees and friendly gardeners.

The garden is managed privately by volunteers as a community garden so it's not in itself a 'public' park but is open to everyone, with 4 simple rules: No Drugs, No alcohol, No dogs and No bikes. One of the gardners said it's been there since the early 80's, 1984 to be exact, and was built on the site of a car park. It it the last surviving of Covent Garden's original 7 community gardens and is leased from the London Borough of Camden for a 'peppercorn' rent. [In legal terminology, a peppercorn is a very small payment, used to satisfy the requirements for the creation of a legal contract. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peppercorn_(legal)]

There are many species of birds passing through the garden, as well as central London's largest population of common frogs (probably) and various other little insects and invertebrates. The head gardner Chris is very proud of their habitat creation in the garden and so they should be. Londoners should be far more focussed in habitat-creation when designing terraces, balconies and roof gardens. In February 2008 the GLA issued a technical report on living roofs in the capital so there is hopeful support. Urban honey is supposedly much more tasty than country honey because of the concentration of various flowers....but thats a whole other honey pot....

The Phoenix Garden has a great little website, with some really interesting historical information [and photos and maps] about the site and vicinity dating right back to the 12th Century! http://www.thephoenixgarden.ik.com

They organise various events throughout the year including 'grow your own' - seasonal planting workshops and various other little quirky tea parties etc....and more importantly volunteer days to help out. [See their website for more info.]

It really is an inspiration to see a place that has literally grown out of the rubble, bring so much hope and happiness to the neighbourhood residents, workers and passers through...reading the comments page on the site is enough.

Kastrup Sea Bath

2009-02-26T11:49:00.005Z

This beautiful structure is found on Kastrup Strandpark, Kastrup, and is free and open to the public to use.

It has a long wooden pier leading up to the circular building elevated above the sea surface, and ends in a 5m diving platform. There is also an annex with a dressingroom and showers, all accessible for everyone, disabled included.

The Bath is a sculptural dynamic form seen from the beach, the sea and the air. Its silhouette changes as the beholder moves around it. The circular shape creates an interior sheltering the users from any winds, and also concentrates the sun. It opens up towards the beach connecting and inviting visitors inside. There is additional rest and leisure space with a continuous bench running along the pier. Just gorgeous....

The main materials used are Azobé wood, known for its durability in sea water. It stands about a meter out of the water, and consists of 870 m² wooden deck, 70 m² changing facilities and 90 m² service building on land. There are also galvanised iron railings, better than alternatives but not sure how long these hold up against the oxidising sea air. Perhaps wood would have been a better choice.

Lighting for this structure brings a new dynamic at night, emphasizing the sculptural architectural design.

Two lines of LED spotlights run along the pier, leading into the most important lighting element - a series of large uplights lighting the interior side of the semicircular wall. Light reflection from these walls then indirectly lights the whole basin space and its dynamic shape can be seen from the surroundings.

As the light reflecting wall reaches its crescendo, there is a dramatic contrast of blue light coming from behind the open staircase and diving platforms.

Everything about this sea bath is great....its material quality, the obvious sculpural shape and protection it provides, and of course that it's free to the public, but another fantastic point is its availability and use for everyone, young and old, able and disabled, and it's design allowing for playful peaceful day or evening swims or maybe a morning intense exercise.

All photos and plans courtesy of http://www.plataformaarquitectura.cl and http://www.archdaily.com/2899/kastrup-sea-bath-white-arkitekter-ab/

The trolley hotline

2009-02-26T11:19:00.005Z

An article I came across this week in the papers...its quite relevant in some way to our re:visit to the Wey and Arun Canal - pollution. Granted this type of pollution is more of an urban canal problem, and since I am focussing my self directed study next week along the Paddington branch of the Grand Union Canal, I know it to be something of a problem here. In fact just the other day I cycled past a scooter in the canal. Damn!

Ladbroke Grove Sainsbury's has recently put up bollards at the canal entrance/exit which if you have a bicycle is frustrating to get in and out but if it saves another dump in the canal then great.

So the trolley issue has now led British Waterways to set up a trolley hotline, members of the public can log into: www.britishwaterways.co.uk/trolley and let them know where they've seen a canal trolley or otherwise call them.

It's an estimated £150, 000 cost, fishing out approximately 3000 trolleys a year from canals. British Waterways conducted a survey and asked 1991 people what they thought, with 86% of them saying that the 320 supermarkets near the UK's canals should be more responsible for removing the trolleys and also be implementing more measures to keep this from happening.

The article can be found here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/7907013.stm

Asphalt Spot by R&Sie Architects

2009-02-24T13:00:00.007Z

This is another inspirational project from R&Sie Architects featured in the 'Urban Witch' article below. Their architecture often appears to have emerged from the landscape, consisting of forms that appear to drift or which mutate and clone elements found nearby.

It is an outdoor exhibition space inside a sloped, twisted carpark, that rises and dips and leaves cars under the tarmac exposed.....it's an art piece in itself.

Completed in 2003, Asphalt Spot was part of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 2003 – a cultural festival that saw 157 artists and architects from 23 countries produce 224 artworks in the Shinano Basin of Niigata Prefecture.

It was commissioned by the Art Front Gallery in the nearby town of Tokamashi as an exhibition venue with integrated visitor facilities and 20 parking places. Along with the parking, it has 300m2 of exhibition space and also public facilities.

The underside is punctuated by a forest of leaning concrete columns that hold up the car park above, and along with the ceiling have been covered in canvas sleeves. The building straddles a steep incline between a road and the lower-lying fields, creating a new topography linking the two levels. The undulating surface is even criss-crossed by fences similar to those used to divide fields.

The area is one of Japan's main rice-producing areas and has suffered increasing de-population in the last few years, and this triennal was intended to attract visitors to the region.

http://www.new-territories.com/asphalt%20spot%20realized.htm

Photos courtesy of http://www.dezeen.com

White witch in Paris

2009-02-24T12:16:00.005Z

This is a brilliant article I have recently come across about a Parisian ‘urban witch’ who feeds her living house with a drop-by-drop hydroponics system through 300 glass-blown pods, which collect rainwater for irrigation.

A potion of rainwater and plant nutrients nourishes the 1200 ferns drop-by-drop throughout the year. The houseplants are entirely hydroponic, and completely engulfing the 1400 square foot concrete home. The blanket of ferns protect the house from outside elements and regulate its inside temperature, with added insulation coming from high density PU foam layers sprayed and covered by geo-textile, all the while adding life and freshness to the neighbourhood.

I did wonder why the architects built the house out of concrete and not something more suited to the sustainable style of this amazing house. Some of the photos in the slideshow below are great - showing the tubes feeding from the house to the glass-pods, like some weird science experiement.

The architects R&Sie have an interesting website, with a few more details of the house and also gigantic spider’s nest they've built and conceptualized as well as an alchemist’s greenhouse for experiementing with toxic plants. Have a look: http://www.new-territories.com/Defaut2.htm

I would love her as my neighbour....interesting cups of tea no doubt.

West London's own Living Wall

2009-02-24T11:10:00.007Z

Our Focus weeks are designed for us to visit sites, take part in voluntary work, research design practice or attend seminars or lectures, all in aid of furthering our personal direction within the course, and also in our futures of landscape architecture.

I started off visiting the new living wall at Westfiled Shopping Centre in Shepherd's Bush. This got me really excited! I really am a sucker for a green wall or roof.....

The wall is formed like a wave, gently flowing its way down along the path. At it's base is a water feature of layered granite, with flush lighting creating a lovely atmosphere at night.

I have been reading Jan Gehl's Life Between Buildings and actually just got to the seating part in the book. Jan talks about how people do not like to sit in public with their backs exposed, and how built-in seating or areas that were non-designed sometimes are the best design. Applying this to the wall and fountains, I do think the Landscape Architects EDAW had this in mind as the base of the water feature makes for perfect seating, and while it weaves it's way down, the curves are enough to allow for a semi-private chat.

With regards to the planting, EDAW originally specified two-litre plants, then upgraded to 10 and 20 litre specimens to make it look better, with stock sourced from Tendercare and planted up all within a week of it's official opening by London mayor Boris Johnson.

I love it, I am jealous of it, I am so pleased it's close to my home. I will be there in summer!

Naughty puppies...

2009-01-27T17:14:00.001Z

love this.......click to play

http://www.itsartmag.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1641

Tavistock Road Garden Project

2009-01-14T15:01:00.004Z

July 2006

My partner in crime (!) bought a gorgeous basement apartment in Westbourne Park who's garden had sadly suffered the concrete finger.....With a nasty oversized fountain right in the middle which did absolutely nothing for the space. So £300 post E-bay sale and some new soil and grass......I got stuck in. On the rainiest bank holiday weekend possible.

Over a year on and the garden is amazing. We learn as we go by. Sadly the grass doesn't have enough drainage so we will probably dig it up in the next few weeks and re-lay it. And since removing the 2 fir trees and a very large overhanging Eucalyptus, the surrounding plants are growing beautifully.

And the friendly red-breasted robin seems to agree.

Battersea Power Station

2009-01-14T14:42:00.004Z

Sifting through some old photo's...I found these great pictures of Battersea Power station, taken whilst working for Rafael Vinoly Architects before starting at university.

As RVA won the Battersea Power Station competition, I was invited to go on a quick visit one day to see the site. It really is such an amazing structure...and even in its shell of a state, there are still reminders of the building's history.

In the main area, murals of 40's inspired social activity oddly appear on the wall....as if this room could have once been a large dance hall! And onto another floor, the power room - hundreds of dials under most of London's streetnames...a gloomy atmosphere which once would have been a busy hub in this incredible building.

The proposals for the site are interesting. Initial concepts that won Vinoly the competition would probably shock a lot of Londoner's....no surprise then that they will not continue with these proposals. When the scheme is complete, the development will be home to some 7,000 new residents and up to 13,000 new jobs will be created. 3,500 homes will be built on the site and 2,500 jobs will be created during the construction phase. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2012 and the development will be complete by 2020 – subject to timescales through the planning process.

http://www.battersea-powerstation.com/?gclid=CI_DxtGljpgCFSVPEAod-Xu9Dw

Focus - Kew Gardens Visit

2009-01-12T22:01:00.011Z

The last Focus visit of 2008 was to Kew Gardens for a guided walk around this gorgeous wintery setting. The Palm House was the first and last 'warm up' stop...well positioned. We had a guide who had an interesting story about Capability Brown's promenade along the Thames overlooking Syon House - the place to be seen back-in-the-day.

The Gardens are always a delight, at any time of the year. A crisp, sunny winter day is especially lovely..the naked skeletal trees so graceful.

Two thirds of Kew staff are scientists, the other third are horticulturalists.

Kew has 10% of the world's plants in seed form stored in West Sussex. visitors are welcome 363 days of the year. http://data.kew.org/save-a-species/seed-bank.html.

The Gardens had a Christmas tree recycling deal giving tree bearers a two-for-one-entry.

Lost in Paris

2008-12-03T13:17:00.013Z

Well not really. Just my camera with the fabulous photo's of this gorgeous stimulating city. So all images below are of the main weekends attractions.

Eurostar over on the Friday and out onto the Champs Elysees, all lit up in festive lights. Hidden around the corner is boutique hotel Pershinghall on 49, rue pierre charron. We had a fabulous dinner at their stunning Pershinghall Restaurant (http://www.pershinghall.com/), reinvented by internationally acclaimed French designer and Interior Architect Andree Putman, who along with my favourite man of horticulture - Patrick Blanc (http://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/) - transformed a small, non-event courtyard into a spectacular Parisian version of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, ...very chic and very Parisian, and of course lots of beautiful people.

http://www.jpmoser.com/images/pershinghall/p-pershinghall1.jpg

http://images.france-for-visitors.com/images/large/pershing-hall-vertical-garden.jpg

Saturday was an all day-event at the Pompidou Centre. (http://www.cnac-gp.fr/) cultural capital of Paris. The building was designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, leaving structural and movement flow systems such as the escalators freeing up interior space for museum and activity areas. There are fantastic views over Paris from the 5th floor viewing area and while the restaurant may be tempting, it may only be worth visiting to see the organic forms buit within. The service on our day was awful, and save the loo visit for the museum. (PS: wear proper shoes)

http://z.about.com/d/architecture/1/7/m/j/pompidou.jpg

Ron Arad's No Discipline exhibition on the first floor is an amazing restrospective of his works, prototypes accompanied by audiovisual documents, limited series and mass-produced objects, along with numerous architectural projects. (http://www.ronarad.com/) I would highly recommend seeing this - on until the 16 March 2009.

http://www.espacio.co.uk/cgi-bin/products/images/chairs/MT3_rocking-chair.jpg

http://www.art2bank.com/london_art_news/pics/Ron_Arad_Tiothy_Taylor_London_Gallery.jpeg

We didn't use them but it was good to finally see the Parisian rent-a-bikes in the flesh. (or the metal) Comfortable and clever, they have everything a city bike needs, basket, built in lights and can be found everywhere. Since the metro stops at about 2am, you will find there may be a small queue at the pay machine after the local bar shuts.....We saw three on one bike. Probably not even possible during daylight hours.

www.treklens.com/.../France/photo395520.htm

Our gorgeous little hotel in Place de Vosges is so worth a mention. Surrounded by antique and art stores and the loveliest boutiques you could ask for, Pavillion de la Reine is a real gem. (http://www.pavillon-de-la-reine.com/uk/navigation.htmom)

http://www.xoprivate.com/img/hotels-and-resorts/le-pavillion-de-la-reine-l.jpg

101 uses for a city hall

2008-11-27T19:39:00.005Z

Found. Hillarious. . .

http://www.louishellman.co.uk/
http://www.bbdo.co.uk/blog/archives/tag/london-evening-standard

Focus Week - West London Walk

2008-11-20T13:45:00.009Z

Paddington to Sloane Square on a drizzly November day.

Focus weeks are set out as an opportunity as landscape students to harness resources to support our studies. We visit various public spaces London and surrounding in order to familiarise ourselves with our environment and landscape practice taking place around us.

This visit took us from Paddington Basin through Hyde Park and finishing up in Sloane Square.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8%26hl=en%26oe=UTF8%26msa=0%26msid=106750979112771812779.00045713ae94cdce920b0

Some photos below highlighting the walk. . .

Diana Memorial - Kathryn Gustafson

Serpentine - Gehry Pavilion deconstruction

Josephine + bike (now stolen) - Serpentine exhibit

London tourists

Lovely....if only a scratch and feel blog

Pendunculate oak - Hyde Park

Horse Chestnut - Hyde Park

Bridle path - Hyde Park

Autum leaves - Hyde Park

Parklife - Thames Barrier visit

2008-11-20T13:22:00.012Z

October 2008 - Part of our technical & theory module - a visit to Thames Barrier Park to select and survey an area of the site and build a scaled contour model in studio.

On previous visits to the park I have always found it to be empty, quite possibly because it's been mid-week but the days have been sunny and clear.....since it is so far out of my zone, I do wonder if it attracts the local families, mums and babes and other outside adventurers that the website makes a delightful appeal to:

''Set within 22 acres of lawns, trees and uniquely contoured Yew and Maygreen hedges you can discover the delights of this urban oasis. An excellent children's play area, 5 a side football/basketball court, great places to picnic and play, the Thames path, with magnificent views of the barrier, and a fountain plaza where 32 jets spring from the ground to provide a cooling and entertaining delight for children to splash and play.'' http://www.thamesbarrierpark.org.uk/

Wey & Arun Canal Restoration Project

2008-11-06T16:21:00.008Z

Design Project 1 for levels 5, 6 and diploma..

Simon, Ed & Pat were trusting enough to ship the load of us down to Guildford and Farncome boat houses and rent narrow boats for the week. And what a great week it was. Captaining the Wanborough with Sean Wood in diploma as my first mate, (a proper french chef too) and Simon on board adding to the 'mature' boat feel.

The site is part of the Wey and Arun Navigation, 36km of which runs remains in its rural state as it crosses the Surrey and West Sussex countryside. This particular route was built over sometime in the 20th Century and a significant number of residential properties and infrastructure now block the route of the original canal.

Working closely with the Wey and Arun Canal Trust, we are to come up with proposals to reopen the canal. The aim is to come up with a design that enhances the area and ultimately links the restored canal to the south with the wider canal network via the River Wey navigable river. The aim is that the Wey + Arun canal would once again become a direct navigation link to the south coast.

arty farty sunny sunday

2008-10-01T22:14:00.007+01:00

The last of the sunny days led us to Frank Gehry's Serpentine Pavilion Gallery and what a way to end the sunny days. This is the Gehry office's first UK project, consisting of 4 massive steel columns intersected with suspended timber planks and a network of glass panels.

Such a great space, the light reflects and bounces off each surface, while the interior is protected from the rain by the positioning of the suspended glass panels. With terraced seating on either side, it's awesome as aevent space, amphitheatre of just a spot to take it all in.

Two weeks left and it's gone so go get a look......

There is a really good time lapse video of the construction...see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANuimkRfGiw

And inside the Serpentine, Beijing-based artist Cao Fei fuses fantasy with the contemporary Chinese city in her construction of RMB City, an experimental art community in the internet-based virtual world of Second Life. The photos below are of the prototyped model of her city, with a few familiar structures such as the Beijing Stadium by Hertzog & de Meuron and the China Central TV HQ by OMA....

A fantastic animated video of this available here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9MhfATPZA0g

Watermans park

2008-05-12T01:53:00.016+01:00

For my final project for year 1, I have proposed a Compact wetland for Brentford's Waterman's Park. Some images below show my final work:

Land Use & Transport Analysis

Traffic Movement

Area Emotion Map

Site Parts Plan

Biome Cross Section

Proposed Greywater Catchment Area

Long Section

Site Masterplan

Site Montage

landscape and me

2008-05-12T01:35:00.005+01:00

it's always on my mind.....a short film as part of our study skills module.

...2 of the final images are psycadelically enhanced....unexpectedly. reposting after this.

The English countryside....or a day at the beach?

2008-05-07T22:46:00.005+01:00

Or both.........On a delightfully warm (24C) sunny Wednesday, we embarked on a small road trip with Simon and Ed to a surprise location. All we knew was it was near the beach. Near-ish with Simon driving.

Cute narrow country roads where the sunlight filters just perfectly through the trees...just what we needed! We eventually arrived at our surprise location - Weald & Downland Open Air Museum.

'The leading museum of historic buildings in England
Designated by the Government for its outstanding collections of national importance
Winner of the Museum of the Year, Community Museum of the Year and national awards for interpretation and education.' http://www.wealddown.co.uk/home-page-english.htm

The open air museum is perfect on a sunny day....historic buildings with plenty to keep the avid historian busy, plus educational audio for those not so much in the know. We had a good few hours to scope the place out - with rolling fields, cow and sheep filled paddocks, chickens, beehives, working horses and ducks all dotted around the place it was something quite special.

The group then moved onto Littlehampton beach, a short drive away where we could dip our feet in the cool sea, throw a few pebbles, and see Thomas Heatherwick's 'turd' building - the East Beach Cafe.

All in all a really good day out - much needed and very appreciated. Thank God the summer is here, sort of.

Kingston Gateway - 1st project semester 1

2008-04-30T01:23:00.006+01:00

Our first project in the course - to design a gateway for one of three sites within Kingston, the station, Kingston bridge or College roundabout.

My proposal was to enlarge the existing roundabout and create an area for people to stroll around the small central pond or lay under the trees planted on the banks. Around the edge is a photovoltaic ring, there to generate enough power to light the central installation. This installation is poropsed to be constructed from ageing recycled watermain pipes which, strategically postioned and viewed from a certain point encircling the roundabout, make out the letter 'K'. Lit from inside and powered with the green voltaic energy, they diffuse a twinkling light through the degraded and holey surface.

Here is a short quicktime animation of my proposal for the roundabout, constructed in 3ds max. Malibu comes to Kingston.

Dancing kitty

2008-03-10T13:20:00.008Z

Animation in Photoshop??......Yep, interesting.....

Stop frame animation. I've attempted a really basic little quicktime, of our gorgeous kitten as the subject matter. Very short, very silly, and I am afraid not very good.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, Leia....dancing princess.

The magic box

2008-03-10T12:51:00.012Z

As a young girl (living in a country where houses have a real gardens) I was consumed with creating a little cosy hideout where I could dream, create and escape into my own 'magic' world. Sadly a few blankets, rainy days and a big brother who's sole existence was to bug me in my little fairyland meant they didn't last longer than a few hours.

I recently saw an article for a prefabricated 'box' for the garden, courtyard or rooftop. So much more interesting open than your average garden shed, 'The Magic Box is an extension room that can be used as an office, studio or serve any purpose that the user imagines.'

'The designer calls it “a versatile ‘box’ that changes the stereotypes of prefabricated houses and extension rooms by having qualities such as transparency and simplistic form with high versatility. The Magic Box also creates innovative life styles and business environment. You are free to drive your imagination into transforming this box into your own working space or space for your hobbies.”'

Magic Box design team estimate it takes about one month to produce the components followed by an installation week. Initial foundation work, electricity installation and water supply/drainage will also need to be carried out.

From the website, it seems as if these great boxes are only available in the US and Tokyo for now. Will stick to my sustainable timber shed for now.

http://www.magicboxincusa.com/

Sustainable living?

2008-03-10T12:08:00.018Z

Something for my next letter to Santa....a treehouse in a Costa Rican Eco-Community. I will probably regret putting this up as it deserves to be hidden but alas, has already featured in the likes of Outside magazine, Inhabitat.com, Travel Gear (online) as well as other US publications.

Located on the base of an almost 6,000 foot primary rainforest mountain on the South Pacific Coast of Costa Rica and is bordered on the North by Rio Piedras Blancas and Rio Bellavista to the South, Finca Bella Vista is exactly as the name states, Beautiful Forest Home.

Treehouses are built in the canopies with land below starting at 2-3 acres. A small price to pay for land and a beautiful unique home in comparison to expensive, polluted city living.

Here you can literally sleep amongst the trees with trunks snaking through your floor boards and up through the ceiling - almost unsure of which came first, the tree or the treehouse, and dine alfresco with neighbours on a deck 50feet above the forest floor.

My ultimate dream of living in a tree on a beautiful remote spot somewhere where the air is clean and nature creeps into every possible area of life, may finally be realised. If no sight or word from me you know where I have disappeared to.

Foliage covered building by Mass Studies

2008-01-07T13:24:00.001Z

Seoul, South Korea

Belgian Fashion Designer Ann Demeulemeester's store is absoluelt covered in plants and foliage in a living wall that takes it to the extreme!! External and internal walls are living which creates a feeling that the building is 'growing up from underneath the greenery'.

The building is 3 floors tall, with Ann Demeulemeester's store on the first floor, restaurant on the third and a 'multi-shop' in the basement. Seoul-based designers, Mass Studies Architects wanted to incorporate as much nature into the building, considering the building's low-elevation, high density urban environment.

Visit their site at: http://www.massstudies.com/

google earth pollution

2008-01-07T13:15:00.001Z

Something that should help some of us landscape architects - google earth is now showing air pollution -

''Google Earth has always been a very cool way to see the world, and recently they have added some very green features including green buildings, and now the ability to visualize air pollution! Thanks to the US EPA, it is now easy to find out exactly how air pollution is affecting your neighborhoods and neighborhoods around the world.

With the new Google Earth features, you will be able to find out the sources of pollution from the major point sources in the United States. These include cement facilities, manufacturing plants, refineries and electric generating units. Each of these will provide information on the carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen oxide, VOCs, particulate matter and sulfur dioxide. The data is displayed in graph form, and you can also visually compare each emitter to the next, thanks to the location of the height of each marker.''

http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/12/26/google-earth-shows-the-air-pollution-of-where-you-live/#more-7727

Ham House

2008-01-07T13:02:00.002Z

On a brisk morning in December, I cycled to Strawberry Hill to visit Ham House - the topic of our year one first assesment essay for History and Cultural studies.

A thick coating of mud and a 45 minute wrong turn into the common eventually delivered me to the fantastic wonders of this 17 Century house. Ok in all honesty it is rather dull, since the house is closed for visits during Winter. The gardens however are lovely and rather grandeur....