GA Hardworks

On reflection I struggled with this part of the assignment as I could not visualise how the materials would look together across the site. Due to time constraints I was unable to create a photoshopped visualisation, which is what I would have done to fully grasp what I am specifying. I attempted to put together a moodboard but still struggled to see it in context to the site.

I then colour coded materials on the GA on my laptop but this did little to no help. However, a technique I found was drawing out the GA instead and colouring with felt tips. Through this discovery I have found that part of my learning style is more kinesthetic than visual, this is an important lesson for me to take into my masters degree. 

Assignment reflection to assist time management for masters and future work

The following are the time considerations I need to make for compiling assignments/ sheets whether it is for my work place or masters, having a time frame will help me organise myself much better. 

Concept for design- once a week across 3 weeks, a lot of thinking and doodling

Sheet layouts- 1 day (though this changes depending on the content and sheet arrangement required) 

Planting plan

Research- 1 week

Drawing up- 2 days

Annotating- 2 days

GA Hardworks

Research- 2 days for materials

Construction details research- (for 6 drawings) 3 days and pencilling them up

Drawing up- 3 days

Annotating- 2 days

(Not including research) 

Design, GA

Drawing up- 1 day

Rendering- 2 days

Annotating and sheet layout- 1 day 

Visualisations

SketchUp model and drawing outlines- 1 day

Rendering- 2 days 

Writing an essay 2,000 words

Research- 1-2 weeks

Writing- 1 week, reviewing/editing take a 1 week break then it will take 3-4 days including any re structuring 

(The shorter the essay, the longer it takes me to write as I am conscious of how concise it should be)

Dissertation

Research- 3-5 weeks

Writing- 2 weeks 

*Note: consider time taken out for technical difficulties 

Remember it takes time to get into the flow of work so initial working speed it always a little slower especially when starting a module 

Try to stay in one setting associated with one module e.g. library for sus tech 

Diamonds are created from pressure, just like your work with time pressure! 

I work best doing one module at a time rather than switching between multiple

These time estimations are for focused times and are treated as 9-5 days 

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CAD TIPS

- Select A, and OVERKILL if its a slow file, reduces overlapping lines

-Printing a piece of a CAD drawing, create a sheet size on paper space and a viewport- print but don't change the scale 

-CTRL+S after very move to save as you go along 

-Custom scale= for 5 it is equivalent to 1:200 as 1000/5 is 200 

-Indesign export as PDF 

Garden design- observations

 This particular blog is not about one designer in particular but instead, my understanding of general gardening techniques I have learned through reading, wandering through gardens and observing gardens.

* It works well to have 2 or 3 pruned/ clipped plants against shabby shrubs that way it gives the effect it is more maintained than it is.

* Planting in odd numbers (3s, 5s and 7s) offers a more naturalistic look

*Most people in the UK have shabby borders and neat lawns, but if you look at their lawns closely the lawn itself is not neat but rather the cutting of the edges are precise

* Complimentary colours with the house colour and colour palette for the garden is very significant, the duller the colour the house and more vibrant planting, the better the overall look. Complimentary colours is less eye catching but offers an heir of upper class.

* Most people use front gardens for form over function but back gardens have function rather than form

* Front gardens look better when the only hard material is the path 

*You can make trees appear thicker if you plant similar families next to each other, for instance 2 conifers planted at 2m when both are semi-mature they appear bigger than they are. Most people won't notice this.

I intend to add to these findings as I go along...

The lost gardens of Heligan

This garden covered a mass range of different styles. From a fern garden, productive garden, pineapple pit and jungle there was a huge variety to explore with a rich history behind its making.

After a significant amount of John's in the blood line, the gardens have been conserved and enhanced through many different influences. 

One aspect that stood out to me the most was it being the only garden left in Europe with a pineapple pit, the value of a singular pineapple was equivalent to £30,000 back in he Georgian era. This value is symbolised by 2 pineapples on columnar pillars adjacent to the entrance gate which meant that it was owned by a significantly rich family. 

My favourite part of the garden was the flower garden near the house, for me a garden should be grand and formal with many different textures and colours, this sufficed that (see image below). I found that through exploring the different gardens I was able to pin down my taste on gardens. 

It was very overwhelming and definitely needs a second visit to take in all the beauty. 

Flower garden

Jungle

SWECO

 A lot of SWECO's projects are high status, for public realm and involve a lot of innovative environmental sustainable aspects. For instance, an interesting project of theirs is Bankside Yards;

'UK’s first major fossil-fuel-free project'

The £2 billion development involved restoring the victorian railway arches to create a commercial, retail and residential hub. The main purpose of the area is to link Tate Modern and Blackfriars Station.

The project promises:

Net 0 carbon in operation

100% electric

Heat sharing

Air source heat pumps

This is inspiring and the way forward in industry.

I think this project reflects the ethos and work culture of SWECO regarding the projects they focus on and research they conduct.

AHR Landscape design

A large, multidisciplinary practise focused on a diversity of projects. This is hugely attractive to me because it mans they are not afraid to try something new. The sector of particular interest to me is the healthcare sector, to which they have a team specific to this sector. 

As a practise, their use of diversity in their visualisations is highly appealing and reflects their integrity and understanding of landscape architecture being for everyone and not a particular group of people. In turn, it indicates the culture of their practise and treatment to employees especially as the work force is culturally diverse. 

On their website there are also regular blogs/ pieces of research members of leadership share almost like a "food for thought" this shows they are not shy to new research and innovation. The only visible downside to the practise is that it has a focus on architecture but it does still have a landscape design department.

Overall it seems to be a well-rounded practise that is also highly appealing. 

Planting

 From the last blog update on planting I found that I have enjoyed planting design thoroughly. I have been able to create a vision and specify plants to fulfill this. However, this has come at an expense whereby I created too many schedules/ mixes to fit my A1 submission. To overcome this I had to halve my planting, the yellow blocks below are the planting mixes I got rid of. This is a real shame but I have learned a lot from this process. 

You can over design but sometimes have to compromise, this meant substituting some of the planting and the design. This was a good experience for me as it is quite realistic because budget will heavily influence the planting in practise. 

Dissertation publication- LAND journal

I have been fortunate to get my dissertation published in an international journal! For the start of my career as a landscape architect I have been able to find ways to fulfill aspects of my dreams within niche areas of the industry, for instance I wanted to initially work in the medical field, now I have found a special interest in landscaping for health care facilities. Additionally I always loved writing and wanted to publish a book, I am now able to slowly fulfill this dream, starting with publishing my dissertation, I hope to progress to masters and possibly a PHD to further fulfill this ambition. 

 

Jacques Wirtz lumpy hedges

 One of my designs for planting within a courtyard was to have lumpy, cloud pruned hedges that are extremely soft on the eyes with a light green, dark green and red/ purple shrub within the colour palette. When researching this I came across Jacques Wirtz, his landscape style is cloud pruning. 

I have always admired topiary before I even came into landscape architecture, with one of my favourite movies being Edward Scissorhands. The control humans have over something so wild but making it appear so structural is stunning, Wirtz has a similar view, his gardens flaunt control through bending and shaping plants like malleable metal, with deep lines in the ground and bold smooth edges. 

When Wirtz moved into his home he inherited a row of overgrown boxwoods that lined a walk like an avenue, through his exploration he clipped them then pruned them. Now in his work he uses boxwoods and yew hedges to create a similar effect for clients. However, there is a lack of sustainability as the maintenance is just as time consuming as the initial act of creation which, in the long term, is not great. 

It is a reminder that gardens are never a single act of creation, but a constant act of recreation and renewal through the acts (vita activa) of gardening.

My planting process

Planting has never been my strong suite, I always struggled to visualise the composition of the plants and tended to focus on trying to achieve "right plant, right space". 

This module I have been focusing on planting to feel more confident, I have really enjoyed it too. Figuring out the structure of the planting came easy but I could not picture it until I sketched out mini visuals of what the site would look like with the planting as structures. I hadn't been introduced to doing this in university, rather they are much more formal drawings that show less site context. 

This process for planting where I sketch out the structure then look at the micro climate before filling in the planting works really good for me and I am glad I have finally found a process. Planting feels much less overwhelming. 

 

Tyler Grange

Our university is familiar with Tyler Grange as they have an established rapport, therefore we have first hand interactions with the practise. They are a fairly small and humble practise who have a very friendly and warm approach.

They mainly focus on conducting surveys, assessments, evaluations and expert witness meaning they are less of a design practise. However I value this work and believe it to be highly rewarding as there cannot be design without the correct assessments, paper work and formal actions taken. 

I think it is important to have practises like these better known because we often associate Landscape architecture as a design discipline, this is not necessarily true. The real change makers are the policy makers/ changers whom are often reviewing, writing, consulting and buried in reports. Similarly with assessments and surveys, design is typically the result of these processes which adds to their importance.