Sunday, July 25, 2010

the end of an era

I have learnt a lot over these past three years. About myself, about the plants, about sustainability, about the world. And I am happy that I did this even though I am filled with feelings of shame and regret. Regret that I didn't give it my best, shame that I did the same thing over and over again.

I will go in to this year of internship with eagerness to learn, but I must say that already is the feeling that I will not be there to do fifth year overshadowing everything. I am thankful for the wonderful ECA and that I had a chance to go to to Australia as a part of my education. But when something doesn't feel right we have to think about wht is wrong and how we can move on.

See you out there landscapers!

Charlotta

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

to timbuktu and back


Architecture and the City. Year three.
This was a class I took in Brisbane and it was called Architecture and the City. It was urban planning, architecture and landscape architecture all mixed into one. And oh how fun it was! A big class with over 200 students and we all got divided into groups of three or four and were all assigned a city each to analyse. We got Timbuktu, a small city in the middle of the Malian desert, a city with great historical influence that has since the French colonalisation deteriorated into a just fraction of it’s former glory.

We analysed and researched and researched and researched some more. I was in charge of making all the maps and the layout of the final poster whilst Fiona and Jessica wrote the text and we all made the scale model together. The nolli map was a fun thing to learn how to do as it really shows the open and enclosed space for the people of a city, a way of mapping I haven’t heard of before but that I will really keep working with in the future.

It was a tricky project since there are little to no information on Timbuktu in libraries and on the internet but we were told to make the most of what we had so we all lowered our expectations and I do think we managed to make a really good project in the end. I learnt how to be patient when working in a group and also when to say no. This project gave me a greater love for urban planning, a greater interest in Africa and foremost two lovely friends that I hope I will keep in contact with in the future.

Feedback from Helena Piha:
Excellent nolli map and neat presentation. Timeline could be more complete.

Grade:
6 out of 7.