Advanced Planting Design

So while all this fun and games is going on we have an Urban Design Project. I don't really have any images for that. It was a group project and we did OK but it was quite hard to manage. And, the dreaded Advanced Planting Design. I actually really enjoyed it but there was so much work and so time consuming, especially just before Christmas when us busy Mothers seem to have more than enough to do and husbands are out having dinners and Xmas parties every night. I sometimes can't quite believe how I produced it all. The site was at Avery Hill and I had to design with James Van Sweden and Wolfgang Oehme (New American Prairie Style), as my design precedents.

I got to really like their bold style and will no doubt be taking some of that away with me. A few visual sketchbook bits which I literally produce in 5 minutes plus the final masterplan. So much of this was on the technical element so I decided to concentrate on getting this right. Lots of people put some lovely careful visuals on their presentations. Since it was not part of the brief, I decided that time was not on my side and didn't. I don't think it made any difference, but I did master doing all the planting plans in Autocad with specific linetypes and weights and annotating. Never thought I'd see the day and Kim Price at Groundwork will be terribly impressed with me. Given upon trying to upload the masterplan and planting plan. The file size is small but don't know whats wrong.

Urban Food Production

I was generally feeling a little more confident by this time. Just how much had I learnt? For urban food production I decided to use Buckingham Palace and have a little laugh telling the story of Wills and Kate at the Palace having to grow much more of their own food due to food shortages in the 2050's. There is already quite a bit of food at the Palace - I've been: but that's another story - but I do worry about that huge expanse of lawn which is only really used for garden parties. Also thought it would be good to see Perfect Princess Kate looking a bit more mucky and down to earth. She has since decided to join the Scouts!

This is a classic before and after fairytale. The caption for the first image was...2011, The fairytale begins. Ending with...And they Lived Happily Ever After... a bit taking the mick out of Robert for his obsession with before and after visuals, but I got away with it. In fact, Robert surpassed himself and stated that my photoshop skills had come on a really long way. I didn't feel the need to correct him.

Vauxhall Spring Gardens

These are sketches I created using photoshop (After having made the models in Sketch-up) for redesigning Vauxhall Spring Gardens using Concept Theory, the concept being to identify with the formal pleasure park on the site in the 18-1900's, but I added a softer, more naturalistic element. The shadows in the leafy visual were easy to create, however - spot the leaves amongst the branches! The snow ones were more problematic. That's because I'm always in a hurry and hate to have to stay up all night to get it right. Maybe nobody else notices but imagine what it would like like if Paul Hadley had created the same image?

Theme Project

I'm not going to publish my submissions for Urban Trees. The first presentation I did was so awful. I got a D and was asked to resubmit. I had completely misinterpreted the brief and thought that so long as I used Sketch-up, (I had never used it before!) and stuck in a few photoshop trees that would do. Oh dear. The thing is that they just didn't really like the concept of planting trees in front of St. Pauls Covent Garden. When I represented, Grant, Simon and Ben had to crit me and gave me a really hard time. It was deserved and left me feeling like I would never get anything right! However, nice Benz put me in for a pass for trying.

The next was Noise Pollution. The above shows one of the before and after sketch designs. Although there isn't really room at Blackfriars embankment for this installation I got a pass. The funny thing is through, that although I used Sketch-up in all 4 Urban Theme presentations, my best illustrations were when I just stuck to good old photoshop. You find a style that works and stick.

However, I think my visual looks like an illustration from an 1960's Ladybird factual book and not at all contemporary.

September 2011 Wood Wharf

Talk about backtracking with this, but I need to get up to speed. The first task for the MA/Diploma students was to create a design for Wood Wharf and come up with a quick concept. We all seemed to be flummoxed. I presented the following a week later which Tom Turner quite rightly said,' Looks like Skegness!', It was such rubbish!

The competition, run by the Landscape Institute for all UK students was eventually won by Aleck and Danny on our course. Quite rightly so, brilliant work and look forward to seeing something a bit like their final design on the Wharf this Summer. I never actually entered the real competition but probably should have found the time to send something in. I must remember to enter all competitions from now on. Although, when I told my husband about the prize being an internship for a few weeks, (Plus the cash and prestige), he said I wouldn't have had time to do that anyway. Also, have remembered how to deal with the picture quality now. Must remember to chose the size and position before I upload.

Last Term

Just to update on where I got to at the end of my degree in summer 2010. I was so exhausted and that's when the Blog got neglected. Here's some of Farindons Estate.

The main problem with all this is the quality of these sections. I have condensed the file sizes for upload speed but you can barely see them. Feels like years ago that I did these now, but that's cos it was. ......Later.....I know why I didn't like this blogg stuff before. I thought that everything that went in couldn't be edited. Has it changed? I thought it was a bit like sending those drunken e-mails or texts which you regret in the morning. There's an app for that now. It's called 'The morning after'. So long as your messages haven't been opened they can be deleted forever. Might have to get it in case I need it one day!

Back on the Blogg!

I can't believe I completely let this one go at the end of Summer 2010. Now well into the second semester of my Diploma Course at Greenwich, (The course that I thought I would never have the guts to do) - a what a great time we are having? Despite the hard work, still managaging to fit in family/ running home and a very healthy social life! I do think that maybe not for long. We are always being encouraged to blog and I always think that I don't have the time. Well, with a shiny new smart phone I have no excuses.
The amount of time I waste texting and mailing friends while I'm working, just to get a bit of love and support and I should be doing this instead.
A big thank you to truely inspirational Grant with whom we have a bit of a mutual appreciation society - however, I know I'm not the only one! Last evening, he just told me that he uses his just to vent is spleen, so to speak. This is what I shall be doing and it's great to see a live record of how the work has improved across the months. It won't be all about landscape, but other things too - but in my mind, they are all connected anyway.