Horsing around in Scotland

Studying landscape design has made me aware of many aspects of both urban and rural landscapes. Trees, lakes, houses, roads, valleys, traffic lights, flowers, birds nests and now 10 storey giant horses. The sculptures are the work of Glaswegian sculptur Andy Scott. They are absolutely beautiful, even the mockettes are amazing.

Hard to aVOID

Google is like my private jumbo jet! When I'm too busy to go jetting all over the world checking out interesting design I can search for it on the World wide web. On one of my most recent flight I landed in the central atrium of Customs House in Sydney, Australia where this amazing sculpture has been installed.

This is perfect inspiration for my play project:

The Heart of New York

Korean designers Ji Hwan Kim and Jin, forming the design team zero per zero, have created this amazing heart-shaped diagram of the new york subway system. Apparently 'i heart' the New York subway system!

The Art of Advertising

The seasonal downturn in the sale of Crunchy Nut in favour of hot cereals has led Kellogs to take desperate measures. Pavement artist Jon Hicks has been commissioned to draw Kellogg’s bowls around London, sweeping autumn leaves into them to emulate the cornflakes. A very interesting concept ... and it might have worked on me ... only ... I don't like nuts.

Stalking Santa

NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command) has been tracking Santa Claus via Google maps ... well someone has to do it!

When is a road not a road?

This piece of artwork is situated next to the RBS on Spitalfields Square. The artwork is composed of two curved, shaped boxes with street scenes, glass and building images on them. What fascinated me the most was the fact that as you walked between the two boxes the artwork seemed to give the feeling that you are walkng down a road. Not bad!

Making my Mark on the land

One of the major reasons for choosing Landscape Architecture was the fact that as I grew up there were alot of regeneration going on in local area which I often had chances to air my views and participate in ideas for change in the Landscape. I always thought I wish I could design a local park in an estate and I guess that is just an element of what I am looking forward to being a part of.
This is why I am not only going to look at Landscape Architecture firms to apply to but also local councils.

There are a lot of regeneration schemes underway throughout London Boroughs for exapmle there are plans to create a new city farm in Tottenham, a major parks regeneration project with £311,000 which has been invested into by the concil's Cabinet.

http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/news_and_events/latest_news/tottenhamcityfarm.htm

The city farm is just one element in the council’s plan
s to transform Lordship Recreation Ground into one of the most popular parks in London.

Kew Gardens - Waste Management

I recently benefitted from a very interesting and informative talk by David Barnes, the Manager of Horticultural Support at Kew Gardens. The talk gave me a fascinating insight into the management of the gardens.

Waste management is a key element of the life of Kew Gardens. The combination of the production of over 100 tonnes of waste plant material with a sustainability commitment to recycle 99% of organic waste clearly creates a great challenge.

All of this plant waste is managed through the process of composting. There material is composted via one of two routes:

1) Woody Material: shredded and screened - wood chips mixed 4:1 with the manure - water added and heap turned - 8 weeks - used in the garden as surface mulch

2) Herbaceous materials: shredded - mixed 1:1 with manure - 6 weeks -soil conditioner

Waste management at Kew is a good example of sustainable and efficient managment. In addition to the clear horticultural and evironmental benefits this scheme also saves Kew a great deal of money. David Barnes also indicated the desire to extend the scheme in a variety of directions For example, due to the very high temperatures generated during the composting process he indicated that pipes could be heated by running them under the heaps. All in all it was a pleasant trip and a very interesting day.

Getting on the (Design) Bus

Above are the two winning designs of the 'Design A New Bus For London' Competition. The first is a collaborative design from Aston Martin and the architects Foster and PArtners and the second is an entry by Alan Ponsford's Capoco Design. There were many creative and some crazy designs but these two stand out by reflecting the sleekness, sophistication and character of the nation's captial. Both of these designs look to the future with hybrid-drive technology lightweight materials as well as giving a nod to the past of the old Routemaster.

The best designs and concepts have been passed on to bus manufacturers and a competitive tendering process will soon begin. Tfl aim to have the first prototype for the new bus on our roads by 2011.

Focus Week 2: Hargreaves Associates

Hargreaves Associates is an international landscape architecture firm. The firm was chosen to design the main Olympic Park for London 2012 and I have been looking into the work of the firm with the possibility of applying for work experience or an internship with their London offices.

Discovery Green - Houston Downtown Park Houston, Texas

Led by George Hargeaves, the firm has a strong design focus which has one it many awards for its varius projects in areas including urban design, waterfronts, public parks, academic, corporate, institutional, and residential planning.

Cincinnati Riverfront Park Cincinnati, Ohio

"The firm’s work centers on planning and design that is specific to a site including its historical context, its natural processes and the uses aspired to for that site – and it embodies a commitment to civic vitality and creative solutions that meld cultural desires, functional needs and site."

Shepherds Bush Common Competition London, UK

Obviously, the inernational nature of the firms work is very attractive. However, I am particulalrly interested in the work and thought that goes into making the various project culturally and locally relevant.

STANFORD SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING QUAD
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA

Focus Week 2: Dang! I missed the deadline......

I was one of those people who was super excited when it was announced that London would be holding the 2012 Olympics. I love Athletics and I have previously run competitively for my school. So when I found out about this scheme being held by the Olympic Committee I saw a fantastic opportunity to combine two of my passions. Sadly I seem to be over 4 months out of time! Oh well, this has definitely opened me up to a new career direction and I will definitely be learning more about how landscape architecture can have an impact on the experiences of athletes.

Contemporary Practices

To begin my focus week I deceided to go through the Landscape institute looking at work from various firms that I liked as well as those who had a clear graphic identity to help me support my own work:

http://www.formassociates.eu/index.php

http://www.craftpegg.com/page3.html

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Anna%20Kuforiji/My%20Documents/Landscape%20Application%20Forms/homeplace.html

Childs Play

This new project that I have just started deals with me assembling media to communicate a proposal for children's play. My clients were children were unlike any other clents I had dealt with before, they were much younger.
Fortunately, I had the opportunity to gain some primary research for my concept. At my church every sunday there is a various number of children from age 4-12 who attend the church sunday school.Having a basic idea in my head I asked them to draw what they would have in their playground if it was an imaginary island. The children were really enthusiatic and knew exactly what they wanted. The pictures above shows some of the main intrest amongst the chilldren of having somewhere to climb.

I'm Really Feeling London!

This great new website uses a physical map to chart the emotional landscape of London. I've always found that there are certain places I can only go when I'm in the right mood and Ifeellondon.com is an entire website based on that concept. You're sure to find the perfect place as long as you're feeling either naughty, hungover, energetic romantic, sophisticated, chilled, girly, manly or broke! The amazing thing is looking at it as a whole, London is all of these things! This website has definitely made me stop to consider the emotional context on any site that I am working on.

Restoring the Flow

Focus Week 1: Barnes Wetland

For focus week, I paid a visit Barnes Wetland. Barnes Wetland is amazingly rich in wildlife and a tranquil city. This is amazing considering that it is in the middle of one of the world's busiest cities and directly under the Heathrow flight path. Although it is an arguably artificially created habitat, it's development from Victorian resevoirs to a crucial wildlife habitat is arguably an example of natural development in an urban context.

Birds come from all over the world to the Barnes Wetland. The Barnes Wetland is a bird reserve, primarily intended for water fowl. Interestingly, even before the formal creation of the reserve, the redundant resevoirs were attracting a significant wildfowl population.

Wey and Arun Study Visit

On Monday 13th of October myself with all members of the Landscape Interface studio spent the week at on Canal boats travelling the Wey and Arun Canal gaining first hand experience of the everyday canal experience. During the five days we spent on the Wey and Arun Canal we met up with various members of The Wey and Arun Trust who gave us detailed descriptions of the brief. We all left on Friday 18th October and below is a moving image created by Leo and Matt which shows clips of our experience over the five day....enjoy!!!

A Wey on a Field Trip. from Room60 on Vimeo.

Image of the Month

Evasion Urbaine (Urban Escape)

Artist: Benedetto Bufalino

I found this image of an abandoned telephone booth turned a big aquarium. It’s kinda cool don't you think.

Art in the Lane

Here are some of the most eye-catching moments captured whilst I walked down Brick Lane.

Walking down that Brick Lane

After hearing soo much about it I decided to see it for myself. For my focus week activity I went to Brick Lane Sunday Market. Every Sunday Brick Lane Streets come alive and it is a location of trading. My first reaction was Wow, it looked more like a street carnival than a street market. It is Undoutebly one of London's most exiciting and imaginative markets, similarly to portobello road. The market was not only a place to trade and purchase but it was evident that people were adapting themeselves to occupy their surroundings whether it was to perform, trade or relax.



The market first opened its doors in September 2004. With over 140 stalls selling fashion, accessories, crafts, interiors and music.
The Old Truman Brewery has a history of supporting artists and designers, and with this in mind the market aims to be a platform for designer-makers to sell direct to their customers. Many things i saw were one-off bespoke items, produced by the stallholders themselves. I saw edgy women's wear, customised men's clothing, high fashion, and beautifully tailored children's clothes to handmade jewellery.

Foam, Fun and Photography in Florida

Working to improve Waterloo

Here are some working ideas that I have been developing to improve my site in waterloo. The first image is a view into the horticutural land behind Southwark College to improve the abandoned land. The picture on the right hand side is an idea to turn the Mitre road into a homezone.

Putting the community first

At the moment I am currently working on my last project of the year, in some of my older post I have shown you my observations of an area in Waterloo. I have now changed the locatiion within waterloo that I have decided to regenerate and I feel this is more appropiate as it caters to the local community. This decision to change the location is mainly due to the initial analysis done on 'Housing in Waterloo', this made me to understand that Waterloo did not have enough areas that meet the needs of local residence. After analysing Waterloo I have come up with goals and objectives, this is highlighted in this image above which I created using adobe illustrator and adobe photoshop.

Analysing Waterloo

Having change the location for my Waterloo project I have spent some time analysing the site and its current position. My site is a residential neighbourhood within the edge of Blackfriars road and The Cut

Image of the Month

VIEL Solar Shades

Designer: Buro North
Partnership: Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab

These solar panels do more than just transfer sunlight into energy. These innovative school panels have an organic, natural sloping design. Partially funded by the Australian government, the VEILs are designed for schoolyards where they have the practical benefit of shading tykes from the hot sun.

There's a Railway in the Street

Another regeneration scheme that is part of the masterplan that I went to see whilst I was in Hull is the regeration of Railway street. Railway street is on the waterfront of the Hull Marina and offers access from the city centre to Humber Quays.



Railway street is a mainly pedestrianised area with shared space, there ia parking areas for vehicles to park by the waterfont and unload, footpaths for pedestrians with a mix of yorkstone paving and granite setts. Whilst I was there I hardly saw any vehicles drive along the road except for those who came to unload at the watfront.