Personal Statement 1st Copy

My Personal Design Statement

Landscape architecture is multi functional and diverse. This is what inspires me to design. I believe every project is different with its own issues to overcome, considering the background that underlies the population and the origins of a site or region is key to a good and sustainable design for future generations.

When designing a space it is important to understand the people that use the space and how they interact with the landscapes that surround them and why? I have always been interested in how different cultures live and work within their landscapes. I think it is important to consider these issues whilst designing to realise the differences between the local communities as well as looking at the larger social influences of a community.

An example of a landscape I am keen to design with is ‘delta habitats.’ After visiting Rotterdam in the second year of my degree I became enticed by the diversity of the environment, particularly the threshold where the land meets the water. I have since been keen to research how different delta habitats function day to day. The organic forms fascinate me as they are ever changing and evolving constantly, and there is always something new on the horizon to explore. I am passionate that all landscapes should be seen in this way, pushing myself to gain as much background and knowledge as possible to allow my design process to be as appealing and diverse as the landscape that surrounds us.

Professional Focus - Design Profile

One of my new modules in semester two is Professtional focus, 'this module allows me to examine my professional and theoretical profile in the context of the identified industries or future areas that I wish to progress to' Our first assignment is titled Portfolio development and Seminar Presentation. The assignment aims to gain understanding of my design philsophy and my current design process. I will also have to look at various case studies and record my reseacrh on a blog or website design. Reflecting on my past and present work and my personal development in the design world.

The 4 key components are:

1. Personal Design Statement
2. Designer/Practice Study
3. Blog/Web Design
4. Presentation

Snowy Writtle

Munich

Munich study tour 2010,

This years study tour was to Munich in Germany, my first impressions were that it was not as good as Rotterdam however it was interesting to visit another part of Europe. We also got set our next design project which is a site ajacent to the olympic park. It was really interesting to visit the park and gave a completely new outlook on how the whole of Munich has been built up after the war. I looking forward to getting stuck in with the design of the area we have been given as it sits within so many large pieces of architectural buildings.

Conceptual Models

In the Munich assignment we were asked to think about the site visually, to do this i produced models to help me develop my design idea below are some examples.

Maldon Finale

Final Design for Maldon Promenade Park. A thershold between land and water.



Luke Engleback

Whilst reading a issue of the Landscape Journal I came across a designer by Luke Engleback, looking him up online I came across his website some images are shown above. I was really interested in his projects and ethos shown on his website. The drawing and style was also something I was drawn to. I definitely think I will be looking at this designer in the future. Below is a link to Studio Englebacks web page.

http://www.studioengleback.com/site.html

Tollesbury Initial Reseacrh

One of the first assignment we have been asked to do in our CDP module this year is to produce a feasibility report on our sites - mine being Tollesbury Marina. The report has included inventory analysis and appraisal as well as a SWOC and design visions. I really enjoyed writing the report as it really got me into my site and how it functions and the different uses of the area. I have tryed lots of different techniques to get a good understanding of the site, including model making, drawing and looking at more factual issues like the climate.

I also looked at some case studies to help with my development at Tollesbury which I will up load soon.

Modelling the Site

Sketching Visions

A Rain Shelter

The first task we have been given in Public Landscapes is to design a rain shelter.

"When the shelter is sure, the storm is good" - Henri Bosco

The site which were given to place our rain shelter was the land next the stream which links the main campus with the engineering block shown below:

For me the most exciting thing about this site was the Taxodium distichum (swamp cypress) trees, so i decided to take this inspiration further and look into where trees originated from, i found that they come from south west USA down to the Guatemala rainforest's, from this i them started to look more into the Guatemala rainforest's and found that this was the location of the Tikal National Park: the ancient Mayan city with large stone buildings I also looked at local rainforest communties and what they used as rain shetler using woven palms as roofs.

All of these thoughts i sketched down onto paper (shown above) something that i found extremly useful to collect my thoughts. I also looked into the swamp cypress and how they have "knees" which allow the tree to breath. The knees were also prefect for the brief and the fact that they are on the thershold between land and water exactly. (Shown below)

From all of this research i then made some models to try and express my ideas, to start with i could only think about the community rainforests, but then i began to think my conceptual looking at the knees again and produced a shelter out of paper mache which syblolise the knees of swamp cypress trees - i then wanted to use my research that i had done on the Tikal buildings and decided to make my next model out of stone inspired by the stone Mayan buildings i also used the trainaglar shape that both the buildings and knees have and came up withe the following ideas: 

The final image being my final design. The image in the middle shows the model being tested to see if it could was water proof and whether it could hold and release the water. Which it did and it made an exciting shelter for people to explore and experience the thershold between land and water.

Mersea Island & Maldon Promenade Park

Yesterday we took a site visit to Mersea island and Maldon prom to take a look at the threshold between land and water, for me i found this quite difficult considering i have grown in these places since a young age. Mersea for me i have always related it to MUD and lots of it, but yesterday made me see it in a whole different way and it was really interesting, as we walked along the creeks and mud flats where the the oyster beds are I really began to think about that threshold.

Maldon is also somewhere which I've visted regually for various events throughout the year including the mud race, the maldon regetta, concents and general summer days out. Maldon Prom is the laction for our Public Landscapes site. Shown below the field to the far right located to the left of the yahct club in the boat shaped.

My first thoughts of the site were the lack of views out onto the river. The field is also a lot higher than the rest of the prom which seems odd almost as if there as land fill dumped onto the site. The site is also surrounded by a memorial walk for local people who died in the second world war, looking into it in more depth it just seems than random trees have been planted around the field to produce a walkway and there was really much thorght put into it. This is something that I will definalty have to look into as its quite a sensitive subject and I dont want offend anyone but maybe there is a way of improving the memorial site instead?

Below are some more images taken from the trip: