"our house, in the middle of the street"

Urban Design and Housing. Year two.

This is one of the modules I have enjoyed the most during these three years of my degree. I have realised that this is what I love, urban planning. Bigger. Bolder. Since I have worked in politics for several years before coming here I have really found an interest in social issues of how, why and where people live. When I worked at the parliament I worked with several issues concerning social structures and urban environments. This is what I enjoy with urban planning as a subject, it contains bit of everything that I find interesting. Design, psychology, demographics and politics.

This module was divided into three parts and all from the first one week project of redesigning the square in the Quarter Mile, to the group project in Portobello and the housing project in Kirknewton it was a truly fun and enjoyable term.



Quarter Mile
The first project was situated in the Quarter Mile and here I made an Urban Scottish Oasis Plants has always been one of my strongest interests and one of the reasons I choose Landscape Architecture. Here I wanted to create a space where everyone can experience a bit of Scotland even though you are just here for a weekend or a business meeting. I understand what Kenny meant by playing it safe, seems to be my most recurring feedback. To be more bold and adventurous. And every time I try and do very well in the beginning of the project but then seem to panic and change all my ideas at the last minute to make a more safe design. Something that always ends up being extremely boring.

Feedback from Kenny Fraser:
Conceptually and in terms of planting this was one of the strongest projects in the group. Technically you should be able to get some of the smaller plant established in the raised plant beds you propose; however I don’t think the Scots Pine would survive, you would need a minimum of 900mm topsoil and even then it’s probably not a good idea. Spatially the project is fine, just a bit safe; you should be a bit more adventurous next time.

Portobello
This group project was several weeks of pure fun. I think we all got surprised of how well we all worked together and this was the first group project we had. We had a tricky bit of land shaped like a triangle situated between to highly trafficked roads. We tried to resolve this by creating sound barriers and by making a pleasant community within the courtyards of the housing development. In this project I produced a film that showed our work in progress, how the scheme evolved and how much fun we had with it.



Feedback from Kenny Fraser:
Overall, this is a very good project with an excellent presentation model. The building layout us very promising although neither fully refined nor resolved. Massing of the buildings is good. The other two aspects of the project, infrastructure and landscape are less well considered and there are one or two obvious ‘glitches’ in the relationship of landscape to building. The contouring along Sir Harry Lauder Road is sensible.

Your workbook is good while your movie is excellent (especially so given that it was not a project requirement). Sections and visualisations require greater attention as they let the project down somewhat; visualisations must be at eye level.

This site has proven to be very tricky in the past and your project is a very good effort.

Kirknewton
I remember getting extremely ill during this project so most of it is just a big hazy fog due to high fever and sleeping. So therefore I must say that what I am most proud of about this project was the fact that I finished it on time. I designed a self-sufficient eco village in the style of Findhorn where the focus laid on new technology and where the SUDS were a prominent part of the design. Gardens and community was the main feature where all houses were individual and built by each and every one of the residents to fit their needs.

Sadly the whole lot got destroyed in one of the drawers in the studio. One day when I pulled my drawings out it was all covered in coffee. So the handmade sections that Kenny mentions in his feedback has all been lost. Witch is really sad because those are things I was most proud of. Well, I guess that taught me yet another thing about designing. Always record what you are doing and keep copies…!

Feedback from Kenny Fraser:
You have performed well throughout the module. Both the first two module components were successful. Your Kirknewton project is quite nicely resolved with some reasonably successful experimental graphics; the masterplan graphically works well but gives more of an overview of your ideas rather than a really precise description. The section graphic is an interesting technique. Your sketches and detail plan are less well resolved. The masterplan layout is very good.

Grades:
Demonstrate an understanding of the basic principles of urban design: B
Demonstrate an understanding of the basic principles involved in housing layouts: B
Design simple housing layouts employing basic principles of urban design: B

"hold the earth above me, lay down in the green grass"

Design, Landscape Planning & Ecology. Year two.



This was an interesting project and it is always a great experience to work in groups. The project was set in Dunbar and it was the first project that had a wider concept than just a park or a housing development. We were asked to find a new profile for the town to attract more tourists and improve the overall living standard.
The first half of the project we were divided into different research groups that all had different subjects. My group focused on the biodiversity in Dunbar and that meant hours and hours of reading documents given to us by the council. I found this fun and a good practice for doing research. Many times I often skip doing thorough research because I want to start designing straight away and that is never ever good. It always backfires somehow when you need to explain the choices you've made. So, this was really, really important for me on how to prepare myself before designing.




In the second part of the project we got split up into new groups so that one from each group ended up in a new one and it was now our research showed to be important in every part. To be able to deliver a good project like this one you really have to know all aspects of the client. I.e. Dunbar. Euan Maharg, Jono Burgess, Nicholas Gruter and I spent several weeks in the studio focusing on finding relevant solutions for a sustainable town but also to add more fun projects to attract visitors and make the people of the town more proud of Dunbar. We came up with an overall plan on how to make the town more self-sufficient, with local produce and Saturday farmers markets. We also connected the town with the so popular cycling route that runs along the east coast of Scotland. We had great fun doing it together and I learnt so much from the boys, my Photoshop skills improved dramatically as they showed me new techniques and pushed me to try new things. We were all very proud of our project and got very good response from the Dunbar council when we presented it.



Feedback from Simon Bell:
The work on nature conservation was a good summary and ...(have no idea what he wrote) of a lot of detailed material. The plan contained many original ideas, though was somewhat weak in the use of green corridors.


Grades:
Application of skills and knowledge in the design and planning of large-scale landscapes: B
An understanding of sustainability as it relates to landscape architecture: B
An understanding of the main principles and concepts of landscape ecology: B

"and all that i can see is just another lemon tree"

Design, Space & Function. Year One.


I look back at this project with great joy. It was the first real big project we had. I remember struggling at first on how I was supposed to get information on the site as it was so far away from Edinburgh. And what information that I found would actually be of importance to the project? The site itself had been an orchard and it was from there I took my inspiration. My project focused on the symbols of trees, and I reserched the mythology and the history of the symbol. In art it is a commonly used subject and that fell quite well in with the fact that the building on the site was a proposed art centre.
The idea of the design was that the tree structure of the paths and the planting would only be noticable from above and as you moved through the woodland different clearings with video art and sculptures would appear. One of the ideas with the choise of video art on the site was to get people out exploring even after hours of darkness, portable chairs would be up for lend in the art shop, an idea to keep the clearings as natural as possible without to many built structures.

Feedback from Ross Mclean:
The proposal has many strengths in particular the use of a central and clear motif to generate the rest of the design. This is carried through the site well, with varied application from functional structures of the car park, the singular tree specimen in contrast to dense planting. It's good to use a bit of poetic touch in design to appeal more directly to why people and users are moved by landscape. The use of moveable chairs also creates a good interactive idea.
The notion of a forest on such a small site needs to be explored ans demonstrated. At present it doesn't have the impact of a forest and is too clustered in one area, while it could be applied more comprehensively through the site. It is also not clear what effect the dogwood would have? And how this transition between planting and outer border spaces works. The decking also creates an interesting experience, but seems somewhat isolated from the tree planting.
Graphically your proposal is described well, with good use of sections, diagrams and montages that portray your proposals. The index of materials also is effective at describing what elements make up the proposal.
Overall the use of technology and the manipulation of natural elements create compelling encounters. The arrangement of these elements could have better effect and create more comprehensive site coverage and connection between various elements. Try to rationalize and itensify your ideas a bit more. There is some good thinking here, so be more confident and apply things more boldly.

Wow, reading this again makes me proud of this project, it was fun and I enjoyed every bit from the research to the final presentation. The thing that strikes me the most is Ross' last sentence. If I had a penny for every time a tutor have told me to be more bold I wouldn't have to take a student loan anymore. Funny that though, that I've noticed that the more I hear that the more freaked out and nervous I am going in to the next project. In first year I felt like I had quite a strong theme behind most of my projects, something I hope I still have, although I know I've dropped it a bit. I don't know if I have moved away from poetry, history and thematic importance to become more commercial and fit in. Or have I become uninspired and tired or is it all just me being extremely harsh about my own work? I don't know. Funny how this process is supposed to answer the how and why but I just end up dwelling up on it more.
I know at least that this project made me a bit more confident and it was also a great practice when it came to designing hardscape in a better way. I think it was here I for the first time started using planting as a way to solve the issues of pollution and it was here my love for sustainable and ecological design started. I remember reading about Sedum in books and on the internet and I couldn't stop! Overall, I'm proud of this project and I think it gave me a lot more than I can really comprehend.

Grades:
Site Exploration: B
Evaluation: B
Design Exploration: C
Presentation: B