god I wish to never see this project again.

Design- Sports Park. Year One.

Oh, the sports park project. I think this was the first project where I struggled with inspiration. I remember sitting in the library hours after hours searching and searching. I had this great idea of these beautiful mounds where each mound had a purpose but could also be used for general recreation when they were not used for football or rugby. But as everything for me in first year it just got a little bit too much… I think we all focused on the contours and for me that meant that I forgot about the design. It was in the end just a little bit too much of everything for it to work together. It was like I was too eager to make sure I had everything on the brief that it all just collapsed. Sport pitches: check. Canal: check. Artwork: check. But it didn’t flow. I remember being so scared during the crit because I was so ashamed of what I had produced. I just wanted to get away and die somewhere. I learnt a lot during this project, but again as I look through all my projects I see a pattern in my work. I do great at the beginning with beautiful and grand designs and ideas and then I chicken out, because I get scared of what people would think of me if I did something really crazy. Weird that is, that I never learn to stay with my initial ideas and be strong and confident enough to carry them through all the way.

Feedback from Ross Mclean:
The projects has some interesting ideas underlying it, such as colour theme and the interactive structures that encourage people to use the park. There is a strong sense of earthworks in your workbook but not carried through to your final design proposal. You should have more confidence in your ideas as there are several ideas in your exploration work that have not materialised or been accentuated in the final design. You should also look to strengthen the essential aspects of the landscape, such as spatial structure and hierarchy, circulation and tree structure. The plan also lacks some detail, again explored in your workbook but not carried through. Areas such as the car park and slipway don’t look like convincing or rigorously refined designs. Overall: some good exploration and development work, but lacks the final product and levels of detail.

Grades:
Survey: D
Site Analysis: C
Evaluation: C
Exploration: C
Presentation: C

(When my computer broke down in the summer after first year all that I had done got lost, the image above is all I have left.)

when it all was new and fresh.

Design – Spatial Studies 1-4. Year one.

Year one, what a joy, what a chock! I remember the first weeks as a total stressed and panicked time in the studio. We had hardly any tutoring time and none of us knew what we were supposed to do or how to do it. But we worked together and helped each other out when we were stuck, for me I remember having no idea what a sketchbook was or how to express myself in an artistic way. Since I had no background in art whatsoever, I had been working with politics and hadn’t had an art class since I was 14 I felt loss and I was questioning why I had been accepted to the programme at all. Here I was in the studio with 20 really talented artsy people and all I could do was discuss politics. In no way did I feel that my work at the Swedish parliament could benefit me here. But I did try and I was one of the few who went to every single class of first year studies, trying to learn and eager to make sure I could justify my spot at ECA.

The Meadows project was great fun, creating a space for all those dreamers of Edinburgh and working with plants for all the senses. The crit went very well and I remember Ross giving me an A right there and then saying it was one of the best projects of the lot. Well, that didn’t span out, I got a B in the end and learnt to never really trust the tutors until you have the feedback sheet in your hand! Never get too confident too soon, it will only come back to bite you.

Cammo Park was also fun and I do feel that maybe my project was a bit misunderstood because I couldn’t express fully what I meant and how I wanted it to be. But yes, I understand the feedback; it was just one apple after the other. Although for me this came like a bit of a chock since I had absolutely nothing said to me about this before the crit, and the guidance I so, so needed at that point wasn’t given to me until after the project was done. That made me disheartened and I felt alone and lost. Maybe it was this first term that made me doubt my ability to be bold and courageous in my projects. I don’t know. But I do remember being much more daring and creative in these first two projects that just never came back.

Feedback from Ross Mclean:
Meadows project: has good exploration of the designed space, especially as a more gardenesque sub-space within the openness of the broader landscape. This project is well detailed, with a good exploration of planting material and how this creates the structure. Its location within the meadows seems a bit arbitrary, in regard of how your space would interact within the broader landscape. But overall this is a strong project, well thought through and clearly presented. You also avoid the problem of using symmetry – i.e. design has to form a space rather than a pattern on paper – try to relate your design to the dynamic of how humans will experience it.

Cammo park: the choice of sculpture could have been developed further to include more variety from other artist who work with scale. In effect its one big apple after another! It’s also not so clear how people should interact with them – are they for vision only or can people climb/sit on them?
The placement of the sculptures around the park is good, with coverage throughout. The final design creates some issues; you have designed an enclosed space but potentially the walled garden would have provided as good a setting, with the same interaction between inside/outside. Beyond this issue the spaces are interesting and follow your idea to create a fantasy/stage set type landscape. You should maybe also think of how people move through these spaces.

Overall; some very good exploration and detailed designing, that has the potential to develop into some strong landscape proposal.

Grades:

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