Waffle Structure by Erisa and Keti

 Landscape Architecture 

Definition:

 Landscape architecture is a multi-disciplinary field, incorporating aspects of botany, horticulture, the fine arts, architecture, industrial design, soil sciences, environmental psychology, geography, ecology, and civil engineering. The activities of a landscape architect can range from the creation of public parks and parkways to site planning for campuses and corporate office parks, from the design of residential estates to the design of civil infrastructure and the management of large wilderness areas or reclamation of degraded landscapes such as mines or landfills. Landscape architects work on structures and external spaces with limitations toward the landscape or park aspect of the design - large or small, urban, suburban and rural, and with "hard" (built) and "soft" (planted) materials, while integrating ecological sustainability.

About the History of Landscape Architecture:

Early history: "Landscape architecture" was first used by Gilbert Laing Meason in his book On The Landscape Architecture of the Great Painters of Italy (London, 1828). He admired the relationship between architecture and landscape in the great landscape paintings and drew upon Vitruvius' Ten books of architecture to find principles under relationship between built form and natural form.

First Year: This led to its adoption by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. Frederick and a man named George Oskar gave a different slant to the meaning of 'landscape architecture', using the term to describe the whole professional task of designing a composition of planting, landform, water, paving and other structures. Their first use of this term was in the winning entry for the design of Central Park in New York City.

Modern Year: Landscape architecture has since become a worldwide profession, submitted for recognition by the International Labour Organization and represented on a world-wide basis by the International Federation of Landscape Architects.

Garrett Eckbo and Dan Kiley were prominent modernist landscape architects in the mid-20th century. Their work is represented by a shift away from what might be termed the "Wild Garden" aesthetic of earlier landscape architects influenced by Romantic Naturalism, and toward a more-spare and rectilinear aesthetic. Both studied under Warren Manning at Harvard, who in turn had studied under Frederick Law Olmsted.

Landscape architecture today:

Lower Factory Pond by Beglinger + Bryan Landschaftsarchitektur

Beglinger + Bryan Landschaftsarchitektur: 
The two-stage powerstation in the industrial area Jenny in Ziegelbrücke has been replaced by a new, singel-stage powerstation. According to the significant intervention in the channel landscape, the authorities demanded a variety of environmental compensation for the new Lower Factory Pond. Moreover it was to comply with the needs of the loft-residents and the requirement of flood protection. The Lower Factory Pond is in neighborhood to an orchard and a park, designed by Evariste Mertens in the second half of the 19th century. The north side of the pond area is dominated by the former factory building (today loft apartments). The Pond must function as a technical construction with three to five flushes per year and should be created in the tradition of man-made canals and ponds. Headlands restructure the pond in five chambers which are connected to each other. In the case of a flood the terrain modeling allows a short time flush into the old channel. Shallow water areas guarantee the survival of aquatic fauna. Embankments caused by terrain modeling at different angles and exposures will produce a high biodiversity.  

I like this project because they try to reuse the existing elements and they try to find useful solutions for the problems they face, in that case the flood. They tried not only to find a solution but to give it a good use for the biodiversity and the fauna .

Built: 2011
Location: Spinnereistrasse, Ziegelbrücke, Switzerland
Area: 115’000m2
Project period: 2010 – 2011
Project costs: CHF 620’000.- (cca EUR 500.000)

Flatås Park by 02LANDSKAP

02LANDSKAP: designed the concept of the neighborhood park in close collaboration with the municipality of Gothenburg. The ambition was to create a park with focus on supporting activities for various user groups and ages as well as providing great values as a green meeting place.

The merge of the strict tree rows and the soft shapes of the billowing hill-landscape creates places and landscape rooms for contemplation, active play, rest, movement and meetings. The spaces are characterized by the idea of joint usage by different groups.

Via the main pathway stretching trough the cultural landscape a series of rooms with varied degree of tranquility and intensity are connected through the park. At some locations the soft grass slopes are transformed with concrete ore rubber adding an extra dimension to the movement and possibilities in the park.

 

I like the idea of supporting activities and from that they started to create the park for the neighborhood. I appreciate the creation of the rooms that give you the idea of working with different parts and not with the whole.

Lunar Landscapes | Ahmedabad, India | Urbscapes

Situated in the suburbs of the city of Ahmedabad, the residential township “Ananda Exotica” by Ananda Group, called for a landscape idea for the common plot and the central strip garden.

The design challenge was to design landscape for a linear strip measuring 10mX100m, which would be visible from the over spilling terraces of the adjoining bungalows, along with the park for the club house. The design idea for the linear garden was to bring something which a suburb offers. Sky view, moon, sun rise, sun set, etc., which the urban life misses.

Beginning through the full moon “Poonam” plaza, one travels through the waxing crescents and reaches the central “Amāvāsyā” plaza, a sunken black kadappa kund with water fountain, which leads to waning crescents and reaches to the other end, “Poonam” full moon day plaza which is white marble paved with set of 5 trees.

In my opinion the idea of using the lunar moon as a concept was not the best they could do because it is repeating the same shape all over and I think it could get boring very soon. But on the other hand it is very positive that they designed a linear garden in case of improving their landscape.

Laasby Sea Park by LABLAND

LABLAND architects: Laasby Sea Park is the first of its kind in Denmark designed specifically for climate change, cross-gym and recreational use.

A few years ago in the small Jutlandic town, Laasby, you would find an old factory area being overtaken by grass and bushes day by day. No one used the area or had any relation to it. Nearby you would find a home for the elderly, which back in 2013 found its basements flooded by enormous amounts of rain caused by climate change. Instead of seeing rain as a problem that only has to be removed we started investigating alternative options in the field of landscape architecture. Today Laasby Sea Park makes use of the rainwater as a resource to transform the old industrial area into a livable park full of fun activities, which moreover makes the town landscape unique and an attractive place to live and stay.

Laasby Sea Park is constructed with three storm water reservoirs that strengthen the landscape against the rising volumes of rain in the future. The reservoirs work with three different levels of water; for normal levels, for 5-year floods and for 100-year floods, which make the Sea Park a lasting solution in the future.

Special designed cross-fit elements are placed around and within the reservoirs. The sculptural elements can both be used for physical training and as play installations for children. When hit by a 5-year rain event, a part of the elements will be hidden by water but you will still be able to access the facilities. During the 100-year rain event a great part of the facilities are under water and only work as sculptural elements rather than workout areas. So no matter the level of the water, there’s still something going on in the park worth visiting. The landscape is always changing in a dynamic mirroring nature. Around the water reservoirs you will find a 0.5 miles long walking path that connects the area and invites children, adults and elderly to explore the Sea Park. 

It is very nice that besides the fact that they try to save the landscape of a ‘destroyed’ place they show us the instructions in case we as architects facing the same problem. 

 Marvel Valley by Z+T Studio

Z+T Studio: Marvel Valley is an upgrading landscape design project located in Anji County of Huzhou in Zhejiang Province, China. Marvel Valley as one of the pieces of Greentown was decided as a place for children’s outdoor activities. Greentown’s overall environment is different from many urban parks and community parks. The valley provides the project site with an unusual scale and a different external environment from the city. The children’s playground located in the valley is designed with natural texture and context. Marvel Valley has four structural zones: Entrance with sloping fields, Hillside space with lawn, Basin surrounded by hills and Lakeside space. Each space has a different shape depends on their respective landscape elements. From the entrance platform into the site, people could overlook the valley on the slope fields covered with cherry trees. Visitors can go through the steel bridge upon the “whale tail” wetland into the forest swing defined by 18-meters diameter steel ring. The lawn and platform formed a different sense of space compared with forest space. The mountain and the lake help to define the site respectively. 

This project is one of my favorites because of the way they composed the elements working with the nature and the river. The playground is a very sophisticated design and the fact they used natural textures to create it, shows us that they love the nature. And most of all I like the fact that they played with the scale which make the project more interesting.

 Each of these projects are different but they have something in common, the landscape. They are all talking about the power of nature and how this works naturally or artificially. Unlike architecture, landscape architecture evolves through time. Its parks and gardens are never complete. Or rather the finished landscape of today is not the finished landscape of many years from now. Landscape architects must more deliberately include in their work predictions of how it will change. Yet few landscape professionals continue being involved in their built works beyond a year or two after opening day.

The diversity and scale of work in landscape architecture is huge, and the mix of skills and expertise required shows real promise. Whether climate change or urbanisation, population growth or densification, landscape architects have ideas for how to make our future cities livable, workable and beautiful. Unlike the landscape in some years ago, the clime was in a better condition, the population was less and the builded areas were not like today and they could handle it.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landscape_architecture

 http://www.landezine.com/index.php/2018/10/lower-factory-pond-by-beglinger-bryan-landschaftsarchitektur/

 http://www.landezine.com/index.php/2018/07/flatas-park-by-02landskap/

http://worldlandscapearchitect.com/lunar-landscapes-ahmedabad-india-urbscapes/#.W937O5NKjIU

http://www.landezine.com/index.php/2018/06/laasby-sea-park-by-labland/

http://www.landezine.com/index.php/2017/11/marvel-valley-by-zt-studio/