Planting Sectional Views

Hurrah!  Another image added. This time for planting.  Within the site, the chalk has been left barren to allow for ruderal ecology to emerge. Within this, predominately Betula woodlands will be planted with understorey species for coppice and biomass.  The top image shows a view looking north with Malus sp. for food production with the south viewing image to the cliffs below. I still wanted to show the energy of the site and the openness, hence the trees bending in the vortices of the wind, (there will be many) and the kite flying. 

While doing this project, the back of my mind was full of Dungeness and Derek Jarman but on a much greater scale.  I wonder what he would have done with this site in the 21st Century?

Don't ever do a post grad in Landscape Architecture if you want to remain sane.  It drove me mad but now very prepared for the big wide world out there again.

Final masterplan

Finally found a way to upload the final masterplan.  No annotation on this one mind, but at least the picture is there.  Just about to work on some others. The second image shows a section of the hydrology detail area.  I can't seem to do sections without all the background, they just don't look complete.  I know a background is good and GIS Arc scene imported images of my digital model have been the basis for this.  The only thing really missing now for next week is some closer scenes showing more human interaction.  I'm not doing any more construction details...had enough.  If you look closely at the section, you might see some lambs jumping about.  I do like to add a bit of humour and and area of grazing pasture was intended here anyway.  Which reminds me, I have forgotton to add a protective BS Pig proof fence to the lakeside Phragmites australis planting.  Those sheep will have it all away before any water cleansing. 

Slowly getting there.  Still can't make the proper final masterplan upload or the sections and views.
The files are just too big still.  Here are some 3D GIS models of the Masterplan for Eastern Quarry. They are stills taken from the fly through movie.  It's a shame that I rendered in Photoshop and not Cad since the buidlings are 2 dimensional and I cannot extrude.  Back to the file shrinkage to get other work up. 

More New Images

Lakeside water meadow area with betula woodland in the background.  I hope that I can re-use some of these images and will add interactive people for sequenial sketches.  Not entirely sure about the dominance of the background trees.  Will re-visit when other jobs are completed.  The planting strategy illustrations are first completed with watercolour then scanned into photoshop for detail and fine tuning.

As usual trying to up-load other images but I can't seem to make the files small enough.

Work Update on Eastern Quarry

A cropped verson of my 'Final' masterplan.  Still work in progress.  The orange roads have to go and the housing is still not dense enough. This is at a scale of 1:5000 at A1 and cropped so missing the scale bar.  The site is approx 2.5km from East to West.  Back to the drawing board again.

A sketch for the softworks strategy.  The whole planting on the site will take completely natural form.  No formal shapes and the emerging chalk ecology will dominate.  Here we have a chalk meadow grassland with a copse of indiginous trees - likely Carpinus betulus set in the foreground against the backdrop of the lake and dominant chalk cliffs.

Betula woodland will be used for coppice as well as producing a vauable ecology.  Here, the trees are dense with an emerging underplanting of the wild garlic, Allium ursinum.  In order for it to thrive, the trees should be thinned or coppiced to allow light penetration.

Detailed Design

Concept words...creating this has really helped get this part of the project really focused I now have a great plan for the most exciting part of Eastern Quarry.

Plan view of ex. Clinker tanks re-moulded as Leisure hotel and community buildings with green roof and glass walkways which overhang the cliffs. White stemmed Betulas and invisible glass barriers. I need to add glass seating to the edges. Just click on the images for better resolution.

This has been hard works..and I still need to do the detailed construction drawings for this hard landscaping area at Eastern Quarry, (Along with planting plan area and water/landform). I don't expect much sleep this weekend. It bugs me that we get shown the best tool for waterflow and suds systems in GIS today....just so we can present on Monday. Creativity vs engineering? We have to do it all as discussed this morning in GIS session.

On working for the concept for the whole site, the word has always been 'Thrilling'. I picked this up on day one of the course back in mid-January, since the documentation from the original masterplanners suggested that Eastern Quarry was going to be a 'Thrilling' place to live..but their masterplan does not replicate this ideal.

For the Hardworks detail area, I have chosen the original concrete works. I have been thinking about the concept words for a couple of months. It all has to be about making this area of the site edgy, uncomfortable but exciting and unconventional. Somewhere that people might like to visit but might feel a bit apprehensive about doing so. It's all about heights, feeling a little unsafe and in danger and willing youself to push into a more uncomfortable but exciting zone, but then really enjoying it and wanting more.

I have added walkways at height, a mad luge ride along the cliffs, (Not ice, but New Zealand Queenstown style go carts), and re-used the existing conveyors to be controlled via water weighting engineering. Parts of the conveyor routes travel over huge voids in the landscape.

The children's play areas will be all about balance and falling, albeit safely. I have also added a cliff hanging restaurant with a walk on roof. You can only reach it by passing under the luge rideway. This underpass will have a glass roof so the riders can be seen whizzing overhead. This is the transient space. It's all very well having this in my head, but it all has to be drawn at least in draft by Monday am! I am so happy that we have free reign at Uni. It is better than the real world of boring PV panels, (But here, mine are fully glass and transparent), and the biomass plant! Of course I have included these, but it's a good thing we don't have to work to a budget.

Again... the image resolution is useless in order to get these adobe linked visuals posted. They are clear as a bell in real life!

Going Mad and Talking in my Sleep!

Original masterplan
Lamb Chop...Organic shapes and images

My lamb chop! However my mitigated plan is more akin to this but won't upload. My plan has a central axis and node, just like the chop! Also, the Welsh trip made me think that adding sheep pasture here is very important. Sheeps milk is also an asset. I have been working on trees too. White stemmed Betulas are so important here and reflect the character of the chalk cliff site. Populus nigra creates a contrast with Salix alba plantings adjacent to the lakes

It's a shame that every time my own images go through Adobe systems, I can't seem to upload them. Grant....can you help?

Anyway, I am so obsessed with my project that I found it in my Lamb Chop last night. My Husband thinks I have completely lost it. Apparently I was talking quite coherently about specifications in my sleep on Friday night! Talking in my sleep? I must be very careful?

A Contrast- Greenwich Peninsula

Thames waterfront play area. They only need the most simple equipment and no vandalism at all. It feels like the community really take ownership of this space.

Betula trees on a roof garden above the carpark. How much concrete base is required? The tree pits are small and the trees will remain as smaller elegant specimens...which is good, but no good for wine making!

All this, just so we know where to walk and step.
Chain drainage system. Effective and attractive.

Roof gardens, varied building heights and reflection in the stainless steel pipes. Would like more green here though.

Layered green walls. Although it would be good to fill the whole wall. Maybe it's an experiment?

Actually having a huge blog update since I have done so much lately and am avoiding more work in the law essay until the second hand bible book arrives from Amazon tomorrow. £16 second hand or £10 petrol and parking + time to get it from the Greenwich library. It is better for me to update blogg, be creative and wait til tomorrow.

More images from Wales

Birch Sap Wine? To be extracted in the first 2 weeks of March, when the sap is rising. To extract 1 gallon of birch tree sap it is best to tap 3-4 trees. Firstly, select a point on the tree a few feet from the ground. Using a knife or small hand drill bore a small hole into the tree large enough to insert a plastic tube. Penetrate just through the bark (normally a few centimetres) slanting slightly upwards as you go.Tree sap will often start to flow straight away; if not then perhaps it is the wrong time of year. The birch sap should also be clear, as a particularly cloudy liquid is not good for wine making. When I have nothing better to do or for when oil runs out and we can no longer import foreign gyfergwin?

The natural rockery

Bryophates and Lichens, Post Industrial Quarry Landscapes and CAT, Wales

The bigger picture....seams at CAT quarry
and the detail..sedums amongst the slate

Then we climbed up further to the reservoir - some swam later at night! I refrained but only to maintain some kind of decorum.

Reflections and inspirations

Aberllefenni Mine and Quarry

If Oak trees could talk? Welcome, or leave me in peace, I'm smothered already?

Remnants of workers cottages and a conveyor base at Aberllefenni Slate Quarry or mine....closed in 2003

The air is so clean and moist at the Centre of Alternative Technology , that these tree mosses thrive. Sometimes they throw up spore capsules just like these, that I think may have already exploded. This moss was everywhere amongst the Betula trees, but this is the only one I saw with a form like this and only about 3cm diameter in real life.

I first fell in love with moss in 1990 while living in a dank basement flat in Chislehurst Kent. It always smelt earthy and I loved it!

I have generated so much inspiration for the Eastern Quarry Project, although water, especially with the news today will be a challenge. It has to be all about re-creating forms within the climatic limits and allowing ruderal ecology to predominate.

After a decent crit yesterday on EQ, it's no let up and right back to the drawing board for GIS and Professional studies hand in. I hope Tony likes this? We have named our Professional Studies Group...The Dark Horses, after Anna's inability to understand the concept and we are all playing the game now. This chart is the introduction to part 3 of out document which deals with our relationships and conflicts. It is beautifully diaried by Andy and just fits so well. The diary is accompanied by horsey illustrations and we all hope that everyone else knows what we are talking about?

My favourite image of Eastern Quarry. I'm going to create something very exciting with this!

Adriaan Geuze West 8 at Greenwich

West 8. Miami Beach Soundscape - phenomenal structures....and then the sun comes out!

West 8. Rio Madrid - Undulating paving and the road to Lisbon - so my street!

West 8. Madrid...Trees with personality - No lollypops here and red supports for fun!

On Tuesday 21st February, we were incredibly fortunate to have Adriaan Geuze from West 8 give the most inspirational talk. For a man so successful I expected a standard straight laced, sensible businessman, albeit a creative. How wrong was I?

When questioned, he insisted that they had actually constructed 10,000 bridges in the Garden of 10,000 Bridges for the 2011 Xian International Horticultural Exhibition in Beijing. Matthew, next to me, commented...'Is he for Real?'. I checked later; There are 5 ,but it is designed to make you feel 10,000 and thats a very special number for the Chinese.

The slides flashed through with concepts such as US truck wheel hubs - just wish I could remember it all but is was not a note taking kind of talk. Completely off the wall and just what I love! What I loved best was the humour, and the ability to post-rationalise design and the amazing ability to get thing constructed quickly and beautifully by thinking out of the box and getting right into local cultures. It's the only way to get ahead.

In the vast Rio Madrid project, where the traffic was sunk beneath a 10km+ long park , (Instructed by the Mayor in order to be re-elected), everyone loves the beautiful undulating granite set paving. It breaks up the monotony and creates a three-dimensionality. However, it was not by design. It was just because the Spanish workers couldn't build a straight tunnel below, due to the time constraints and maybe manyana! It was all designed in elevation and section with no masterplaning at all? They just made it up as they went along. They didn't have time. West 8 were employed with 3 months notice to achieve a photo of the Mayor standing in front of the Palace with a backdrop of beauty, so he would be re-elected. And West 8 did it, and so did the Mayor!

The follies created by shafts that have been turned into beautiful and functional buildings. And the, 'running out', of the right trees which necessitated a playpark every 400m. And the brown envelope contact with a granite quarry just up the road which had to be used as part of the deal! All the initial aluminum and corten detailed edges disappeared! But it works so well; and I need to go there!

As students, we all have to post -rationalise to justify designs at this stage, but I didn't expect him to and on such a grand scale. - and such a unique salesman too!

Talking of trees. I shall never specify another tree without really thinking of its personality. Adriaans' Rowan Atkinsonesque impressions of trees - hilarious; and to take so much notice if the variances within species. An enlightenment!

I was compelled to thank him after the lecture, (which was too short), I could have listened for hours.

I told him that he had blown away all my preconceptions that proper Landscapes Architects were generally a weirdy, beardy straight lot. It was something I had been worrying about in the big wide world of proper work and wondered if it was all really for me? Anyway, he agreed that fun makes the world go round and if you can have fun while doing a great job that you love...all the better! Anyway, he reckons that, being a Dutchman, he's quite lame and the British are off the scale when it come to enjoying themselves. I do hope he is right?

What I didn't tell him is that he has now been elevated to principle guest at my Hypothetical dinner party in heaven ,where I surround myself with the most talented and inspirational people. In my dreams! But even good proper male, red blooded Grant confessed to being in love with him! And we both can't stop thinking!

Last Monday

I just got settled next to Paul last Monday at Maritime, with lap-top plugged in and ready to go. We had a chat and did some work then Benz arrived and the day started.

Just half an hour in.......Bloody fire alarm! All the sensible fire brigade rules went out of the window. Our work has to be saved and external hard drives shut down. Then we need to pack away all our valuables. Benz told us too and I never let anything out of my sight, especially my hard drive and lap-top. I would rather lose my phone!

Anyway, the practice alarm all resulted in good fun with Tom Turner taking the Design students down to the Beach at Greenwich for an impromptu Masterplanning session. It's a shame we are not here in the Summer when we could make more use of the shoreline!

The photos capture Grant, mainly, masterplanning his North Woolwich site. I hope Tom didn't get cold toes in his sandles!..it wasn't a warm day.

Inspirations

Peter Latz. Landschaftspark. Duisberg Nord, 1991-99. Careful when searching Peter Latz in Google images. He shares his name with a Gay porn star.... uncomfortable!

The Works swimming pool. Zollverein.

Treasure Hill, Taipei. Sustainable community living

Igualada Cemetery , Barcellona- Enric Miralles and Carme Pinos, 'Exploring ideas regarding the cycle of life and thus enabling a link between the past, the present and the future'

La Tonnelle Wine Tasting Room, Lavaux Switzerland. Built into terrace cliffs.

Edward Francoise, Montpellier, France. 64 apartments with gabion facings. Cantilevered rustic timber balconies that resemble tree houses. The homes blend into the landscape and vegetation is encouraged to penetrate the walls.

More on Sophie's Shoes

The shoes are the first image as inspiration for topology for Eastern Quarry. I do have much better precedent designers to research but, for the moment, Russell and Bromley will have to do! Hopefully Benz will understand?

I have been so held up on staffing issues for Professional studies and as for GIS course where study buddy Ben neglected me yesterday for Grant after he discovered I had downloaded my maps in the wrong format! Not my fault since Shelly gave us the wrong information in wk 1 and I'm not the only one to get it wrong!

Anyway, Ben did seem genuinely upset that I'm not on the Lille trip next week. I would so love to go but why does the University always book it when it is February half term week for schools? We have so many students with families and it is just not possible. It's always the Men that get away with it since Ben is a father of 3, I think? Good luck to everyone who is going away. Have fun and learn loads. One day?

Next blog will be precedent architects/installations in a sensible format. Meanwhile, Sophie's glass slippers and my latest favourite inspirational music while I am working on Eastern Quarry will have to suffice. This is classed as Electronica...not usually my style and doesn't sound like. It is a cover of 1971 Minnie Riperton song and I re-discovered on Jo Whiley show whilst driving on the A21 a couple of weeks ago. (It was used for a Baileys Ad).

My husband thinks it sounds like a Lloyd Webber/Rice Musical hit, but so what! I am a confessed fan of Radio 2 's Friday Night is Music Night. It's one of those songs that I had forgotton about and is now re-kindled. The video is interesting. Twenty one years ago in 1991 and 4Hero were doing an Ecology thing with their Album, Patterns. It's silly cartoons but there is a message about creating nature out of concrete. The lyrics are beautiful and so is the voice.

Julia Fogg says that I was always good at concepts. Some people get embarrassed by them, but what have I got to lose? I'm terrible for just blurting what comes into my head, but sometimes that can be a bonus, especially in this game.

As for Sophie...her shoes will get a proper look in very soon. They might even make my public hanging in June!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=nXK60prBI_w

Sophie's Shoes

Having a Rant!

Just spent about half an hour trying to fill in 'Young Person's Railcard' application on line. I am entitled as a mature student. It says so at the top of the form. Just before you put your date of birth you press an option to descibe you status and you press 'Mature Student'. However, it will not allow you to put in any year of birth earlier than 1986. So I left it at 1986 and filled in all my passport details. Then it tells me I can't go any further becuase my details and passport do not match up! Waste of time.

I now know have to fill in another form and can't do the application on line. Let's get those tickets to Wales booked ASAP!

Professional Studies

I really don't have time for this project but it has to be done. However, Andy and I managed to get all the facts under control for Broadgate today after trawing through Avery Hill Library, the librarians there ordering scripts from Guild Hall where we had to go and pick up. Then back to Greenwich Campus for more journals. This is all just Broadgate Development project material for the Professional Studies presentation. I managed Car, DLR and Tube and Taxi and despite delays and after a huge run across Maritime Campus, I didn't get a parking ticket despite being 20 mins late. And then, was home by 5 to cook Roast Chicken for the family. Not Bad!

I'm just read so much and my eyes were so tired I popped into Boots at Moorgate and have succumbed to shiny new reading glasses. I look look like a proper student now and also join the ranks of the other group of mature students here but will be able to see my screen better for all this GIS and Autocad over the next few weeks.

Unfortunately, I don't think I have got any further in getting Andy to dress up as Maggie Thatcher for the presentation. He says his legs are not good enough!

Kent History Forum. Blue Circle Cement Works

So how come I have suddenly become fascinated with post industrial landscapes?
I need to understand the genius loci of this place and forums like this give me the information to get creative on. Thanks to Tom Turner for inspiration. I read some of this last week but wasn't getting it! Think I might have to go and be a people person and interview some of these workers from BC.

FROM TEAPOT CHARLIE> KENT HISTORY FORUM

Blue Circle cement, NorthfleetI worked at BC, Northfleet from 1976 to 1987, firstly as an electrical apprentice, the as a qualified electrician and then I retrained as a instrument technician. The factory originally had 6 kilns which were very long steel tubes that rotated slowly and sloped down away from the river. Slurry was pumped from the quarry just outside Bean into round tanks at Northfleet. From there it was pumped into the back end of the kiln (the river end) where it turned into clinker by the time it got to the hot end. The clinker was then passed to the grinding mill building, where 2 small and 4 big grinding mills which were effectively large steel drums full of ball bearings crushed the clinker and mixed it with gypsum. The inside was split into sections with holes that were smaller than the balls that section contained. The racket they made would probably fail Health & Safety these days. In the early 80's kilns 3 & 4 were removed to make way for a press plant. It takes a lot of energy to heat slurry into rock so the press plant squeezed water out of the slurry in between large plates. Kilns 2 & 5 used this 'cake' instead of slurry. Not long after that kiln 1 was commissioned followed by kiln 6.The large building you can see from Northfleet high street was the back of the kiln front end or clinker block. It contained large fans that blew crushed coal into the kilns using a long tubular gun. Below the fans housed the conveyor system that transported the clinker. It was very hot and dusty down there. To the west of the clinker block was the workshops of the fitters, welders and electricians plus the stores and further towards the river was the grinding mill building. Between the grinding mill building and the main office block/ river front was the 6 slurry tanks. You can get a feel of the layout of Blue Circle cement, Northfleet works from multimap.com and using this postcode: da11 9haThe railway line came into the factory through a tunnel to the east, dropped the coal into an automated conveyor system on the east side of the clinker building, went around the factory and exited through a tunnel on the west side. Shift workers were allowed to park their cars on the factory side of the rail line but occasionally the train would arrive at shift changeover and block you in. The trains were very long and there was only one car crossing point and they moved very slowly when unloading. I could more or less tell what was going on by the output from the chimneys, during startup more than usual 'steam' would come out of the chimney and when only kilns 2 & 5 were running you could tell if one was down. The chimneys served as a landmark for miles around.They were happy days and I was told "Lad, you have a job for life, we've been making cement around here for years". Nobody counted on MP's opposition to quarrying and the fact globalisation would enable other countries to make it cheaper. The first shipment of Greek cement was tested in the lab at Northfleet and found to be as good as ours but no one admitted as much.All the best Clive

Up to Speed

Back into February 2012 now and well into Landscape Assessment and Design project with Benz on Eastern Quarry in Ebbsfleet. I am really inspired by this site and am really looking forward to creating a plan for an innovative city for the future. Having watched Bluewater spring-up and the rest the whole regeneration around here over the past decade or so the area feels quite close to me and it's refreshing to have the chance to play with something that I am beginning to feel that I really understand.

Simon's project is great - looking at East Croydon Station and Paul Hadley has a challenge with the New Thames Estuary Airport. He showed me an intriguing sketch shape yesterday. I think he should read A Week at the Airport by Alain De Botton. It's all to easy to get hung up on the airport design without thinking about the people that pass through it and why? I'm not saying the Paul won't think about the people, it's just that I am people obsessed. By the same Author, The Architecture of Happiness which I have lined up ready to read when I create my new housing typology for the quarry.

Grant is people obsessed. I loved his film he made last week and the fact that everytime he gets a new site, he goes down there and hangs out with the locals in the pub, (Silvertown), and asks them what they want in life. Ralley did this too on her Thameside area and hung out with all the houseboat dwellers for an afternoon! I can't do this with mine, although I'm sure there could be some opinions if I hung around in Swanscombe but don't know where to start. Anyway, if I turn up in a pub, there usually trouble!

I'm sorting Scoping and Issues so far and a bit of re-jigging from the crit last week. Actually, an awful lot of work so I'll be glued here for a few days. Less partying for me from now until the end of June. What can I do? - I have 5 x friends with 50th birthday parties between now and then and I hate to miss out!