Focus week III

Graphic communication and techniques in landscape architecture

: 24th Jan, 2011

In focus week I had a short masterclass of three hours as group. The workflow involved bring the line-work from AutoCAD into Photoshop for rendering.

Task 1: New layout, Viewpoint and Exporting to PDF

Task 2: Importing into Photoshop

Focus week III: What is landscape?

[Thursday 27th January]



6. Trenton Oldfield, This is Not A Gateway

He worked for over a decade in non-governmental organisations specialising in urban renewal, cultural and environmental programmes. Their vision was to make it easier to access and share new ideas about cities and urban issues.

Fence project

• Landscape of enclose: social, political, economic history of fences


• How translate this happen in landscape?


• How do we relate to fence with landscape?


• How often do you include boundary in your design?

BBC: Public woodland in England could be sold under plans

Try following this link-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12262797

BBC: Ancient woodland went to auction

Try following this link-http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8025826.stm

Focus week III: What is landscape?

It is not real but it could be real situation of companies.

[Thursday 27th January]

5. Will Sandy, Three Green Dots

Three Green Dot is a platform that using simple interventions and installations. It will provoke thoughts in order to generate reactions. His presentation was focus on the automation.

• Automation : We are currently living in a controlled environment,where our is becoming increasingly automated.



• Homogenisation



• Greening of detroit (urban garden)

The concept of the projects are intended primarily to make you smile and to take a new look at the built environment in which we live, in order to view day to day situations and places in a different way and change our perception of our surroundings.

Focus week III: What is landscape?

[Thursday 27th January]

4. Sam Johnston, Gustafson Porter

He joined Gustafson Poster and working as a part-time lecture and studio lead at the landscape at Kingston University. So far as I know the Gustafson Poster is well known for winning of the competition to select the design of Diana Memorial Fountain in Hyde park.

He talked about landscape is out there and in here.

• Out there: an understanding of the other
  


• In here: a awareness of self (character, emotion, opinion, collectives, cultrure, history, future, past, present)



• No human world: natural system, habitates, flora, fauna
  


• What I feel?: taste, smell, see



• What is it means: understanding

Hooke Park: How do people interact to forest?

human consciousness and open reality.

Milan city life= ecology+ aesthetics

Woolwich Square: The concept is " Ballroom and Garden", the aime is to provide two new spaces for community use throughout the day and year.

Diana Memorial Fountain, Hyde park

Focus week III: What is landscape?

[Tuesday 25th January]

3. Maria Smith, Studio Weave

I was interesting in theirs project which has each stories. One of the project is 'Freya & Robin' at Kielder Water. " Once upon a time, Freya and Robin lived on opposite of a lake. Freya fell in love with Robin when she saw him from across the water and decided to built him a cabin to match his love of the woods."
The lakeside shelters are inspired by this story. Theirs aim is to create place through exploring the narratives of space. It was very unique and unusual approch. They have used the stories to create design concept and personify design even though it is fictional characters.


Freya and Robin cabins


They have made the world's longest bench in Littehampton!


Blackburn's secret landscape garden
Full story click below-
http://www.studioweave.com/projects/blackburn-pennine-lancashire-squared-competition/#

Focus week III: What is landscape?

[Tuesday 25th January]

2.Christian Spencer Davies, AMODELS

"Model making"

Christian Spencer Davies is a director of AModels. AModels is architectural model makers and they usually work for contemporary architectural companies.

Think about "How can we change it?" "What would you make it?"
They do not like to work as conventinal model, their work is much more creative and no realistic models.


Amodels was working with different practices, including Diana Memorial designed by Gustafson Porter and Zaha Hadid (above image)

Focus week III: What is landscape?

[Tuesday 25th January]

The union street urban orchard

1.Heather Ring, Wayward plants

Heather Ring was the enthusiast who initiated the project, taking on a commission for the London Festival of Architecture. She designed the union street urban orchard, has been employing the help of local community and enthusiastic volunteers to regenerate this currently disused space.

"Plants exchange"

She asked us "what is a community garden and what will we need before set up a garden?" She used to see abandoned plants on the way and she started to exchange and take plants.
During the London Festival of Architecture, she designed the Urban orchard which has been transformed into an urban orchard and community garden.


This collaborative project developed by the Architecture Foundation, Bankside open space trust, ProjectARKs and Wayward Plant Registry.


The site has a series of workshops and activities.


Abandoned X-mas trees

She also shown us the abandoned x-mas tree epidemic. As these threes are chopped, put on pedestals, decorated and discarded.

Focus week III: What is landscape?

Landscape Lectures, MLT : 25, 27 Jan.2011

This focus week we had a events related to landscape architecture. There are six individual presentations to discuss about "What is landscape?"

25, Tuesday (2-5pm in MLT)

Heather Ring, Wayward Plants
Christian Spencer Davies, AModels
Maria Smith, Studio Weave

27, Thursday (2-5pm in MLT)

Sam Johnston, Gustafson Porter
Will Sandy, Three Green Dots
Trenton Oldfield, This is Not A Gateway

Focus week III: Lights

Future Beauty

30 Years of Japanese Fashion: 15 Oct, 2010 - 6 Feb, 2011 at Barbican Art Gallery

This is the most anticipated exhibit this winter and this is first exhibition in Europe. These works are related with Japanese art, culture and costume history.

Issey Miyake 132 5. (2010): This dresses are packed flat and then opened into highly structured 3D clothes.

In my view, this is the highlight of the exhibit include the designers exploration of flatness. I was not sure that would get a relationship between fashion and architecture. These idea of flat shapes becoming 3D clothing. 132 5. is the current project that takes its from the transformative process of its creation. That was the radical reinvention of traditional Japanese garments and techniques, such as Kimono.

Canada trip

Niagara Falls, Canada

During the Christmas holiday I visited in Canada. I guess most people think about going to Niagara Falls during the warm summer but I would recommend visiting in the winter time that gave totally different perspective. It was a powerful falls, with mist rising into the air.


The continual spray coasts everything around the falls, producing fantastic ice shape.


Ice-covered tree and lampposts from the spray from Niagara Falls.