Senses and sensibility: Walk it!

I love walking, not just as a form of exercise (for that I prefer running or swimming) but walking around in the city instead of using any kind of transportation.

I recently sprained my ankle and had to stop my morning run for at least 12 weeks.  I am still waiting to get back into my running shoes again.  I spent a vast amount of time (than usual) walking.  I walk everywhere, everyday.  Mainly due to fear of being unfit and gaining weight if I don’t get off my backside more often enough!  

What I notice from an Urban Designer point of view is that the sensory of  experiencing of urban environments has been underplay for quite a lot.  People often talk about buildings, architecture, landmarks or any built-forms in the urban environment. But it takes a lot more than that to create a sense of place.

As I walked along the high street, I noticed that city landscapes are increasingly under pressure to perform as marketable commodities, as ‘brandscapes’.  I often use shop signs or brand logos to navigate myself around (and I sometime can not recall the name of the shop but I can remember colours and shapes of the sign and so on well enough though).  Brands, logos, shop signs have become more important than I thought.  

 As a designer we want to make a place for people to come and spend more time (and more money).  We can not do that by relying on shops only, we thrive to make things more attractive and if we improve the vibrancy certainly commercially of the town centre, it gives people more choice of what they can do in the area.

Atmosphere, character, and sensorial qualities are becoming key factors in the definition of place, even from an economic perspective. City centre should feel different than a business park, it should enrich people’s experiences.  

So what makes a successful city centre?

To me, to make a place attractive, you need to focus on people’s enjoyment.  Urban design should consider and cater to all the senses – sight, smell, taste, hearing, touch, sense of movement and balance and sense of body position in space.

Design professionals can influence and drive the development of more pedestrian-friendly and community-focused streets on an everyday scale. For example, in a small area, people were not intimidated to drop by, letting their curiosity get the better of them; vehicles could still easily access the street, but automatically slowed down to look at the activity on the street, and parents could sit and actively supervise their children because all the sensory activities were closely sequenced. Also, by utilising only one side of the street, linear movement up and down the footpath was encouraged, thus creating a safe and educational outdoor environment for kids to play in, without fear of cars or traffic.

Senses are key in assembling and re-assembling distinct senses of place in making a successful city centre in which smell, touch and sound are just as important as what is seen. Sensory assemblages are convened not only by the material used of the built environment,They are also convened by the specific walking practices that give their shape to spaces. They weave places together. In that respect, pedestrian movement forms one of these ‘real systems whose existence in fact makes up the city.

City centre or ‘a place’ is not just about a big space with ‘architectural structures’ in it, but a good urban design should compliment the diversity of street concepts initiated for all of the senses mentioned above. Enable people from visitors, pedestrians, vendors, shop owners to use the full width of the street and reclaim street space through creation of distinct sensory ‘hubs’.

The idea is to influence and create more engaging, more active, and more playful communities in a variety of places. 

As for the smell, I often observe people follow the food smell or avoid the smelly dingy dark corners and that alone has automatically create an organic walking pattern which create shape to spaces. 

There are so many places especially in developing countries where designers evaluate public space basis on their own subjective aesthetic opinion, place too much emphasis on visual design of urban public space, but ignore the most important feature—humanistic. Lacking of humanisation is probably the most serious problem public space and city centre design. Often spaces were design in quantitative but compromised in quality or with poor environment quality and weakness humanistic care, or worse, very isolated from surrounding urban context.

At the end of the day, we want to stay clear from what Gwyn Thomas said  “The beauty is in the walking — we are betrayed by destinations.”

 

 

Play risk or play safe.

Since today is the first day back to school in the UK, the most suited subject today should really be something relating to school.  Playground design is probably the closest to our area of expertise.  

Play is what children and young people do in their own time,or during the school playtime.  When playing, children choose what to do, how to do it and who to do it with. Play takes many forms and through play, children explore the world and learn to take responsibility for their own choices.

In Asia where I spent  my childhood, I can still witness the culture of always-on-top-of-her-child’s-play parent intervening during play dates at the first sign of discord, using the ‘good parenting’ excuse to justify their behavior.  I was one of them too.  

Imagine my surprise when I moved my son to a new nursery (after I read about how good and capable kids who graduated from this nursery are) and saw 3- and 4-year-old with no adult supervision bicycling at the backyard of the nursery, climbing the roofs of playhouses and scaling trees with no adult supervision. The first time I visited the nursery and saw a 3-year-old high up in a tree, I started searching for the teacher to let her know but it was soon clear to me that no one was concerned.

And I always thought I was an open minded boho parents.

I came across a research by Ellen Hansen Sandseter, a Norwegian researcher at Queen Maud University in Norway, that the relaxed approach to risk-taking and safety actually keeps our children safer by honing their judgment about what they’re capable of. Children are drawn to the things we parents fear: high places, water, wandering far away, dangerous sharp tools. Our instinct is to keep them safe by childproofing their lives. But “the most important safety protection you can give a child,” Sandseter explained when we talked, “is to let them take risks.”

We should not prevent children and young people from doing things they enjoy because of risks that can be managed. Children and young people themselves recognise that ‘you can not make everything safe’ and that a balance is needed between risks and fun.  

Space Creation had the opportunity of designing an playground for one of the schools in London.  The playground is for children between the age of 5-7 years old which is quite a wide gap in terms of development and interest.  

When I visited the playground, it was almost an empty yard for ‘kids to run around’  And oh boy, they did run! Like a maniac.  I immediately felt ‘unsafe’ and I was twice their size.  They had nothing else to engage, to jump off, climb on.  The parents were too concerned about any possible danger that comes from tall objects, sharp corners and all the usual suspects. And demand more playground supervisor during the playground.  To me under staff was not the real problem of kids went home with cuts, scrabs, and bruises everyday.  

Zoning exercise was the main root of it all.  There was none existed.

We approach the design following  Ellen Hansen Sandseter research and with a lot of talks and parents meetings, and eventually the design was approved by the majority of the parents.

To me, it is far better to provide different type of space for children to play, to take risk, or even to do nothing much.  Kids are different, just like grown ups.  Not all kids like to run around in the playground, some prefer to sit and chat.  Even some day, the most active person you know might just want to sit back and relax.  The most important thing is that every kid and personality should feel comfortable to use the playground space how they want to use it.

We started from zoning exercise to facilitate play and minimise conflicts, e.g. locate quiet play areas away from active spaces. Locate play areas for infants and areas involving quiet, creative activities near the entry to building.  

There are lots of wall games as a transition between the quiet zone near the building to the active area where the boats and the road layout are.  There are some flexible and removable play equipment such as old rubber tyres that children can jump from, walk on the edges of the tyres, stand them up to make a tunnel or follow their own imaginations.

Playground is a place where children learn through play, from social skills to road safety. But leaving some areas open is still a good idea. Overly cluttered playground detracts from children’s explorations and cause injuries.  It is all about finding the right balance between control designed activities and free-play.

On the practical ground, in case of emergency, making sure the site is accessible for maintenance and emergency equipment and emergency access.  Hence, using the play equipment which can be remove and store away after school is a good idea especially in a small playground.

Death after life or life after death: Queen Elizabeth Park

Approximately two years ago, I walked into this same site with my heart pumping, the atmosphere of the Olympic Stadium was electrifying. It was Britain’s finest hour and we shouted about it.

I promised myself that I will be back. As a landscape architect, I have to come back.  I need to see the successful new ‘Dome’ of London works its magic.  This could be yet another good example of urban renovation just like what the London Eye and the Eurostar did to the South of the River Thames.and recently King’s Cross.

Going back to the what is now called Queen Elizabeth Park today was different.  It was like going back to your favorite holiday resort but somehow it did not feel as good as I you remembered it.  But nothing can compare to the atmosphere of the Olympic at its height, unquestionably,on the positive note, the legacy of the London Olympic has put Stratford on the map.  The gleaming Tube station is still one of the most tangible signs that the Games provided something more than talk for east London. The infrastructure improvements to what had previously been a forgotten far-eastern outpost of the capital have been phenomenal.

The Olympics brought more than £9bn of investment to east London, much of which went into transport.  Stratford is now second only to King’s Cross as the most connected part of London.  Both are the products of very well planned Urban Regeneration schemes.  But is there anything deeper than just a glamorous transport hub leading to no where?

After I have seen the advertisement of the Olympic Park site – now rebranded the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – to last me a life time, This park was the first place I headed to after I arrived at the station. It was quite a long walk from Stratford Underground Station through the Westfield Shopping Centre.  There are plenty of places to have a picnic and also cafes in the park and in the stadiums.  There were lots of designed ‘activities’ such as climbing wall and adventure playground as well as fountains which children can run through.  Finally I made it to the Velodrome, which is stunning and free to go in and look.. The outdoor bike courses (you can hire a mountain bike there)  are excellent. There is also another adventure playground by the Velodrome.  So all in all, apart from the very long walk (and I am a keen walker) and vast amount of empty space, I would say it is well worth a visit, on a sunny day.

The athletes’ village, has now been relaunched as a housing estate called the East Village. Almost half of these new homes will be affordable which is a much-needed boost to housing in in this area.

I must note that the express trains which link Stratford to King’s Cross which seems to be a brilliant idea on paper is a bit of a let down.  Not in terms of the speed but in terms of the fare.  I understand the idea of linking the international visitors from the European countries to Central London hub such as King’s Cross and from King’s Cross to Stratford.  However, the Olympic Park itself will not going to attract enough visitors to bring the cost down.  The main customers will need to be the locals who unfortunately will not be able to afford the train fare.

What should have been the ‘affordable housing’ might turn out to be the ‘unaffordable’ neighborhood after all.

Will Stratford make it to be a beacon of urban regeneration? I guess we will have to wait for a few years for the local business to flourish  and transportation link to be ironed out to answer this question.  But it is certainly on its way.

 

 

 

The Olympic Gardens

All eyes are on the Olympic event and the Olympic Stadium design at the moment; however the Olympic gardens may well end up being the only greatest legacy of the Games.
The Olympic Park in London situated to the east of London, the poorer part of the city as it were, adjacent to the Stratford City development, the largest mixed use developments in the UK for many years. The project promises to bring almost 5,000 homes and 30,000 jobs and a significant amount of business space to the area.
The Olympic Park contains the athletes’ Olympic Village and several of the sporting venues including the Olympic Stadium and London Aquatics Centre, besides the London Olympics Media Centre.

However over the past 4 years, 100 hectares of formerly polluted industrial site has been transformed by adopting rigorous principles of sustainable development including the delivery of lightweight venues, the recycling or reuse of waste materials, using concrete with a high recycled content, and delivering materials by rail or water. The overall master plan and design was led by the British landscape architecture practice LDA-Design with the American landscape architecture firm Hargreaves Associates.
The Olympic Gardens provide a valuable and high-profile example of how to restore and repair a neglected and highly contaminated urban area, turning brownfield into green.
The vast majority of the gardens consist of natural plantings and meadow-like feel of the gardens as they meander along the canals serve as a beautiful and restful foil to the hard surfaces of the walking streets and sports venues.
Stretching almost half a mile, the long wide strip of gardens along the existing canal are divided into four climatic zones, each reflecting the ecology and planting of the area. These are more formal and contain plants, originally from Europe, Asia, Southern Hemisphere and North America that are now part of the UK garden.
There is an old iron footbridge, a relic and reminder of the industrial past of the area. It is one of the few things left over from the area’s previous Victorian existence as a canal route for industry.
Materials such as bricks, paving stones, cobbles, man-hole covers, timber sleepers and tiles that were salvaged from the demolition and site clearance stages were used to construct the main walking and cycling route called ‘The Greenway’. The Olympic Delivery Authority, who are responsible for building the Olympic Park, know that construction can have a huge impact on the environment and the area, which is why they are doing everything they can to reduce the impact of their construction work for the people who live, work and play nearby.
45 hectares of wildlife habitats were created including reed beds, grasslands, ponds, woodlands, 525 bird boxes, 150 bat boxes and artificial otter holts.
There’s a wide range of imaginative and inspiring art and culture installations across the Olympic Park.
Coca-Cola have modestly commissioned the beatbox building, in their red and white branded colors. It’s designed by Pernilla & Asif and visitors can play 200 rectilinear air cushions, which will remix Mark Ronson‘s Olympic song.
There are several more ‘Art in the Park’ commissions and projects that have been supported by a number of funders, including the Greater London Authority, Arts Council England, London Development Agency, and Forward Arts Foundation among others all around the park.
There are a few famous artworks which work well as landmarks (and meeting points) within the venue and by well-known artists such as ArcelorMittal Orbit , a 115-metre-high (377 ft) sculpture, an observation tower designed by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond, or RUN, by internationally-renowned artist Monica Bonvicini, the largest stand-alone artwork on the Olympic Park at nine metres tall (30 feet), constructed from steel and reflective glass— producing a mirrored effect during the day and a playful glow at night through the innovative use of more than 300 metres of energy efficient LED lighting that will reflect off a series of internal curved mirrors.
However it also is refreshing to see quite a substantial number of ‘young’ companies and artists were given a ‘chance to shine’ in such a great event like this such as dissected and reassembled phone boxes, dotted around the Olympic Park. These iconic telephone boxes are part of the delightful artworks designed by AOC Architects, a UK practice of architects famous for designing innovative projects such as Southwark Building Schools for the Future. Each of these phone boxes contains tiny raised writing around the window frames, giving historical background of the Olympic site.

The sculptures, named ‘Stele’ created by Hackney-based artist Keith Wilson, comprises of a long line of 35 brightly coloured crayons rising directly from the tidal waters, made from the same durable material as navigational buoys. Their vivid colours connect the parkland with the river and punctuate this newly-formed landscape both during the Games and afterwards, when they will be used for boat moorings.
When the Games are over, the park will be taken over by the London Legacy Development Corporation, a not-for-profit organisation responsible for the long-term planning, development, management and maintenance of the Olympic Park and its facilities after the London 2012 Games.
Some of the hard-edged roads will be transformed into more green spaces and proper roadways. By spring 2014, the organisation promises to make this 560 acre Olympic Park to be an exciting new visitor destination and community park.
With care and not too much private residential development, this could be a wonderful place for generations to come.

Sustainable design solution

The economic downturn  and the shrinking of the public sector, including a worrying stripping out of design capacity, induce a less enjoyable reverie upon just what the best way forward in a future beset by uncertainty would be. The riots and disorder of August 2011 may well, by necessity, resuscitate inner city regeneration, but until the national debt is cleared, the large-scale city restructuring on the back of which so much of recent practice has depended, is on hold.

How will landscape practice maintain its burgeoning influence and push forward sustainable design solutions as part of the land development process against this backdrop?

‘Making Space in Dalston Project is a good example for this new way of thinking.  It is a Design for London funded £1m initiative to improve Dalston’s open spaces. Dalston is located in the strategic Cambridge Corridor of the A10 connecting to the City of London. The new extension to the East London Line Overground will connect Highbury & Islington and New Cross and Croydon. At street level Dalston Kingsland Station will be a matter of a few minutes walk from Dalston Junction, connecting the neighbourhood to Stratford and the Olympic Park to the east and Richmond to the west.  Dalston has green spaces which are not parks but are found within social housing.

The short term proposal is to temporary enhance and improve the area here and now by  de-cluttering the high street while waiting for the long-term improvements such as creating empty spaces for visual arts, film and performance, and community and cultural activity, improve the cycle paths and pedrestrian routes  to be visualised.

The initiative is a series of 76 micro-projects designed by J&L Gibbons and muf architecture/art, developed by Hackney Council and the LDA’s Design for London and drawn up in close collaboration with local residents, businesses and organisations. The project team worked with local players including Open Dalston, Arcola Theatre, Hackney Cooperative Developments, local businesses and residents and the final projects were created through this unique collaboration between community organisations, the creative industries and the neighbourhood where they are based, and between the London Borough of Hackney and the third sector.

In short, the existing open spaces will be improved and new open space will be created through a series of steps.

The 1.2 meters rule

The one thing that I learnt and remember back in my university days was that the standard pathway that suitable for two people to walk side by side comfortably is 1.2metres. , this includes the use of wheelchair users, bikes and buggies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m surprised that a lot of designers choose to ignore this rule. It is even more painful for me personally when I have my own children.  believe me, pushing a pram and holding a two year old child along the 80cm. wide path is not funny.  It is also annoying that the designer who designed this path is probably still not realise that he or she has made someone’s life miserable..even if just for a trip.  Stick to the 1.2metres rules people.

Rant over.

Design for Life

Right now, landscape archi tects are, more vigorously than ever, arguing for expanded roles as part of the forward planning of big developments and infrastructure projects.

Flick through the Awards categories and you soon start to speculate on the unlikely existence of a city or town, particularly in the north of England, that hasn’t been remade in some way. Liverpool was recognised above others for the singularity and calmness of its new public realm in 2008, and then again for its showpiece, Pier Head.

The Pier Head and Canal Link in Liverpool designed by AECOM won the 2010 RIBA CABE Public Space Award.  The Pier Head is a 2.5 hectare park on Liverpool’s historic docks, integrates with the new Leeds and Liverpool canal link,   it is the first major urban canal extension in a generation. The result is an elegant public space and an exciting new waterfront for the city.  The space works both as a venue for major events and a place for quiet contemplation.

The introduction of a straightforward and high-quality tableau now holds everything together to foster public life and throw into relief numerous, previously unsung, architectural, historical and cultural assets. In so doing, an entire city centre is recycled in a sustainable act.

Garden of love

Since today is a Valentine’s day,  I feel obliged to  write a bout a garden of love, and that to me is the one and only Littman Wedding garden, a garden for the special occasion of the Littman’s son.

A temporary garden was constructed on the one–third acre of Littman residence in Deal on the New Jersey shore for the wedding of the Littman’s son back in 1994by Martha Schwartz (MSP).

This Garden of Love story began with both the bride and groom love gardening so much that they asked Marth Schwartz  to design”the garden” as a thematic focus for their wedding.

The project became an opportunity to create a garden for a special event, and through the design, to allude to the impermanence of the installation. A series of event spaces was designed to accompany the choreography of the wedding:

Two rows of 8–foot–tall arborvitae line a 150–foot–long Astroturf walkway located along the existing gravel driveway. The walkway passes through a field of empty flower pots, painted blue on the inside, which marks the entrance to the ceremony tent and refers to the ocean view beyond.

The existing pool deck is transformed for a cocktail party by a painted pattern of random yellow circles that overlap the patio and lawn.

A strolling garden is designed as a transitional space that guests walk through between events. The existing gravel, concrete, and grass surfaces are transformed by overlaying a 40–foot square of purple paint. A grid of 5–foot–tall bundled sunflowers are anchored in pots and placed upon the purple grass.

Most importantly, this garden is a symbol of love which grows and florishes with time…just like true love.

The trellis at its best

I am not a big fan of  trellis but credit where credit’s due, this is my favourite.

However small a patio or terrace may be, its walls are too often overlooked and under exploited when designing the space. ‘Cool’ designers usually try their best to find the suitable and mature climbers to ‘hide’ those ‘uncool’ traditional trellises that we love to hate, some even built their bespoke trellises which ended up being a bit too expensive.

Here is one of the more modern trellises that can be used with pride.

‘Comb-ination’, inspired by honeycomb (above) was created back in 2009 by a French designer Arik Levy. It works as a clever grid that you can organize the way you want and use either as a support for your plants or as decorative element. The elements are available is three different sizes to allow for maximum flexibility.

This  contemporary interpretation of the metal trellis made with powder coated zinc plated sheet metal can be found at Garden Beet ( http://furnish.co.uk/brands/garden-beet) at £35.99 (+£5.00 delivery).

Sometimes the French do it best.

Since it is cold and damp outside, I will just concentrate on indoor matters for now.

I happened to meet a French mum whose style I secretly admire and discovered that she has set up a web site called ‘Petit Home’ www.petithome.co.uk . It is an Internet shopping site which ‘aims to make the child’s space a unique and beautiful place to dream, grow and play.’ Don’t we all?

When I had a chance, I looked up the site and it really does reflect the subtlety of the design with a little twist that only the French can do best. I am also on the look-out for nursery furniture for my children from storage space down to bed sheets that are not plastered with tv characters that they will be bored with in a month’s time. I like something that is more personal and reflects the good old home style. This is it, I found my dream virtual shop!

The site has all the lovely French brands like Mimi’lou, a new comer brand which was created in 2005 by Miriam Derville. She has passion for drawing which is the reason behind all her lovely wall stickers collections. She also extends the collection to hand drawing on cushions, bed linens and lanterns. I also love the Heico lamps which really are quite fun, cast a wonderful warm glow and bring a lovely touch to the nursery. Ok this was not on my original shopping list, but I only found out that I can buy them without going across the border.

They even have the Lorena Canals, high quality rugs with a wide range of colours, sizes and materials. They are a little on the expensive side, the price ranges from £95 to £249, from washable cotton rugs to New Zealand wool rugs.

The site also has baby brands such as Numaé, Batchi Batcha bed linen products which are lovely and also ideal to protect children’s sensitive skin. My son who is now 2 years old is still holding on to his quilt these days. That says a lot for the product. They are unique and incredibly well made and last a long time.

It was like I got lost in the enchanting shopping streets of Paris all of a sudden – which is convenient when traveling to anywhere with kids for over an hour is quite a big deal for me these days.