Landscape.is Arneskog

Makoto Azuma Moss Carpets

2010-04-25T13:02:00.000-07:00

And things that inspire lately.

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/05/04/moss-carpet-grows-in-the-heart-of-your-home/

Inspirational

2010-04-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

Hello Final Focus Week

2010-04-25T08:16:00.000-07:00

The Final Focus Week was spent looking a bit closer at photography. A tool we frequently use in our work and can play a very important part in how a project is perceived and presented. EcoBuild was also on at Earls Court so altogether it made a very good week.

Colour Photography

2010-04-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

Me and James finally did the introduction to the colour darkroom the week before focus. This led me to start going through my photos from the Japan trip last easter. I got a load of film and bunches of digital but none ever ended up on the blog shame so here's a few. This pic is taken at Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo. The largest wholesale fish market and wholesale market in the world. Still located fairly central it supplies Tokyo with fresh seafood every day. It's very fascinating and well worth the trip if you go to Tokyo. Although you probably do better in just staying up the night because you have to be there three four in the morning to catch the commerce.

William Eggleston@ Victoria Miro

2010-04-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

William Eggleston - Yellow Market, 1999

William Eggleston one of the most influential photographers of the last half-century and known as as the father of colour photography had a show up at Victioria Miro. His work is seriously good and I've seen shows with him before. But this show included mostly new work with fairly abstract compositions. I've seemed to have lost the pics I took from the exhibition but if I find them I will put them up. Check Egglestones site http://www.egglestontrust.com/

Osaka

2010-04-25T08:10:00.000-07:00

The colourful supermarket landscape of Osaka

Ryōan-ji

2010-04-25T08:07:00.000-07:00

The famous Ryōan-ji, Gardens in Kyoto. The colours were amazing around easter when the cherry blossom is in full bloom.

Relics of old London: Photography and the spirit of the city

2010-04-25T08:04:00.000-07:00

The Royal Academy Architecture Space has also had a photographic exhibition up. Showing a record from 'the Society for the Photographing of Relics of Old London'. A group initially started as a response to the demolition of old buildings in London. Photography were used to document the buildings and the exhibition now on show presents their pictures from 1870s and, later an interesting document of an old London. It is small but if you're in the area pop in it's free.

ECO build & Loop PH

2010-04-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

Ecobuild as usual featured loads of seminars and talks and it's hard to see it all. It seemed much more busy this year which is good to see. I went to a few talks on Urban Agriculture and green roofs. I also went to have a quick chat with Loop.ph about their Metabolic City project which is very nice.

Greenhouse Nightclub, NYC

2010-03-20T16:08:00.001-07:00

The Greenhouse Nightclub!!!

Oh yes it's a Waterpod!

2010-03-10T14:36:00.000-08:00

Make me wan't to go to New York.

Pasona O2 Urban Farm

2010-03-10T14:13:00.001-08:00

This is crazy because it is so energy intensive. But at least it's beautiful.

See The whole farm here.

Drip Irrigation

2010-03-09T06:55:00.001-08:00

R.I.P

2010-03-07T14:02:00.000-08:00

weird sisters from christina vantzou on Vimeo.

Hello Third Focus Week!!!

2010-01-25T12:54:00.001-08:00

I took the third focus week to kick start the research for my Dissertation topic on Urban Agriculture or Rooftop Agriculture which is becoming quite popular and is really quite intriguing.

Rooftop Agriculture, Common Ground

2010-01-25T12:53:00.000-08:00

This is another example from Chicago.

Rooftop Agriculture

2010-01-25T12:52:00.000-08:00

A Farm Grows in Brooklyn...on a Rooftop! from SkeeterNYC on Vimeo.

This is a video from one of the rooftop farms that has popped up in New York city in the last year and it is not the only example. It is becoming something of a trend.

Growing Communities

2010-01-25T12:50:00.000-08:00

A few of us spent a day at the Castle Climbing Centre in Stoke Newington to help prepare a new plot for Growing Communities vegetable box schemes. The Castle has fairly large grounds outside that will be turned into raised bed vegetable plots and run by the community and staff from the centre. Growing Communities is a social enterprise run by local people in Hackney. Trying to create a more sustainable food supply system in the area. A few small market gardens are used to grow organic vegetables at different locations and then delivered to markets or by box schemes. It was good to do something physical for a while and get of the computer so I spent most of the day digging. We also made a trip to an already established garden to look at the mainly salad crop beds that surprisingly had survived the snow.

More about the work the growing communities do Here

100 years of “Growing your Own”.

2010-01-25T12:49:00.000-08:00

I also had time for a quick visit to the garden museum that conveniently were showing the exhibition' THE GOOD LIFE' -100 years of growing your own. The exhibition explores 100 years of growing food for self-sufficiency in Britain. Showing everything from the Dig for Victory campaigns from the two World Wars to gardens during the 1970s and the Oil crisis and today’s revival of community growing schemes. This was a very good start off for the dissertation research.

The Architecture of Reassurance

2010-01-17T09:20:00.000-08:00

Science Barge NYC

2010-01-12T09:47:00.000-08:00

Recession,Empty plots, and Pop Up restaurants.

2010-01-12T07:26:00.000-08:00

BBC London News yesterday were talking about how the recession has fueled a new trend of pop up restaurants in London. Temporary spaces used as restaurants and restaurants in peoples living rooms. This is a great thing. Here's something else. Temporary Hydroponic use for food production. Perhaps combine the two?

Reading

2010-01-01T07:38:00.000-08:00

A book recommendation for the new year. The Birkhäuser Basic series is a really good series of books. With a few books on Landscape Architecture and Urbanism in the series.

Happy New Year!!

2009-12-31T10:30:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd do some last minute blogging for this year before I pop the Champagne open.

So here's a few highlights from 2009.

2009 Highlights/ Radical Nature - Dalston Mill

2009-12-31T10:22:00.001-08:00

People lounging in the chairs at Dalston Mill

Agnes Denes Wheatfield

As part of Barbicans Radical Nature Exhibition this summer a vacant lot in Dalston was turned into a Mill. The project by the French Architecture Collective EXYZT was a recreation of the American Artist Agnes Denes work 'Wheatfield - A Confrontation' from 1982.

Agnes Denes planted a two-acre field of wheat in a vacant lot in Manhattan. Her work was a comment on land value and to call "people's attention to having to rethink their priorities."

Dalston Mill this summer became a place for discussions, talks activities and bread making. The 20m long wheat field was harvested and prepared on site in the end of the summer.

2009 Highlights / Robert Morris@Tate

2009-12-31T10:21:00.000-08:00

Another recreated art work in 2009 was Robert Morris's 1971 interactive installation

Bodyspacemotionthings that was recreated in Tate Modern's

Turbine Hall in May. Turning the space into a playground.

2009 Highlights/ Skate the Sky - Jennifer West

2009-12-31T10:16:00.000-08:00

Los Angeles-based artist Jennifer West turned the Turbine Hall into a skate ramp for an afternoon in order to create one of here new films. By strapping paint and ink-covered film strips to the floor and let skate-boarders skate down the Turbine Hall their markmaking and movement were caught on the film. A screening was held the the day after. The final video was a mixture of the mark-making and the process used to develop the films. But the project was very interesting both in terms of transforming the space and in ways of recording movement.

Some of the final piece can be seen on the Tate Channel

2009 Highlights / Derek Jarmans Garden & Dungeness

2009-12-31T10:15:00.000-08:00

Crambe maritma

A visit to Dungeness and to Derek Jarman's Garden in the summer.

The Dungeness Landscape is amazing. Strange and very quiet.

2009 Highlights/ Nothing Like Something Happens Everywhere

2009-12-31T10:12:00.000-08:00

I skived off Uni for a couple of days to go to Gothenburg and help organise a show at RUM 26.

It was great fun and great success. But I didn't get much time to see much of the

Gothenburg Biennale as I had hoped.

You can watch a SLIDESHOW of the works here.

2009 Highlights / Walking In My Mind

2009-12-31T10:08:00.000-08:00

As part of The Hayward Gallery's exhibition Walking In My Mind. The Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama spread here work all over the southbank. Dressing all the trees in polka dot textiles and creating a curious animated landscape. It looked great.

Recent Doings 2

2009-12-11T16:34:00.000-08:00

For Full Screen view of the video click on the link.

Recent Doings 2

2009-12-11T16:27:00.000-08:00

Thinking about what things might look like from up close and from far away.

Shrigley @ Malmö Skate Bowl

2009-12-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

David Shrigley painted Bryggeriets Skate Bowl in Malmö this summer. It's very nice.

I remembered it now since I'm thinking of printing something on a concrete floor in my current design.

Recent Doings

2009-12-08T13:50:00.000-08:00

Taking time out from all the work we haven't done to look at the topologies of Southbank.

Grassroots

2009-12-05T12:25:00.000-08:00

I visited The Grassrots centre in West Ham yesterday. The building designed by Eger Architects is a project developed as part of West Ham & Plaistow New Deals for Communities.

The building is built into Memorial park and has several environmental features such as solar panels at the front and an accessible green roof. If you go on top of the roof there are several rain water collection points and also a set of growing bags placed at the end of the roof.

This is a really nice project worth a visit.

The Cloud

2009-11-29T15:00:00.001-08:00

http://raisethecloud.org/#project

More about the Marsh

2009-11-24T09:50:00.001-08:00

Salt Marsh

2009-11-24T09:46:00.000-08:00

Hello Second Focus Week

2009-11-22T09:15:00.000-08:00

The second Focus week we did a Field-trip to Paris to look at some

great architecture and eat a lot of cheese

Versailles National School of Landscape Architecture

2009-11-22T09:13:00.000-08:00

On the first day in Paris we visited the Versailles National School of Landscape Architecture

to see the students final presentations of this term. The school is situated on the historical

site of the royal gardens. The 17th century garden was created by, Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie, who

transformed it from 9 hectares of marshland. Into a vegetable and fruit garden for Louis XIV

There were still a lot to see in the gardens this time a year.

Parc Andree Citroen

2009-11-22T09:11:00.000-08:00

Parc André Citroën a 14 hectares park located on the left bank of the Seine. The park was built on the site of a former Citroen car manufacturing site and is named after Andre Citroen.

it was officially opened in 1992. Responsible for its design are the French landscape designers Gilles Clement and Alain Provost were the Landscape Architects involved in the park. Together with 3 Architects.

The park is built around a central, rectangular lawn. The park has two greenhouse pavillions at the eastern end. A monumental canal runs next to the lawn. And on the north side there are several small gardens: the six "Serial Gardens", each with a distinct landscape and architectural design.

It's an impressive park but with a lot of management issues. There were a lot of fenced off areas. The Canal had no water and several areas were looking poor. The six serial gardens are the most interesting in my oppinion together with the greenhouses.

We got to the park quite late and managed to get locked in. There are some areas without fencing and security walls but these areas are instead cleverly secured with deep planting of cotoneaster. We chose to climb a wall to get out.

Centre Georges Pompidou

2009-11-22T09:00:00.001-08:00

A quick visit to Centre Georges Pompidou, on a nice sunny day. I never went inside just wanted to have a look at the building. Loads of people were lounging outside on the ground, that is made up by a cobbled area that slightly slants towards the building.

The building named after Georges Pompidou who comissioned the build were completed between 1971–1977. Designed by Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers and structural engineer Edmund Happold. ( Buro Happold)

Today the building houses a public library, the museum of modern art and a music centre.

Ateliers - Stephane -Geraer

2009-11-22T08:54:00.000-08:00

This building is also situated south of the biblioteque area. It used to be an artist squat and it was saved from re-development since some of the active artists were already well known names and had the right connections to save the building. We had a look inside, It seem to all be private studios now.

http://ateliers-stephane-gerard.fr/

Rue Marguerite Duras

2009-11-22T08:51:00.000-08:00

This is a recently constructed park just of Rue Marguerite Duras in the area south of Bibliothèque Nationale François Mitterand. I can't find any more information on the park than what our guide told us.

This park is designed and acts as a SUDS for the whole surrounding area. The surface water is collected from the surrounding buildings and directed into the park. Occasionally the whole park gets flooded.

This was the most up to date project we saw in Paris and it was also very different from the rest of the sites we visited.

And the street-view is showing pre construction.

My photos are taken from on top of the bridge.

Bibliothèque Nationale François Mitterand

2009-11-22T08:49:00.001-08:00

The Bibliothèque Nationale François Mitterand is the newest and largest of the so called Grands Projets (Francois Mitterrand’s 15 billion franc program to provide a series of modern monuments to symbolize France’s central role in art, politics, and economy). Four 25-story L-shaped towers of glass and steel arranged around a sunken garden of pine trees. The buildings themselves are meant to symbolize open books.

The Pine forest garden was completed around 1992 - 1993.

The trees were delivered fully grown and had to be fixed into the ground. The forest itself looks great

unfortunately its just for show and there is no entrance at all into the forest.

Anti-Slip patterns had to be added to the wooden decking around the site, some time after

the project was completed since the wood got too slippery when wet.

Du Pere-Lachaise

2009-11-22T08:46:00.003-08:00

Père Lachaise Cemetery was one of the last visits we did in Paris. The idea was to visit the grave of Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde but arriving late, they were just about to close the gates as we arrived. This is the Largest cemetery in central Paris with 118.6 acres so we never managed to find our dead friends. Just had a little walk around.

I do like the idea of cemeteries as public space but can't really remember visiting any at all in London not even the Highgate one. Will put it on the to do list of 2010.

Green Wall

2009-11-22T08:46:00.002-08:00

Vertical Garden by Patrick Blanc. I will come back to this subject later on since I'm doing my dissertation on hydroponics. Till then you can enjoy these photos. And his website.

http://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/

Cello Grafitti

2009-11-22T08:44:00.001-08:00

Cello Graffiti strapped around some trees near Parc de La Vilette.

Jardin Des Bambous Parc De La Vilette

2009-11-22T08:07:00.000-08:00

This area of the Park was closed off so we had to climb some gates.

But the sound garden was still playing. Perhaps it's triggered by movement.

Parc De La Vilette

2009-11-22T07:56:00.001-08:00

Pictures from Parc De La Vilette. This Park was designed by Bernard Tschumi and built in 1982 Throughout the park there are red structures of various kinds. Walkways, viewpoints. There are a lot of level changes throughout the park. It's very interesting, we spent quite some time in the park.

I drew my section of some of the the Vilette Basin. Further down from Parc de la Vilette.

Frieze Art Fair

2009-10-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

Really enjoyed Frieze this year. That might have to do with that I see less shows living down in K-Town. Or perhaps it was rally good. Here's a few favorites.

Greenwich Ecology Park

2009-10-19T09:59:00.000-07:00

I did a short visit to Greenwich ecology park earlier this summer. Also to support the wey and arun project looking at education and ecology. The park is in the Greenwich peninsula a place that has had and currently is undergoing hugh regeneration projects. I think it is a welcomed little pocket of wild nature.

The park is much smaller than what I excepted made up of an inner and outer lake where the inner lake area is accessible through the Gatehouse during opening hours.

There is a boardwalk leading through the reeds that are reaching high on both sides. A few bird hides allows you to view in different directions. There is less open space for educational activities but the hut has a good variety of activities for kids to learn about the parks ecology.

I will try to revisit the larger area of greenwich peninsula, it has an interesting history and more ongoing landscape projects worth looking at.

info @ urbanecology.org

Waterworks Nature Reserve

2009-10-19T09:48:00.001-07:00

The Essex Filter beds now known as The Waterworks Nature Reserve and Golf course, is part of the Lea Valley. It lies to the south of Lea Bridge Road, and covers an area of 11 hectares. The site was previously the East London Waterworks Company (1852) a water treatment works first started to overcome problems with cholera. The land is now owned by the Lee Valley Park Regional Authority. It opened to the public in 2002 and received a Green Flag Award in 2006. The focus of the reserve has been on concentrated conservation activity and the use as an educational resource.

Throughout the area many of the old filter beds has been kept to demonstrate various types of habitats and management techniques applied. Entering the park from the golf course entrance there is a colour coordinated wildlife garden for kids with a wildlife pond. Not looking its best this time of the year.

Beyond the wildlife garden you come to a part where the old filter beds have been kept for growing willows. Mostly goat and crack willow and there information boards are displayed about the coppicing and management of the willows. A willow board walk has also been created which is very successful on a sunny day as it was when I visited.

The main attraction of the reserve apart from the nature itself is a large bird watching facility that occupies the old site of the waterworks. A circular wooden structure has been created with many of the old features incorporated to cherish the cultural heritage.

The Bird watch has several windows showing views over the old filter beds where reed - beds are being managed in different ways. By water level control and reed cutting. Attracting different type of wildlife. A kingfisher nesting bank has also been built in one of the beds.

Higher water levels.

The view where natural succession has reached far starting to developing into larger shrubs.

The site is attractive to Pipistrelle and Noctule bats, Kingfishers and breeding birds. Whilst the wetland and dry grassland also is important for invertebrates during particularly months. The maintenance of the pump system is essential to retain the wildlife interest of the beds.

The reserve now has 332 species of plants and 500 species of invertebrates, including a quarter of Britain’s Dragonfly species have been recorded as growing and living there. 25 species of birds. A volunteer program is started and there are loads of volunteers on site coppicing when I visit. There is also an educational program started for the site.

For looking at reed bed management this was a very good site to visit. Seeing the water level control management and its direct effect on the reeds was very effective.

Info www.walthamforest.gov.uk

100% Design

2009-10-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

I went to 100% design during the design festival. Mostly because I wanted to see the talk about vertical gardening on saturday, which I in the end sadly missed . There was a lot of looking on material samples but there were also a designers block. The highlight for me was the Royal College show Disruptive Thinking. Their website is well worth a visit.

In Praise of Shadows

2009-10-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

The show In Praise of Shadows was showing at the V&A during London Design Festival. This was a really good show featuring new European Lighting design using low - energy lighting. The show was a response to the EU directive to phase out low - efficiency light bulbs that started in September this year. It aims to provoke a discussion not only about new lighting but also about energy resources.

I find the lighting discussion very interesting. During the lighting workshop in Alingsas last year there were some good talks about how to make best use of light and using less light by methods of design. I'm not sure whether a ban on the normal light bulb is the right way forward perhaps the focus should rather be on sustainable energy production.

Light Wind, 2009

Prototype Demakersvan

This is an outdoor light powered by wind.

Fragile Future 2006-2009

DRIFT

Fragile Future combines real dandelion seed heads with an electrical system to create a light sculpture.

This was my favorite.

Light 01, 2009 Paul Cocksedge (UK)

This is a modern interpretation of a still - life painting, when the flower is olaced in the water the vase lights up from within.

This one is from loop.pH they have got several interesting London projects going so it's worth checking their homepage.

London Deign Festival

2009-10-19T09:32:00.000-07:00

London Design Festival was up and running the week before our classes started. I managed to see a few interesting things. There were quite a few happenings addressing questions about both sustainability and climate change.

Teach – In @ V&A

2009-10-19T09:20:00.000-07:00

The Teach – in at the V&A was an attempt to catalyse action within different design disciplines towards a more sustainable practice. Several speakers throughout the day set out to discuss different challenges regarding climate change and how ecological thinking informs design today and how it could inform design in the future.

Jody Boehnert - Ecological Literacy: A Foundation For Sustainability

Jody Boehnert (Ecolabs) was the main organiser of the Teach – in. She did one of the opening speeches on Ecological literacy highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary thinking within design education and the importance for designers to understand ecology and its relation to their work. She also underlined the lack of balance between the social, ecological & economic context within design.

Dr Emma Dewberry – Nurturing Ecological Habits of Mind in Design.

Dr Emma Dewbery, Senior Lecturer in Design for Sustainability at the Open University, talked further about the challenges of putting design into an ecological context. Focusing not only on the designer but also also on the consumer and the need of a cultural shift. This is perhaps the largest challenge since design is a discipline much driven by the market. She presented a few projects that aims to highlight awareness with the consumer. One example was Christien meindertsma’s ‘One sheep cardigan’

The cardigan comes with a sheep passport to encourage a more intimate relationship between the sheep and the buyer.

This is another example she used the Tumbelweed houses small houses that encourages compact living. Perhaps not too different from container houses that can be seen in Holland and the UK.

The most important part of her talk in my opinion was the points she made about getting away from a reductionist way of thinking. To focus less on Analysis and Problem solving and instead encourage Reframing, Synthesis and Holism.

As a Landscape Architecture student I think the question about interdisciplinary is one much needed to be address. Only within the Architecture and Landscape Architecture education there are a huge gap between the two disciplines and little interaction. For me this was a really disappointing thing to realise. Looking at current trends though, greening of cities etc. there might be an opportunity to address this issue. The Teach - In itself was also a very good attempt.

Hello First Focus Week

2009-10-19T09:16:00.000-07:00

The first focus week for this year has come and gone. The main happening for this week was A Teach-In organised over two days. The first day with talks held at the V&A and the second day with follow up workshops in the studio. Unfortunately I missed out on the second day but the first day was good.

The other main focus I have had this week is management and in particular management of reed beds, to support my research for the Landscape Management Plan. I did a visit to Essex Filterbeds and looked into the management of Greenwich Ecology Park that I made a visit to earlier this summer.

Frieze Art Fair also happened this week. Which was nice balance to all the reading about management. I also took some time to update the blog which has been resting for a while.

Olafur Eliasson: Playing with space and light

2009-10-15T02:17:00.000-07:00

Scaremoose

2009-10-13T10:39:00.001-07:00

The apple trees in my mom's garden looked like this this summer. Full of CDs to scare the moose from eating the apples. It will work she says as long as you use some classic albums!

Ghost Forest

2009-10-11T10:19:00.000-07:00

The Ghost forest is due to arrive at Trafalgar Square soon in an attempt to highlight deforestation. I'm wondering if this installation will have the scary effect it attempts or if it instead will appear quite beautiful. I will have to wait and see.

Manufactured Landscapes

2009-10-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

I can recommend this DVD by Jennifer Baichwal.

She has followed the photographer Edward Burtynsky on one of his trips where he documents what he likes to call manufactured landscapes. Huge factories and waste-grounds in China, and a place in Bangladesh where ships are deconstructed into parts for recycling. The work is not put into a political context which is a nice thing about this film. It is just documenting and not directly taking stand on what is actually in the pictures.

Hello

2009-08-25T10:55:00.001-07:00

Hello!

Slowly slowly I'm trying to reprogram my brain into study mood. I've had a great and a lot of holiday so I should be ready to get working.

I've spent the summer trying to re-live the 90's the best I could. Listening to only 90's music on Spotify, watching films from the 90's and documentaries about the 90's. I will continue doing this throughout September and then I'll be ready to move on.

I have started to research a bit for my dissertation. I'm interested in Hydroponics and Living Machines. I did a project in my first year about living machines but I would like to research more about hydroponics within Urban agriculture or how hydroponics might be incorporated within landscape schemes. I'm interested in the possibilities of closed systems and the esthetics. I'll update the blog as I progress through my research. Until then I leave you with the beautiful video above.

Bird Hide by Landroom

2009-04-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

Landrooms Design for a new bird watching hide at Rainham Marsches east London

was featured in Building Design last week. Constructed out of containers and they sit

nicely within their context. I will make a trip up there this summer for some bird watching.

Playpumps

2009-03-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

http://www.playpumps.org/ Using the Kids play to pump water

Rhino

2009-03-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

For you people who are using Mac computers. Rhino is under development for Mac and

until then there is a free demo available for download. It seems ok. I wanted to learn

Rhino rather than continuing with sketchup mostly because I find the constant spinning

around in sketchup very tiring for the eyes. It seems a bit more complicated but it also

seem to have many similarfeatures to AutoCad so it might not be impossible to learn.

Postcode Plants

2009-03-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

Natural History Museum has got a very useful site to find out about native

plants in an area by postcode. Check Here.

Spa Fields

2009-03-11T17:26:00.000-07:00

These youth shelters were made by diploma students at London Met

together with local youths. Like them.

Inspirational

2009-03-11T16:36:00.001-07:00

Personal Island by Vito Acconci

Field Trip Week & Focus

2009-03-11T14:13:00.001-07:00

We have just returned to the Wey and Arun project that we started in the beginning of the first term. My ambition for this project was to make it a site available to schools as a site that could be used as an outdoor classroom, with the focus on water and hydro power.

The main issue I never came to address was how to resolve the flooding of the site and how that might be incorporated in the design.

Last week was spent to collect information and inspiration to further develop the proposal. I stayed in London to visit a few sites and attend the Eco Build confrence.

Camley Street Nature Park, Kings Cross

Camley street is a 2 acre space of wild nature hidden next to the Regents Canal just behind Kings Cross station. It was previously an old coal yard and was converted into a nature park in 1984.

It is charming to find an area of wilderness in an area like this. And it has only survived the major developments thanks to wildlife enthusiasts and local people. It is run by volunteers and gets most of it's funding from Camden Council who also uses the site for Educational purposes.

It was a much smaller space then I expected. But it's a good example for how a site can be used both for educational purposes and at the same time engage the community. There is a pond, a meadow and a woodland. At the edge of the woodland you have views of the old Gas holders that stands within the fenced of areas in one of the ongoing development around the station.

The day we visit there are quite a few kids around some at the pond identifying pond life. And a few playing with the parks rabbits on the meadow.

There are a lot of activities for the kids throughout the park. The Willow shelters, Beetle Hotel, And Beast City, built to attract. Beetles and other bugs.

On site small scale water management..... Something that was a major theme on Ecobuild.

You can read more about camley street at Wild London.

Sutcliffe Park & Quaggy River, Lewisham

The other site I visited was Sutcliffe park in Lewisham. The park was the first phase in a flood prevention scheme along Quaggy river. The stretch of the river that runs through the park was buried many yeas ago to prevent flooding. The scheme involved uncovering the river preserving it's historical course and use the park as a water storage area. Allowing the water to raise at certain times.

The borders of the park are made up by two fairly busy roads. And in the further surroundings are the massive concrete estates that characterize the whole area and provides the backdrop of the north border of the park.

The main feature of the park are the boardwalks running through the reed beds. The water is low when we visit making the walks float over the water.

It seem to be a hotspot for dog walkers but there are several people walking in the park even though it's not a time when too many people would be around.

I like this project a lot. I like the idea of how the site is changing according to the water flow and that it is allowed to happen rather than trying to prevent it.

I also like the fact that you can see the process. This was another hot topic in the Eco build suds discussion. To try to make suds esthetically pleasing rather than trying to hide them. I think that got loads of potential for designers. And might be something to consider for the Wey and Arun project.

LECTURES

Sustainable Public Spaces.

I had time for two seminars at Eco build. Although each seminar was two hours long with four speakers in each one. The first one concerning Sustainable Public Spaces was the most interesting one.

DR Bill Addis

This talk discussed several points in what might make a space sustainable with the main focus on materials and how to handle waste. 'Closing the loop' and so on. Some main points were using reclaimed materials, making the contractor responsible for packaging and use less materials.

some web pages mentioned that might be good to look at. http://www.wrap.org.uk/construction/ and www.aggregain.org.uk.

Liz Lake

Talked about Suds and what a sud is, the different kinds of suds Natural and Man made. It was a very good introduction to what susd are and might be.

Useful Organizations CIRIA

Carolyn Steel

Carolyn did a talk on food and how food has shaped our cities historically and the relationship of food and cities today. She talked about the relationship of the city and it's hinterland. I think the main point she wanted to make was, what land should be preserved? what land should be available for farming?

That there isn't really such a thing as untouched land anymore so how should the decision be made what land can be kept and what can go. Her book Hungry City I reckon might be worth to read. I will read it anyway.

Roseanne Law

Roseanne is the Director of Urban Design at EDAW. She presented a case study of Upton. A completely new housing development adjacent to Northampton and located in a flood risk area. Here they have used natural suds and since it's a all new development they have had a lot of room to adapt the hoes around the suds requirements. Interesting though that the suds make the area more attractive when it frees space between the houses. She also mentioned the popularity among the kids to play in the suds even though it might not be up to the health and safety standards.

FOCUS

I spent some time in the Focus week reading about materials and a bit on suds.

Waterscape from the Land&Scape series has many good examples of how reed beds and suds have been implemented in both rural and urban environments.

Living Systems, a great book with new materials. Everything from geotextiles to concrete that can absorb pollutants.

Like these Floating Islands from Biohaven. They are great.

Figuring Landscapes

2009-03-01T04:19:00.000-08:00

I went to Tate's film screening Figuring Landscapes the other week. A collection of films shown at five different screenings during the weekend under the titles; Encounter, Engagement, Surroundings, Enactment and Anti - Terrain.

I choose to go to the one with the theme of Surroundings. It was interesting to see the different approaches and techniques used by the Artists. One of my favorites was Mike Marshall's Days Like These.

It would have been nice to see a screening with the mixture of the different themes but I suppose if you're not a poor student you could make it to more than one screening.

Sound Garden

2009-02-08T13:36:00.000-08:00

This concept for a sound garden was presented by JVC at Tokyo design week 2008. A modular sound system made of renewable materials and a plant of your choice.

pic from Yanko Design

Inspirational

2009-02-05T06:49:00.000-08:00

The project pocket garden, by Gigja Reynisdottir and Dienke Groenhout.

Play

2009-02-01T10:06:00.000-08:00

I came across Annika Oskarssons work while searching for precedent for our current project. I've seen her work before and I really like some of her projects. The above picture is from the project Koja that was exhibited in Nacka konsthall last year. It explores how kids builds 'Kojor'.

It doesn't seem to be any exact translation for the word koja in english. In sweden the word koja usually refer to structures like shelters or tree houses that have been created by kids. The best word in english is perhaps children's dens.

Annika Oskarsson have done several projects with kids exploring how kids perceive and experience their surroundings. She has also been commisioned for several playgrounds, play sculptures and public art projects. annikaoscarsson.com

In the description for the exhibition Koja it talks about 'kojor' as temporary and often fragile creations built from found materials. Whitout having to apply to any safety restrictions or rules.

In our current project we are creating a play space for under fives. Our aim was to provide material and space for the kids to build 'kojor' and other creations. One of the challanges are the safety restrictions. But also how to provide the amount of flexibility needed for the structure to keep interesting.

Francis Bacon @ Tate

2009-01-04T10:58:00.001-08:00

Another Exhibition I went to was the Francis Bacon at Tate. The show had a collection of around 70 of the artists paintings hung in a rough chronology and by occasional themes. I went the very last weekend and the gallery was completely crowded. It would have been a different experience to see the show in a quiet gallery. But the paintings are amazing and very emotional. Below one of my favourites.

Richard Serra @ The Gagosian Gallery

2009-01-04T10:56:00.001-08:00

I haven't been to so many exhibitions this term. One of the few I made it to were the Richard Serra show at The Gagosian Gallery. Serra is known for his works with big metal sheets and this show also had some new works on display plus some of his paintings. The large sculptures are faschinating and seeing these sculptures inside really makes you realise the scale of the work.

The gallery itself which I never been to before also has an interesting front. It is located on a dark narrow street behind Kings Cross station and the toned glass windows that reaches almost down to the pavement appears as light boxes in the dark.

FOCUS II

2009-01-04T10:46:00.000-08:00

In the second FOCUS week we were asked to identify our priorities to give us a clearer focus throughout the year. Looking at my previous projects, I can see similarities and reoccurring patterns, themes such as New vs. Old and the contrast between them.

Natural vs. Man made, often with the occurring elements of process, interaction and sustainability. I like the Idea of people being able to use the space in different ways and the idea of sites that might evolve into something that the designer did not intend in the first place. I want to be able to design places where different people can feel ownership and make it their own.

I was also surprised to see that quite a few of my previous designs have had educational purposes. At Paddington Basin I proposed sculptural run off water cleansing systems where people might be able to appreciate this process but at the same time look upon the sculpture as something else.

At Waterman’s Art centre I proposed interactive outdoor lighting powered by pico power where the art centre could use the outdoor light for workshops, Diwali plus reinforce their New Media Arts specialism and hopefully regain their lottery funding.

And once again the Wey and Arun project has an educational purpose although all the proposals have come out of individual research of the sites and opportunities existing in the nearby area. I think I would like to turn my focus back to spatial experience, details and materials what materials are available and how can they be used? What is a good space? Is there such a thing or is that individual?
My focus will also continue to lay with participation and play as the Play project continues.

I also took some time this FOCUS week to read some books on Visual Communication and Layout. Books I’ve been looking at

Essential Visual Communication by Bo Bergstroms. It goes through all the basics on Visual communication. I wanted to read a bit more about communication because are constantly discussing this and how projects should be communicated. I found the chapter on Typography extra interesting. It talks about how typefaces and how the might be perceived different on the screen than it is printed etc.

In this FOCUS week I also had a chance to see Snohetta’s new Opera House in Oslo.

I had seen quite a few pictures of it and I really like the idea of the building as a landscape and that people can use it even if they are not Opera fans, you can walk over it or just sit and enjoy the view of the fjord.

The building is fascinating and stands out whith the white marble clad. It is ashame though that Norway is such a cold country the stones have gone a bit slippery and the roof has been closed of for the winter. The white marble also gets dirty since it’s next to a main road and has to be washed quite often. But it is still lovely and I can imagine that it will fill its full purpose in the summer

Project II

2009-01-04T10:35:00.000-08:00

The second project of the year has also been concerned with play. One research part and one part where the brief have been to challenge what Play could be. For this project we have not had a site, which in my opinion has been great since it takes away some restrictions that a site might entail.

Harry and I teamed up for PiQ to do something hands-on aiming to focus on process and peoples interaction. The joint blogging for this project is still @ PiQ blog. This play project will continue after Christmas with a third Brief.

I just saw this and felt slightly sad that we missed out on this. South London Gallery has been running a series of lectures and exhibitions on Play. Featuring different artists among them Nils Norman who was an inspiration for us with PiQ.

Frieze review of the exhibition was quite critical but still interesting you can read it here. I will keep my eyes up if anything more will come up at SLG

Project I

2009-01-04T10:28:00.000-08:00

The first project of the year was to propose a design for a pilot site as part of a canal restoration near Guildford. We traveled down to the site by narrow boats, living the boater’s life for a couple of nights.

This was useful to understand the canal users’ needs and the surrounding landscape. The site is located near several schools and my proposal involved creating a site where schools could meet up and learn about water, energy and history of the canals in a playful way. Asking, How can the qualities of the Canal be transformed into play? The sheet below shows some of the proposal. Play structures that that would vary to suit different age groups. (blogger seem to distort the colours)

This also gave me an opportunity to continue my research on Hydro and Pico Power that I started in the first year and whether there is an opportunity of using this technique in Landscape schemes. I found out that Guilford Council are one of the leading councils when it comes to new Hydro Power with recently completed projects in the area. My proposal to the Trust responsible for the restoration was also to make use of this and work together with the council to create a strong region for Hydro Power on all levels. Some proposals will be selected for a public consultation next year. Initially I wanted to involve the schools and get their opinions but in the end there was little time. I started to make a concept video that would perhaps communicate to the children. Below is the start of it. I will finish it in case my proposal would be brought forward but at the moment you can only enjoy a short bit.

Term 1 Focus Week 1

2009-01-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

This term for me has revolved around; Play, Communication and Participation. It has been a good term because I feel that I have had more time to read and thorough explore the topics. The question of participation and communication started already at the Light workshop in Alingsas. The name of the workshop this year was Inside Out and my group had the task to lit a private garage. The garage was in the middle of a housing complex and the majority of the inhabitants were elderly people. Not everyone was thrilled by having people running out and in of their normally quiet garage. A couple of people expressed both fear and discontent about the situation. The whole way through the workshop we had a frequent dialogue with the residents and parts of the design was amended to their request.

I think this experience impelled me to further think about the participation and consultation process within Architecture. How much should the design be adapted to suit requests? Is the consultation process really for the inhabitants or just for the architects own good? And what are the different ways a participation/consultation process might be executed?

I chose to use the first FOCUS week of the year to read more about participation process. I was mostly reading the book Architecture and Participation, I highly recommend it.

The book is a collection of essays questioning what participation might be and different approaches to it. It features examples of project from firms such as Fluid, Muf and Stalker. Firms that I find inspiring.
I’ve also been reading the Muf Manual, where they talk about approaches they have taken to different projects. I find some of their methods very interesting.

We also had a some organized walks in the first FOCUS week. Since I was working I could only make it to one of them where we did a walk from Paddington Basin ending at the new Saatchi Gallery which is very impressive. The exhibition showing was called, Revolution Continues: New Chinese Art, with 24 of China’s leading artists showing.

The video below is from the installation Old Persons Home by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu. It is pensioners in wheelchairs who bear resemblance to some world leaders. Slightly disturbing.

Project in the quadrant

2008-12-01T13:33:00.000-08:00

A new project blog is up and running @ projectinthequadrant. At the moment it is just acting as a platform for inspiration between the collaborators but eventually more ideas and project details will be posted.

Solar Panels @ Old Street

2008-11-22T10:39:00.000-08:00

I walked past this thing which looked quite strange. This is an experiment that started at the UCL to explore the possibility of generating solar energy from soar panels built into the paving. It is also an experiment in perception though different people will see different things depending on when they pass and how it is lit up

You can read more here

More Pollock

2008-11-22T10:33:00.000-08:00

Check this web for some more Pollock

Architectural Photography In Focus

2008-11-22T09:15:00.000-08:00

I went to one of the visiting lectures at the A.A last night. Six professionals working with architectural photography or related fields were given the opportunity to present their work.

Iwan Baan the influential Dutch photographer has over the last couple of years been documenting the construction of both OMA's CCTV building and Herzog & de Meuron's birds nest. His background in documentary photography is apparent in the work. In his photographs he considers the relationship between the building and it's surroundings and many times the architecture becomes just the backdrop in the photograph. His photographs from the CCTV building shows the workers living on the site and ordinary families living in the shadow of these monumental building. This is interesting and it would be nice to see more photo like this featured in architectural magazines.

Helene Binet, (picture above) talked a lot about choosing what to represent of the buildings and the difficulty around this. Her work involves details and simplicity . She plays with shadows, texture, light and dark often by photographing the same space twice in different light or emphasizing different detail.

Altogether it was a very interesting talk with discussions around the impact of the client, how photography in itself might have influenced the architects and about the history of architectural photography and the change over time.

see more here

pic from the A.A web

Living inside a Pollock

2008-11-21T07:29:00.000-08:00

This is A lovely little animation turning painting No.5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock into a 3D space.

Frieze Sculpture Park

2008-10-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

The sculpture park at Frieze was extended this year and also better I thought than last year. Here is a few favourites.

Lights in Alingsas

2008-10-17T10:38:00.001-07:00

Frank Gehry Pavilion 2008

2008-10-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

The Frank Gehry Pavilion @ Serpentine won't be up much longer so hurry down if you haven't been yet.

October sun by the sea

2008-09-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

Not Quite

2008-09-24T10:25:00.002-07:00

Not Quite Art Collective

SUMMER 2008

2008-09-17T16:29:00.006-07:00

This blog has been resting this summer. Here are a few pics from things I've been up to.

I'm leaving for Alingsas to participate in the yearly lighting workshop. So will hopefully report something from that when I'm back.

UVA @ SouthBank

2008-09-17T16:29:00.005-07:00

United Visual Artist with Massive Attack

Box Hill

2008-09-17T16:29:00.003-07:00

Site Visit to Box Hill with work.

Bästkusten

2008-09-17T16:29:00.002-07:00

Days Spent on Bästkusten in Sweden.

OVERTON

2008-09-17T16:29:00.001-07:00

Very Early Sunday morning in Overton.

Dome Landscape

2008-09-17T16:29:00.000-07:00

Folkstone

2008-08-26T15:19:00.001-07:00

Folkestone Triennial

Dover

2008-08-26T15:16:00.000-07:00

Took a wrong turn and ended up in Dover.

RCA SHOW

2008-08-26T14:57:00.000-07:00