Skogskyrkogården

Images will be uploaded soon. I took them using a analogue camera (Canon AE1) and I just need to get them developed and scan them in. The images I have uploaded are from my digital camera which don't really do Skogskyrkogården much justice.

Another beautiful and fascinating site I visited whilst looking around Stockholm was Skogskyrkogården in the south of the city. The cemetery has been designed by many Landscape Architects and Architects. The Landscape was predominately designed by Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz. The cemetery is absolutely beautiful and for a cemetery is wasn't a sad place but on the contrary the cemetery felt like a very joyous place. Skogskyrkogården was designed in the style of Swedish romanticism with the use of “natural features carefully designed to offer healing to mourners” (http://www.skogskyrkogarden.se/en/ 2011). The cemetery looked as if it had became part of the pine woodland with small beautifully designed chapels and crematoriums hidden away all with their own unique styles. Something I only found out after visiting the site is that it is actually a world heritage site becoming number 558 in 1994 and it is only the second cultural heritage site to be awarded in the 20th century. The site was absolutely beautiful especially in the snow and if your visiting Stockholm its a must see location.

Anon., (2011). Varldsarvet Skogskyrkogården [online] Sweden: Avaible from: http://www.skogskyrkogarden.se/en/. [Accessed 19th April 2011].

Hammarby Sjostad

Images will be uploaded soon. I took them using a analogue camera (Canon AE1) and I just need to get them developed and scan them in. The images I have uploaded are from my digital camera which don't really do Hammarby Sjostad much justice.

I recently visited Stockholm with the university to experience the feel of the city, atmosphere architecture and of course the landscape architecture. One of the locates we visited was Hammarby Sjostad (Hammarby Waterfront City) in the south of the city. This is one of the cities newest developments and occupies an existing industrial site. Hammarby Sjostad is situated on the banks of Lake Malaren a fresh water body. The new development was built with the aim that it should reflect the landscape qualities and the accessibility to the water which was considered as important as the green spaces. Not only has Hammarby Sjostad been designed with the importance of the landscape and water in mind but the buildings have been designed as eco friendly buildings. Heat produced from combustable waste, treated water, solar energy and biofuel produced from the site are all used to help heat and fuel the apartments. In 2005 Hammarby Sjostad was awarded best project of the year in Sweden. Another fact I find really exciting is that the new part of the city was designed with the aim that by 2010 80 percent would walk, cycle, or se public transport. This goal seemed to be achieved as when I was walking around there was barely a car even though there was a far few foot of snow around.

One quote I picked up in reading the Topos journal on Hammarby Sjostad is how there “have been critical voices claiming that Stockholm should add Skyscrapers to its silhouette to help it become a major tourist destination.” But this seems made as this is one of the reasons why I liked Stockholm so much. Unlike London where every tall building is a fiancee and banking office in Stockholm the tallest buildings are the churches and cathedrals. This is now a rare sight in many cities.

Anon., 2009. Hammarby Sjostad. Topos, Reuse, 69, 67-70.

APPARATI EFFIMERI creates this art piece to celebrate the Gran finale of the Pessione 2010

This is just a quick video I found and thought I would add as I love the way the use of the lighting and projectors can totally change the facade of this building which almost becomes a canvas for the lighting show. Watching this video I think it would be a amazing project if someone designed a contemporary pavilion or building with an almost blank facade which looks beautifully crisp and clean cut during the day but during the evening it comes alive changing the contemporary faced into a lighting display. One day maybe.

Video sourced fromAPPARATI EFFIMERI // Bacardi Pessione // an architectural 3D projection from Apparati Effimeri on Vimeo.

What is Landscape

The two day lecturer series entitled What is Landscape was set up to help people understand landscape architecture and what it is exactly about.

Senior Lecturer Pat Brown introduces a series of lecturers at kingston university on What is Landscape.

Watch What is Landscape? Introduction from Pat Brown | Day One in Educational & How-To | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

http://www.landscapeis.org

Filmed by Room60

To view the whole lecture and debate click on this link http://www.veoh.com/list/u/room60

Christian Spencer-Davies - A Models

http://www.amodels.co.uk/

The first speaker in the two day lecture series was Christian Spencer-Davies from AModels a London based company who specialise in making contemporary architectural models. Although I am not a model maker and struggle creating evocative models I found this lecture very inspirational. Christian described how AModels created models that were projects and works of art in themselves and may not reflect the project such as other architectural models which use realistic trees, standard scale people and grass to create a realistic 3D representation of the proposal. Christian described such models as model rail models. An example of the beautiful sculptures AModels creates is a solid gold scale model of bdp offices in manchester. This lecturer really helped me understand a model should really be used to excite the client and public into wanting what is being proposed. It doesn't matter a bought every little detail but its about the presence and style in which the client wants to evoke.

Image: Anon., (2011). Portfolio [online] UK: Available from: http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=249015245195984594&postID=1227541109551686470. [Accessed 19th April 2011]

Je Ahn and Maria Smith - Studio Weave

http://www.studioweave.com

I found Studio Weave were the most inspirational talkers at the event and related to me the most. The studio co founded by Je Ahn and Maria Smith is involved in all aspects of landscape design and small architectural design and installations. The main focus of this talk that I found the most interesting was how the studio developed their designs and final outcomes. They talked about when researching into a site, its background and history they would develop a storyboard about either a myth involved with the sites historic characters or a imagined character which they could imagine using the site. They would then design the project around this character adding elements into the design from the story or myth. I found this structure and way of working very helpful so much so that I am now structuring my projects in a similar way.

Image: Anon., (2011). Freya and Robin [online] UK: Available from: http://www.studioweave.com/projects/freya-and-robin-kielder-art-and-architecture/. [Accessed 19th April 2011]

Sam Johnston - Gustafson Porter

http://www.gustafson-porter.com/site.html

The third lecture by Sam Johnston from Gustafson Porter was probably the most landscape based and is also probably the largest of the companies presenting. Gustafson Porter work in developing contemporary urban squares and public parks and is most noticeable famous for creating the Diana Princess of Wale Memorial Fountain in London’s Hyde Park. Gustafson Porter are known for creating very contemporary and beautifully detailed projects all with a strong style of crisp black and white lines and shapes of high quality materials such as granite. with every millimeter of the site accounted for which is certainly something I aspirer to and want to achieve when creating projects. For me designing the every detail and millimeter is the most enjoyable part of the design and this is were I found I related to Gustafson Porter.

Image: Anon., (2011). Old Market Square Nottingham [online] UK: Available from http://www.gustafson-porter.com/site.html. [Accessed 19th April 2011]

Will Sandy - Three Green Dots

http://threegreendots.wordpress.com/

The fourth speaker is a former Kingston University student who was studying his masters I believe when I had just started at the uni in my first year. Will’s talk was less about Landscape Architecture and more about how small installations and events can change a persons day in a positive or negative way. Will talked about his successful project of turning the hated parking ticket into a happy moment of relief. His project involved creating parking ticket mock ups which when opened had written inside compliments on the drivers parking. This may be a relatively small project aimed at certain individuals but I believe the aim of Wills talk was to inspirer future Landscape Architects and remind them to create projects which will have a positive effect on people and their day as a landscape and the environment has such a large but relatively overlooked effect on the members of public.

Image: Anon., (2011). The Fine Parking Company [online] UK: http://fineparkingcompany.wordpress.com/photos/ [Accessed 19th April 2011]

Trenton Oldfield This Is Not A Gateway

http://thisisnotagateway.squarespace.com/people/

The final speaker was Trenton Oldfield from This Is Not A Gateway. I believe the company is an organisation that aims at linking communities and people together through the better understanding of good urban planning. Trenton Oldfield’s main theme in the lecturer was about how many fences and barriers have been put into place throughout Britain and especially London. Trenton talked about how little need there is for these fences in public parks and how much of a large budget in landscape projects go towards just fences.

What is Landscape Lecturer Reflection

Well I still don't quite understand the full role of a Landscape Architect as the subject seems to have such a broad diversity of roles and jobs. The one thing I do know from threes years of studying this subject is that the environment and Landscape Architecture has such a large role and affect on people at an almost unconscious level with the smallest of details to the biggest of changes to the environment changing the whole experience of the site or even city. This is also what I got from the lecturer series as each individual had different roles from Will Sandy and his small installations and projects to Sam Johnston at Gustafson Porter who was involved in the much larger side of urban planning.

Merrist Wood

Something I had not released was that Kingston University is linked somehow with Merrist Wood College in Guildford which specialises in horticultural and farming courses. Merrist Wood college kindly set up through Kingston University a day of teaching Kingston Uni Landscape Architecture students some basic methods in horticultural, plantsmanship and basic landscape maintenance. The tutors at Merrist wood also helped us understand about picking the perfect healthy tree and what to look out for when specifying trees for our future projects. This is something unfortunately Kingston Uni does not teach as it is a very designed based course and even though the Merrist wood day was very basic it was very rewarding to get of the computer away from Auto CAD and Photoshop, and learn about something much more practical.

EcoBuild

I have to admit that eco build was a little disappointing this year. The three day event that started on the 1st this month seemed to be filled primarily with solar panel companies. I went with not much of an agenda and was just aiming to look around and with the hope of finding any interesting companies especially for exterior lighting. Unfortunately I could barely find any exterior lighting companies. One of the most interesting was Pavegen Systems http://www.pavegensystems.com/ which relies on kinetic energy generated when pedestrians would walk across the Pavegen Paving lighting up the luminaries. The company boasts that within a high traffic area such as shopping centre it could only take 5 hours to charge enough energy to light up a whole shop front. This company was very inspiring and I felt it was actually one of the only eco companies at Ecobuild as there were many that really weren’t.

One such company which I won’t name specialised in modular granite outdoor furniture. The idea of being able to mix and match certain bench sections when the need change was great. But when I asked where the granite was sourced from the representative mentioned the granite was shipped all the way from china-not particularly eco friendly shipping tons of granite around the world. (No matter the benches weren’t that attractive any way).

The only other company that really interested me was Bamboo Home a company that specialised in laminated bamboo woods for exterior use. Bamboo is apparently the best and most eco friendly hard wood substitute. It grows incredibly fast only four years until it is ready for harvesting. It has similar tensile strength to steel bamboo and is also harder than teak, ipe, oak and maple woods which take hundreds of years to grow and many grow in endangered tropical rainforests. It also has high dimensional stability, meaning less swelling, cupping and shrinkage, and is a lot lighter so is more eco friendly when shipping around the world. The one thing that I found out about this company that doesn’t sound eco friendly is that they don’t recycle the bamboo woods. I am unsure why this is. As long as natural woods and forest aren’t replaced for the production of bamboo crops this looks like a great product.

Here are videos of the two interesting companies mentioned.

Edward Burtynsky Manufactured Landscapes

Images sourced from http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/index.html

“We come from nature so we must not harm it as we will only end up harming our selves.” Edward Burtynsky

Manufactured Landscapes is a documentary observing the photographer Edward Burtynsky as he explores China’s industrialization. Manufactured Landscapes depicts the industrialization of China in a surreal and scary way but Edward Burtynsky manages to paint a beautiful picture of the horrors of industrialization with his photography. The film goes through many stages and processes of manufacturing from large scale factories, recycling of computer components in China and ships in India, large scale metropolises to the worlds largest dam the Three Gorges Dam located in the Yangtze River. The dam is 5 times wider than the Hoover Dam in the U.S.

The film really shows the ugly side of China’s growth. 13 cities were demolished by the owners them selves who were paid by the government to allow for the completion of the Three Gorges Dam. This is to allow clear access for the bottom of ships clearing any obstructions. The fourth image shows the demolition of a city. China’s ethic in this film seems to be the destruction of tradition to allow the construction of the high rise contemporary metropolis. The fifth image shows alone house belonging to an elderly lady who didn't want to move for the developers so they merely demolished everything around her except her home which is left standing in amongst the rumble.

The main theme from this video is that industrialization is clearly not a good thing for the environment. Not just in China but for the rest of the world. China was used for the subject of the film as its growth is unprecedented. After Mao’s rule had ended in 1959 China contained 90% rural areas and 10% urban whilst in the modern day or at least when this film was made china was 70% urban and 30% rural. We live in an uncomfortable bubble at the moment where we can see the worlds changing but we don't want to change. Its not as simple as right or wrong it needs a whole new way of thinking.

“I look at the industrial landscape as a way of defining who we are. Its part of our politics and economy; it is a landscape but its a different landscape.” Edward Burtynsky

Exit Through The Gift Shop

Exit Through the Gift Shop a Banksy Film is a slightly deceiving title as the film really doesn't concentrate upon the antics of Banksy. But if I am honest it was a pleasant surprise when I sat down to watch this and realized the film actually followed the obsessed ammeter “film maker” Thierry Guetta who found himself involved with the rise of street art through his cousin known as Invader in amongst Paris’s streets. This is when Thierry meets another big name of street art Shephard Fairey (OBEY) via his cousin Invader when working with him in Los Angeles.

Basically Thierry becomes the man every street artist wants around them to film and help out; with the understanding that all of Thierry’s footage will become the first street art film. Eventually Thierry meets Banksy who asks to see the final film. “I was faced with that terrible thing, when somebody shows you their work and everything about it is shit... so... you don't really know where to start.” Banksy. This is the point when everyone realizes he cant actually produce a film and he is merely an enthusiastic camera man.

Whilst Banksy helps create Exit Through the Gift Shop using Thierry’s footage he suggest to him to do some of his own art, which Thierry goes of to do with enthusiasm and puts his efforts in creating one of the biggest street art exhibitions under the name Mr Brainwash in Los Angeles, convincing everyone he is the next big thing despite his work looking like everyone else's.

This is a great watch and Thierry makes you feel like you can achieve anything if you put your mind towards it; and as along as you have his endless enthusiasm and energy.

“Uhmmm... You know... it was at that point that I realized that maybe Thierry wasn't actually a film maker, and he was maybe just someone with mental problems who happened to have a camera.” Banksy

National Portrait Gallery Taylor Wessing Prize

Huntress with a Buck by David Chancellor

Tic Tac and Tootsie by Jeffrey Stockbridge

Merel by Clare Shilland

Images sourced from

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11721591


The National Portrait Gallery is currently hosting the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize winning entries. The competition had a lot of entries I think it was well over six thousand. The exhibition contains sixty contemporary photos taken by amateurs and professionals of all ages and backgrounds. The photos within the exhibition have all been taken by the artists whilst exploring some really interesting themes.

The top image is of the winning entry by David Chancellor entitled Huntress with a Buck. This image does conjure up the feeling of it being a great photography shot but then again I am struggling to understand the appeal to it that obviously the judges saw. I had the same feeling with many of the images within the exhibition they all seemed a little cliched with similar subjects and themes. All the images had been taken beautifully but my main criticism would be that they didn't feel original or shocking enough.

The Gallery Farringdon Arts and Architecture

Antoni Gaudi’s paving along the Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona

On the 26/1/2011 the Gallery on Cowcross Road, Farringdon hosted an architectural and arts based discussion on the importance and role artists have when creating installations for architects. The speakers discussed how their work is often the first to be cut from the budget but can often have the most positive effect to its context. They also spoke about how there are two types of developers those who want to make a profit from a site and quickly sell it on and those who care about the area and are working for a positive change. It is the second type that is usually the developer that will incorporate arts within their plans.

An interesting point that came up within this discussion was how art that is incorporated within a plan doesn't have to involve a large sculpture in the centre of the high street which is the usual stereotypical image associated with public arts. Many contemporary art projects that are now used may only involve the design of a custom brick that can be easily produced and used in a subtle approach. An example of this is Antoni Gaudi’s paving along the Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona which has become an iconic part of Barcelona.

Paradise Row Light - Part 1

Light is a two part exhibition with the first of the two open in paradise row, Newman Street in Greater London. With the second one opening in Galerie Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam in May 2011. The reason why the two are being open so far apart is apparently due to the strong contrast between London's winter and Amsterdam’s spring.

The exhibition sets about and presents the theme of the transitions of light from darkness or darkness from light both figuratively and as an actual. The two works that really stood out in this exhibition was Conrad Shawcross’s kinetic instillation. A piece built from a moving light that is encapsulated within a pattern, and as the light moves upon an arm the light and shadow that it produces changes within the room.

The other instillation that really stood out for me was Wayne Horse’s lighter-lit display within a trash constructed shack. Outside the bin bag front door of the shack was a cardboard tray that had take a lighter and enter written above. Within the shack was a dark room that had a small t.v. in the corner producing eerie background noises and a pale light. On the walls hung slightly strange images that one could only view with a lighter. I really liked this instillation it made me feel like I was in a scene from some horror movie and I had just discovered this strange room with only a lighter to view it. The lighter was such a simple tool used with this instillation but it made viewing the images a lot more enjoyable adding a subtle touch to the feel of the art within the instillation.

Augmented City

Augmented City 3D from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo.

“The architecture of the contemporary city is no longer simply about the physical space of buildings and landscape, more and more it is about the synthetic spaces created by the digital information that we collect, consume and organise; an immersive interface may become as much part of the world we inhabit as the buildings around us.” (Keiichi Matsuda)

This video shows a fascinating insight of how technologies will ever further shape our environment and every day life. It demonstrates how we could be able to change a scene and environment to our own personal preferences. I can imagine with the use of this technology way finding within a landscape and built up area will become even easier with big pre fixed post-it notes following use around town reminding use of routes and shopping lists. I have to admit its an amazing thought being able to change a space that we aren't enjoying with just a click of a button but its also a little scary that reality might be able to change in this way in the future.

Design System Embrace Lampposts

This project located in the Tsimshatsui district of Hong Kong is a community based project aimed at creating easier accesses and pathways for the whole community especially the elderly and disabled. Obviously if you cant tell by the pictures the area that I am most interested in are the five unique lampposts. Three of the five are circular and are fixed around three trees that have been growing in the same spot for many decades. This is to represent the design teams focus on preserving the existing unique characteristics of the site and the community. The other two lampposts are opened armed embracing the trees representing the whole community.

I like the concept of the embracing lampposts but the actual design seems too constrict on the tree a little to much from a design point of view, and I feel the actual design would benefit if the circular lighting area was slightly larger. If the circular posts were also slightly higher and more subtle it would look almost as if the tree had a halo. During the darker hours I can imagine this design looking amazing.

Images sourced from http://www.contemporist.com/

Interactive Skateboard Lighting Instillation

The making of a Light Session- Tron Premiere- ENESS from ENESS on Vimeo.

This instillation for the Melbourne Tron Premiere maps and reacts to every move made whilst skating. This is done with just the use of a iPod touch placed in the users pocket. The software used for the instillation shows how long the skaters have been in the air and reacts differently depending on the time triggering different effects. The image is displayed from projectors above the installation. This use of software is fantastic it would incredible if it could be incorporated within a urban landscape. City authorities would be welcoming skaters in to city centers if the streets were reacting to their presence and certainly would make for a far more interesting park than many of the contemporary parks and squares that private owners and councils spend so much time and effort protecting not allowing certain demographics to enjoy. I can see installations like this breaking down certain political barriers many people seem to enforce in public zones.

The High Line: An Urban Model, Or Not?

The High Line within the Chelsea district of Manhattan is regarded as one of the greatest contemporary landscape projects in the world. The first sections of the High Line have been up and running for over a year now with the third and final stage being developed at the moment. Within the time of its construction I have barely heard a negative word on the High Line. This video however questions whether the High Line really is an urban model. The High LIne has been the driving force behind the regeneration of the chelsea area which was once part of a low income neighborhood. However the Chelsea area has seen a huge regeneration with the High Line being the logo and landmark of this regeneration. Many new developments have come of the back of the High Line such as the New York Standard Hotel. The Whitney Museum that was once located east of Central Park is now being moved to 17th street opposite the Gansevoort entrance of the High LIne and is being designed by one of the great architects Renzo Piano.

Not only does the video talk about if the High Line is a Urban Model or not but it also goes into detail on the politics of the surrounding area and the effects on the local communities and whether the regeneration of the Chelsea borough and the change from a low income area to a very high income neighborhood has had a negative effect on the original communities.

Kubik

Kubik is a temporary lighting display like no other. Designed by german architects Modulorbeat the open air instillation is built up from two hundred and seventy five reclaimed industrial illuminated tanks. Kubik was on tour in Barcelona, Berlin and Milan where it was used by the fashion label Diesel. The tour itself used a number of installations that were positioned adjacent to one another. The illuminated industrial tanks were able to change colours and hue in response to the speed of the music.



Images sourced from http://www.makiro-ent.com/index.php?id=26 and http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6405767378

Ice Hotel

British designers Ben Rousseau an Ian Douglas-Jones have transformed this room at the Jukkasjarvi Ice Hotel in Sweden in just thirteen days. The lighting in the walls was achieved by cutting groves into the ice then electroluminescent wire was inserted. All the furnishings were hand carved and polished to give a crystal effect.

Images sourced from http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/tron-ice-hotel-13-photos

The Blackbox Romania

The Blackbox in Romania was designed by a group of architects known as parasite studio. The whole space has been designed with illuminated coloured lines cutting through all aspects of the nightclub. The name Blackbox came about as the nightclub is totally separate from the outside world. The design does not feature any windows at all, this allows the design to be fulfilled throughout the day. The existing structure of the space separates and cuts straight down the middle of the club generating a divide. But parasite studios incorporated this as part of the design and identity with the illuminated strips now flowing off from the structure.

Images sourced from http://abduzeedo.com/psychedelic-blackbox-romania

Melbourne Recital Centre ARM Architects

The Melbourne Recital Centre by ARM Architects is part of the transformation of Melbourne’s Southbank. The centre won the 2009 Victorian Architecture Medal for successfully winning top medals in all three categories of design. William Wardell Award for public architecture; the Marion Mahony Award for interior architecture and the Joseph Reed Award for urban design. The theatre has become one of the finest acoustically designed halls in the world. The facade of the centre along the Southbank has also become iconic for the design and its ability of changing pedestrian and traffic direction and patterns.

Images sourced from http://www.bustler.net/index.php/article/melbournes_iconic_theater_buildings_scoop_victorian_architecture_awards/

Exhale Pavilion Phu Hoang Office and Rachely Rotem Studio

The Exhale Pavilion is a fully interactive lighting instillation. It was designed in collaboration with phu hoang office and rachely rotem studios. The pavilion was designed as part of the art basel design Miami 2010 competition. The competition was aimed at creating ephemeral architecture along Miami beach front. The pavilion was designed as a stage for music and performance arts. The pavilion is 2322.576 m2 in size and is built up of seven miles of reflective, phosphorescent rope. The phosphorescent rope is charged by the wind from the sea, as the wind blows through the structure the structure moves and sways with the ropes lighting in the wind. Smaller sensors are placed at a lower level to allow someone to blow on the sensors briefly lighting up a small area.

Images sourced from http://design-milk.com/exhale-pavilion-by-phu-hoang-office-and-rachely-rotem-studio/ and http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/12407/phu-hoang-office-rachely-rotem-studio-exhale.html