North West Of Eden

L'Alhambra

2007-06-20T03:16:00.000-07:00

In May I went to Granada for 5 days and finally got to see the Alhambra. It lived up to all my high expectations and we were lucky to go on a Thursday and avoid the huge crowds which was great.
Most of the decorative work was just the same as you see in Morocco- amazing tiles, plaster work and mouchrabieh screens. In classic Islamic style there is an abundant use of water in the forms of still, rectalinear pools, gurgling rills and scalloped edged, marble bowls.
Within the walls of L'Alhambra the planting is minimal, mosty just tree planting for shade, wheras at the adjacent Generalife, there is more emphasis on plants. Hedging, roses, pergolas, wisteria and orange trees. Here the pebble mosaics change pattern constantly, and are a dominant feature of the gardens.
L'Alhambra overlooks Granada, and there are amazing views over the city. Also from the outside it makes an impressive feature in the landscape.
It was all just so inspirational. Not just the design, but the complexity of craftsmanship, which is just so intricate....I do not think it could be easily replicated today.
I highly recommend a visit to this amazing place.

Objects in the Garden

2007-02-08T08:21:00.000-08:00

I like the idea of using unconventional planters in my friends garden. She collects various architectural salvage, and I think that these objects could be used in a fun way in the garden. I certainly don't want it to be twee, and the image of the planted wheelbarrow is certainly bordering on this. I prefer the idea of lots of abandoned bathtubs, or boats that look like they were stranded in a totally alien setting. Ivies growing with abandon will add to the 'secret garden' feel that I want to create.

Still here.........

2007-01-24T02:21:00.000-08:00

Well this whole working full time thing really doesn't allow for blogging let alone designing gardens for friends in my spare time! I do however always have it in mind and sometimes come across ideas for it in the course of my job. For example I sometimes spend entire days looking for precedent images for my work, and more often than not find inspiration whilst doing it. So rather than try and remember what all these things are (as I look at hundreds of images) I have created a folder on my computer to keep them, and thought I would start to post some here. The last image is of the garden that David and Fern did in Biche. This lovely image popped upon Flickr during my research, and I think it looks fantastic.

Wonderland

2006-10-20T04:55:00.000-07:00

There are many themes going on Lewis Carols most famous work. I don't plan to be too literal with them, as this is a concept, not something to conform to. Still, as inspiration goes, it doesn't get much more colourful, fun or mad than this. I just want to list some of the themes, that could be used.

Giant and tiny- Alice experiences both, before returning to her normal size.
The Queen of Hearts,
Chess and croquet.
Cards, namely 2,5&7 (painting roses)
Tiger Lily, Rose and Daisy (talking of course)
Tea party
Games, riddles and nonsense.
Plays on words eg Flower/flour

The story of Alice is a journey, so there should be a journey and a number of unexpected experiences through this garden.

Moon Gates

2006-10-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

In my spare time(!) I am slowly designing my friends garden. It is a really fun project, as the inspiration is Alice in Wonderland. Her garden is already quite overgrown and magical, but there is a lot of untapped space, that could be much improved. One idea that she definitely wants is a Moon Gate. Conceptually it is the 'looking glass' that you walk through into Wonderland. Traditionally Moon Gates are in Chinese gardens, and there is also a history of them in the Carribean. I think the Chinese ones are the most beautiful as they frame what is beyond like a painting. I want to create a 'hide and reveal' effect in the garden.....what you see through the moon gate before you enter, is not actually what you get when you step inside.

I have been looking at precedent images, as I am looking for the most inexpensive way to build one. Obviously the dry stone and rendered walls look fantastic, but they are not a viable option moneywise. I think something in timber could be quite interesting, or maybe even some type of gabion structure. It could even be an unattractive structure that is covered in Ivy.
Other ideas for the garden include a claw foot bath as a water feature/pond, mass planting of perennials, and brightly colored bulbs. Plinths set amongst meadow planting, where she can display architectural salvage objects she collects. I am going to track the design process here, so as to keep track of my ideas.

Chaumont

2006-10-06T05:45:00.000-07:00

Yes you are right. This is not Wales! I am yet to have my photos developed, and so will be doing my Wales blog as promised, at a later point.
This years theme at Chaumont was 'Playing in the Garden' I was unable to go, but found a fantastic website that has really good photos of the gardens. It also has photos of many previous festivals. Here is the link select Jerome Galland and then Archives.

It seems there were many successful ideas and concepts. I especially like the bamboo structure and the red and white chessboard (a reference to Alice in Wonderland) Next years festival has the theme 'Mobile. For a World in Motion' If you want to know more or maybe even enter, then there is info on this link

Just looking at the images has inspired me to do some conceptual gardens for fun. I hate to say it but I am missing the sketch design challenges Jamie gave us last year. Is anyone else? I propose looking randomly in the dictionary, choosing a word and designing a garden. It will be just like old times!

Have to add, that I would not swap places with the people starting their final year for all the tea in China!

Back to Work (and blogging)

2006-09-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

Well finally I have found some time to get back on the blog. It has certainly been a while and I have missed it. Three weeks into my new job I went to the States for 2 weeks, for a friends wedding/holiday. It was fantastic, but unfortunately(?) we were in the deep south and in terms of landscape architecture and garden design the inspiration was zero....hence no photos posted of trip (instead a jpeg of a new take on toile fabric, by a funky Glaswegian company called timorous beasties)
The Americans must have invented the word SPRAWL, and I couldn't quite get over the lack of sensitivity when it came to the commercial buildings. Many of the residential homes, especially the traditional southern ones, with their verandahs and swings- were beautiful. The retail areas on the other hand were nothing short of horrific. One second you are in the beautiful Smokey Mountains- the next driving down a strip of neon, crazy golfs and tacky buildings.And don't get me started on the Wal-Marts (I've seen smaller airports)

anyway.....back to garden speak

I have ordered two Piet Ouldoulf books from Amazon this week and I am looking forward to getting them. My garden has been very neglected this past few months so tomorrow weather permitting I am going to get stuck in.

Next blog I will be posting photos from Wales, as the landscape there was very inspiring.

Life since Uni

2006-08-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

Graduation Day was fun....really good to see everyone again, all in black capes and funny hats. It was really nice to celebrate the end of our studies, as a few months ago, there were times when I could never imagine it ending. Now the pain of it all is definitely fading, and life has changed again. Apart from a few days out, I have been working part time and hitting the job campaign trail. All in all I interviewed at 7 different places, and am now celebrating since accepting a job offer with a landscape architecture practice called Levitt Bernstein, where I will start at the end of the month. I am really excited about it. The interviews I went to really opened my eyes about all the different approaches that practices have. Some were really impressive and others disappointed me a bit.....but all in all there are a lot of interesting things happening in London right now.

Here are some pictures from Hampton Court, on one of my few days off. I have never been to Chelsea or H/Court, so it was interesting to go. I guess I have never really got my head around the whole, 'short lived' showgarden idea. Especially gardens that are a kind of replica of a sea side cottage etc........I just don't get it. I was more impressed with the conceptual approaches, because I think showgardens should be exploring the boundaries of what a garden is, rather than recreating something which, although beautiful.....is nothing we haven't seen before. I think Heidi and Fern's garden was the most conceptual approach there, and it photgraphed very nicely too! Apparently they were marked down because they planted something, somewhere where it would not grow in reality. Considering that most of these showgardens contain plants that are flowering completely out of season, that have been manipulated in greenhouses and with hairdryers, I think that criticism is a load of bollocks.
Other photos are of a gabion wall, filled with flint.......which I had used in my design for uni, but could I find a precedent image of one before now......no!.......always the bleeding way, isn't it! Also a photo of Eremurus x isabellinus 'Cleopatra', which I think looks fantastic mass planted.

Villa D'Este

2006-07-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

Well it seems a lifetime ago now, but is only just over two weeks ago that I was there. The entrance to the garden was not what I was expecting....it was quite unassuming; a solid wall with a few urns along the top and VILLA D'ESTE carved in the wall. Because the land slopes so steeply beyond the wall you see nothing at all from outside the garden wall, not even the tops of trees.
The garden really is phenomonal.....to build it today would be a feat in itself, so the mind boggles as to how it was achieved. The water features are massive, with huge cascades and jet fountains. It certainly was everything that we learnt a high Renaissance garden in the mannerist style should be. It was elaborate, full of hide and reveal, drama and illusion. Four years ago, I certainly would not have appreciated it the way I do now.

Travetine, Capers and Licorice Allsorts

2006-06-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

Tuscany continued............. Made a detour to go and see where travetine is quarried. It was amazing to see entire cliff-like walls of it, which they then slice off so neatly. It is used absolutely everywhere in Tuscany, even the most rundown buildings are constructed in it....in many cases however it had not worn well and had not kept its pristine quality.

Caper plants growing in a stone wall......I had never seen these before, and would have had no idea what they were but someone pointed them out to me.

The final picture is of an amazing Cathedral in Olvietto, again in travetine and the black stone which I can't identify. These stripy buildings were in a few towns we visited, including an amazing one in Sienna, and they reminded me of licorice allsorts. I would love to design a space with graphic stripes as the inspiration.

Stay tuned.........next blog Villa D'Este!

Tuscany in June

2006-06-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

Just back from a glorious week in Tuscany. Such a beautiful part of the world, with it's rolling hills, olive groves and vineyards. The colours of the landscape are very similar to Australia, where the greens are more grey. There was so much to photograph, and I have many beautiful pics of all the vistas, buildings, cathedrals etc.....but for the purpose of this Post Uni blog, I am only going to post things that inspire me in terms of design. In Italy there was so much that did this, so it will take me a few blogs to cover it all. I would LOVE to design something in Italy, to use mediterranean plants, local stone and terracotta and to frame the amazing views.

I am not sure what the trees in the foreground are, but behind are the trunks of Pinus pinea, which is everywhere in the Italian landscape. I love the way they form an umbrella like canopy of shade.

Cupressus sempervirens, another common feature in the landscape. Sometimes I hate the way these trees are used in the UK, completely out of context. In Italy I love them dotted around everywhere and lining long drives.

This lichen covered, dry stone wall ran along the length of the garden at the villa we stayed at. Gorgeous.

Interesting paving detail. Not sure of the stone....anyone? But it is used in conjunction with travetine in alot of buildings.

r

Happiness

2006-06-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

This is my dream car. It is a 1960 Pontiac Parisienne "Pancake Top" Now if someone gave me one of these and converted it to run on gas and not be an American fuel guzzler, then I would be over the moon happy. But not as happy as I am now. In fact at the moment I am happier than that! HAPPY, ECSTATIC, ELATED, OVERJOYED....someone get me a Thesaurus, down right, THRILLED TO BITS!

Maybe this is a bit like childbirth, as I seem to have forgotten all the pain of the past months. There were times I thought I couldn't do it....but it is amazing what you can do if you set your mind to it.

I have no idea what I am going to do with myself today.....I have a week to kill before I go on holiday to Italy. The flat is still littered with paper and pens and the like, but I can't quite seem to clear it all up.......maybe it's because I don't really believe this is it? Someone pinch me.

P.S Here is a picture of me and my English family with the fruits of my labour!

Are we there yet?

2006-05-31T04:21:00.000-07:00

Oh please let this end now. I have had enough. I have already taken a few tentative steps into life as I used to know it, and I like it and I don't want to do anymore horrible things like construction drawings. Everything feels tortuous and it is taking every ounce of self will I have left to get it done. On Sunday I was at The Fat Duck with my other half and for a few moments I believed I was happy again! Now it is Wednesday and I am back at the drawing board wondering was it all a dream?
I took some photos of one of the amazing desserts I had (14 courses in all) so I am posting these pictures to confirm to myself that life is just around the corner and soon it will be as beautiful as this pudding!

(In case you want to know what it is, I took a copy of the menu: Mango and douglas fir puree, bavarois of lychee and mango, blackcurrant sorbet....it was amazing!)

Back to the Grind

2006-05-23T19:10:00.000-07:00

Well after a lovely weekend off, it is back to work as normal. Today I have redone the colours on my sections. Jamie and Andrew weren't too keen on my more abstract colours, so I made my trees green and tomorrow will tackle my sequential images with the yellow meadow and blue bamboo.

Saw Andrew on the tele at Chelsea looking very important with a clipboard. I hope the entrants have taken their concepts through to planting and materials, and that they haven't coloured any trees in a bluey/petrol colour!

Above is one of my precedent images......the mood I hope to create with my waterwall.

What a Day

2006-05-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

Well finally it is Saturday.......woke up at 1pm, feeling completely exhausted. It was one emotional rollercoaster of a day, which went a little like this:

5:30am- Wake up
6:00am -Load car with work and 2 models(mine and Emmas')
6:30am -Meet Emma at Hammersmith Station
7:30am -Car breaks down between Junction 7-6 on the M25
7:31am -Have nervous break down
7:32am- Play ensuing scenario through mind-can we make it?
7:33am-Call Green Flag and beg for assistance
7:45am- Call Jackie(sorry Jackie!) Jackie calls Dan who calls Irina who may possibly be driving past to rescue us
7:46am- Call Emmas boyfriend to ask if he can find us a cab in the area
7:48am- Call Martin who thinks it is a practical joke!
7:50-8:28 -Stand on M25 hard shoulder seeing who will show up first- Irina or Green Flag. Freezing cold, jumping up and down trying to stay warm, through the spray coming off the wheels of passing trucks. Remarkably laughing between profuse apologies to Emma.
8:35am -Green Flag pulls up, run up and tell him, if we don't get to Uni very soon we will fail. He remarks he has never before seen 2 people happier to see him in his whole career! He puts the mini on his truck and drives like the wind to the college.
10:05am- Unbelievably pinned up and sitting in Hadlow cafeteria eating a horrible sandwich, but never happier.
Early afternoon- Emma gets an A!
Late afternoon- I get an A-!
8:30pm- Home at last, drink Champagne, talk about my day and fall into a coma-like sleep.

My thanks to: Jackie for trying to organize our rescue, Dan for calling Irina, Irina and Martin for offering to rescue us, Green Flag for arriving within an hour and most importantly Emma, for being incedibly good humoured and laughing about a potential 40% mark.

No thanks goes to my car.

Two more weeks and we are done. I am taking the weekend off. Feels great!

PRESSURE!!

2006-05-17T08:40:00.000-07:00

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

That's the first thing I thought when I woke up this morning. I have never been so stressed out in all my life. I wake up with nausea and my heart beating like the clappers....managed to turn that into a positive this morning, commenting to my other half "well at least it's not morning sickness and at least my heart IS beating" in a vain attempt at being a 'cup is half full' type of person.

I am off to Hadlow to get my printing done today. It is a fair hike for me, but it is SO much cheaper than London, that it is worth the trip. So madly tying up some loose ends before I head off.

I have made some developments in the alcoholic beverage department. Normally a red wine drinker...last night there wasn't any (eek!) so I had some whisky (which I have never liked) It hit the spot nicely, and I decided I now like it( I can hear myself telling this story at my first AA meeting in the not too distant future)

ANYWAY, enough of that....must get on and stop procrastinating.....need to find out British Standards of various things and do many construction drawings.

I always thought BS stood for something else...........

r

Up and at em

2006-05-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

Well here I am again. It's Sunday morning, and I was up till all hours redoing my sequential images (making eye-levels the same, changing the sizes and layouts and yes....annotating them of course) Went to bed and dreamt that Jamie was sketching my sequential images for me, and including cute little details like people having picnics and eating cake.......and then I woke up. Where the hell did my subconcious drag that idea from?

So well and truly back to reality now and planning to tick a few more things off the list. I think the hardest thing to do at this stage (apart from doing the work) is stay positve and cheery. So I am posting some images of my favourite ad that will hopefully make you warm and fuzzy inside. Now that sounds quite sad, but I am sure any of you who have seen it, especially in the cinema, will agree it is a beautiful piece of cinematography. I keep a little clip of it on my computer and watch it every now and then. It makes me feel happy!

Interesting fact. No computer trickery was used in making this ad. 250,000 multicoloured, bouncy balls were launched down a San Franscisco street and filmed in real time. If you want to procrastinate you can check out the website at
http://www.bravia-advert.com

I just find the whole concept inspiring....on that note, I'm off to work myself into the ground!

P.S I don't have shares in Sony.

r

There's a first time for everything

2006-05-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

First drink, first kiss, first degree, first nervous breakdown AND first wisteria flower! I have waited 5 long years for this baby to do its thing and it finally has, so I am posting a proud photo. Have spent the weekend inside working away, and to be honest (I know its selfish) but I am glad that the crap English climate has held true and stopped being beautifully sunny after only two days. Rule Brittania!

Lighting Concept.....Tick

2006-05-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

Slowly ticking off the boxes of the 1:200 stuff. As soon as I cross something off the list the load feels a little lighter. I am not letting my brain think about the 1:50 at the moment. One step at a time to try and keep my sanity, is the gameplan. Here is a nightime image. Decided to have downlighters, or as some websites call them, moonlighters, in my tree canopy, as it was a way to keep the main path well lit and for it to have some ambience aswell. The canopy of Fraxinus angustifolia is airy and delicate, so would create lovely shadows on the pale paving.
Off to the printers now (for the third morning in a row) Then back home to de existing site rendered plan.

Breaking the Law

2006-04-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

Hello all. I would like to apologise to anyone who read my last blog, which ended "watch this space" in regards to finishing the law assignment. That was a hell of a long space and I hope you weren't watching. Why did I think I could do that in one day? I seem to have all sorts of ambitious deadlines at the moment, that never seem to be met. Must try and be more realistic from now on.
I ended up doing the law assignment over four days, in the evenings only, as I hated giving up more than one day for it. I trotted off to the post office with it this morning. Was I glad to see that one go, I tell you.

So now, I appear to have only one subject to complete. To an outsider this would probably seem like a very achievable task.....maybe even an easy one. But no, it is the most difficult thing I have attempted to do in my life and I aint got much time left in which to do it. Thank God for all my fellow sufferers and the blogging system. Reading all those messages and thoughts certainly makes you feel part of a team (even if that team is full of quivering wrecks and alcoholics! I love you guys!)

Anyway, I can never post a blog without a picture, so this is one of my precedent images,(for my large body of reflective water) and it is a photo of the lake near my Mums house in Oz. Maybe one day I will see it (and her) again?

Bye!

Paradise by Way of Kensal Green

2006-04-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

I did not know it at the time, but Saturday was the last day off I am having until June. I am now extremely glad that I got out and about in the rare sunshine, because it probably topped up my vitamin D levels enough to prevent me from becoming completely anaemic and depressed by then.

It was a lovely day and I went for a walk through Kensal Green cemetery, which is near where I live. It runs along side the canal and is very beautiful. It looks especially amazing at the moment as there are carpets of spring flowers swamping the crooked headstones. They are literally pushing up daisy's in there. If this course kills me, this is where I want to go!

Today I am up and tackling the law assignment. Hopefully it is possible to do in one day, cos that is how long I have given myself. I will post a blog if I am successful....watch this space.

Here are some photos of Kensal Green and an interesting detail on a gate at Ladbroke Grove that I have always liked. Simple but effective.

Bye!

The Monday Blues

2006-04-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

Well, the first Monday back was as much of a blow to me as it would be for Jamie arriving to find everyones work beautifully annotated. i.e: A complete shock.
My head is spinning with everything I need to do, but I am determined not to shed another tear over this degree, so I am trying to toughen up and not get overwhelmed by all the work yet to do. However, whilst at Avery Hill this afternoon, I was so overwhelmed that I quit my job a month earlier than planned. I will be cash poor, but slightly time richer, so it will be worth it really. Jackie figured out we have 24 days until D day and that gave me all the reason I needed to lose the job and gain some sanity (or was that insanity?). That is not even a month.....how scary is that?
OK, that is enough freaking out. The second glass of red is starting to reduce my stress levels, in a very effective way, so by glass three I should be fine. (If I am not a not an alcoholic by the end of this degree, I will be very suprised)

Cheers!

Back to work.

2006-04-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

Just posting another sequential image, to prove I didn't spend the whole weekend looking for chicken cartoons. This one is of the ornamental gardens leading up to the garden festival area. I have spent nearly a day arranging my sequential images on A1 sheets. Presentation is just as time consuming as producing the work. Tomorrow I have to go to work, then come home to tackle finishing the planting plan, which needs annotation. I am starting to tick things off the very long list I have. I am just scared that the list will be added to again after going back to Uni next Monday.......scary thought. Roll on June (but not too quickly)

Easter Prayer

2006-04-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well here I am on Easter Sunday attending the Church of Blog, of which I am a devout follower. It is great because it is Easter all year with the blog religion, at least thats what it feels like with all the constant chocolate.
After I have worshipped at the blog alter, I am going to give an offering to Photoshop, and then take the afternoon off and have lunch with friends (oh, and eat more chocolate)

I wasn't planning on getting up early this morning, but there is a bird in our neighbourhood, that makes the most annoying sound. It is pitched at such a level which, without fail, wakes me up before any alarms. Maybe Richard can identify the bird if I describe the sound. It is like either a squeaky bicycle wheel going around and round, or someone inflating an air mattress with a leak. I can't seem to spot the bloody thing, so it must be small, but the sound permeates the whole area. I am thinking about getting a cat. My boyfriend says he thinks it is looking for a mate and that the noise will stop when it gets laid.

My prayer to the Church of Blog this morning is 'please get this bird a bird, before I get a shotgun' Amen

Sequential images

2006-04-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

Once again I find myself spending way too much time on one particular task. Often when I have spent a couple of hours rendering in photoshop, I find I don't like the result. After a few false starts I have found the style that I am going to use for my imagery on this project. I am posting the first sequential image I have been happy with. Now that I have made the mistakes, hopefully the rest will be alot less time consuming.

Walking down the main avenue to the ornamental gardens.

Leaflet

2006-04-08T15:40:00.000-07:00

Here is the outer half of my leaflet. The tree is the front cover, the small leaves and details are the back and the larger leaves and text are the first inner fold.
Although it was really time consuming I enjoyed doing it, as it was a break from all the other work and like they say a change is as good as a holiday (although I don't feel that way about the law assignment).

and then everyone came back!

2006-04-04T18:40:00.000-07:00

Just when I was worrying it was all going quiet there in Cyberspace, all my fellow GD's hop back on board. Let it be said that you can always count on a Garden Designer! Nice to see all the leaflets too. There seems to be a range of styles, and interesting ideas. I have finished mine and will post an image next time.
I sent off for Graduation tickets today (please God, don't let this be a jinx to my actually completing this degree) Felt very weird to be perfectly honest, but it is a light at the end of the tunnel, so I am staying positive. Hope you all have sent off as well cos I don't want to wear that ridiculous hat all on my ownsome!

Is anyone out there?

2006-04-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

Well things are pretty quiet on the blogging front. I keep procrastinating from more pressing matters and have a quick browse of the blogs, and no-one is writing anything......is this because you are all being way more disciplined than me or are you all on holidays?
I have been spending way to long on the rendering of my plan.....days in fact. Stupid really, but I find rendering with photoshop a trying process, as what looks great on the screen, generally looks crap when I print it out. I also phaffed around experimenting with an abstract approach, which I liked, but I couldn't decide what colour to make the large body of water in my design. Everything I tried ended up being to overpowering, so I ended up going full circle and back to choosing colours with more realism. I am posting what I have done so far. Still need to put in people and my show garden (and of course annotation!)
I am also attempting my setting out drawing (why did I put in so many curves?) and so far it aint going too smoothly. I am going to pencil in and then show Jamie or Andrew, before it gets inked. As for drainage overlays......so uninspiring, I just end up cleaning the flat instead. In fact the place has never looked so clean and tidy (amazing what a few deadlines looming over your head does for housework)

Paddington Basin

2006-03-27T12:50:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, before it rained, I walked from my flat along the canal up to Paddington Basin, where alot of development has taken place. If you are using granite setts in your design, you should definitely go and have a look! It has quite a strange atmosphere around there, especially on a weekend. It is empty and feels a bit like Canary Wharf. However they are building residential apartments, so in a few years time it should have a different vibe. There is some interesting detailing, and I was checking out the drainage as well. At the end of the development, near Edgware road tube, there are some interesting glass and corten steel sculptures (see pic). They are lit up at night, but I think they should have been water features. There is very good stair and ramp detailing near a Richard Rogers building, and plenty of interesting bridges and walkways over the canal. If anyone has a grass ampitheatre in their design, I have posted a pic of the one they have built at Paddington. It is a bit strange however, as it focuses on a gym...so I suppose it's purpose is as a place to sit and eat, but who wants to eat cake and look at a gym....not me!

r

Model

2006-03-22T12:30:00.000-08:00

Well, that was a hell of a week, but it was great to see all the models people had on Monday. The variety of ideas and all the different visions of what Hadlow could be like are really exciting. What a shame none of them will ever be realised.
I was happy to get the model out of the way. I actually quite enjoy doing it but it takes SO LONG. Now that it is complete I can get on with the bit I enjoy most, photos and photo montage. Because my drawing skills never really communicate what I visualise in my head, I find this method much more satisfying.

r

Design Development.......The Final Conflict

2006-03-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

(American movie narrator voice) In a world, where only the strongest can survive, a group of final year design students armed with only felt pens, tracing paper and a will to design, embarked on a long and strenuous journey. Join them in their quest, in a heart wrenching film, brought to you by the makers of Design Development, the Early years and co- directed by Liversedge and Wilson.

"I cried so much, I nearly laughed"
Avery Hill Examiner

"A must see film for anyone considering a career in design"
The Hadlow Express

"An emotionally raw film, the papercut scene was especially touching"
London Retro

R

One down three to go

2006-03-05T08:59:00.000-08:00

Well, I am happy to say that I have completed Tom Turners assignment. After rewriting the history of the world, I certainly feel like an enormous weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Unfortunately my design work this week has not had a look in, and I am about to try and work on it now. If I am this happy after finishing this, imagine the elation of completing Jamie's coursework........still a pipe dream for now (but a good one)
I have printed Toms assignment (all 63 pages) and tomorrow will quickly go to get it bound before heading in for a model making workshop. Not sure if 30 odd people all bringing in model making equipment sounds that productive....just sounds like we will end up asphixiated on glue fumes if you ask me. Anyway, I will take in my bits of foam that I acquired via some packaging recently.
Have posted my cover of said assignment as looking at other peoples blogs, it seems to be the done thing. I chose a picture of a Jellicoe garden for my front cover, as it was his book that helped me the most throughout the assignment...oh and because it is a beautiful image too!

Neverending Story

2006-02-28T19:35:00.000-08:00

I just seem to have lost any ability to make decisions. Just when I think I am happy with my design, I stare at it a bit longer, and then I go changing it again. Now I am worrying I have gone to far and should have stopped developing my ideas, but to be honest once you change on thing it has a knock on effect. So this week was certainly not the 'easy' planting and materials overlays that it should have been. I have done more work on the planting, and my materials overlay is a joke really....but hey, I just gotta stop at some point, my brain is fried.
The following are pictures of my long and arduous design development. Three overlays? Try 15! I have not photgraphed all of them but just the major changes. I guess I am afraid that I will be told...I was going in the right direction early on, and that I have completely lost the plot by my last one. I don't even think I should be a garden designer if this is how long it takes me to do things.....unless I can charge my clients by the hour and they are filthy rich and don't mind! To use a form of analogy that Jamie is fond of employing, this year is like learning how to cook a souffle. The first few attempts sink in the middle (or the first 15) and then you finally perfect it and you get the finished article....you just have to persevere. I am still whisking the eggs on this one.

r

System approaching overload

2006-02-21T11:30:00.000-08:00

Just when I thought I had a handle on things, this week now has to be sacrificed for the professional studies module. I don't like to complain about things too much, I tend to go for the grin and bear it approach,but I have to say that this late delivery of a module that we should have had last year could be the straw that broke the camels back. Through no fault of our own, the part time garden design students are now doing a full time course, not only that but at a time when the pressure is really starting to mount up. We have a huge hand in for Tom Turner on the 6th March, not to mention all Jamies work, and now a whole three days of another subject........aaaaaarrrrrggghhhhhhh Never mind trying to hold down a part time job and for many other part timers who have children, this really is a nightmare.

Now that I have that off my chest, lets move on. On Saturday I wrote half the day off as I had not taken a day off from Uni work for three weeks. I believe that it can be more productive to just stop, chill out and pretend it doesn't exist for a few hours, just to a) regain your sanity b) put things into perspective c) recharge your batteries. So I went with my lovely boyfriend, (who was suprised I didn't ask him to go out with friends so I won't be distracted from my work) and we went to the Hayward to see the Dan Flavin exhibition. We thouroughly enjoyed it because not only is the installation art fantastic, but it is all made with lights and colours, and it is like standing in front of a happy lamp (you know those ones that combat S.A.D?) The perfect exhibition for a grey February in London.

The following are two postcards of Flavin's work that I got. The green and yellow pieces, do not stand side by side, they are in fact back to back, so the green and yellow light pass through into each installation.

Broadgate visit

2006-02-11T17:31:00.000-08:00

Emma and I took Andrews advice and went and walked around Broadgate yesterday afternoon. Even though I have a huge amount of work to be getting on with, it was well worth taking the time out. It provided inspiration and we looked at detailing and choice of materials. They really are hugely important and can make or break ideas.
The photos posted here are off the web, as I took my old fashioned camera with me. They don't like people taking pictures there, but Emma and I assured them that we were not interested in photographing the buildings, we were only interested in the paving, benches and lights. So they said we could take photos. We checked out Finsbury square in the daylight and then went back when it was dark, to see it in it's full glory. It is a fantastic place and just makes you realise how underused lighting is when it comes to public spaces. I mean the possibilites are endless.
There are many other things to see at broadgate, and I will post some photos when I get my film developed, but this was definitely my favourite part.
I took along my sketch overlays to discuss with Emma. This was a huge help as I really seem to bogged down with my ideas sometimes and don't know where to go next. Sometimes all it takes is discussing it out loud with another person. Even when it confirms everything that you thought was wrong IS wrong, then all the better. With a combination of discussing ideas and seeing brilliant ideas in action, it really helped me to go back to the drawing board.
If anyone wants to go to Broadgate, it is right behind Liverpool St station.

r

Weekend?

2006-02-05T22:08:00.000-08:00

What weekend? I have just finished typing up my notes for Tom Turner. This weekend I have researched and filtered through copious amounts of information about Medieval and Renaissance Europe and gardens. I, myself feel as if I have come through the Dark Ages(Sat and Sunday) and emerged in an age of enlightenment (Sun night) Unfortunately that enlightenment is the realisation that I must research six more chapters of garden history, before they spring the belated Business Law module on us.
So really, I am still in the Dark Ages and not even in a walled pleasance, but off fighting a crusade........bugger

So, I have completed all tasks due tomorrow. Well all but one. I have not come up with a theme for my garden festival. Well I know what the theme won't be (see aforementioned topics)
My brain is mush right now so it probably best not to try and figure one out. I was going to have Genius loci as my theme (bit intellectual and all that) but as I have to design the gardens in the show, I have to be 100% inspired (not that the genius loci isn't inspiring but I have pondered too long on the Spirit of Hadlow, and want a new challenge)
Perhaps I will brainstorm some ideas at college tomorrow.

I am posting a picture of an Andy Goldsworthy as it is nice to look at, and might inspire a theme or two.

R

Hadlow Survey

2006-02-01T19:04:00.000-08:00

Well...I have done the site survey in Hadlow. Don't mind doing these things so much when it is with the lovely Claire, Emma and Jackie. The survey threw up some interesting things, which I feel could strengthen my design, so even though I hate putting together survey and analysis sheets, I do believe the design development will be fun. Took this photo of some distant views. Might be a bit difficult to see, due to the grey skies, but you can se Hadlow tower and Oast houses in the distance. I like the soft winter hues. Makes you see the strengths of grasses as a winter interest.
We were in the drawing studio working as Jamie and Robert were teaching the 2nd years the technical drawing module. Boy am I glad I don't have to do that again.........well until the design detailing for the M/P that is!

Design Detail

2006-01-27T18:45:00.000-08:00

This is the area I have chosen to do my detailed design. It incorporates part of the central zone, garden festival, sensory gardens and design studio. Also the canal. I have realised a few things that are not quite right. This wasn't apparent until I zoomed in. Still I suppose that is the point of the exercise. Anyway, I have done the overlay and sections, and hope to have a glimpse of a weekend, in between catching up on my Tom Turner work and seeing my long lost loved ones and friends.

'Liberate Me' A thing of the past?

2006-01-25T19:00:00.000-08:00

Remember the good old days. Sketch designs entitled "liberate me?" What fun we were having, and we didn't even know. The masterplan and ensuing work would be more appropriately entitled "Incarcerate Me" or "Section Me" In fact I can think of many other titles, which I will not publish at this point. Here is a picture of what I would look like behind bars. Chin up everyone.......we can do it......I think.....
Oh also,if anyone is feeling down about their crits on Monday they should go and read David Watsons last post http://www.edesignstudio.blogspot.com/

R

Progress has been made!

2006-01-17T19:15:00.000-08:00

Just got back from work, and as I am not in any frame of mind to continue working on my Masterplan stuff, I thought I would post a blog instead, as I don't think I will have another opportunity to do so this week. Last week I worked really hard on my plan and sections, and I even started the document. I didn't sleep much, and when I did all I dreamt about was the M/P. I was also not very efficient at work, but hey, somethings got to give and I don't want it to be my sanity. Anyway, the good news is, I made alot of progress and can actually see myself finishing for next Monday...so it was worth it.
Andrew gave me the go ahead and said that I had resolved the problems he had pointed out the previous week. My problem was that I had treated the campus as many parts of a patchwork, when really my approach should have been to approach it as a whole. Jamie has so far not given his opinion on what I have done, so I guess I hope that he and Andrew think along the same lines. Put it this way....nothing can be changed now.
So here are images of my (unannotated) plan and three sections. Not having the drawing abilities that some of the other students have, I have relied heavily on Photoshop for my sections. In fact I have decided this is the one program I could not live without!

Masterplan Monday

2006-01-08T14:40:00.000-08:00

Well it's back to Uni tomorrow, where I will probably receive a huge wakeup call about all the work I need to do. Not that I have done nothing mind you. All I have done is think about this masterplan...try a few different things and finally arrived at a solution that I am happy with. Even though Jamie says we should be 'doers' and not 'thinkers', for me I need to come up with a design or idea that I believe in....otherwise how will I spend the next 5 months working on it? Sometimes ideas and inspiration come in a flash, for me this did not happen with the masterplan, so I have done quite alot of 'thinking'. So all I have to show tomorrow is a pencil drawn masterplan and my thought process in the form of my sketch book. I am thinking I will try and do a rough section today, especially after seeing Richards blog (Richard I admire your ability to produce good work so quickly) Not an A3 document in sight, so I am going to have a busy 2 weeks.
Anyway, I suppose I should discuss my ideas as this is the purpose of this blogging thing. In short this is my thought process:

Hadlow the patchwork....this was my first inspiration, but all I concluded that not only is the surrounding landscape a patchwork but the entire campus. It is already a very fragmented place and adding a garden festival will only make it more so. So I accepted this and divided the campus up into its separate parts, and explored other themes with which I could 'stitch' these parts together.

Hop Fields and Apple Orchards/ historic layers

Researching these two topics was very interesting and they are certainly an integral part of Kentish history and identity. The qualities I have taken from these two themes, are the form and order of how they are planted.
Hops in rows, often with trenches in between, supported by a grid of poles and wires...and apple orchards also planted in grids.

I decided that a series of grids in each section of my campus patchwork would be what unifies and connects each part of the uni grounds. Connected through circulation mainly, but also by a common thread of design in each zone. All will be different but based on the same principles, that being a series of lines or grids. There are many precedents to be found exploring these themes:-

A major decision I made was that I decided the road into the campus, needed to be straight for this concept to have strength. So I have created two axies, one physical in the form of the road and the other visual. I also felt the campus lacked a centre so created one, where a new main building will go. All areas connect to this one.

I will post a picture of my plan when it is completed (next week hopefully) even though I don't have much to show tomorrow, I do feel glad that I have finally figured out something that I feel happy with.

R.K

Barcelona

2005-12-28T12:23:00.000-08:00

Question: What do you do if you have loads of assignments that you haven't started, Xmas presents to buy and a million and one other things to do?

Answer: Go to Barcelona

Anyway that is the approach I decide to take on the 21st. Got back late on the 23rd, and have been in denial about pre-mentioned things ever since!
So, to ease my conscience I have decided to post a blog, which I have decided is a form of guilt free procrastination. To prove my time in Spain wasn't a complete waste of time I am posting some images of the Jardi Botanic, which some of you may have seen on the study tour. It is still as impressive as ever, and the best thing about it on this visit is that many of the mediterranean plants were still in flower, the sun was shining and there was not a soul there, apart from myself and boyf....fantastic

Hope everyone had a great Christmas, cos lets face it the first half of 2006 is going to be a challenge (to say the least)

Hadlow Concept

2005-12-18T16:32:00.000-08:00

I am definitely someone who needs a concept or theme to inspire a design...I don't know whether this is a strength or a weakness? Anyway, so I have been trying to come up with something to inspire my Masterplan. As yet I have not taken this inspiration past the conceptual stage, as I am using the party season to procrastinate alot.....so this blogging is a direct response to my guilt. Anyway...looking at the aerial images I got from Multimap, you can see how the campus sits in the landscape. I was actually quite suprised at how beautiful the area looks from the air, so decided it would be nice to use this patchwork of fields as a conceptual theme.
I tried to think of other things that are reminiscent of a patchwork so as to explore the qualities, and found the following images....from rice paddy's, salt farms, architecture, mud flats and stained glass. Even Mondrian shares some of the qualities.
So now I just have to figure what parts of this concept I want to take through to the design...watch this space

Raina

Miracle on the Tube

2005-12-12T20:30:00.000-08:00

Garden Designers Breaking Down Barriers

On my way home tonight, with conceptual model from sketch design 4 in tow. Got on a busy commuter train from Charing Cross and took a seat. The passenger next to me asked what my model was, and I replied 'a conceptual model' conversation from other fellow passengers then ensued, as we discussed what this meant. Then one woman asked me if my model had been made by a child (ouch) I said 'no, by me'....oh how we laughed! Anyway, I came to the conclusion that this interlude on the tube home was not a Christmas miracle, just the power of model making. I say more conceptual models on the tube,promoting well being, conversation and eye contact between Londoners.

Some commuters in need of a concept

Melbourne

2005-12-04T11:20:00.000-08:00

Well continuing along my patriotic theme, I thought I would post some photos of my last trip home in June. The following photos were taken in Melbourne. A fantastic city, who embraces the new. Some of Australias more interesting modern architecture can be found here. All very inspiring of course!

This is a water feature at Federation Square. Very difficult to photograph. It was a wall about 2.5m high and 5m long. Its surface is of slate which is "ridged" with a zig-zag pattern (hard to describe) water cascades down it and the ridges cause the water to create patterns as the water molecules cling to the slate, making their way down to the base. Hopefully these photos show what I mean.

Cor-ten steel at Melbourne University. This continued along the front of the whole building. I guess the only problem with it is that the shapes that protrude outwards, shelter the surface underneath, giving that kind of 'urinal' effect, when it rains....but I still like it

Finally, one of my favorites. This gate was the entrance to a residential property squeezed between two shops, on a busy shopping street. I love the detailing on it, with one bird flying off the gate onto the shop wall.

Just noticed that my blog looks different in Explorer, as I publish on Safari...how annoying. Hope it all makes sense to you explorer users out there

Feeling Liberated

2005-11-30T22:20:00.000-08:00

Well, I don't know about the courtyard, but I sure feel liberated after handing in the last of the sketch designs. Not sure why, as I am sure the hardest is yet to come with the masterplan. Anyway, while it is still fresh in my mind I want to post some photos of my 4th sketch design, based on the word CANOPY.

I took inspiration from a Haiku about my chosen word,

canopy
the light
dances with leaves

I used photos of my sketch model to explore the way light filters through a tree canopy. You can find SOLID,TRANSLUCENT and TRANSPARENT shadow and light. I took these three qualities into my design.

Getting light INTO the courtyard was the biggest challenge. So I used mirrors, reflective metals and water. The water is softly rippling, creating movement. The water feature is lined in a buff 'natural' colour as a black lined pool would just absorb the light. I used these two images, to keep in mind the effect I wanted to create

To make the light 'dance with the leaves' in the courtyard, I used the idea of a mobile like structure. This structure came up and out of the courtyard, connecting with the canopy of the pinus sylvestris beyond. The structure does not move freely as a mobile. The upper parts are fixed, the next level have slow, controlled movements, and the ones below that, slightly faster.

This is an unfinished plan view, but you get the gist of it. The shapes and forms are inspired by aerial views of the pinus sylvestris and also their 'platelet' like bark. I felt this design had to go beyond the courtyard, as to connect with the landscape beyond...drawing the eye up and out of the courtyard, cos lets face it looking into the canteen just aint pretty! For my 'leaves' I chose a dense ground cover plant, Pachysandra terminalis. It has so many good qualities, loves shade, tolerates frost, evergreen, lush looking...I love it!

Here is my one image, of the light dancing with the leaves in the courtyard.

Ocean Baths

2005-11-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

Looking at Emmaslandscape a few weeks ago I followed her link to see the Leca Swimming pools in Portugal, designed by Alvaro Siza. In Australia, especially New South Wales, we have many ocean baths...and to be honest I have always taken them for granted. Like most things it's when you leave them behind that you realise how great they really are. Emmas blog inspired me to look on the web for images of my favorite ocean baths back home. They vary from small rockpools for children, to full length olympic size pools. The thing that suprised me most when looking all this up was actually how many there are in N.S.W. Over 100 pools along 1200km of coastline. I have probably been to 10 of these!

The Entrance Baths.This is one of the only listed pools, and the one I learnt to swim in. Sounds nice, but actually they used to make us tread water for 10mins, fully dressed in jumpers, jeans and shoes..in Winter! I hated every minute of it.

The Blue Pool, Bermagui. I love how this one has been sensitive to it's surrounding landscape

Bondi Baths. Maybe not so sensitively done, but I still love it. The surf gets so big at Bondi, that the water in the pool is constantly changed. This is the great thing about ocean baths. Sure beats the tepid, chlorine pool at my gym in London

This one is located near Bega. I have not been to it, but found it on google images. I love how the rock formations are actually in the pool

Next time I am in Oz, I am going to see these pools with new eyes. I can't wait to take photos of them all!

Getting back to Hadlow

2005-11-17T13:30:00.000-08:00

Well, when I heard that we were doing Hadlow for our masterplan this year, I was gutted. Then I resigned myself to the fact. On Monday afternoon in our part time tutorial, I realised that maybe I wasn't quite over it as I had a bit of a moan to Jamie and Andrew about it. Anyway, after talking about it I realised that it is not that I hate Hadlow...it does have good many points, I think it is just because having spent 2.5 years going there and doing 3 assignments that related to the sites there, that I was hoping for some new ground to explore. It will be a challenge to think about Hadlow from afresh, I will just have to leave all the old baggage behind.
Anyway, Jamie reckons we won't have seen the space chosen for the sketch design. Well, we have trudged through most of the fields for ecology, traipsed through the town with Helen Armstrong, and designed gardens for planting design, so if there is some place in Hadlow that I have not seen...well I will be suprised. Oh did I mention that we planted up the raised bed in the horse stables?

Aside from that...Australia has qualified for the World Cup! Can you believe it? (no, don't answer that)

The Weekend

2005-11-16T21:30:00.000-08:00

On the weekend I went to The Design Museum and Tate Modern. At the Tate I saw the Rousseau exhibition, but it wasn't my cup of tea really. Rachel Whiteread in the turbine hall was best viewed from above. Different to her other work, which I love.....this one felt a little like a warehouse full of boxes. But still very effective in the Turbine Hall. I don't think anything will ever beat the installation that Anish Kapoor did there a few years back.
The Design Museum was great. I hadn't checked what was on, so it was a pleasant surprise. They are doing an exhibition of the graphic artist Robert Brownjohn. Well known for the credits in some James Bond films. I had no idea about him, but this guy was a genius....truly inspiring. Took way to many drugs though and died before he was 45. Here are a few photos of his work, I especially love 'watching words move'

No matter what I am doing there is always something to remind me of homework!

An installation he did for Pepsi headquarters in 1959. Made me think of my last sketch design. Just proves no ideas are original

This is from a series he did called Watching Words Move. Such a simple idea, yet how many of us could have thought of it?

Peace?

Rendered Sketches

2005-11-16T20:07:00.000-08:00

Well, here are the same images rendered. Jamie said my images at pinup were too 'snap shot' like and that I needed to expand the view. So I have tried to do that. I quickly photshop'd in some plants. I spent about 20 minutes on this and think they look OK. Still a bit rough around the edges, but I can see that by drawing beyond the photo has improved the image.

Just Another Manic Monday

2005-11-08T19:30:00.000-08:00

Well it was the usual hectic Monday madness yesterday. Including Tom Turners class in the morning, I calculated that I watched 37 presentations yesterday! No offense to any fellow students but my brain stopped absorbing at number 15. I am just grateful that I did not have to present mine at the end..it would have been like watching the living dead.
Anyway, once again I got a C+ for my sketch design. I guess I would have liked to have improved a little since my last presentation, but I completely agreed with everything on my crit sheet, so no complaints. To be honest I knew there was a lot of annotation missing...won't make the same mistake again.
Here are 2 unrendered sequential sketches that I used. Now that all I have to do this week is a powerpoint presentation, I plan to play around with them a bit more and try a few different rendering methods. I will post the results when I am done.
Adios

Majorelle Gardens

2005-11-06T18:57:00.000-08:00

One of the things I was thinking about this week when doing this new sketch design was the duality of colour. I have used this in my concept for this project by using orange and blue, opposite colours. I suppose though that you could say that the 'duality' of a particular colour does not have to be decided using a colour wheel. Red could be the opposite of blue as one is a hot colour and one is cool. Just a thought! Anyway when I was deciding about which colours I would use, I remembered the use of colour in a garden I visited in Morocco in May, the Majorelle Gardens. Definite highlight of my trip.

Pergola with red and blue contrast

Water feature Yves Klein blue with white and acid yellow. Looks fantastic.

There is a duality to the planting in this garden. you go from dry, cactus garden to lush rainforest planting

'Duality' model

2005-11-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of my second conceptual model. The three key qualities I took from my first model are 'Sheltered', 'Curved' and 'Smooth'. Approaching these qualities using the theme of duality, gave me their opposites, 'Exposed', 'Straight' and 'Textured'
The photos shown here do not show all of these qualities as I am going to render them. I was explaining my ideas to my boyfriend last night, and just talking it over helped me to clarify what I am doing.....I just hope I have got the right idea about this sketch design...mine is still just a 'concept' at this point.

r

'Duality' Sketch Design

2005-11-03T14:40:00.000-08:00

I don't think I did very well with the model making exercise. Not my forte. I must say I didn't like either of my models that I made on Monday. And I chose the easiest one to transport home on the train. However with a bit of photography I think I have brought it back from the brink of disaster, as the photos I have taken have made me see it's qualities in a different light.
I have posted a few of them here. I wrote down a list of words that sprung to mind, just like we did with the advert exercise the previous week.
I'm going to choose some of these words and think about them in terms of duality. Hopefully inspiration will spring from this process. I am not feeling very creative today......

SMOOTH, LAYERS, FOLDS,INTERSECTING, ARCHED, FRAYED, PEELING, CORNER, VIEWS, TUNNELS,

FRAGILE, SHADOW, ENCLOSED, FLAT, LOOSE, INFORMAL, CURVED, DELICATE,

HAPHAZARD, DISJOINTED
COVERED, SLOPING, ASYMMETRICAL, DISJOINTED, UNEVEN,HIDDEN,SHELTERED,CROOKED, FLIMSY, SOFT,

Chaumont Garden Festival

2005-10-30T14:30:00.000-08:00

In September I went on holiday to Normandy and the Loire, and I went and checked out the show Gardens at Chaumont-sur-Loire. This years theme was 'Gardens of the Memory'. It was really interesting to see how diverse the designs that stemmed from this theme were. The following are photos of some of the design elements I liked in the gardens showcased this year.

The Show is situated
in the grounds of
this amazing Chateau

Mass planted ferns contrast well with the metal structure

This was a garden designed by
textile students. The design was
not brilliant, but I did like how the
fabric highlights the qualities
of this plant (achillea?)

This was a garden of recycled materials.
I like this as a use of aggregate in a concrete wall.

Nice pale stone
in the gabions

The following photos are of the two gardens that I thought were the most successful. The 'boxes' you see in this first picture were made of concrete, cor-ten or plywood and were of varying shapes and sizes, placed around the space. Each box represented memories of different stages in our lives. The materials deteriorated (or not) at different rates, symbolising how our grasp on our memories changes over time. The idea was very well conceived, and the spaces within the garden were very successful. The planting reinforced the concept.

The next 3 photos are of my favorite garden at the show. The design was based on two infinite loops, like mobius strips which never interconnect. Now that I come to think of it, this idea was never really linked to the 'memory theme' very successfully, although I am sure it could be. However it was the most successful garden in terms of structure, planting, circulation and materials (in my humble opinion)

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London Open House Week

2005-10-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

In September I went and checked out some Architecture during London Open House Week. This is a fantastic event, and if you have never been I highly recommend you go next year. You get inside Londons most interesting buildings. This year, two of the buildings I visited stuck out. Here are some photos of them.

This first image is of Fawood Childrens Centre in Harlesden. Designed by Will Alsop. The budget was tiny, and the centre is built in the middle of one of the worst estates in London. He cleverly used shipping containers for classrooms, and made the place bright and colourful and inspiring. The whole building is enclosed in a kind of steel grill, so the kids get loads of fresh air, but are safe within it's confines. Will Alsop should be commissioned to do something in Hastings.

The next images are of Chiswick business Park. Architect Richard Rogers and Landscape Architects West 8. This is an on going project and is in phase two. The buildings get built as they are needed, preventing empty offices. The landscaping was inspiring, as you really felt you were no longer in London. The park is open to everyone, but I don't think people are aware of this yet. So if you get a chance, go! The only thing I didn't like about the landscaping was some of the plants they had chosen. There were quite a few Acer palmatum on their last legs as they were very exposed. They used plenty of Cypress, I think they were going for a bit of a zen feel, for all those stressed out office workers!

The detailing on the decking was fantastic, I don't even think Jamie would have criticized it!

Frieze Art Fair

2005-10-24T21:48:00.000-07:00

Went to the Frieze Art Fair in Regents Park yesterday, scammed a VIP pass and all (free coffee, shame I don't drink it) I love contemporary art (most of it), and find it completely inspiring. I also wish I had some serious dough so I could own some of it. The video work wasn't as good as last year, but there was some amazing photography, and this year quite a lot of the artists had used collage.
This year, I looked at the artwork from a different perspective than I usually do. I tried to think about how I could take something from them and apply it to Garden design. Some inspired more than others, so here's a few photos of things I found wonderful.

I love how the 'windows' within the curves of this sculpture frame the illuminated background. It changed from every angle

This effect of a serigraph on copper sheeting, could be applied to different materials. This piece has a feeling of 'trompe l'oeil' about it

This amazing collage, shows what an effective medium it can be

This deconstructed image was one of my favorites(photo does not do it justice) A photo of an every day object, altered within itself, like a jigsaw being put back the wrong way

I liked this piece, in terms of the possibilities of the material. Cold stainless steel sheeting made to look delicate and fragile. Laser cutting is definitely something I want to explore

There was so much more, and the ideas were endless.............my head hurts..bye,

Raina

Blog Guinea Pig

2005-10-18T20:48:00.000-07:00

Well my first opinions about this Blogging malarky, are that it was all a bit confusing about all the different names and titles they want you to come up with. They don't really tell you what is going where and it was a bit confusing.
Checked out a few random blogs that were appearing on the home page....ended up checking out some (accidently I may add) well, not so wholesome blogging, which put me off my breakfast! It would appear that there are all sorts of reasons people Blog!
I am actually quite looking forward to this, even if it may prove time consuming to begin. I am not someone who is protective or private about my work, and I would love to see more of other peoples ideas and processes. Over and out...