Kastrup Sea Bath

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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

Tavistock Road Garden Project

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

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

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

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

Found. Hillarious. . .

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

Focus Week - West London Walk

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

Bridle path - Hyde Park

Autum leaves - Hyde Park

Parklife - Thames Barrier visit

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

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

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