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.