Adaptable Landscapes

Bankok Market

A Kingston Sunset

I am very passionate about art, and despite doing a design course in Landscape Architecture, I have drifted slightly away from some of my favourite pasttimes which include photography and painting. However, in early summer last year i was by the Thames in Kingston with my friends experimenting with our cameras. My friend Nektarios took this amazing picture of my eye with his macro lense when i was looking towards the sunset. We then used photoshop to make part of it black and white.

Barcelona Night

On the last night of my stay in Barcelona, I ate dinner at a really funky club/restaurant at Puerto Olimpico. It is called OPIUM.

Port Vell

Beachfront

St. Mary's Axe

My friends and I were lucky enough to visit the Gurkin one night to see the fabulous views across London. Next time I will bring my tripod! The building was great, especially the top floor where you have 360 degree views of the best city in the world!

The bar on the top floor

Tower Bridge

Canary Wharf

Overlooking the Southbank with The QE2 Bridge in the distance??...hello Essex!?

Sketch, Conduit St

FOCUS Week 05.05.08 - Trees for COLOUR

Barcelona (2) March 2008

Barcelona March 2008

Focus Week 10.03.2008

I visited London Open City Exhibition at Somerset House to learn more about the landscape projects and strategies currently taking place in London. The work displayed looked at efficient and creative ways of using public space. It includes the Mayors 100 new public spaces and the East London Green Grid, which are schemes aiming to create a network of enriched public spaces which have easy access to them- more aimed at the pedestrian than private vehicles so it is more sustainable and will also encourage people to use public transport.

Above: A screen shot of a moving image illustrating the need for more pedestrian pathways across busy roads in the city.

I also visited the Natural Stone Show at the ExCel to learn about different types of stone and what they can be used for for different landscapes. There were many companies from different countries exhibiting at the show including Italy, France, Greece, Turkey, Japan, and China.

Barcelona March '08

I travelled to Barcelona in March and stayed for 5 days to explore the City and its Olympic landscapes. I wanted to compare its success to London's aims for the 2012 Olympics which will help me write my extended essay on regeneration of the Lower Lea Valley.

Above: Rambla del Mar in Port Vell. This boarded promenade stretches across the harbour to the MareMagnum shopping mall and the aquarium. It was really packed this day as the sun was shining. It is centrally located along the waterfront adjacent to the Ramblas so many people are able to access it.

Above is Anella Olympica adjacent to the Olympic Stadium. When i visited using the Bus Turistic, it was nice to see people still using the landscape 16 years after the Games were there. A class of school children were playing football on the grass in the background and other tourists roamed the site taking pictures. This place was amazing. It had breath-taking views, situated on the highest part of Montjuic with 360-degree views of the sea below and mountains behind. The yellow chimney like columns de-humanizes the space, as they are so huge in scale.

I took this photograph at Port Olympica. This green sits on top of an underground car park, an effective way of keeping public space on ground level and diverting the cars underneath so city space is not compromised. I wanted to capture the old men sitting on top of the car park entrance looking over to the waterfront. It must be their local spot to socialise and relax!

Above: Port Forum. This part of the project I thought was really well designed. The yellow wall and the boarded walkway bring out the colours in the sandstone tiles. The sea water is then linked through with the blue rendered wall, typical sea side colours but they are made contemporary when laid next to the Sandstone (Indian?). The herbatious planting in the centre softens the level drop between the two pathways and adds a softer texture to the hard landscaping that surrounds. In the distance the Forum Esplanade (a landmark energy centre) has a sculptural concrete structure with a simple plane of photovoltaic floating off four concrete supports. In order to maximize solar exposure throughout the year, the panel faces south and is tilted at a 35° angle. It generates approx. 554 MWh a year.

Exploring forms

Sketches of the River Thames and the form of a dead tree.

How to be INNOVATIVE

USE THE STEPPING STONES OF ANALOGY
"I invent nothing; I rediscover." Rodin


MAKE THE STRANGE FAMILIAR AND THE FAMILIAR STRANGE
"Discovery consists of seeing what everyone has seen and thinking what nobody has thought." Anon


WIDEN YOUR SPAN OF RELEVANCE
"To perseive things in the germ is intelligence." Lao-Tzu


PRACTISE SERENDIPITY
"The real majic of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust


CHANCE FAVOURS ONLY THE PREPARED MIND
"Where observation is concerned, chance favours only the prepared mind." Louis Pasteur


CURIOSITY
"Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect." Samuel Johnson


KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN
"Here is a great observer, and looks quite through the deeds of men." William Shakespeare

"If a man looks sharply and attentively, he shall see fortune; for though she is blind yet she is not invisible." Francis Bacon


LISTEN FOR IDEAS
"Give us grace to listen well." John Keble


READING TO GENERATE IDEAS
"The use of reading is to aid us in thinking." Edward Gibbon


KEEP A NOTEBOOK
"A commonplace book contains many notions in garrison, whence the owner may draw out an army into the field on competant warning." Thomas Fuller


TEST YOUR ASSUMPTIONS
"If a man begins with certainties he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he will end with certainties." Francis Bacon


MAKE BETTER USE OF YOUR DEPTH MIND
"While the fisher sleeps the net takes the fish." Ancient Greek Proverb


DO NOT WAIT FOR INSPIRATION
"Thou, O God, dost sell us all good things at the price of labour." Leonardo da Vinci


SHARPEN YOUR ANALYTICAL SKILLS
"One should never imopse one's views on a problem; one should rather study it, and in time a solution will reveal itself." Albert Einstein

SUSPECT JUDGEMENT
"Criticism often takes from the tree caterpillars and blosomes together." Jean-Paul Sartre


LEARN TO TOLERATE AMBIGUITY
"Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit." Henry Adams


DRIFT, WAIT AND OBEY
"Day-dreaming is thought's Sabbath." Amiel


SLEEP ON THE PROBLEM
"It is the heart that always sees, before the head can see." Thomas Carlyle


WORKING IT OUT
"There is an old saying 'Well begun is half done'. 'Tis a bad one. I woud use instead, 'Not begun at all till half done." John Keats


THINK CREATIVELY ABOUT YOUR LIFE
"Creativeness and creative attitude to life as a whole is not man's right, it is his duty." Nikolai Berdyaev


Quotes from 'The Art of Creative Thinking' by John Adair

Tuesday 30.10.07

THE: FUTURE: LABATORY Lecture - Knights Park, Kingston University

The Future Labatory is a team which has developed an innovative approach to trend forecasting, consumer insight and brand strategy. They ensure that a brand, product or business uses the most relevant and up-to-date trend information and consumer insight tools to better anticipate market needs.

Notes from five discussion topics:

-Consumer Attitudes Audit for 2007/8:

Seasonality is important for a brand or product. Currently, people are more favourable of individual looks whether it be for clothes or furniture etc. 'Experience' is what people are searching for now, with the popularity of Facebook, AOL and MY Space. People below the age of 30 are more likely to add material to the internet compared to those aged above who just 'take' from the internet. 77% of people are most concerned about anti-social behaviour, which is a 62% rise from last season's poll. More people are trying to reduce their carbon footprint by making changes locally to them. In the 1990's, anti-social behaviour was seen by some as cool. Now people are becomming more conservative, rating 'decency' and 'fairness' as the qualities they which to see more of now. Brands need marks to make them 'simple', 'singular', 'asthetic' and 'honest'.

-Slowtopias:

The need to slow down, to retrench, reboot and above all relax in sumptuous and romantic climes.
The quality of travel is becoming poor e.g. increased delays at airports and people finding travelling stressful. Designers are trying to improve the experience. They have looked into 'slowspaces' which are atmospheres created for people to relax and feel calm while making their journey e.g. The longest champagne bar has just been designed for the new Eurostar Terminal at St.Pancras. The Orient Express has become more popular. The Airbus A380 has been designed to be more eco friendly. Foster + Partners have designed a new VirginSpace Port in New Mexico. Embracing eco-luxury forms of travel e.g. new cruises and the return of the airship. 'Experience' is being considdered more.

Jeddah International Airport by Office for Metropolitan Architecture

http://www.dezeen.com/2007/07/page/2/

Airbus A380

Virgin SpacePort, New Mexico by Foster + Partners

-Menaissance: The British Male

In the 1990's there was a 'lad' culture where men didn't want to care and have responsibilities. Now this is changing- they are moving towards 'niche' and 'particular'. The female century is creating a newly confident sophisticated and cosmopolitan male. Pressure from women achieveing higher grades in education and equality being more prominent in society is making the male more aggressive in the workplace and more determined to become dynamic. Men are taking care of their appearance e.g. buying cosmetics etc. Men are inventing more individual looks, and it is now more common for men to be single into their late 20's and early 30's.

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/showcase/mediapractice07/index.php?page=student0012

-Natural Nuclear:

As boundaries begin to blur between craft and innovation, technology and tradition, designers and scientists are creating extraordinary new materials and products. Designer David Ross invented concrete paving slabs which erode away to reveal copper underneath. More hybrid materials and products are being invented. Currently, textiles transform our world more than any other material. Organic is now being questioned if it is really that eco-friendly as people have been led to believe- e.g. producing 100% cotton requires more fields to harvest the crops, therefore more machinery- more pollution. Is it better to think chemical and machine made?

Below: "Erosion Sink" by Gore Design Co. It is made from eco-friendly concrete using a proprietary blend of reclaimed materials and industrial byproducts.

-Global Design Notebook:

Designers are turning into scientists, chemists, illusionists and magicians. Creations are taking on new looks- dripping, bonding, recycled, coated and injected. Athem have designed a building facade in Paris which is reflective and distorted to give an 'Alice in Wonderland' look. Similarly there is the Nendo climbing wall in Tokyo (below) which has taken on a new experience for climbers by using giant mirrors for pieces to grab.

FOCUS WEEK 29.10.07

Monday 29.10.07

NLA

I was quite dissapointed on this visit to the NLA as the exhibitions were being changed around so there weren't many pieces displayed. However I found an exhibit which interested me, which was of four plastic sheets overlayed mapping different features on each. A simple and effective way to represent information singularly and also as a whole.

AA

I visited 'The Architecture of Critical Graphic Design' exhibition, which was a good inspiration for my design thinking- to develop concepts from abstract ideas. One moving image exhibit illustrated how shapes and lines were drawn on paper with a spray can on a pully string controlled by two people.