"Stratford goes for gold with £3m Olympic metal leaves that sway in breeze"

Evening Standard- thursday 18 february

I read an article in the standard today about drawings for a string of tree sculptures designed to give a sense of arrival to Stratford (for the olympics), the sculptures are up to 16 metres tall and have large plates of titanium as leaves which are designed to sway in the wind. The height and scale of the sculptures would make them the largest kinetic sculptures in Britain. I personally really like the idea of sculptural landscapes. I think the sculptures will give Stratford a distinctive identity. I proposed for a project in Paddington Basin a tree sculpture with wide glass plates as leaves, which is a similar design, which I made a model for. I guess that is what really caught my imagination is the combination of art and landscape architecture in such a direct way, up until this degree (in landscape architecture) my focus was always fine art, i chose to specialise in fine art for the majority of the Foundation in art and design in Norwich, and have always relied on that fine art background to influence my own designs.  

"A report on the project warns that at present the streets trapped within the traffic-logged Newham gyratory system — dubbed “the island” — are scruffy and depressing, yet they will also provide the first impression for millions of visitors to the area in 2012.

“In its current condition, Stratford town centre runs the risk of being overshadowed by adjacent new developments,” warns the report. “The island needs to be more exciting to attract new businesses, residents and visitors.”"

Sri Carmichael, Consumer Affairs Reporter, London Evening Standard.

A model I made for a project in my first year at uni. It was proposed to be a shelter made from steel with  glass leaves in Paddington basin. 

http://www.cabe.org.uk/files/the-value-of-public-space.pdf

CABE document on the values of of public space. V interesting. Touches on economical issues, values of public space in terms of health and mental well being, values from biodiversity and nature, moving between public space etc etc. . . 

Burgess Park

05/02/10

I went to Burgess park to pick up a management report in order to inform a written part to my course in which you have to choose a medium scale landscape and write an in depth study of it's management. I thought Burgess park would be an interesting site to look at due to the amount of redevelopment planned in the area. The Aylesbury Estate, (opposite the park, on the Northern perimeter) has been due for redevelopment for some time and is due to be taken down in stages and rebuilt over the next fifteen years. What is proposed to be the new main entrance to the park which is located along the northern perimeter, linking the estate and the park, is nearing completion in it's new design as a very playful landscape (see previous blog). And of course the park itself has been awarded £6 million pounds of government funding for a redevelopment which LDA Design won the bidding for in November last year. The park is a strange mixture of modern (new sports pitches and community sports centre designed by Studio E Architects, which was awarded as a finalist LGC & HSJ sustainable communities award) and old ( Eg. Chumleigh Gardens, a group of  female almshouses built in 1921, now grade II listed buildings), the mix match feel of the park is consolidated by a hitch hatch almost grid of dis-used and still used roads. The majority of these roads lead into the park and stop abruptly, the condition of them is very bad and they give the park a vaguely derelict asthetic. There are problems in the park relating to dog fighting and training fighting dogs, which mean a lot of the trees are damaged. other than that the park is mainly open green space which provides enough room to hold events and festivals in the summer. The main path leading through the park follows the route of the Grand Surrey Canal, with reminders along the way such as a remaining bridge and an old lime kiln used when the area was at it's industrial peak and the canal was in working order. The canal was finally closed in 1970. The park was created under the Abercrombie plan, for the creation of green spaces after the war, the plan to create burgess park was conceived in 1943, many houses destroyed by the air raids in the war were torn down along with many untouched houses, which is why today we can still see the scars of that infrastructure left on the landscape of the park. I Can't say I found the park very pleasent to walk around, however green space is always better than no green space and I look forward to the new Burgess park by LDA Design.

Panoramic view of Burgess park from the new entrance.

January  2010

Interesting short video by the BBC, describing the difficulties of building the city around St. Pauls cathedral and the development of the city since the ideas of Lord Abercrombie.