Barcelona- Cross Section

Barcelonetta Cross Section

Section drawn at 1:200 scale

Barcelona- Public Spaces

The scope of public space in Barcelona is huge. There are literally hundreds of parks dotted around the city, most of which ooze a sense of quality. Here I shall present a small selection of photographs from some of the spaces I enjoyed most during my visit to Barcelona.

Ramblas Del Mar Barcelonetta Parc de Josep Maria Serra i Marti Parc Central du Nou Barris Parc dels Auditoris Barcelona Forum

Barcelona- EMBT

One of the most interesting landscape and architectural practises that have been working in Barcelona in recent years is EMBT (Enric Miralles- Benedetta Tagliabue). During my time in the city I visited their huge 'Parc Diagonal Mar' as well as taking in some of their other their architectural work at one of the cities historic markets and at the futuristic headquarters of Gas Natural.


St Caterina Market Building
Gas Natural HeadquartersPark Diagonal Mar/Lungomare Bench Park Diagonal Mar Parc Diagonal Mar

Barcelona- Architecture

Barcelona is famous for it's architecture- especially that of Antoni Gaudi who designed several exquisitely finished buildings in the city, including the epic unfinished Cathedral 'La Segrada Familia'. Gaudi is also responsible for the fabulous 'Park Guell'.

Barcelona does contain other noteworthy architecture- particularly the reconstructed 'Barcelona Pavilion' by Mies Van De Rohe, often referred to as one of the most beautiful modernist structures.

La Segrada Familia

La Pedera

Park GuellBarcelona Pavilion

Barcelona- Overview

This years Landscape study trip was to the vibrant Spanish city of Barcelona.
During our week in November we enjoyed beautiful weather- perfect for exploring the city.
Barcelona is a city with almost every element one could wish for- a historic city centre with narrow streets, a well planned urban area, the Mediterranean Ocean and rolling mountains beyond. Added to this is a good public transport system, clean streets, fabulous architecture- not to mention a plentiful supply of well planned public spaces!
One can easily wander the streets pleasantly discovering interesting features while every now and again stumbling across a great park, or maybe even one of the buildings by the famous Gaudi.

Jardin du Luxembourg

In contrast to Parc Andre Citroen the Jardin du Luxembourg is one of Paris' most established and most popular parks. It's layout is based on a cross between the French and English classical garden. The park boasts large lawns alongside avenues lined with trees creating a great variety of space for all Parisians as well as the large number of tourists who flock here.

The park features a large number of statues, a bandstand, several fountains and ponds including the famous medincinal fountain. The design here puts a very different focus on maintenance to Parc Andre Citroen, with planting here being the main subject of attention without high maintenance surfaces and features.

Parc Andre Citroen

During my stay in France there was little time to visit landscape projects, however I did make some exceptions, one being a visit to Parc Andre Citroen. This is a contemporary park on the banks of the River Seine by Alain Provost and Gilles Clement and one which I remember visiting some years ago on a family holiday to the city.

The two large greenhouses at the northern end of the sight were the feature I remembered best, and these still provided an obvious and beautiful focal point to the site. Other features however were somewhat less impressive- the many many water features for example, of which almost all had clearly been out of use for some time. Even the greenhouses provided disappointment on closer inspection- they were locked out of use and one of the two was completely empty.

Despite these disappointments the park has a lot to offer and appears to be well used. The large central lawn area is a wonderful space (with or without the giant helium balloon which currently occupies it and offers visitors birds eye views of the city). There are also a series of tranquil themed gardens.
It is such a shame that the park has been subject to a lack of maintenance- maybe the design was too ambitions and contained too much water initially which has made costs spiral. Either way there must surely be some cost effective solutions to bring this park back up to the standard it should be. These issues have contributed to my decision to look at this park in detail as part of my Management Plans module at University this year.

Ecole Nationale Superieure du Paysage

I was lucky to be able to attend a weeks Landscape Architecture workshop at the French Ecole Nationale Superieure du Paysage (school of Landscape), based in the former kitchen gardens at the Palace of Versailles during September. The subject of the workshop was based around the publication of the greater Paris plan, which included proposals for urbanising additional land surrounding the city of Paris. Our task was to look at a site at Rungis, close to Orly Airport to the south of the city. Currently this land is put to agricultural use, but it is clear that the city's relentless growth will make this unsustainable.

Working in groups amongst students from many parts of the world with different skill bases a number of schemes were developed to incorporate this agricultural land into the urban plan for Paris. The group which which I was involved would aim to preserve the current landscape of agricultural fields by lifting the land and placing housing units beneath it, thus preserving the use of the land above and the view down the fields. The proposal not only created an interesting space but also instigated a new idealistic image of life in the fields without cars and with outstanding sustainable credentials- precedents for the project included the BedZed development near Wimbledon, London.

Giverny- Claude Monet's Garden

Less than a week after my return from Canada I found myself driving towards Paris with three of my student colleagues. We were on our way to Versailles to take part in a weeks Landscape workshop- more on that later...

It occurred to us that a natural place to stop on the journey was at Claude Monet's garden, Giverny, on the outskirts of Paris. Despite a slow drive giving us less than an hour to enjoy the spectacle of this site it agreed that it was all well worth the effort.

These gardens are spectacularly maintained despite the huge number of visitors who flock here. The gardens are arranged either side of the main road through the town of Giverny, on one side are the formal gardens, while the other side of the road are the more famous 'water Lilly ponds'.

For me personally the formal gardens had to be the highlight of the visit, particularly with the huge blooms sunflowers which dominated the garden. The combinations of vibrant colours, all of which were meticulously placed, made this sea of beautiful flowers quite special.

The Dunes of Prince Edward Island

The dune landscape has to be one of the most fascinating to exist. In just a few hundred meters one can travel from solid land to the ocean and witness all the stages of land development in between.

Created by the winds movement of sand, dunes by their very nature are fragile structures, first colonised by species such as lime grass and marram grass- one human footstep can literally set back dune development by many years. It is for this reason that the dune landscape must be managed if it is to survive.

On Prince Edward Island, Canada, Boardwalk paths have been built over the dunes to access the beach, while the dunes themselves are clearly fenced off from the public to discourage entry. Behind the pioneering line of the dunes dedicated footpaths and cycleways have been set up to allow people to enjoy the environment responsibly without damaging habitats. The use of natural materials in these projects hugely aids their aesthetic quality.

Education is important too of course- if people do not realise the ecological value of the dunes or the damage they can do to them it is unlikely they will respect this fragile landscape.

Toronto Wavedecks

In 2006 West8 and DTAH won the competition to redesign Toronto's waterfront. The key aim of the project was to reconnect the Canadian city with Lake Ontario, an area of the city which had seen many years of neglect and had been cut off by the railway and the monstrous two-story Gardener Expressway.

The first project was to reinvigorate some of the former dock areas by creating a series of Wavedecks along dockfronts. The first three Wavedecks at Simcoe, Spadina and Rees have now been completed, and while in the city I took some time to explore them.

The first Wavedeck I discovered was Spadina, a rolling surface with a peak in the middle which dips at each side. It was clear to see that the structure was very solid and of great quality, however it did not seem to attract peoples use by being somewhat isolated from the adjacent land by not finishing with a level interface with the dockside.

The next Wavedeck heading east is at Rees. Here the edges to meet up with the adjacent harbourside land, making the foot traffic much higher. The shape of the Wavedeck too is more interesting while retaining the quality feel. Along the waterfront is a long bench (though not quite as long as the one West8 produced at the Scheuburgplein in Rotterdam!), allowing people to connect with water.

The final Wavedeck to be opened is Simcoe, and it is the most dynamic of them all. This deck features two very large peaks creating a very playful and exciting undulating surface. Access again is good which allows people to alter their journey to cross the wavedeck. Cyclists alter their path to take in the gentle hills of the lower section, adding interest to their journey. Also skateboarders, skaters, walkers and runners all choose new paths across the deck. Children are encouraged to play on the area providing great free entertainment. I would say that I have never seen an area interacted with in so many ways in such a short time than on this small area of Simcoe Wavedeck.

The Toronto Waterfront project has clearly got off to a good start- it will be exciting to see how it develops.

Street Painting

Manfrad Stadar is a street artist who paints amazing designs into streets across the world. Graduating in Frankfurt Stadar specialises in 3D rather than more commonplace 2D works.An added feature of some of his designs is the ability to pose people as part of the scene creating a truly dynamic piece.This piece was commissioned in Seoul to advertise a Korean drink.

http://www.3d-street-art.com/

Temple of a Million Bottles

It is fair to say that most buildings are constructed from brick and mortar. Very few however are constructed from glass bottles and mortar- however this is exactly how the buildings at 'Wat Lan Kaud' (Temple of a million bottles) were built in Thailand. The project began in 1984 and is now estimated to have used more than 1.5 million bottles donated by the local population. As well as looking beautiful this structure says more to us about it's values. This has proven to be a very successful structure- the bottles are strong, low maintenance and allow in natural light. Another draw to the structure is its impressive sustainable credentials- using the bottles in this way is a classic example of recycling what would otherwise be a waste material- even the bottle tops are retained to create decorative mosaics.
Perhaps the most ironic thing is that of the 1.5 million bottles so far used in the project not one has been donated by the builders directly- Buddhist monks for whom drinking is a sin!
This project, which has now become a tourist attraction in the local area should inspire us all to look beyond the obvious choices for building materials when there may be more creative, sustainable and fun solutions available.
http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/10/27/temple-of-a-million-bottles/

A Brief Look at Europe

Although it may not look much, this really grabbed my attention. During some works on a public square in Frankfurt the railings have been covered in a photographic canvas- and what a vast improvement it makes over leaving all the building works visible. This fence becomes more of a feature than the usual eyesore.





These boardwalks in Zurich provided an attractive peaceful walk along the banks of the river, set down at a level close to the water. At certain times of year they can flood, forcing pedestrians
to use a higher level path. They provide a great contrast to the busy city despite being just behind the main streets and make one feel at home with the natural river environment.



This interesting square is situated outside Milan's Cadorna Station. The large abstract sculptures are of a needle and thread which disappears under the road only to reappear among jets of water in a large central fountain. Also note the tram- I became rather obsessed with these amazing rickety old things!




Probably the most interesting Landscape site of the trip was in Marseilles, close to the harbour. A large site had been graded with a variety of steps slopes and levels. Many interesting pieces of furniture had also been used to provide seating areas and to screen walls. Perhaps the most interesting element of all was a terrace which was covered in equally spaced 'oversized' pots. Each pot was taller than myself and rather than containing the usual plants instead was occupied by a sizable tree.

Landscape Animation

Part of my work for the Rotterdam project involved creating a short animation which would be suitable for uploading to a competition by the Student Landscape Institute Council (SLIC) http://slic.info/. I experimented with various techniques to put the animation together, including Adobe Photoshop before settling on Adobe Flash. The short animation features sections using photographs, moving plans and finally some models which I had made for the project. Once I had created the animated files I then stitched the scenes together in Adobe Premier.

Rotterdam Field Trip

Our first year Landscape field trip took us overseas to Holland to visit it's dynamic capital- Rotterdam. This city is known for it's interesting and cutting edge architectural and landscape design. Having visited briefly the previous summer I was aware of some of the interesting features of the city, including the large site developed by West 8 in the heart of the city- the Schouwburgplein. This large site was developed over a new underground multi-storey car park in the heart of the city. The site features three oversized hydraulic moving light which dominate the site. These took influence from the port activities of the city. The site can appear slightly sparse, but is also capable of being a functional space for events.
The National Architecture Institute (NAI) is an interesting point of call for a trip around the city, also conveniently located close to the Museum Park, which contains an interesting landscaped area based on the ideas of fluvioglaciation. Attached the the NAI is the Sonnivald House, a perfectly preserved example of 1930's ultramodern house.
Wandering round the city is a very useful way to spend an afternoon, admiring some of the cities maritime past alongside some of the pioneering and groundbreaking modern developments such as the cube houses at Blaak.
A trip to the Euromast is a must for any visit to the city. The tower rises 101m, with an additional 85m lift carrying passengers to dizzy heights above the city. On a clear day vast views are afforded- unfortunately ours was not so, but the trip was none the less worthwhile.

Half way through the excursion the group took a valuable excursion to the Europort, the worlds largest containerport. This combined with a trip along the River Maas provided us with an excellent grounding into the citys past, and the strategic relationship with the port and shipping activities.

Our final day in featured a visit to The Hague, towards the coast of the country. This one time capital features a mix of old and new buildings, as the impact of World War II was less severe here. Finally the afternoon was spent visiting the waterfront site on which our following project would be based.