Biofuel: not so green?

It seems as though bio-fuels are not as eco friendly as once thought to be. Since we need to grow immense amounts to feed our ever increasing energy consumption, acres of rainforests are being torn down to create space for monoculture bio-fuel crops. The irony.

Image taken from http://www.lush.co.uk/articles/our-ethical-campaigns/why-biofuels-are-not-green_100-10002_10.html

The rolling bench

This is quite a radical product and extremely useful concept for perpetually rainy countries such as the UK. But I wonder if it really is functional- it seems as though rain may be able to seep through the wood and drip onto the dry 'protected' side rendering the whole gadget useless. Wonderful idea though.

Image taken from http://www.gadgettastic.com/2008/02/01/rolling-bench-dry-seat/

Budak- Innovative dish rack

I stumbled across this avant-garde dish rack that, although is not exactly the most practical dish holder ever, has such a beautiful and genius purpose. Water drips from the clean wet plate down into the potted plant under it, therefore not wasting water and doing so in such an innovative way.

Images taken from http://www.erdemselek.com/m4/m4.html

What is landscape? Part 2

Today was the second day of the 'what is landscape' discussion. First up was Sam Johnston from Gustafson Porter.

He began by explaining how landscape is an understanding of the other and an awareness of self. It's two sides of our skin, two sides of conciousness and responsibilities. Ultimately, it is out there and in here, physically, spiritually, individually and collectively.

Landscape to him is about connecting the human emotions with the terrain.

Next was Will Sandy from Three Green Dots. His main point was about how electronic interventions reduce human interactions. We need stimulus to activate their brains and their creativity. We should not be afraid to take crazy ideas out of sketchbooks and get them seen.

For him, landscape is about bringing the design together with the people to engage them.

Ending the two day discussion is Trenton Oldfield from This is Not A Gateway. He highlighted the ever present infatuation England has with fences. Small, high, ornate, modern, to keep in or to keep out, you name it, it's there. We must always have a sense of enquiry and remain critical- without it you wont understand the nitty gritty to create a successful design.

To him, landscape is design with politics.

Tar Sands- A dirty secret

Lush (a cosmetic company known for their natural fair-trade products) were handing out leaflets about Canada’s destructive method of getting their oil from tar sands situated under ancient forests. Looking at the ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos I initially thought that the ‘after’ photo was an impressionistic oil painting (with brush marks carelessly dragged left and right) of what will happen in the future. The shock of finding out that this was not a painting but an actual aerial shot taken recently of the forest was a huge blow. And to top it off, many UK banks and industries are funding this monstrosity! In order to help fight this, I signed a sheet that was to be sent to our local MEP to request tar sands to be kept out of Europe. Below is a template of the same letter so please copy paste it in an email or letter signed with your name and send it to your local MEP too. Spread the word- this is a serious issue.

Here is the letter template for those interested:

Dear Member of the European Parliament,
I am deeply concerned about moves by the Canadian government and industry to bring tar sands-derived fuel into the EU.

The tar sands have been described as the most environmentally destructive project on earth. As you may be aware, the tar sands deposits in Canada are situated beneath ancient boreal forest, a precious habitat for many animals and one of the most important forested regions of the world. The area is also the ancestral land for many indigenous First Nations communities who feel that their treaty rights are being trampled on by the Canadian government. Alarmingly, the tar sands extraction process is estimated to be three to five times more carbon intensive than traditional forms of oil.
For the sake of meeting EU carbon reduction targets and for protecting the forests and people of Canada, please do everything in your power to keep dirty tar sands oil out of Europe. Intense lobbying by industry to make tar sands fuel acceptable under the Fuel Quality Directive (2009/30/EC) is one major area of concern. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) talks are another avenue where lobbyists are trying to force tar sands oil into Europe, so please use your influence to ensure these talks are put on hold until the concerns of environmental campaigners and human rights activists are taken on board.

Kind regards,



Accepted concept

After asking for more information, she told me that most of the residents in the halls were of an asian descent. After doing a bit more research, I came across this photo of a Singapore white plumeria. I really liked the shape and redrew the design with this as the main inspiration.

images taken from: http://flowers.shopping.officelive.com/images/singpore1_908sp.jpg
 http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3660/3552367950_e881671639.jpg and http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site210/2009/1127/20091127_110457_697px-Plumeria_(Frangipani)_300.jpg 

When she saw this design she really liked it. Although the concept still needs to be teased out and developed, I think that this will give a character to the courtyard which it lacks as well as add some much needed greenery to the area.

Not all of the umbrella-like structure will be covered with greenery, some parts will be solid in order to serve as protection from rain or wind. The benefit of this design is that the tree will not be moved and will instead surround and complement it. Better images will be made soon.

Initial concepts

These were the initial sketches and ideas I came up with (in response to the request) but feel that they don't give enough pizzazz to the courtyard.

These structures would add a bold statement of colour to the square but unfortunately will look a bit alien and also block out the views from most of the ground floor rooms.

Background in sketchup

Just a something that I experimented on with sketchup- I wanted to learn how to create background images and realistic shadows and I think this was a success.

Halls of residence request

A friend studying at Bristol university told me about her increasing desire to have something done about the courtyard of her halls of residence. Drab, boring and uninviting she requested me to design something that would liven the place up and turn it into a more sociable and greener setting and she will show it to the managers involved to give them an idea of an inexpensive rennovation.

Save water, turn off your tap

This is a short video clip I made a while ago. It was a tedious project since it was a stop motion animation but being able to watch the final result was worth it. Since it was the first video I had ever made, it is quite unrefined but now that I've learnt the technique, perhaps the next one wont feel as rough.

What is landscape? Part 1

Today three visitors from various landscape related businesses came to present and discuss what landscape means to them. Introduced by Pat Brown, these individuals had such an interesting take on landscape that it was impossible to leave without having been inspired by their warmth, motivation and imagination. 

The first was Heather Ring from Wayward Plants. She was always curious as to what made a plant unwanted and, inspired by the ‘carcasses’ of Christmas trees left on roads after Christmas, began collecting unloved and discarded plants and placed them up for adoption on a website. She is also a big believer in networks of pocket green spaces that would connect various neighbourhoods together. Examples of her work are Bankside green forest- a popup/temporary green festival park, 100 union street urban orchard and the ongoing implementation of an algae garden to provide an alternative to biofuel (which is actually not as green as it sounds)

Landscape to her is about experimentation.

Next was Christian Spencer Davies from A Models. A lot of helpful tips were divulged on making unique models just by seeing the various models in his portfolio. Malteasers, pin heads, crumpled paper, buttons and even (jokingly) chocolate cake are just a few of the many unorthodox methods implemented and although not traditional, they were nevertheless quite stunning.

For him, landscape is about playing with the imagination and unconventionality.

Last to present were Je Ahn and Maria Smith from Studio Weave. Truly unique in their design methods, they believe that since humans are storytelling beings and that the landscape we live in is a congealed form of all these stories, each site to be created should have its own personified story.

Landscape to them is about embracing what a story can do and exploring how far we can take it.

Question and answer time. Favourite quote: "you cannot put lipstick on a gorilla"

Markers- Third attempt

These actually take way longer than they look. I am so happy with the way these turned out. I feel that I have gotten somewhat of a hold of this media- still have a lot to learn but at least now I do not feel afraid of markers and actually respect the life they can give sketches.

I really love the summer view one. I think it's because of the contrast and the thick black marker with the two dots that give it character. The winter image I did from imagination (the summer was inspired by an image) and so I dont think I got the feel of snow on the branches correctly but it is still undeniably a winter scene.

Markers- second attempt

Endless practicing drawing trees. Decided to try and tackle palm trees as they will be necessary for future designs based in Dubai. I need to learn when and where to leave out white spaces when I colour to prevent the drawing from looking too flat (white signifies reflection of light).

Markers- first attempt

Inspired by the digital media session earlier today, I decided to tackle another new media that I have never gone near before, markers.

Practicing my tree outlines. These were the best of many.

Okay, first or second colouring in didn't do so well but this is somewhat third time lucky. Still need a lot of practice to improve.

Decided to try markers with something more delicate. The first one was more of a success than the second and the grass I did was horrible so I cropped both out. I like the way the colours blend together. Perhaps thats the key point to bring out a marker's true ability- correct colour blending. Will practice more.

Autocad to Photoshop session

A visitor came to the landscape studio today to give us a session on digital media. We were given an autocad base plan beforehand and then given guidelines on how to create a professional looking plan drawing using photoshop. The tips gained from the lesson are invaluable and I can't wait to apply them to future designs!

Drawing with light

The V&A were having a session at the Sackler Centre to 'draw with light'. After having viwed the breathtaking Shadow Catchers gallery previously, this event piqued my interest. Entering a darkroom, we patiently awaited our turn to 'draw' on light sensitive papers using mini pen lights in diferent colours that were then printed for us to keep. Below is my light drawing.