Lisa Sang Erica van der Zanden Al Newsome Nicola GainsfordQingyu Zhao Sofia FourmanPriyanka WaghelaJacqueline PaulAynsley CisariaZiyue Zhang Eparama TabuJames Currey Rory GrayTevita Vea Gabrielle HowdleVishaal Shah Terence GrahamShirish Prasad Luke Veldhuizen Sam Hendrikse Brooke Foley Leanne BowaterSharookh WaedueramaeLiam Winterton Jingqian Sun Sarah Grimes

I wish to personally express my gratitude to our LAND6115 Contemporary Landscapes class Liam Winterton , Lisa Sang, Erica van der Zanden, Al Newsome, Nicola Gainsford, Qingyu Zhao, Sofia Fourman, Priyanka Waghela,Jacqueline Paul, Aynsley Cisaria, Ziyue Zhang, Eparama Tabu, James Currey, Rory Gray, Tevita Vea, Gabrielle Howdle, Vishaal Shah, Terence Graham, Shirish Prasad, Luke Veldhuizen, Sam Hendrikse, Brooke Foley, Leanne Bowater, Sharookh Waedueramae, Jingqian Sun, Sarah Grimes for their contributions to our inspiration and knowledge and other help in creating this book called “keep off the grass”

Finally I wish to thank Matthew Bradbury who mentored and guided us. Without his help this book would never find its way to the Web or for people to read…

Throughout the eleven week course we methodically investigated five different social issues that affect the fabrication of contemporary landscapes. Indigeneity, publicness, environment, sustainability and infrastructure.

Seeking examples that correlated to the topic from overseas sites both past and present helped us to comprehend each issue better. The majority of the contemporary sites were discovered from the internet, books, landscape magazines or during lectures. The historical project linked back to each contemporary project, we examined the differences and similarities between them. In both sites we compiled a data sheet explaining dimensions, designer, date, location ect, a plan of the site at various scales and a diagram to show the relationship amid activities on the site. Additional texts from books facilitated us to understand how the author views the problems and offers some solutions or design ideas to them. To conclude the inquiry of the issue, we visited a variety of different sites around Auckland, which exhibited the influence of these ideas in practice.

Throughout the course we expanded our understanding of the various impressions these issues had on contemporary landscape sites and the people using the site. We observed effective examples of different landscape projects produced in the contemporary world. We have entirely developed into more conscious designers, thinking about designs impacting the whole world.

Contemporary Landscapes 2014

Indigeneity

Project Seminar Uluru Kata-Tjuta Thunderbird Park - historic

Theory Seminar The Landscape of Simulation Rod Barnett

Site Visit Mahuhu ke ti Rangi Quay Park. Ted Smyth

Team Al Newsome Aynsley Cisaria Liam Winterton Luke Veldhuizen Tosh Graham

Publicness

Project Seminar Urban Dock Lalaport Toyosu Piazza San Marco - Historic

Theory Seminar Beyond The Crisis - Towards a New Urban Paradigm - Part 3 Laura Burkhalter and Manuel Castells

Site Visit St Patrick’s Square. Boffa Miskell

Team Leanne Bowater Lisa Qianhui Sang Priyanka Waghela Sun Jingqian Vishaal Shah

Environment

Project Seminar Gardens by the Bay Central Park - Historic

Theory Seminar The Plight Ian Mcharg

Site Visit Barry Curtis Park. Isthmus Group

Team Abraham Tabu Jaquline Paul Sharookh Waedueramae Shirish Prasad Tevita Vea

Contents

Sustainability

Project Seminar Cumberland Park Parc Des Buttes Chaumont - historic

Theory Seminar Drosscape Alan Berger

Site Visit Maungarei Springs Wetland - Stonefields. Surface Design & Natural Habitats

Team Erica Van Der Zanden James Currey Qinayu Zhao Rory Gray Ziyue Zhang

Infrastructure

Project Seminar Houtan Park Emerald Necklace - historic

Theory Seminar The MESH book: Landscape/ Infrastructure - Introduction Julian Raxworthy and Jessica Blood

Site Visit Bayside Stormwater Reserve Boffa Miskell

Team Brooke Foley Gabrielle Howdle Nicola Gainsford Sam Hendrikse Sofia Fourman

IndigeneityPROJECT SEMINAR

The vast Australian continent has been home to Aboriginal peoples for thousands of years. In their tribal groups they have co-existed in harmony with a landscape that is seemingly inhospitable in most parts to European sensibilities – yet they live within an ancient, intimate, seasonal rhythm of knowledge and guardianship of the land that they call Tjukurpa.

As Europeans settled Australia and explored from the coasts into the ‘Red Centre’, they discovered the huge weathered rock formations of Uluru and Kata Tjuta in the homeland of the Anangu peoples, and renamed them Ayers Rock and Mt Olgas. Since the beginnings of modern tourist travel around the 1930s this powerful landscape has become a ‘must-see experience’ and an icon of wild remoteness. Ironically, camps, motels and an airstrip developed so people could visit easily, and the Anangu people were pushed out of their own landscape as it became a National Park in the 1970s – and therefore a people-free zone.

In 1985, after much lobbying, the land was returned to its traditional custodians, Anangu, under a joint management agreement. The Anangu people wished to make a place where people had a chance to understand their culture and the many layers of meaning in their landscape – a place where the Anangu could invite

visitors, not a tourist spot that tolerated Anangu.

The cultural centre project began in 1990-91 with the architect Greg Burgess and the landscape architect Kevin Taylor of TCL setting up a studio in the Mutijulu community for a month and getting to know the people and place. Because the elders spoke no English, they painted their stories and drew in the sand and the design team mapped responses, with the creation of the space becoming a joint exercise in story-telling.

Anangu chose the site, one kilometre from Uluru, where the centre could nestle into an existing grove of Desert Oak. The oaks are considered metamorphosed warriors from one of the Tjukurpa stories, and the shapes of the buildings and pathway network reflect other creation stories of battles between the warring snakes Liru and Kuniya.

The site is not planted; instead pathways were pegged amongst existing vegetation to provide a journey and contemplation of the desert landscape en route from the carparks to the cultural centre. The pathways were then strengthened with stabilized sand and the edges marked with brush gathered from around the site. Outside these formed pathways, the native scrub and grasses has now regenerated.

The carparks were deliberately sited away from the cultural centre to maximize visitors’ experience of the landscape of Uluru, while minimizing the impact of infrastructure. The earth walls surrounding the cultural centre seem to rise out of the land, and the landscape ‘island’ surrounding the building encourages people to pause and experience

Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre

Landscape Architects:Taylor Cullity Lethlean

Architect:Gregory Burgess

Consultants:Anangu Community Elders, PJ Yitrup and

Associates, Sonja Peter and Gerry Mussett

Client: Mutijulu Community, Environment Australia

Location:Uluru, Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern

Territory, Australia

Opened:1995

Cost:$500,000

Size:18750 m2

Figure 1 (Gregory Burgess Architects)

Figure 2 (Taylor Cullity Lethlean)

Figure 3 (Gregory Burgess Architects, Taylor Cullity Lethlean)

“being” in that environment with the overpowering presence of Uluru in front, rather than just stepping from an air-conditioned bus straight into a building and photo-op stop.

The cultural centre and surrounding landscape gives Anangu a chance to tell their story in their place in a way that respects their culture and obligations of Tjukurpa. The point of the journey from car to centre and back to car is to gain an understanding of that culture and the landscape to which it is inextricably entwined, and for visitors to then approach Uluru with some understanding of the sacredness in which Anangu hold the rock.

Figure 4 (Ware, S. and Raxworthy, J.)

The role of the landscape architect on this site was to transform the indigenous stories into a spatial pattern using the landscape that was already there, in a series of interventions that are barely visible. The interpretation of the landscape rests with Anangu through the cultural centre and their displays within its walls.

While on the surface this seems a highly successful, award-winning project, popular with the 370,000 visitors who pass through each year, it has not stopped people from climbing the rock, despite Anangu preferring they would have understood to only look at it. The addition of tours, souvenir and art shops within the cultural centre compound since the project was completed has further muddied the waters of what the centre is really for, and perhaps it runs the risk of turning into another Whakarewarewa and an “authentic experience” for tourists to consume.

-The scale of Uluru in Comparison to the architecture of the Cultral Centre

Diagram of Uluru Cultural Centre

1:500 @ A4Figure 5 (Gregory Burgess Architects)

Map of Uluru Cultural Centre

1:1000 @ A4

Map of Uluru Cultural Centre

Thunderbird Park Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Size: 1200 m2

Collection Started: 1913

Opened: 1941

Figure 0 (Totem at Thunderbird Park)

Thunderbird Park is like an outdoor museum case displaying totem of the Canadian indigenous First Nation people. Never objects of worship, totem was usually left to rot in place when people abandoned a village. Typically not well maintained after their erection, traditionally once the wood rots and it begins to lean and pose a threat to passersby, it will either be destroyed or pushed over and removed. Older poles general will fall during the winter storms that batter the coast. A totem rarely lasts over 100 years. A collapsed pole may be replaced by a new one carved more or less the same as the original, with the same subject matter, but this requires a new payment and potlatch and is thus not always done. The beliefs behind the lack of maintenance vary but generally it is believed that the deterioration of the pole is representative of natural processes of decay and death that occur with all living things, and attempts to prevent this are seen as somehow denying or ignoring the nature of the world. It is interesting that a museum space is trying to preserve these poles in a collection outdoors, when in their natural context they would decay and fall down and their cycle of story would be done.

Very early European explorers thought they were worshipped, but later explorers such as Jean-François de La Pérouse noted that totem poles were never treated

reverently; they seemed only occasionally to generate allusions or illustrate stories. The association with “idol worship” was an idea from local Christian missionaries of the nineteenth century, who considered their association with Shamanism as an occult practice thus current poles were destroyed and natives were discouraged from making them. It has only been since the 20th century that there has been a renaissance in creating the art form.

When poles are removed from their original context their meaning changes. Poles used in the Civilian Conservation Corps - created totem parks of Southeast Alaska were removed from their original places as funerary and crest poles to be copied or repaired and then placed in parks based on English and French garden designs to demystify their meaning for tourists but without its context it the totem has no meaning other than an object to look at and photographed. So by that definition, Thunderbird Park has no real purpose other than a sculptural park with indigenous installations that have no cultural perspective or significance, and you could walk by and glance at the objects without being any the wiser as to their cultural context or meaning.

These Totems can be categorized into several types

Figure 1 (Thunderbird park 1952) Figure 2 (Victoria, B.C., Mark Spence, 1940 - 1945)

based on their function; heraldic, memorial, mortuary, house, welcoming, and shame poles. Not all totem poles fit perfectly in these categories, some totem poles have overlapping functions and variations to each type are found among Native Americans of the Northwest Coast. Totem poles are not created by most Native American groups. They were created specifically by the Northwest Coast Indians who inhabit the Northwest Coast of the United States and Canada, and Alaska.

1. The heraldic pole is placed in front of a house and portrays the significance of the family. These poles are known to tell a story. The imagery of the totem can reveal both the historical and mythological past of the owner. Through imagery on the pole different events and stories are recorded.

2. The memorial pole is thought to be the oldest kind of totem pole and is considered the most important pole by the Native Americans. This type of pole is normally intended to honor deceased tribal leaders, but can pay tribute to a new chief as well. These poles are often displayed with only one or two figures; representing the formal leader’s lineage or clan. These poles can be very tall.

3. The mortuary pole is similar to the memorial pole. It honors a deceased person and is placed in a tribal burial ground. Sometimes these poles have carvings that represent important events in the deceased’s life. They serve as a type of tombstone.

4. The house pole(s)/pillar(s) are interior poles used to support the structure or the home. They also display the crest of the family. These carvings are better preserved then other poles because they are inside and protected from the outside elements.

5. The welcoming pole is a less common type of totem. It is used to identify a chief’s property and also to greet welcome guests near the waterfront. Usually these poles are created by apprentices learning the carving skill, and they are rarely painted.

6. The shame pole is used by chiefs as a way to settle payments of debts. These poles can be carved upside down to disgrace and show failure of the person who owns the debt.

From 1951 when many of the original totems had significantly decayed; a restoration program was initiated with Chief Mango Martin as head carver, by 1992 all of the original posts had been replaced by more site appropriate replicas.

Diagram of Thunderbird Park

Figure 3 (Present day Thinderbird Park and Museum)

1:500 @ A4Map of Thunderbird Park

Similarities

•Both attempt to showcase aspects of Aboriginal culture

•Visitors are encouraged to walk amongst cultural items and interpretation and engage with the artifacts or landscape

•Both sites recognize the value of indigenous stories and representation, and interest to a wider audience

•Intent of both is to inform an untutored audience about aspects of indigenous culture.

Differences

•Cultural Centre landscape created in conjunction with Anangu on their land to interpret aspects of their culture they wanted to share

•Thunderbird Park shows off a collection of artifacts removed from their original context and landscape

•Cultural Centre utilizes existing site vegetation as part of the story

•Thunderbird Park sets artifacts into a grassy lawn – traditional European Park presentation.

•Cultural Centre landscape is dynamic and operates at a scale subservient to the wider landscape

•Thunderbird Park is about preservation, with no seeming thought to placement of objects in relation to each other or the surrounding buildings

•Cultural Centre designed to blend in

•Thunderbird Park is a showcase for items to stand out

•Cultural Centre utilizes European ‘place-making’ skills to enable Aboriginals to tell their own story in a way other cultures can understand

•Thunderbird Park presents Aboriginal cultural items and

Similarities and Differences Between Projects:

interpretation in a European museological setting

•Cultural Centre suggests Aboriginal culture is the “right story” of the place – wise, spiritually and physically connected – the real Australia

•Thunderbird Park displays curiosities of primitive Aboriginal culture for us to admire and take home a souvenir from the museum store – totems anyone?

•Cultural Centre is an attempt of indigenous people to reclaim their narrative of place, while somehow engaging in ‘the tourist experience’ at the same time

•Totems atThunderbird Park are recognized as ‘iconic’ – no longer Indian but ‘First Nations’ – yet their meaning is not necessarily understood even as they are preserved

References Uluru: References Thunderbird Park:AILA. (1-2001 p26-29) Landscape Australia. Architecture Media, Melbourne, Australia

AILA. (1-2003 p34-35) Landscape Australia. Architecture Media, Melbourne, Australia

Walliss, J. (n.d.) From Bus Driver Dreaming to Tjukurpa – the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre. Retrieved from: http://learnline.cdu.edu.au/tourism/uluru/downloads/From_Bus.pdf

Ware, S. and Raxworthy, J. (2011) Sunburnt: Landscape Architecture in Australia. SUN Architecture Publishers, Amsterdam

http://www.tcl.net.au/projects/cultural-interpretative/uluru

http://architectureau.com/articles/a-tribute-to-kevin-taylor/

http://esvc000489.wic046u.server-web.com

http://learnline.cdu.edu.au/tourism/uluru/background/crosscultural/introduction.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uluṟu-Kata_Tjuṟa_Nation-al_Park

Figure 1,3,5

Gregory Burgess Architectshttp://www.gregoryburgessarchitects.com.au/pro-jects/1995/uluru-kata-tjuta-cultural-centre/

retrieved 10 March 2014

Figure 2,3

Taylor Cullity Lethleanhttp://www.tcl.net.au/projects/cultural-interpretative/uluru

retrieved 10 March 2014

Figure 4

Ware, S. and Raxworthy, J. (2011) Sunburnt: Landscape Architecture in Australia. SUN Architecture Publishers, Amsterdam

Figure 0http://www.panoramio.com/photo/38272647

Figure 1Thunderbird Park, 1952. BC Government photograph. BC Archives I-21008.

http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/exhibits/tbird-park/html/early/ex11/images/bbc6227.jpg

Figure 2Thunderbird Park, 1952. BC Government photograph. BC Archives I-21008.

Figure 3http://stock-free-images.com/image/thunderbird-park-vic-toria-wallpaper

http://teachartwiki.wikispaces.com/Totem+Pole+at+Thun-derbird+Park

retrieved 10 March 2014

IndigeneityTHEORY SEMINAR

The Landscape of Simulation:Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve -Rod Barnett

“Using the tourist landscape of Whakarewarewa Thermal Region as an example, this paper looks at howlandscapes of leisure enter the contemporary world as complex, contested sites which, while they areproducts of market forces, are also highly symbolically charged.” -Rod Barnett

By studying and trying to understand Rod Barnett’s es-say on indigenous landscape I hope to be able to to pull together a few key themes and link those to how we as landscape architects can approach questions of cultural authenticity and sensitivity.

In his essay ‘The Landscape of Simulation’ Barnett uses one of New Zealand’s most well-known landscape sites, the Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve, to encapsulate and illustrate what is arguably a global issue that land-scape architects must face, and certainly an issue rele-vant to landscape architecture in Aoteraroa.

Depending on whom you ask this site is primarily the larg-est geyserfield in New Zealand, the ancestral home of two Maori tribes or simply a themed tourist attraction. The real answer of what this site truly represents is far more com-plex than any of these simple labels.

What Barnett describes as landscapes of leisure, or what we could perhaps extend to referring to landscapes within an indigenous framework come into being as a result of complexity and often conflict. Whakarewarewa is argua-bly as complex and conflicting as any in New Zealand or indeed the world.

An informal definition of indigeneity in landscape could in effect be that it has to be born of conflict or have conflict thrust upon it. Not necessarily the political or colonial con-flict of aggression in its most obvious sense but a conflict of ideas and of assumptions, of thinking and of approach.Arguably by implication it is often a landscape with a meaning that differentiates it from simply a public site of everyday usage. At some point in its history or planning something has marked that site as being of significance and that significance often needs to be firstly found and then explained to a wider audience and this is the role,

amongst others, of the landscape architect. Often the very meaning of indigeneity is inextricably linked to a post-colonial hegemony, a construct of often Western European dominant cultural ideology. Since the post-World War II loss of empire and the severing of colonial ties and attitudes there has been a rebirth of interest in and validation of indigenous culture, although it is still of-ten a term applied to its subject rather than in partnership with it.

Barnett, by illustrating Whakarewarewa, offers us a glimpse into the world of the ‘noble savage who lives in a paradisal, ideal geography’ but warns us that we can do this only temporarily, WE MUST GO BACK! (As he states on page 3). We must return to our homogenised lives of Western consumption; go back to our spiritless, funda-mentally lacking existences. Or must we? Did we ever travel from this world in the first place? Perhaps the first key point to be taken from this? Did this world ever exist? Barnett would argue that it did not.

What we get at Whakarewarewa is not the authentic Mao-ri experience, it’s nothing of the sort, it is a concoction of various forces; Maori, colonial European, modern Maori, naturally occurring geographically convenience.A useful quotation from the text at this point (page 4) is:The Western conceptualisation of the primitive involves the marking of the native culture as over, as dead and gone, as eternally past, as (the brochure says) ‘a world that unfolds before your eyes as you journey back in time’ in order to ‘experience the spirit of ancestral Maori.’ Even as they present it to you they bury it in the past.

Barnett points out the brochures and promotional materi-al, produced by Maoris, showing the ‘childlike warriors’ in the forest and hypothesises: is what we are being pre-sented with simply a simulation? Did this ‘primeval’ an-cestral culture ever exist or has it been invented to satisfy coachloads of tourists and to tap into the huge potential for commercial gain as a result? Barnett would argue that it has never existed.

He asks us, therefore, to decide, should we as landscape architects reinforce or reveal the myth of the ‘primitive Other’. This myopic view of the primitive has never exist-ed and if it is indeed a myth, should or could we attempt to recreate it: why and how?

Perhaps Key point 2 is - If we are being asked to associ-ate the Maori villagers with the untouched landscape, the natural, pure existence - we imbue them with an other-ness and as soon as a person or people have that other-

ness their lives and culture are immediately the subject of discussion and implied meaning from those from whom they are ‘other’

Another useful quotation at this point (page 7)is:Both European and Maori have an interest in controlling representations of the Whakarewarewa landscape. What is at stake? Underpinning all of this are a number of myths that are prevalent in New Zealand culture. Among them are the ideas that nature is good and culture is bad, that old is pure and that new is corrupt, that tradition is stable and modernity ephemeral, that Maori are natural and Europeans are not. These powerful cultural signifiers direct all landscape change in this country, including that undertaken by landscape professionals.

As Barnett points out the original Maori inhabitants were divided over who owned the site and what should be done it and were complicit it its early promotion as a leisure or tourist site and since its partial sale to the government and its subsequent pulling and pushing, the site has become one of confusion as its various administrators attempt to force its adherence to an inappropriate or a nakedly com-mercial plan.

If we can come to the, I would argue fairly reasonable, conclusion that it is not as simple as black and white then what is the message of Whakarewarewa in Barnetts view?

As he asks us on page 8 “Is it not, in fact, a defining char-acteristic of our century that there is no landscape, no cul-ture, no value, not even the spiritual which is not irradiated by reproduction and simulation?” Are we somehow argu-ing for the “superiority of what is primitive” by endlessly recreating it in our landscapes? Are these not landscapes of recreation as Barnett states, but of Re-creation?This therefore, asks us further questions about cur-rent landscape architecture. What is it we are trying to achieve when as landscape architects we engage with an iwi or with an indigenous body with legitimate interests in a landscape? What is it from them that we are trying to illicit and to interpret? What then do we do with this infor-mation?

Barnett, along with Jacqueline Margetts, comments fur-ther on this in a more recent essay called Cross-cultural Place: Maori Influence in the Public Landscapes of Ted Smyth that:

“It points up the complex dynamics involved in the use of one culture’s productions by another to which the former is asserted by the latter to now belong.

Is it actually possible for Pakeha designers to ‘identify cul-tural values and make meaningful references to the past’ if the values and histories being identified and ‘mean-ingfully’ referred to are those of a culture whose art and design productions were never intended for such usages?

It would be a mistake to over intellectualise these land-scapes and make them the terrain of a few who can interpret a codified message and meaning so it is imper-ative that as landscape architects we must address these questions of authenticity and channel the information into something that can be relevant to everyone; by using Whakarewarewa as an example, Barnett allows us see a microcosm of the global landscape.

The overarching point I personally take from this essay is that it is the interpretations of narratives that underpins our role as landscape architects and links nicely with something discussed at length within our department – placemaking. Participatory design and other relatively new methodologies give us tools but they don’t give us answers.

Landscapes all have stories and irrespective of what we do to them they will continue to have these stories with or without us. We can add our bit to the narrative but our thinking is a product of our own society, as are we. As so-ciety changes so does our understanding of these issues.

-Al Newsome

Key point 1. Should we as landscape architects attempt to reinforce or reveal the myth of the ‘primitive Other? Can we recreate what is termed ‘indigenous’ with symbols and tikis. Whose idea of indigenous is it to be if we are to do this?

Key point 2. Europe/modern = badIndigenous/natural = good. Is it fair or accurate to associate the indigenous with nature. Does this legitimise their marginalisation as ‘primi-tive’ and incapable of engaging in a modern post-industri-al age?Barnett is questioning the dichotomy between two sys-tems; can they coexist in landscape terms?

Key point 3. A wider point maybe but - Is all landscape something to be imbued with indigenous culture; to be consumed, to be quantified and be something we can all have a part of (providing we all have $200 a night in order to purchase it)? Do all projects need this dialogue with indigeneity or is it just an exercise in restitution?

References:

Barnett R. (1999).The Landscape of Simulation: Whaka-rewarewa Thermal Reserve, Kerb Journal of Landscape Architecture. Melbourne: RMIT School of Architecture and Design.

Retrieved 8 March 2014 from : http://www.rodbarnett.co.nz/pub/news/the-land-scape-of-simulation-whak/files/The_Landscape_of_Simu-lation.pdf

INDIGENEITYSITE VISIT

SITE VISIT

Landscape Designer: Ted Smyth

Client: Magellan Orakei (joint venture between developer Robin Sheffield and Ngati Whatua).

Date of Design and construction: Designed in 1996 and built in early 1997

Budget: $2m for the major park, and $250,000 for the relocation and re-siting of the four mature pohutukawa and two totara.

$415.44 per m2

Overall, the budget for landscape architecture on the 20ha railway site was $5.5m

Sub Contractors: BioBuild

Pavers: Firth Industries Ltd

Lights: Thorn Electrical (Lamps) Papakura Engineering (Lamp Stands)

Precast Seat and Paving Motifs: Modtezz Tile & Paving co

Irrigation: Water Dynamics

Aggregate: Second Nature Landscaping

Concrete: Jenson & Brown

Rock Work: Hiro & Frazer Macdonald

Tree Moving & Planting: Specimen Tree Company

Pool Filtration: The Pool People

Grass: City Lawn Services

Soil: The Living Earth Company

Mahuhu ke ti Rangi Quay Park

Width: 132 m

Length: 52 m

Length of path (lines w/ circles): 256 m

Total Area: 5,416 m2

Central open Grass areas: 1876 m2

Water feature area: 436 m2

Sculptured Fingers: 17 m

Pohoro Wave Motif Seats Length: 15 m

-3.5+ m above sea level

-Located 430 metres from the sea

Quay Park @ 3.5m above sea level

20+ m above sea levelLooking towards Anzac Ave, Eden Crescent etc

Figure 1: topography

Mahuhu ki te Rangi Park takes its name from the Ngati Whatua ancestral waka that brought their ancestors across the Pacific to New Zealand. The land on which it sits was once seabed, and was reclaimed in the early 20th century as part of the wider reclamation of the Auckland waterfront.

This land now forms part of the Ngati Whatua tribal estate, as the iwi were given first right of purchase to this former railway land as part of their Treaty of Waitangi settlement. The whole

The wider ex-railways site is 20ha, with the park is its centerpiece. The developer was Magellan Orakei; a company formed specifically for the project by developer Robin Sheffield in conjunction with Ngati Whatua.

The budget for the main park was $2m and Robin Sheffield asked landscape architect Ted Smyth to do the design. As Ted tells the story, he was given an open brief and a large budget and told “do what you think best”. In fact Ted worked in consultation with Ngati Whatua as he developed his ideas, and test-drove initial concepts first on the little gateway park on The Strand.

In this essay we will explore the historical background of the park, the significance of the sculpture “Casting of the Mana of Ngati Whatua”, the water features, Maori cultural motifs, vegetation, context within the wider landscape, and how this park relates to two case studies in other countries.

Mahuhu ki Te Rangi Quay ParkIntroduction

Ted Smyth

Figure 1: Ted Smyth

Ted Smyth is arguably New Zealand’s most celebrated and influential landscape architect

He was self-taught and says he developed his approach to garden design in complete isolation from the work of other designers, his gardens from the early 1980s onwards have been observed to bear many similarities to that of modernist designers Barragan and Burle Marx. He said in our interview that “I became interested in gardening at a young age; growing up living in state houses I would have my own gardens. I was self-taught and became a landscape gardener in the 60’s after being an Artist for many years – and I only chose the profession to make a decent wage and support my family. I also taught myself ‘all’ trades he said “except electrical”, so I understood details and how materials worked. In the 30-40 years I have been in the profession I have tried not to compare myself with anyone else and that my mantra is to “never repeat or imitate myself but to keep progressing”.

Ted’s gardens, mostly in Auckland, appeared regularly in magazines and books since the early 1960s, his most celebrated work however, is that produced from the 1980s onwards and began experimenting with combinations of stainless steel, neon and a completely new range of plant material. During these years he developed a design language that emphasized the arrangement of garden elements in space and revealed a fascination with the relationships between organic and mineral surfaces.

He was, however, trained as a graphic designer and commercial artist, and he also painted. He held a number of solo and group shows in the 1960s, and was noted as “having promise”. His primary interest was landscape painting, and as a painter Ted was aware of the development of New Zealand abstract painting in the 1950s and 60s likely contributing to his own continuing experiments with abstraction in garden design (“abstractṟ and “abstractionṟ continue to be favourite words of his when describing his designs).

He is on record as saying his work ”sacrifices nature on the altar of the contemporary”. Here we find the source of his sense of self as a landscape artist. Through the practice of design, the garden becomes a deviation from nature.

The Smyth gardens that were so surprising (because seemingly unprecedented) in the 1980s represented not so much a shift in compositional approach as a shift in plant palette. Apart from the use of what he refers to as “anonymousṟ materials such as ceramic tiles and stainless steel, one of the key features that distinguished his gardens from the work of others was the range of species he used. Palms, vireya rhododendrons, dragon trees, cycads, bromeliads and other sub-tropical plants were all present in New Zealand, but usually concentrated in collector’s gardens. Ted brought what were at the time quite rare and unusual plants into his gardens in a way that had not been seen in New Zealand before.

In 1994 Smyth, also distinguishing between form and content, said: “I believe an artist has a personal vocabulary, which he or she will always be developing – while the physical content may vary and the focus of the garden may be inwards or towards a deeper landscape beyond, there should be an underlying continuity of structural elements, colours and plant material. It is inherent in this philosophy that there will be progression and the building of an individual expression in garden making.”

He has acquired international recognition for his numerous residential gardens. Other Landscape Architecture projects include Basque Park; which he said was to be an events centre, and was created on a very low budget, there was little Iwi consultation and he says no indigenous references. He won design competitions to secure the tenders for the Tauranga Harbour’s Strand site and the Aotea Square project. In 1998 Ted recieved an honourary BLA from Unitec as well as an honorary Fellowship with NZILA.

He is now in his late seventies maybe early eighties And is still working multiple jobs. One is in Auckland city on a cliff property – a typical Ted site. The other two are out East, Flat Island at Bucklands Beach and another at Maraetai.

Text edited and referenced from:Celebrating Ted Smyth: The emergence of modern space in New Zealand gardens 2005

Barnett, R. J., & Margetts, J. A. In A. Leach & G. Matthewson (Eds.), Celebration: Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand. (pp. 35-40). Napier: SAHANZ, 24-27 September, 2005, Napier.

Figure 2: Ted’s original working drawing (Photo by T-Graham)

Figure 3: Ted’s original working drawing (Photo by T-Graham)

To the North-East of us stood Point Britomart, a headland which was known firstly as Flagstaff Hill, and then shortly afterwards, Pt. Britomart. Auckland’s first European fort was established on the point on the site of an old pa, Te Rerenga-oraiti (‘the leap of the survivors’) in 1840. The Maori name describes two similar incidents when attacking Ngati Whatua forces drove their foe off the end of the headland with only few surviving the leap into the Waitemata harbour below. The headland was demolished in the 1880’s and used as fill in nearby Official Bay.

Te Hororoa (‘the slipping away’) is a place in Official Bay. Prior to the 17th century invasion of Ngati Whatua part of the pa- here slipped into the sea with a number of people perishing. This was taken as a bad omen foretelling the invasion from the north-west. Official Bay (locally known as Exclusion Bay) was named after the government officials who resided here. These officials were members of Hobson’s Crown Colony government, established in Auckland in 1840.

Constitution Hill was the site of Auckland’s first Parliament Buildings, which were located just over the brow of this hill, on land behind the extensions to the High Court. The hill was reached by an access way from the old shoreline below now Beach Road. Te Reuroa pa, ‘the longer outer palisading’ stood on the Supreme Court site, and also extended to the foreshore. On Beach Road at the foot of Constitution Hill was a Maori Reserve. A Maori hostel built by Ngati Whatua was established here to house Maori traders who arrived from all over New Zealand. In 1848 Maori delivered 20,000 tons of potatoes, apples, peaches and wheat at this place.Te Toangaroa (‘the dragging of waka a long distance’) is the Maori name for Mechanics Bay, the site on which we

now stand. The tide went out along way so if you missed the high tide it was an arduous task to haul waka to the beach at present-day Beach Road. This site marks the lo-cation of the dwellings of the first ‘mechanics’ or workmen who were employed by the government to build the first houses in the new capital. Here also were Auckland’s first sawmills, boatyards, and a ropewalk. Gradual reclamation, completed as late as the 1920s, provided the site for the Railway Station and container wharves.

Reference1. Freemans Bay2. Point Stanley3. Commercial Bay4. Point Britomart5. Official Bay6. Mechanics Bay

W A I T E M A T A H A R B O U R

1

2

3

4

5

6Victoria Park

Albert Park

The Domain

Plan of Aucklandshowing origional waterfront in 1841

Historical Context

Figure 4: Original coastline 1841

Figure 5: Auckland Showing Point Britomart

Figure 6: Point Britomart

Figure 7: Auckland Showing Mechanics Bay

Figure 8: Parliament bulidings

Poor Point Britomart. Like Bell Hill in Dunedin, it was in the way of connecting the east and the west of a young city. Unlike Bell Hill (and likely because of the nature of the hill itself ), Britomart was destroyed right back to the of stumps at Emily Place.

The destruction of Point Britomart began in March 1872, with the demolition of Fort Britomart and the beginnings of the blasting down to break the cliff apart. The intention was to cut through the point, preserve Emily Place and St Pauls’ Church, and then use the rest as fill for the eastern reclamations in Official bay and Mechanics Bay. Beach Road passed through what was Point Britomart, as a connection to The Strand, works began in October 1874 and nearly completed by 1876. Most of the work of the first stage of removing Point Britomart was done by 1880.

Where our site sits on the reclaimed land today

W A I T E M A T A H A R B O U R

Albert Park

The Domain

Quee

n St

reet

Emily Place

Beach Road

Parnell Rise

Quay Street

Parnell Rose Gardens

Fort Street

Custom Street

Figure 10: Original coastline 1841 + supplementary image from Google Earth

Figure 9: Auckland harbour works c1841

1940 1959 1996

2006 2008 2010

The gradual reclamation of land which begun in the 1880s continued into the following century being completed around the 1920s. Official Bay, Mechanics Bay and St Georges Bay were filled in their entirety all the way around to Campbells Point creating the basin of land on which we now stand and enabling the creation of the early Railway Station which was opened in November 1930, and also the container wharves on the harbours edge.

The six maps above, taken from Auckland Council’s GIS public access site, show the gradual evolution of the site from the Railway yards & Station bordering the docks and container wharves in the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s. The no mans land that it became from around the mid-eighties through to the nineties – 1996 being not long after this land was returned to Ngati Whatua and just one year before work on Mahuhu ki te Rangi Park was begun. Then from the mid 2000s we see the beginning of property development (mixed use Commercial/Residential) in the precinct bringing us to the present day.

Figure 11 i-vi: Site Development 1940-2010, Auckland GIS

The Casting of Mana of the Ngati Whatua

The large stainless steel sculpture called ‘The Casting of Mana of the Ngati Whatua’ was a self evolving design, designed by Ted Smyth himself. The design is of suspended nets possibly acting as a metaphor for the return of the land to Ngati Whatua as part of the 1993 treaty settlement or in reference to the reclaimed bay that the site currently sits in which used to be a hub for the trade of food with Pakeha. The sculpture sits between 8-10 metres above the dais which is flanked by curved seating which are backed with river stones. Ted Smyth told us that the design was not deliberate and meaning but was simply designed was to be an entryway sculpture. On the surface of the dais sits his stylised Koru paving motif which is linked throughout the site.

“Quay Park was part of what I mean about exploring the boundaries. The design was a formalized use of the natural aesthetic. In the shallow stream flowing through the site, I incorporated a semi-graphic, semi-spatial use of a typical Ngati Whatua carving design – crescents in sets of six. These were presented in riverstones in the bed of the stream. The use of water also re-flects the fact that the site has been reclaimed from the sea.”

Ted Smyth quote in: Water in the Con-temporary Landscape by Ted Smyth and Matthew Bradbury. Landscape New Zealand November/December 1998.

Figure 12: ‘Casting of the Nets’,Original digital art from T. Smyth

Figure 13: Original drawings by Ted, photograph by A.C.

Figure 14: Original drawings by Ted, photograph by A.C.

Te Ringa o te PunaThe Hand of the Spring

One of the largest structures within the site, is the water feature. Ted Smyth says that the design of Quay Park has two primary baselines:

The first is ‘to evoke the spirit of the site and reflect that it was once the sea’.

The second is ‘to reflect the return of the land to ownership of Ngati Whatua’.

There are other water features around Auckland (for example in Albert Park, or in Mission Bay) but here we have one that combines ancient myth and Maori storytelling with modern shapes and materials that reflect the first of Ted’s primary baselines.

Ted’s work has been described as ‘Formalised nature’ and by others as ‘Landscape Poetry’. Can both be used to describe this feature?A lot of what Ted has achieved in his career is distinctly ‘hardscape’ and this structure certainly is hardscape, but it also uses Maori forms, for example the three fingers in the design of the water flow.

The combination of natural and constructed elements. The placement of a large concrete structure alongside the natural rocks within and around the water.

How do we marry together nature, natural stones and Maori-earth-connections, with concrete and rigid shapes?

Ted says it best. “I exalt nature by rendering it in the abstract’.

This is arguably one of the main points of modernism, to rewrite how we view objects and ideas, and how we understand the world as we see it. He creates a pocket of ‘tranquil breathing space’ through the use of the sound of the water over the pebbles.

His work has been likened to Luis Barragan for example his plaza del Bebedero and you can see the use of water has similarities in the two sites. Ted hasn’t admitted to being directly influenced by these others but he does admit that his work has always been very ‘contemporary’ and it could be seen in his unapologetic use of modern concrete and clean lines.

The fountain is a 3-fingered hand as found in Maori carvings but also has shades of landscape architects for example Geoffrey Jellicoe’s 1957 civic square in Plymouth.

Ted was apparently the first person to use or introduce infinity pools to NZ.

There is a similar design going on here that references infinity pools and the link between the coast and the sea. A key difference of course being that here there is another layer of Maori symbolism as well.

Some of Ted’s other projects, for example the gardens at Pie Melon Bay farm, show his sculptural use of rocks and pebbles with water.

Figure 15: Geoffrey Jellicoe’s 1957 Civic Square in Plymouth

Figure 16: Ted’s “Guthrie Pool” North Shore

Figure 17: Ted’s Pie Melon Bay design

This map/plan is illustrative only and all informationshould be independently verified on site before takingany action.Copyright Auckland Council. Boundaryinformation from LINZ (Crown Copyright Reserved).Whilst due care has been taken, Auckland Councilgives no warranty as to the accuracy and completenessof any information on this map/plan and accepts noliability for any error, omission or use of the information.Height datum: Auckland 1946.

´Quay Park

Created: Wednesday, 28 May 2014,10:06:59 a.m. Scale @ A3 1:500

Figure 18: Quay Park aerial, Auckland Council GIS

Vegetation Of Quay Park

In 1997 during the construction of the site it was decided that 6 trees (2 Totara & 4 Pohutukawa) 50 metres away were going to be removed to make way for a road and would be moved to the Quay park site. The trees 9-10 metres in height and all weighing between 70-80t making it a small feat made slightly more difficult by having to move both Totara together as there root balls were joined. All the trees were successfully transplanted and still stand today.

Ted Smyth uses Phoenix Palms (Phoenix canariensis) to announce the entrances to the site. The main entrance via the ‘Casting of Mana of the Ngati Whatua’ is framed by two pairs of phoenix palms which links to the “Classic Gummer and Ford park in front of the railway station.”

Ted Smyth has only used 4 species of trees; Pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa), Totara (Podocarpus totara), Phoenix Palm (Phoenix canariensis) & Nikau (Rhopalostylis sapida), throughout the site in keeping with his common use of palms throughout his designs. He gave little information about his planting design for the site in our interview with him but that they were to provide a sense of enclosure.

Figure 19: Images of Quay Park,taken by team members

This discussion centres on a personal reaction to Quay Park, taking in to account its indigenous perspective. It will probably ask more questions that it answers but this can be considered a starting point from which to think about this and other sites.

To put it simply - Does this site work and why? Or, on a more complex level, on what level(s) does it work, or fail?

Research and preparation around this project highlighted that the overriding points of entry into the subject are Ngati Whatua and Ted Smyth himself. The designer has not been the overriding point of focus for any other of the sites we’ve examined this term, this is the first where the designer as personality is paramount. Usually we’re looking at the physicality of the site foremost, with reference to the designer second.

Also, the client, in this case a local Maori tribe, also forms one of the main talking points. Who they are and what they want or need from the site has defined this project, rather than a local authority driving a public spaces project. Its situation was determined by its client and could therefore be nowhere else.

The facts are that this site sits in a fairly unloved part of a modern CBD, essentially blocked off by the residential developments and commercial buildings. We know that Quay Park came first but does the fact that it now sits isolated within the site now mean that its meaning is changed? Can it still be what it was originally intended to be? Its neighbours hardly reference Maori motifs and culture, so why should this site continue to do so and still remain meaningful?

This site is looked upon by some as a ‘green jewel’ within the context of the larger piece of land. It’s flanked on all sides by major routes in and out of the city and is on the fringe of Auckland’s, or arguably New Zealand’s, largest tourist area with cruise ships and major transport hubs. It also borders NZ’s largest urban workforce and one of its busiest roads is right in front of us.

Does it draw on or reference any of these points; possibly not it could be argued. Why is that?

Another interesting question that is pertinent at this point is - can pakeha successfully design for Maori, or indeed should they?’

Ted Smyth is pakeha but his work references Maori designs and he has layered within the shapes and structures a Maori narrative, for example the abstracted koru on the pathways. But for what purpose are these references? Are they to please the client, to educate the public, to charm, to engage or simply to merely decorate? All, or none, of the above?

It is perhaps worth trying to strip these layers away to fully consider the site.

To do this it is possible to consider Quay Park as one would a work of art as well as a landscape project rather than simply a public amenity or a Maori symbol.

Ted is also a product of his time, as is any artist or designer. He doesn’t need to have worked with or studied others for those influences to be seen in his work. Ted’s in his 80’s now and so is a direct contemporary of those modernists and abstract expressionists such as Robert Motherwell and Mark Rothco and ‘pop’ artists of the 60’s such as David Hockney, all of who’s influence is arguably evident in the shapes and constructs that Ted produces; he has also witnessed global trends in architecture and literature over most of the twentieth century, for example the three fingered water feature would not look out of place outside Meis van der Rohe’s Seagram building such are its modernist lines and materials.

Like any work of art Quay Park has to have been produced within a historical and contemporary context and makes sense only when considered within that wider context. To look at it through one small lens is a mistake; it needs to be looked at through multiple lenses of recent history, politics and sociology.

It is therefore worth asking ourselves the questions again within this context, does this site work and if it does, on which levels does it work?

The narratives within the site, the symbolic motifs hint at another level of knowledge that is secret to all but those in the know, who have training or knowledge to interpret the meaning and understand its significance to the whenua of the site.

But that is only one way in which this site can be considered to work, in order to be considered a success in wider terms of landscape architecture it arguably needs to have

a context outside of the question of its indigenous design principals and have a universal appeal that covers a wider social collective memory, both Maori and pakeha, Asian, Pacific and European.

Can we look at Quay Park as we would a complex religious oil painting where its value is in the hidden meaning and allegory known to only an educated few or can we look at it more like Van Gogh’s Sunflowers where anyone can enjoy it for what it is, a bunch of flowers.

Looked at in this context it provides the local Maori organisation with a much needed public symbol of its ownership of the land, a physical connection to the earth but also perhaps a political one - and as a narrative to underpin the site is this enough or does this represent the complex oil painting relevant to only the few?

Does a site also need to work on the level of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers? Do we need that element of immediate gratification, of pure aesthetic enjoyment for the sake of it? Perhaps we do, both as members of the public and as landscape designers. Hidden narrative can only work so far in framing design - it is one part but not the whole.

This site does work on both the indigenous and the ‘universal’ levels. It is both the renaissance oil painting and the Van Gogh. Ted has pulled off a remarkable project because, like any good artist he knows his client, knows his history, and knows his audience.

This site succeeds with its relevance to Maori although little is seen or heard in terms of specifically Maori usage or patronage, but it’s also a undeniably a pleasant place to be and in terms of design it works as well as, if not better than many other comparable projects in Auckland.

In terms of the question of pakeha being able to design for Maori, which seems to be a hot topic, it seems obvious that the answer is pakeha must design for Maori and vice versa.

This site is a talking point, arguably a successful one and that dialogue is vital. To cut one off from the other is leading both sides nowhere.

This is a landscape of simulation but not in the same way that Whakarewarewa is. That represents something that was (or never was) but Quay Park represents something that is.

There are not huge numbers of people using Quay Park, for example from the surrounding

Outside PerspectiveAl Newsome

apartments, but then perhaps that is not the fault of the design itself but of a wider problem of

connectivity within Auckland CBD.

It can be limiting to simply consider this site along just indigenous lines as that limits its realm for discussion and handpicks one narrative on which it lives or dies. It’s like saying a piece of literature is good ‘feminist’ literature, at some point it needs to stand up to being simply good literature.

Having said that Quay Park uses indigenous imagery and symbolism to successfully create a universal appeal and is a nice place to have a sandwich in!

Figure 20: Allegory of Arts - Bernardo Strozzi. 1640

Figure 21: Van Gough - Three sunflowers in a Vase, 1888

It provides the local Iwi with a much needed public symbol of its ownership of the land, a physical connection to the earth but also perhaps a political one - and as a narrative to underpin the site is this enough or does this represent the complex oil painting relevant to only the few?

Does a site also need to work on the level of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers then? Do we need that element of immediate gratification, of pure aesthetic enjoyment for the sake of it?

Perhaps we do, both as members of the public and as land-scape designers. Hidden narrative can only work so far in framing design it is one part but not the whole.

A kettle must function as a kettle and look good to be suc-cessful no matter how the story of its creation came about, and, I would argue, urban landscape design is the same. It must have some sort of function even if that function is simply to look good and be nice to eat a sandwich in. If it fails at this it will eventually cease to be and become part of the ‘drosscape’.

This site does work on both the indigenous and the ‘uni-versal’ levels. It is both the renaissance oil painting and the Van Gogh. Ted has pulled off a truly remarkable project because, like any good artist he knows his client, knows his history, and knows his audience.

This site does succeed with its relevance to Maori (and I’ve heard nothing to the contrary from that source) although I have also seen or heard little in terms of specifically Maori usage or patronage, but it’s also a nice place to be and in terms of design it works as well as, if not better than many other comparable projects in Auckland.

In terms of the question of Pakeha being able to design for Maori, which seems to be a hot topic, I would argue that pakeha must design for Maori and vice versa. This site is a talking point, arguably a successful one and that dialogue is vital. To cut one off from the other, I would argue, is lead-ing both sides nowhere. This is a landscape of simulation but not in the same way that Whakarewarewa is. That rep-resents something that was (or never was) but Quay Park represents something that is.

I don’t see a huge number of people using it, for example from the surrounding apartments, but then I’m not sure if

Maori Influence in the Public Landscapes of Ted Smyth

Figure 22: Original coastline 1841

Figure 23: Detail of photo

The central pond is fed by water which discharges into it from three long finger-like troughs referencing the three fingers of Maori carved figures (Barnett & Margetts, 2009). Many theories have been put forward to explain the char-acteristically three-fingered hand. It should be remembered that the Maori was not so obsessed with the three-fingered hand as the European student has been. The five-fingered hand is by no means uncommon in carving and is frequent in some districts. The most common treatment is a four-fin-gered hand, that is, three fingers and a thumb. A hand with three fingers and no thumb is less common.

In some areas there are sometimes only two, or even one, finger and a thumb. The origin of the curious treatment of

that is the fault of the design itself or of a wider problem of connectivity within Auckland CBD.

I think it can be limiting to simply consider this site along just indigenous lines as that limits its realm for discussion and handpicks one narrative on which it lives or dies. It’s like saying a piece of literature is good ‘feminist’ literature, at some point it needs to stand up to being simply good literature.

Having said that I think Quay Park uses indigenous image-ry and symbolism to create a universal appeal and is a nice place to have a sandwich in!

Smyth first began to use design elements derived from Maori decorative arts in his work here at Mahuhu ki te Rangi Reserve in Mahuhu Crescent, Auckland Central, on the old railway site.

Consultation with Ngati Whatua occurred throughout the design process, and this is documented in the accompany-ing report as in part an attempt to prevent the references to things Maori becoming ‘hokey, superficial or ... kitsch’. Smyth states that he wished to ‘avoid the decorative ap-proach, and direct the spirit of tangata whenua to inform the structure of the design, rather than become merely an appliqué’. Even so, it is clear that some Maori elements are used decoratively rather than structurally or spatially (Bar-nett & Margetts, 2009).

Roughly oval in shape, Mahuhu ki te Rangi Reserve is de-signed around a large central ‘water sculpture’ or pond. I wondered if this could be I reference to the geological his-torical fact that the site used to be a bay of the Waitemata, most likely though it was because of how the roading in the precinct had been laid out.

The main entrance to the park is a big, slightly-raised cir-cular dais enclosed on two sides by seats backed with river-stone walls. Four large stainless steel columns rise from the edge of this circle. These support a huge stainless steel sculpture called ‘The Casting of the Mana of the Ngati Whatua’ which forms an overhead element of intersecting ‘nets’ (Barnett & Margetts, 2009). Looking up through the sculpture it is east to make out the formation of the nets. Ted said that this was to make an “entrance statement”, that it was not deliberate but a self-evolving thing. I felt that

The line of two of these finger-like projections is extend-ed into the pond by boulders that break the surface of the water almost to the height of the fingers that float over it (Barnett & Margetts, 2009). Ted made no comment about these rocks but has used a similar arrangement in the gar-den that he created at Pie Melon Bay on Waiheke Island. With this project he named the rocks as being “Kaitiaki” – Guardians of the site, and so he may have possibly stood these stones here at Mahuhu ki te Rangi to be Kaitiaki of this rohe. A Kaitiaki was a person, group or being that acts as a carer, guardian, protector and conserver. Traditionally; Atua, humans, taniwha, animals and birds were kaitiaki, but often Maunga were also kaitiaki – so perhaps this met-aphor is appropriate.

Figure 24: Quay Park Fingers Detail

Figure 25: Maori Fingers, detail from photo by T.G.

Figure 26: Quay Park detail,

the hands in carving is still (and probably will remain) un-known, but in seeking an origin it seems reasonable to ex-amine the situation in tropical Polynesia, the origin of the Maori. It is interesting to observe that the nearest relations to Maori, the Cook Islanders, also carved a three-fingered hand on occasions, and sometimes a four-fingered hand. The most noticeable thing in Polynesian carving, however, is the perfunctory treatment of the human hand. The fin-gers are often not shown at all, and very often simply by two or three shallow grooves cut into the hand. It appears, therefore, that the Polynesians, like modern artists, were satisfied to give an impression of hands.

It is quite feasible that the practice of indicating the fingers by two or three grooves became a convention resulting in hands with three or four fingers, according to the number of grooves. With easier material and better tools, the Mao-ri began to elaborate his carving and paid more attention to the hands, but the established conventions remained (McLintock, 1966, p. 4).

Water runs to the large central pool along a boulder-lined rill, or ‘stream’, the channel of which is inset with regular lines of small stones forming partially-seen concentric cir-cles. This same stone pattern is also present in the fingers that feed water into the pond(Barnett & Margetts, 2009). The pebble design in the river and on the fingers were based off a carving design (Ted couldn’t recall the name of it). These are most likely base off the (Unaunahi, or fish scales, the Arawa name for this pattern, and ritorito, the young shoots of a flax plant, the Wanganui name. Basically the pattern consists of a fairly wide groove in which are set at intervals groups of three, four, or five curved ridges which run across the groove (McLintock, 1966, p. 5).

Smyth has used an abstracted koru element both as a pav-ing pattern and as basins etched into the rill that edges the water sculpture. In these features he turned the double spiral, conspicuous as bas-relief in Maori carving, into a three-dimensional element that holds water, by incising it deeply into the ground plane as perhaps a kind of moko or tattoo (Barnett & Margetts, 2009). In Maori design, the koru has a dual meaning. It is commonly used in Maori art as a symbol of creation because of its fluid circular shape. Based on the unfurling fern frond of the native New Zea-land silver fern, the circular shape of the koru conveys the idea of perpetual movement, while it’s inner coil, the corm with rolled up inner leaflets, suggests a return to the point of origin (Sheehan, 2013).

In the larger scheme, this is a metaphor for the way in which life both changes and stays the same. This form would seem to be an abstraction of an abstraction. The transference from the socio-cultural realm of Maori whakai-ro is effected by means both of a deformation, a reduction (a ‘modernizing’) of the original form, and a re-formation of it – from bas-relief to full three-dimensionality. Ted de-scribed this as a modernist stylized Koru design (pre-cast) (Barnett & Margetts, 2009). Upon consultation with a wom-an from the iwi it was related to Ted that a traditional koru could not be used, as it was not tikanga to walk or sit upon it so he developed this deco type design.

Gordon Walters passed away in 1995, leaving in his wake an artistic legacy. In the 60ṟs Gordon was one of the most prolific users of the koru design. Rather than creating cos-metic makeovers of the ancestral koru form, Gordon com-pletely stripped the design back to a level of simplicity not associated with Maori art. He was an innovator, and his constant innovation is all the more striking given the sin-gularity of his focus, that is, the limited range of his subject matter. The koru being one of them. His use of the koru was controversial at the time. Many felt that by stripping the design back to its most basic form, he was in a way deconstructing the design past its point of value. Especially to Maori. The design ‘lost’ something, maybe the spiritual association for Maori? (Sheehan, 2013)

Figure 27: Quay Park detail

Figure 28: Maori motifs

Figure 29: Quay Park detail, photo by T.G.

Figure 30: Maori koru

Figure 31: Gordon Walters and Koru print

The pohoro wave motif has been used here as seating. The abstracted puhoro (waves of the sea) pattern16 Smyth in-tersects fragmented circular seats (which he describes as ‘European immigrant symbols’17), with abstracted Maori imagery to suggest ‘the intervention and integration of the two immigrant cultures’ (Barnett & Margetts, 2009).

This is a Ta Moko pattern which is usually performed on the thighs -This design represents speed, swiftness and agility (Wilson, N.D.), from what I have ascertained this pattern has nothing to do with the sea or water but was used to mark warriors to show them as being quick and agile – therefore is out of context in this scenario ( like a totem at Thunderbird Park perhaps).

These seats have a pre-cast terrazzo top on a river-stone base, similar to the walls used in the entrance circle. Oth-er seats feature in the park as fragmented circular forms, sometimes as a single element, other times grouped to more clearly indicate a broken circle.

There were a lot of grading works on the site. Earthworks modulate the terracing and a lot of instruction of how they were to be form was given by Ted on the site but he can’t remember them having any reference to Pa or Volcanic maunga. For me, there is a definite resemblance to Pa even in these three small terraces.

Smyth has said that he is ‘increasingly interested in ‘the poetic of the landscape’ – distilling the spirit of nature in a particular area and presenting it in the language of landscape design.’20 For him, he says, ‘the “poetic” concept is usually much easier to interpret in a public space.’21 His work in public open space shows an emerging set of rules for the production of place signifiers. For Smyth, then, Maori cultural poetics (for whakairo, moko, and tukutuku) can be utilized both as a formal and a technical resource for accessing and expressing ‘the spirit of nature.’ He sees Maori cultural production as somehow embodying this spirit, and more importantly, he regards it as available to landscape architects in New Zealand for the construction of a contemporary landscape poetics (Barnett & Margetts, 2009).

One of the problems for Smyth, and others who would seek to express place through Maori-derived design, is that the work they re-commission is not just of or about place, but inextricably in place.25 The rock drawing is in a specific landscape, the tukutuku is in a specific meeting house, the moko is on a specific face. Paradoxically, in order to make place of primitive artifacts, the designer has to remove them from place. A generalized localization ensues. The ‘Maoriness,’ which signifies a specific geography, is made to proclaim a generic order of place, a second-order of place: not this meeting house, but this region. Not this region, but this country. The effect of generalization in Smyth’s work is exacerbated by the fact that he took most of the patterns that appear in his work from one book, Patterns of Polynesia: New Zealand. Ailsa Robertson, the author of this book, explicitly informs its readers that the patterns she reproduces are generic rather than specific (Barnett & Margetts, 2009).

It is important to note now that perhaps Ted may have needed to have researched some of his design motifs a little more deeply if he was to have used them in the correct context – the pohoro design in particular as Ta Moko is very tapu, and in this occasion has been mis-represented by describing it simply as a wave pattern. The pattern has been abstracted to the point which it is no longer recognizably linked to the original and I guess in this way it avoids all inclusion in the tapu category similarly to the abstracted koru motif in the way it has been simplified to the point where it be permitied to be walked upon or sat upon.

It is interesting that iwi did not consider this to be as in the case of Gordon Walters; “stripping the design back to its most basic form and in a way deconstructing the design past its point of value. Or that the design ‘lost’ something, maybe the spiritual association for Maori” but I surmise that this critique of Walters work was perhaps a combination

Figure 32: Quay park detail, photo by T.G.

Figure 33: Moko, Unknown (N.D.).Figure 35: Quay park detail, photo by A.C.

Figure 36: Maori terracing, photo by T.G.

Figure 34: Maori design

of factors; the time Walters began to produce these work – the 60’s being the beginning of turbulent time of race-relations within Aotearoa; that some thought it was an infringement of sorts of the ‘intellectual/cultural property of Maori, and Walters was cashing in on something that was not culturally his to use, and to a lesser extent because of the context in which he worked was being displayed in the same as the original art form from which it was abstracted. Also Ted worked in close consultation with iwi to create this design language where as Walters evolved his work without any input from Maori.

The patterns that appear in the river and on the ringaringa/hand water feature are undeniably unaunahi or ritorito surface pattern, which is usually used for the relief figures to have surface decoration. Therefore it is in perfect context when applied to the hand water feature but lacks context when used in the river. Lastly I was a little disappointed when Ted told us that in regards to the terracing of the site that there was no direct or intentional link to Pa creation on the volcanic maunga and that he pretty much made that element of the park by response to slope and gradient, and that he directed the earthmovers himself. I had assumed as have others who’s articles I have read that the terraces were intentional references to the volcanic Pa site around Auckland – but I am happy to think of it as a lucky coincidence.

Likewise with the planting of the trees. It is clear that he decided to save the mature native trees that were marked for destruction because of the new roading plan, but nothing that Ted said about the trees planting plan made any reference to indigenous planting. Another coincidence perhaps?

And so the question – was Ted Smyth successful in designing this park for Maori? Was his attempt to prevent the references to things Maori becoming ‘hokey, superficial or ... kitsch’ successful? Is there a better way to design for Maori or indigenous people – is the closest of consultation processes enough, perhaps as one Maori artist suggested to me, maybe design partnership could be an answer… or someone like Ted could facilitate for Maori designers to ensure that all cultural references are appropriately used and implemented…

Figure 37: Ted and Tosh, photo by A.C.

Links to Overseas Contemporary & Historical Sites

Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre, Uluru, Australia

The creation of the cultural centre and its landscape setting in 1995 was done in conjunction with the indige-nous Anangu people, using their ideas, their design motifs and telling the story they wanted on the site. It is about reclaiming their narrative of their land, and sharing their version of their story. As part of the process, the design team spent a month living on site getting to know people and place.

The role of the landscape architect on this site was to transform the indigenous stories into a spatial pattern using the landscape that was already there, in a series of interventions that are barely visible.

Thunderbird Park, Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, Canada

Thunderbird Park is like an outdoor display case for the museum, where totems and carved houses of Canadian aboriginal peoples are set out on a lawn for people to walk around and admire. The collection was started in 1913 and put on display on 1941.

Each of the totems and other carvings have been collect-ed from places across Canada, are removed from their original context, and are on display for visitors to admire ‘primitive art’. The creators of the totems were not part of the process of assembling the collection for display, and in fact many of these items were never designed to be permanent in their original sites and context. They only survive because of museum curation – an artificial perma-nence.

Mahuhu ki te Rangi Park

Overall, Mahuhu ki te Rangi sits midway between the two previous projects: its not “Maori artefacts” on display to admire primitive design (museum); nor is it a best-prac-tice example of collaboration with indigenous people to bring their ideas to life and share what they want of their culture (Uluru Kata Tjuta). Although Ted did consult with Ngati Whatua, this is basically his park with his design, done exactly the way he liked! Maybe it is because he can re-interpret the spiritual and mythological elements of Maori culture without appropriating their designs, that this

place works for both Maori and Ted.

Interestingly, Mahuhu ki te Rangi was completed two years after the Uluru project, yet did not have anything like the same level of collaboration. It represents however a beginning point for collaborative design for public parks in Auckland – and Ngati Whatua appreciate that they were part of the process, and ideas meaningful to them are represented here on this returned land.

A landscape of simulation?

Mahuhu ki te Rangi Park is a completely designed land-scape. It sits on reclaimed land – both in a physical and metaphysical sense – there are no actual original ele-ments here.

Yet the park is not pretending to be a Maori experience; instead it’s Ted’s poetic interpretation of site (his words not ours) using motifs abstracted from Ngati Whatua design with their blessing. The designs in the park are really subtle – some of our group had no idea of what the cultural motifs and ideas were, and until we saw the park in plan, some of us hadn’t spotted that the fountain was in the form of a Maori 3-fingered hand either. It looks more like a cool modernist/art-deco design than something that we all might associate with “Maori”.Rod Barnett called Whakarewarewa a ‘landscape of simulation’; an in-your-face experience to be paid for and consumed as a visitor because you don’t belong to this natural, Maori world. Rod feels that Whakarewarewa is a reproduction of an idea that doesn’t and didn’t exist, and asks “is it possible for Pakeha designers to identify cultur-al values and make meaningful references to the past … if the art and design productions of that culture were never intended for that usage?”

I think Ted has avoided that trap of simulated landscape, by taking Maori ideas and motifs and creating a whole new pattern language with them, and a new material palette as well. With interpretation, the link to the original motif can be discovered, however the park works beauti-fully just as an architectural green jewel to be enjoyed by the ‘man and his sandwich’.

Mahuhu ki te Rangi is an extremely popular and well utilised park. Its unique design seems to be very appealing to many however does pose some problems with ongoing maintenance and costs required to maintain it are higher than they would be for a more basic park. We have experienced ongoing issues keeping the fountain/stream going however this can be a common occurrence with water features they tend to be costly. From a design perspective the totara trees with their fine leaves growing over the water, although attractive, block the filters rather quickly. Some of the neighbouring properties are also concerned that their light is being blocked by these trees (a problem which unfortunately will only get worse as the trees grow. Ducks are also now attracted to the area owing to the combination of water and food provided by the public. Owing to the design of the stream and its shallow depth this is problematic to keep duck poop under control and it requires emptying and cleaning weekly over summer which is not ideal. There are problems with the up lights with water ingress and they are no longer functional. We will look at replacing them with something more suitable if budget becomes available. Additionally owing to the unique design of some of the park assets such as bins and seats this makes it very costly to replace or repair items ie the bin lids have to be individually made and the seats being concrete when knocked or moved require some serious equipment to get them back in place. I don’t think there is any plans to “revamp” this park and change the inherent design. It is well loved by many but we will continue to maintain it and replace individual items as necessary. It comes down to the age old question of value, and even with higher maintenance – is it worth it? That answer will vary with who you ask.

Response from Dawn Bardsley, Acting Contract Coordinator/Parks Advisor, Auckland Central.

A comment from Ngati Whatua

Ted Smyth recalls talking to and presenting design concepts to Ngati Whatua kaumatua

“I wouldn't be able to confirm whether this was a stellar example of pro-active consultation with manawhenua- Ngati Whatua Ōrākei but ae, it was a step in the right direction.”

Hana Maihi, Kaitiaki – Kaimahi toi (Cultural Design)Toki Taiao (Environment, Heritage and Resource management Unit)

Maintenance of Quay Park: a Council perspective

Bibliography

Barnett, R. (1997, November/December). Casting of the Mana. Landscape New Zealand.

Barnett, R. (2005, September 24). Celebrating Ted Smyth: The emergence of modern space in New Zealand gardens. rodbarnett.co.nz. Retrieved February 27, 2014, from http://www.rodbarnett.co.nz/pub/news/celebrating-ted-smyth-the-emerge/files/Celebrating_Ted_Smyth.pdf

Barnett, R., & Margetts, J. (2009, February 7). Cross-Cultural Place: Maori Influence in the Public

Landscapes of Ted Smyth. Academia.edu. Retrieved February 27, 2014, from

http://www.academia.edu/1903572/Cross-

Cultural_Place_Maori_Influence_in_the_Public_Landscapes_of_Ted_Smyth

Campbell, N., & Truttman., L. (n.d.). Auckland City Heritage Walks. Auckland Council Website.

Retrieved May 26, 2014, from

https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/newseventsculture/heritage/Documents/aucklan

dcityheritagewalksshore.pdf

Clement, S. (2007, February). On the Waterfront. Landscape New Zealand.

McLintock, A. H. (1966, January 1). 'Surface Patterns', from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Te

Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved May 24, 2014, from

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/maori-art/page-5)

Personal Communication with Ted Smyth. (2014, May 6).

Sheehan, J. (2013, October 21). New life and harmony : Mountain Jade New Zealand. Mountain

Jade International. Retrieved May 26, 2014, from http://www.mountainjade.co.nz/blog/the-

koru-meaning-new-life-harmony/

Smyth, T. and Bradbury, M. (1998, November/December). Water in the contemporary landscape.

Landscape New Zealand

Truttman, L. (2013, July 24). "Poor old Britomart ... They chuck in the sea": the demise of Point

Britomart 1872-1885. Timespanner. Retrieved May 26, 2014, from

http://timespanner.blogspot.co.nz/2013/07/poor-old-britomart-they-chuck-in-sea.html

Wilson, K. (n.d.). Whakairo | Maori Carving. maori.org.nz. Retrieved May 27, 2014, from

http://www.maori.org.nz/whakairo/default.php?pid=sp55&parent=52

www.tedsmyth.co.nz

APA formatting by BibMe.org.

Bibliography

4-7130, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Li-brary (N.D.), Point Britomart, or “Soldiers’ Point” (1850), re-trieved: http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aucklandcity.govt.nz%2Fdbtw-wp-d%2FHeritageImages%2Findex.htm&AC=QBE_QUERY&T-N=heritageimages&QF0=ID&NP=2&RF=HIORecordSearch&M-R=5&QI0=%3D%224-7130%22

Andrew Robertson (1859), Auckland from Parnell, retrieved: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/auckland-parliament-1859

Auckland Art Gallery (N.D.), Auckland Showing Mechanics Bay (1843), retrieved: http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/newsev-entsculture/heritage/Documents/aucklandcityheritagewalksshore.pdf Auckland Art Gallery (N.D.), Auckland Showing Point Britomart (1840), retrieved: http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/the-collection/browse-artwork/355/auckland-showing-point-britomart

Auckland Council GIS Map Viewer (2014), Historical Site Map, re-trieved: http://maps.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/aucklandcouncilviewer/

Auckland Council GIS Map Viewer (2014), Site Map 2010, retrieved: http://maps.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/aucklandcouncilviewer/

Aynsley Cisaria (2014), Quay Park Aynsley Cisaria (2014), Quay Park

Aynsley Cisaria (2014), Ted & Tosh

Bernardo Strozzi (1640), Allegory of Arts, retrieved: http://www.wikiart.org/en/bernardo-strozzi/allegory-of-arts-1640http://www.wikiart.org/en/bernardo-strozzi/allegory-of-arts-1640 Tosh Graham (2014), Pou Vector Arena Tosh Graham (2014), Ted Smyth original drawings (1994) Tosh Graham (2014), Ted Smyth original drawings (1994) Tosh Graham (2014), Ted Smyth original drawings (1994) Tosh Graham (2014), Ted Smyth original drawings (1994) Unknown (1841), Auckland Waterfront Plan, retrieved: http://mapsof.net/map/auckland-waterfront-plan#.U46Wm5THc_M

Ref: Bill Laxon Maritime Library, Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum, Auckland (N.D.), Customs Street East, and Point Britomart (1876-1878), retrieved: http://timespanner.blogspot.co.nz/2013/07/poor-old-britomart-they-chuck-in-sea.html

Vincent Van Gough (1888), Three Sunflowers in a Vase, retrieved: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3RRlkGvTvvY/UM2fuzSGstI/AAAAAAAAVGE/lhNYZGkfnqc/s1600/1888+Three+Sunflow-ers+in+a+Vase+oil+on+canvas+73+x+58+cm.jpg

Unknown (1841), Auckland Waterfront Plan, retrieved: http://mapsof.net/map/auckland-waterfront-plan#.U46Wm5THc_M

Unknown (N.D.), Casting of the Mana, retrieved: http://www.tedsmyth.co.nz/civic/quay-park

Unknown (N.D.), Quay Park Water Feature, retrieved: http://landsca-peisrogers.blogspot.co.nz/ Unknown (N.D.), Quay Park Water Feature 2, retrieved: http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/rma/people-places-spac-es-mar02/chp-1-5-mar02.pdf Unknown (N.D.), Quay Park Stream, retrieved: http://contextualgardens.blogspot.co.nz/2011/03/sea-change-for-land-use.html Unknown (N.D.), Unaunahi & Ritorito patterns, retrieved: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/23665/various-types-of-surface-pat-tern Unknown (N.D.), Quay Park Koru Motif, retrieved: http://contextualgardens.blogspot.co.nz/2011/03/sea-change-for-land-use.html Unknown (N.D.), Koru patterns, retrieved: http://www.labyrinthsnz.com/#/sacred-sites/4561239192 Unknown (N.D.), Gordon Walters & painting, retrieved: http://www.mountainjade.co.nz/blog/the-koru-meaning-new-life-har-mony/ Unknown (N.D.), Pohoro Wave Motif Seating, retrieved: http://www.tedsmyth.co.nz/civic/quay-park Unknown (N.D.), Moko, retrieved: http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/WalRobl-fig-WalRoblP020a.html Unknown (N.D.), Pohoro pattern, retrieved. http://sps-t-art.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/year-7-and-8.html Unknown (N.D.), retrieved: Unknown Unknown (N.D.), Ted Smyth, retrieved: Unknown Unknown (1841), Auckland Waterfront Plan, retrieved: http://mapsof.net/map/auckland-waterfront-plan#.U46Wm5THc_M Unknown (N.D.), Casting of the Mana, retrieved: http://www.teds-myth.co.nz/civic/quay-park

Unknown (N.D.), Plymouth City, Civic Square, retrieved: http://www.nicebuildings.com/gh/gh_civic_3.jpg Unknown (N.D.), Infinity Pool, retrieved: http://www.tedsmyth.co.nz/large-gardens/guthrie-garden Unknown (N.D.), Pie Melon Bay, retrieved: http://www.tedsmyth.co.nz/large-gardens/pie-melon-bay

PUBLICNESSTHEORY SEMINAR

Our Views!

What does publicness mean to us?

Personally we think that publicness culturally and physically fits into the environment and the local history of the place, valuing the views of the people yet showing the sustainability and flexibility to be able to last for a long time; a place that will always be remembered, and that it retains its characteris-tics. A place where people can connect with each other and come to converse and enjoy, it has a sense of belonging.

What are our concerns in public spaces?

My concerns in public spaces are that the public can move around the place in a constant flow, there shouldn’t be any hindrance there should be attractions in and around the space to enjoy. Water has always been used as a medium to portray significance (pleasure to mind and soul) in a public space. Security of the people that use the space but also the security of the culture of the place, and how it may last or what may deteriorate it, for example, who uses the space, what may happen there out of hours, are the features safe, do they need to be cared for, is the culture and the history of the area taken in mind and has it been rightfully thought through. Accessibility, People are engaged in activities, the space is comfortable and has a good image It is a sociable place: one where people meet each other and take people when they come to visit.

What do we think public spaces should have?

A main focus that will bring people there to see or interact with. Public spaces should be Fun, Active, Vital, Useful, and Sustainable. A space that can attract and gather all people, it should have appropriate infrastructure and its own charac-teristics, and not isolated. Something for everyone, a place where they can feel like they belong. A public space should offer a open space for people to do exercise and assembly. They should have appropriate seating, water feature.

• Public space has historically been described as "open space", meaning the streets, parks and recreation areas, plazas.

• Public spaces are an essential ingredients to the sustainability of cities for political, social, economic, public health and biodiversity reasons. However, the dominating trend observed by many is one of shrinkage rather than expansion of the public realm.

• The recent evolutions of the forms of urban settlement and the growing number and variety of semi-public spaces.

INTRODUCTION

What is publicness?

URBAN DOCK LALAPORT, TOYOSUTOKYO

Project Name: Urban dock LaLaport Toyosu

Landscape Architecture: Earthscape

Architect : John Lowe

Construction : Taisei Construction

Client : Mitsui Fudosan Group Ltd, Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (Now IHI Corporation)

Establishment : October 2006

Location : 2-4-9 Toyosu Kotoku Tokyo, Japan

Site Area: 67,499m2

Store Area: 62,000m2

Parking Capacity: Approx. 2,200

FIG 1, Main children playground, Okumura, K (2011)

Toyosu harbor was built in 1943 after the reclamation is done during World War II. This port supports the industry and estab-lished many large warehouses to the distribution of goods to other areas. With the rapid growth of the port, the area around the har-bor had many established settlements and facilities. Ever since the world war was over, many industries have closed down and have eventually died.

So this project features a distinctly industrial and maritime char-acter focused on the drama of the quay and the remaining docks and boating activity on the waterfront. Next to the dock, there is a “Crane Monument” as remembrance of the former shipyard. The gears and boat cleat stock with rope painting is all echo to the past.

What’s more is that this area is accessible by waterbus so the dock is still used as a transport station, at the entrance of the dock, the “drawbridge” that people can walk over and will be raised or lowered each time a ship/boat goes in and out of the dock.

HISTORY

FIG 2, Paint on the ground, Okumura, K (2011) FIG 6, Memorial elements, Okumura, K (2011)

FIG 6, Memorial elements, Okumura, K (2011)FIG 3, Crane and drawbridge, Yasin, Y (2008)

FIG 4, Crane and drawbridge, Yasin, Y (2008)

FIG 5, Crane and drawbridgeYasin, Y (2008)

The plan for this project considers the entire landscape as an ocean, and people who travel through the area as voyagers. It takes special care to create a space where visitors can en-joy closeness with the water and experience the full appeal of the sea in comfort. Designers focused on the conservation of the old industrial ruins and the creation of a new water-front space. Various facilities were laid out along the axis to create a vigorous and dynamic landscape. The site has two main buildings. The larger parcel is a three-level retail center that features four boat forms designed to recall the variety of ships that have been built on the dockyard site in its history. The strong curves of the boat form frames, a multipurpose outdoor plaza with stunning view of the bay as well as a set-ting for additional outdoor retail pavilions.

PLAN

FIG 8, Master plan, Liu,R (2013)

Three waves of “green”, “water” and “earth” are layered over the reclaimed land, The main park showing on no.3 is the un-dulating ground which is very popular with children, and even though there was no play equipment, the children feel like running around and playing. The radio station and museum which shown on 5 and 6 scattered throughout to resemble several “islands” and white benches with foam and coral mo-tifs floating above the waves. Voyagers travel freely through the space, experiencing new discoveries and encounters.

FIG 10, Play elements, Okumura, K (2011)

FIG12, Main park, Okumura, K (2011)FIG 9, Mainpark at night, Okumura, K (2011)

FIG 11, Undulating floor, Okumura, K (2011)

No.4 showing the multifunctional plaza that basically designed as a dock-like water feature area. The built-in fountain on blue terrace and “islands” floats on it. They enhance the sense of ocean. The stairs lead people down to a shallow pond with an event stage in the cen-tral area which showing on no.2. Water falls from the blue terrace to the pond as waterfall enhances dynamic and natural experience.

FIG 13, stage and water, Okumura, K (2011)

FIG 15, fountain and islands, Okumura, K (2011)FIG 14,waterscape and level change, Okumura, K (2011)

FIG 16, waterscape, Okumura, K (2011)

Beyond the axis, gentle undulations are a feature of this natural lawn for dog run, With a pet companion area, dog café and other perks, the dog run allows full enjoy-ment of Tokyo’s pet culture. Comparing with whole dy-namic landscape, the waterfront wave-shaped benches provide a stable and quite area for relaxing yourself and looking over the Tokyo bay. A waterfront walkway was also created, offering people a nice and pleasant walk. The no. 9 is a garden designed by world-famous Bel-gium flower artist, Mr. Daniël Ost. This is his first work in Japan. The works that have fascinated the world is a “permanent exhibition” at this complex.

FIG 17, Daniel Ost garden, Fudosan, M (n.d),

FIG 18, bayside walkway, Tokyo area Info: TOYOSU, (2010)

FIG 19, Bayside leisure, Liu,R (2013)

The google map shows the context and traffic around this public space. Toyosu is a planed urban space of Tokyo that consists of two isolated islands. The urban dock located in the only shopping center lalaport of toyosu, surrounding by various facilities such as luxury residential community, post office, bank, schools and hospital. The urban dock is not the only public space but it is massive and attractive facilities can bring people fully enjoyment. Especially there are three kindergartens, two Primary schools so this space always full of kids.

Toyosu, Tokyo

Urban dock

FIG 20, Toyosu map, google map (2014)

FIG 21, Urban dock map, google map (2014)

The diagram shows the circulation and relationship of those facilities. This site is very accessible both from the shopping mall and the waterfront walk even from the sea by waterbus. The axis cuts this whole area into two fragments of water feature and vegetation working in balance to give public a recreational and relaxing place in both dynamic and stable ways. The site is semi-surrounded by buildings and open to the harbor and dock which provide wide vision for the landscape.

DIAGRAM

The reason to visit this public space is that it offers the kind of luxurious communication that only a seaside area in the heart of Tokyo could provide. Additionally, it has incorporated unique and play-ful design concepts and experience through the entire facility. The overall vision of landscape in this project was to create opportunities for a wide array of discoveries and encounters – including discoveries of new lifestyles and a new place of interest, a rediscovery of Tokyo. While working within the parameters of a symbolic background of the old shipyards, from which the entire Tokyo Bay can be seen as well as a contemporary city setting for Toyosu.

SUMMARY

FIG 22, word on the site, Okumura, K (2011)

PIAZZA SAN MARCO VENICE (VENEZIA),ITALY

Project Name : Piazza San Marco Venezia Italy

Architect : Andre Tirlali (Floor Plan)

Style : Italian Renaissance

Context : Urban

Building Type : Plaza (piazza), courtyard, urban open space

Construction System : Stone masonry

Establishment : Acquired present aspect 1735

Climate : Mediterranean

Size Length : 175m/574 ft. It narrows from a width of 82m/269 ft at the basilica to 56.6m /185ft at the ther end

Project Name : Piazza San Marco Venezia Italy

Architect : Andre Tirlali (Floor Plan)

Style : Italian Renaissance

Context : Urban

Building Type : Plaza (piazza), courtyard, urban open space

Construction System : Stone masonry

Establishment : Acquired present aspect 1735

Climate : Mediterranean

Size Length : 175m/574 ft. It narrows from a width of 82m/269 ft at the basilica to 56.6m /185ft at the ther end

FIG 1, Sunrise at Piazza San Marco, Chan(2013)

Piazza San Marco, named after the unusually stunning Ba-silica San Marco that sits on the east end of the square. Orig-inally the area of the Piazza was full of fruit trees with a canal running across it. (Great Buildings, 1994)

The piazza San Marco is between the Doge’s Palace and the National Library and was built and designed as an extension of Palazzo Ducale and the San Marco Basilica. Piazza San Marco was constructed in the 9th century as a small square dotted with trees. The square was separated from the pal-ace by a small canal (Rio Batario). Already a central gather-ing place for the Venetians, the Piazza was then enlarged in 1174 after the canal and an adjoining dock were filled in.(Im-boden, 1996)

FIG 7, View of the Campaniele from the Square

FIG 6, Piazza San Marco with the Basilica, Canaletto, (2005)

FIG 5 Francesco Guardi ‘Piazza San Marco’,Guardi, (2014)

FIG 4, Piazza San Marco from St. Mark’s Campanile, Impressive.Net, (2007)

FIG 3, View from Napoleon’s Library,Italiano, (N.D)

FIG 2, Street Piazza San Marco at night, Architecture Wallpapers, (N.D)

The Piazza San Marco is not far above sea level and during the Acqua Alta, the ‘high water’ from storm surges from the Adriatic or heavy rain, it is quick to flood. Water pouring into the drains in the Piazza runs directly into the Grand Canal. This normally works well but, when the sea is high, it has the reverse effect, with water from the lagoon surging up into the Square. It was said to be ‘The drawing room of Europe’ by Napoleon. The square becomes narrower as it approaches the Ala Napoleonica, which gives it a considerably greater depth: On an average length of 175m/574ft. It narrows from a width of 82m/269ft at the Basilica to 56.6m/185ft at the other end. (Princeton, Piazza San Marco, N.D)

FIG 8, San Mark’s Square gathering, Visit Italy, (N.D)

FIG 9, Existing placement of markets, Riper, (N.D) FIG 10, PIAZZA SAN MARCO , Smith, 1961

1267 the square was paved over with bricks in a herring-bone pattern which is a band of light coloured stone that ran parallel to the long axis of the main Piazza. In 1735 the bricks were replaced with natural stone and laid in a more complicated pattern. The design was devised by architect Andrea Tirali. The design marked the location where mer-chants could set up their stalls around the 18th century. The white marble lines are still there to show where the large markets took place and was to organize frequent ceremoni-al processions. A field of dark-colored igneous trachyte with geometrical designs executed in white Istrian stone, similar to travertine composed the design. Squares of diagonal-ly-laid blocks alternated with rectangular and oval designs along broad parallel bands. The squares were pitched to the center, like a bowl, where a drain conducted surface water into a below-grade drainage system. The pattern connected the central portal of the Basilica with the center of the west-ern opening into the piazza. This line more closely parallels the façade of the Procuratie Vecchie, leaving a nearly trian-gular space adjacent to the Procuratie Nuove with its wid-er end closed off by the Campanile. The pattern continued past the campanile, stopping at a line connecting the three large flagpoles and leaving the space immediately in front of the Basilica undecorated. A smaller version of the same pat-tern in the Piazzetta paralleled Sansovino’s Library, leaving a narrow trapezoid adjacent to the Doge’s palace with the wide end closed off by the southwest corner of the Basili-ca. This smaller pattern had the internal squares inclined to form non-orthogonal quadrilaterals.

FIG 11, St Marco's square , google map (2014)

9th century The Piazza was full of fruit trees with only a ca-nal running across it.

12th century Campanile was built (begun 912).

1204 Procuratie Vecchie, fruit trees disappered, canal filled inand designs on the square had started.

1267 Square was covered with pavement slabs.

1583 Building of Procuratie Nuove was complete

1735 The square finally acquired its present apect with the building of the napoleonic Wing.

FIG 12, Master plan, Quadri, (2010)

DIAGRAM

FIG 13, St Marco's Square diagram, 2014

FIG 16, The Piazzeta Dei Leonici,Students Blog, Intern, 2012

FIG 17, The Piazzeta Dei Leonici,(Barbieri, 2014)

FIG 14, St. Mark’s Church,(Ashleyhurlburt, 2009)

Things to do/go to when in Piazza San Marco: City walk sightseeing, Dining, Shopping. -Great Church of St Marks, amazing arches with marble dec-oration and romanesque carvings around the central door-way and above all 4 horses.

-The piazzetta Dei Leoncini is an open space on the north side of the church. But now officially called Piazzetta Gio-vanni XXIII. LIONS: In 1722 they were placed in the square the two stone lions that they give the name nowadays, while between 1837 and 1870 was consolidated with the creation of the final appearance of the Patriarchal Palace, built by in-corporating the old wing of the Palazzo Ducale, which over-looked the square.

-Clock tower: The Clock Tower in Venice is an early renais-sance building on the north side of the Piazza San Marco at the entrance to the Merceria. It comprises a tower, which contains the clock, and lower buildings on each side. It ad-joins the eastern end of the Procuratie Vecchie. (A View On Cities, 2014)

-Long arcade along the north side of the Piazza.

-Napoleonic Wing: Is situated on the short side of Piazza S.Marco, opposite the Basilica.Construction began in 1810 according to Napoleon’s wishes. He wanted a new wing of the Royal Palace (the Procuratie Nuove) to have a Ball room.

-Procuratie Nuove, ground floor has Caffe Florian. A famous cafe opened in 1720 by Floriano Franceconi.

- Near to the the piazza is the famous Rialto Bridge: The Rialto Bridge (Italian: Ponte di Rialto) is one of the four bridg-es spanning the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. It is the oldest bridge across the canal, and was the dividing line for the

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

SIMILARI-DIFFERENCES

- both sites have access from water taxi- both are open to the canal- both offer close by arractions : eg rial to

bridge- multiple entries, accessways- both in commercial sites- both can be used for big events- both isolated

- Japan site has clear boundires- Italy site has no vegetation- Building style difference- Italy site has no definate paths- Japan site is a proper layout for the foot

trafiic

PUBLICNESSPROJECT SEMINAR

BEYOND THE CRISIS: TOWARDS A NEW URBAN PARADIGM 2009

AUTHER INTRODUNTION

Laura Burkhalter

Architectural and Environmental Designer, Los Angeles

Laura Burkhhalter is the founder and director of the Institute for Bionomic Urbanism (IBU), a new non-profit organization and think tank developing a more holistic urbanism in practical application and in theory. She is also the principal and founder of LBDS LLC, her client based architectural design practice.

Laura Burkhalter was born in Switzerland and has been living in Los Angeles for over a decade. She received her architecture degree from SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture) in 2000, graduating with the highest honor award.

Manuel Castells

Professor Emeritus of City Planning, University of California, Berkeleyz

M anu e l C as te l ls   i s a Sp anish   s o ci o l o gis t   esp e cia l l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h r e s e a r c h o n t h e i n f o r m a t i o n society, communication and globalization.

The 20 0 0 – 09 research sur vey of the  Social Sciences Citation Index ranks him as the world’s fifth most-cited social science scholar, and the foremost-cited communication scholar. He was awarded the 2012 Holberg Prize, for having “shaped our understanding of the political dynamics of urban and global economies in the network society.”  In 2013 he was awarded the Balzan Prize for Sociology.

Manuel Castells Oliván is one of the world’s most often-cited social science and communications scholars; he has written more than twenty books, including:

• T h e U r b a n Q u e s t i o n . A M a r x i s t A p p r o a c h (A l a n Sheridan, translator). London, Edward Arnold (1977) (Original publication in French, 1972

• City, Class and Power. London; New York, MacMillan; St. Martins Press (1978)

• The Economic Crisis and American Society. Princeton,

‘ B E Y O N D T H E C R I S I S : T O W A R D S A N E W U R B A N PAR ADIGM by Manuel Castells and Laura Burkhalter, highlights public places like malls, office and apartment buildings became redundant during the recession of 2009. Various examples are given of how these buildings can be transformed into public space with the use of modern technology and creative use of space. Ideas of small urban getaways are stated along with, urban farming on a large scale to encourage localy grown produce. Technology to be used in public spaces to attract people to the spaces.

Even when people are aware of the dangers of what amounts to be poisoned food, they have few practical alternatives, particularly if their budget does not allow them to buy high priced organic produce. So, in a time of crisis, growing their own food is fast, becoming a way to cope with shrinking resources while improving health.

Ur b a n f a r m i n g o n a s c a l e l a r g e e n o u g h to m a ke a difference in the city and in society is not just a matter of individual vegetable gardens. It is a communal venture. While it is commendable that people use their own front and back yards to grow vegetables rather than tending an immaculate lawn at great cost of energy, pollution, and time, urban farming requires dedicating small tracks of land throughout the metropolis for cooperatives of part-time or full-time farmers, with proper financing and skills. There is an abundance of vacant land in most metropolitan areas. (Laura Burkhalter, Sof t Proposals: Reuse Communit y, Communal Spaces and Everyday Spaces, 2009, p. 20)

- The understanding of the class on this paragraph was, urban farming in a city like Auckland would not work ef fectivly because in a fast pased city dedicating a big space for urban farming would be quite a lot of work and without the sufficient funds that would be needed the place would not work effectively.

- Also these spaces would require people to work there on a daily bases to ensure proper up keep of the farm and the quality of the crops.

- Althought small scale farms in neighbourhoods and backyard vegetable gardens provide people with a choise of using their own space to grow vegetables.

- These small community farms would provide a sense of community for people.

In terms of spatial policy and new forms of urban design, we also propose the re-use of existing built structures that lose functionality under the conditions of an economy characterized by the crisis of f inancial and real estate corporations, and by a substantial reduction of consumption levels. (Laura Burkhalter, Soft Propals: Reuse Community, Communal Space and Everyday Life, 2009, p. 19)

- The understanding of the class on this paragraph was, existing builkdings and structures that loose their functionality due to the economical crisis; eg office buildings are then valuable spaces that can be conversted into urban spaces and designed.

- The active argument however was that, would public spaces in buildings funtionn effectively, or would they just end up as unused spaces.

- Creating public spaces in the office building could be seen as creatine a heaven fot the people who work in the offices and offer them a space to get away and destress when they needed to as well as provide interection with other people and socialise.

1. Creative Re-use of failed economic-spatial models

2. Urban Self-Reliance: From Shopping 3. The Heart (s) of the City: Public Space

Cities are, have always been, communication systems. This certainly refers to connectivity within the city and between cities, including multimodal transportation systems, telecommunications, computer networks, and the media.

Public space is simply a space where the public can meet at will. For instance, a shopping mall is not public space because while it is used by people to meet, as they often lack alternatives, it is private property and the owners can impose their own regulations and restrictions. But public space is not necessarily a square, a public park, a monument, or any of the spatial configurations built on the tradition of the piazza.

I n s o m e o f t h e m o s t su cce s s f u l p u b l i c s p a ce s , t h e deployment of free WiFi networks adds to the multimodality of communication and sociability, bringing together people in one site to be able to integrate their local networks and their web networks.

- Mixed views were received from the class for this paragraph, some people agreed that a public space can be anywhere where people can meet at will, where as other views were; a public space is planned and designed for the meeting of people and socialising.

- There were also mixed views about providing wifi in public spaces to encourage people to use the space, some thought it was an excellent idea as it encourages more public spaces and people to use use them.

- Others thought public spaces should be technology

PUBLICNESSSITE VISIT

ST PATRICK'S SQUAREAUCKLAND

LOCATION: Auckland CBD

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE COMPANY: Boffa Miskell

CLIENT: Auckland City Council

CONSULTANTS: Contractor: JFC (John Fillmore Contracting)

COLLABRATION COMPANIES:

Stone: Design source

Street Furniture: HUB Street Equipment

Vegetation: City Parks and Services

Civil & Structural Engineer: JAWA Structures and Hugh Fendall Consultants

Lighting Design: Lighting Design Partnership

Turf Surfaces: Sports Surface Design and Management

Traffic Consultant: Traffic Planning Consultancy

REAL EXECUTION BUDGET: $9,200,000

COMPLETION DATE: October 2009

SIZE: 5308.6²m (approx.)

AWARDS: George Malcolm Supreme Award, NZILA, 2010 Gold Award in the Landscape Design Category

FIG1, St Patrick square, Devitt, S (n.d)

Sitting in between Wyndham Street, Federal Street and Swanson Street , the St Patr ick ’s Square landscaping project frames the cathedral on its upper level with an intricate paving and connects via water and public-friendly terraces. Multifaceted is one way of describing this project, it is divided into three distinct zones: the shared space of the cathedral’s immediate surrounds, delineated by the paving and a section of lawn with a linear water feature that incorporates artwork; the lawn terraces with the irregular rectangularity of its central limestone water feature; and the lower square which is dominated by a black granite touchstone.

E x tensive engagem ent and consult at ion   w ith lo c al residents, businesses and users of the Square resulted in a clear set of overarching project objectives. These  included: celebrating the Square’s heritage,  religious and cultural s i g n i f i c a n ce a n d   i t s r e l at i o ns h i p to t h e C at h e d r a l . Retaining  and enhancing the Square as an ‘urban  oasis’ where p e ople can re la x , me et and  social ize as wel l as create a safe, comfor table and  enjoyable day and night-time environment,  and use high quality materials bef itting  the unique nature of the place.  Boffa Miskell worked collaboratively with  two artists (Steve Woodward and Mary- Louise Brown) to create two distinctive artworks within the Square. Construction  works were completed in October 2009.  The project was awarded a Gold Award in  the Landscape Design Category, and the  NZILA George Malcolm Supreme Award at  the NZILA Resene Pride of Place Landscape Architecture Awards 2010.

INTRODUCTION

The land that the Cathedral sits upon is a local national heritage treasure. This land provided the site for the first Catholic Church in Auckland and the first cathedral church in New Zealand. In first June 1841, the government granted a half-acre section on Wyndham Street for a church and priest ’s house, and two acres on Symonds Street for a burial ground “adjoining that of the Protestant Community”. A land grant for a college and recreation ground would follow.

1842, a small wooden presbytery had been built on the church site.

1846, Bishop Viard laid the foundation stone for the new stone church. Later the same year, on 20 June, the stone

church was consecrated as the Cathedral church of the Diocese of Auckland, New Zealand’s first cathedral church.

1885, the new, expanded Cathedral was blessed and opened within a year on 15 March.

By the turn of the century, the Cathedral was once again found to be inadequate in size for the burgeoning population of Auckland. The completed Cathedral was reopened on April 21, 1907 by Bishop Lenihan and formally dedicated on 23 February, 1908 by Cardinal Moran, Archbishop of Sydney. This is the same Cathedral building as we know it

today.

In 2005 however, St Patrick ’s Cathedral was closed for two years for a range of improvements that forms the first stage of a four-stage project to conserve and restore the Cathedral, the Presbytery, Liston Hall and the upgrading of St Patrick’s Square. The refurbished Cathedral re-opened in 2007 and the upgrading of the Square was completed in 2009.

HISTORY

FIG 2, made of stone, The History of St Patrick's Cathedral, (n.d)

FIG 3, as today, The History of St Patrick's Cathedral, (n.d)

FIG 4, before restoration, Matt,L, (2013)

FIG 5, after restoration, Matt,L, (2013)

Over 200 people descended on St Patrick’s square to make the official reopening of Auckland’s new urban oasis on 17 October. New water features artworks by Auckland artists Steve Woodward and Mary-Louise Browne, high quality paving, seating areas, grass, trees and vegetation have transformed the square into a distinctive public space in the heart of the CBD.

FIG 6, dimenstion, google map (2014)

PAVING

Approaching the square from Wyndham Street, the most no-ticeable aspect of the landscape is the eye-popping paving, it can be perceived quite differently depending on how you see it. For example the rhombus like tiles sum up to either a star as in the first case above or a combination of cubes/steps. It is a complicated prismatic pattern that plays illusory tricks on the eye. Richard Tyler, Boffa’s project landscape ar-chitect says they wanted to put the square on the map, “to do something quite bold, because it’s always been this forgotten part of the city.” He also explain “It’s similar to a honeycomb, a natural pattern. It’s also a little like a web, which is inter-locking, and that’s a nice metaphor for protection or together-ness as well ... It honors the space and honors the cathedral. It’s amazing because it stitches itself together right the way around.” There was also an element of “holy intervention” in the design of the motif. As the cathedral had been undergo-ing serious restoration when the design team was working out its approach. Subsequently it was discovered that a star

The paving design provides a number of other subtle ben-efits. The triangular pavers add a non-directional element when walked upon, as one does not go on a particular path or road. The three-dimensional aspect of the triangular pav-ing helps disguise any subtle changes in plane and slopes towards drainage. The extra meter-and-a-half gained by pushing the paving right out to the very edge of the street gives the square space to breathe. This little extra space is quite important as Wyndham St is not very pedestrian friend-

motif on the cathedral’s floor has similar characteristics to the paving design.

The St Patrick’s Square cathedral is sitting on its upper lev-el with this intricate basalt and limestone paving. Hexagonal paving motif formed by the triangular paving stones which envelop the cathedral, pushing right out to very edge of Wyn-dham Street – it is also a “special space” which should take precedence over the footpath. This little extra space is quite

FIG 9, Group member diagram

FIG 10, Wyndham street, google map (2014)

FIG 7, pattern of paving, Devitt, S (n.d)

FIG 8, Star pattern in Cathedral, St Patrick’s Cathedral Auckland CBD (n.d)

FIG 11, pattern of paving, Devitt, S (n.d)

FIG 12, pattern of paving, Devitt, S (n.d)

One of the most beautiful and peaceful parts of St Patrick’s Square is the terraced water feature. A collection of flat pools with gentle tumbles of water, and smooth stepping stones in between. The terraces turn the space into the inner city oasis which is what it was intended to be with water helping to maintain the square’s tranquil atmosphere. The water starts and gets cleaned underneath the site.

The water feature provides a unifying design element throughout all the terraces. Whilst each part is unique, their arrangement flows through the design characterizing each space.

The materials used provide a strong relation with the church to further strengthen its connection with the square. The spatial arrangement provides for all users from workers having lunch to visiting families. The people that work in the buildings around the area or live in the apartments shop and eat along this area make this the ideal urban setting. Steps and levels of ground form an important feature as they

suggest movement to the cathedral through the square, by personifying a journey of pilgrimage. The steps stand for the uphill movement by pilgrims during procession to the church many years ago. The water splashing down personifies the pilgrimage through the seas and bays of rocky isles which are depicted by the random pieces of land which can be accessed by either hopping or leaping across them, this enlivens the public space even more.

The circulation routes were clearly thought out without dissecting the park into unusable spaces, but consideration had been given with alternative detours through the central water element and lower terrace to maintain interest for frequent users. The feature at the front of the site, the seating with the water and lights below it is not only a bench for the commuters but gives the public the idea that if you were to cut away a section of paving and put aside like a block as the seat is like now, they you would find water flowing below.

The play of water was a strong theme in the design, with several water features that are intended to evoke the movement of water in the natural environment. All the materials used around the seating area are basalt, bluestone and jura limestone.

WATER FEATURE AND FRONT SEATING

FIG 13, water feature, St Patrick's Square (n.d)

FIG 14, water feature plan, EYEONAUCKLAND (2010)

FIG 15, water terrace, St Patrick’s Square in Auck-land, New Zealand (n.d)

FIG 16, children playing, Melissa (2012)

Entrance to the square from the Cathedral; the tile pattern along the ground level is quite welcoming and the linear artwork (called ‘Font’) around the water feature pulls you to it and leads you to walk to and across the square. The axis plays an important role in doing so because the star motif starts actually from within the Cathedral’s floor.

Directly in front of the cathedral door is a water and text-based work by Auckland artist Mary-Louise Brown called the ‘Font’. It aligns perfectly with the baptismal font within the cathedral itself, but the words are intended to evoke a more general, non-denominational form of spiritual reflection. The text reads as ‘BUT ALL SHALL BE WELL AND ALL SHALL BE WELL AND ALL MANNER OF THINGS SHALL BE WELL’ inscribed around it. It is quite catchy and no matter where u start reading from, it means the same thing. The first water element was particularly child friendly whilst performing its monumental role. This feature down the level steps, draws the people in.

The lower square which is dominated by a black granite touchstone is designed by ar t ist Steve Woodward. I t is a staircase with an inverted one to suggest light and dark, ying-yang and hope and despair. This work creates an eye catching point in the square and offers a place where people can reflect and remember. This piece, encourages personal reflection on the nature of being.... but regardless of your interest in spiritual pursuits, the Square is a lovely place to relax in on a sunny day. Come lunchtime you’ll find plenty of suited types from nearby office buildings doing just that. You might also spot backpackers reading their guidebooks and mothers having a quiet moment while their children splash about the terraces. The black granite structure sits on the white limestone representing the contrast of black and white. Same with the white sandstone water structure surrounded by black paving.

“FONT”

SCULPTURE

 

This feature is not just a bench for commuters but it actually gives the public the idea that if a piece of ground is lifted and out aside like a block (as seen in the image), then they might just find water. As if water is under the earth and flows around after the stepped water feature.

 

FIG 18, Group member diagram (2014)FIG 17, Group member picture (2014)

FIG 19, Group member diagram (2014)

URBAN DOCK, JAPAN

EARTHSCAPE (2006), URBAN DOCK LALAPORT TOYOSU, Retrieved from http://www.earthscape.co.jp/works/landscape_design/urban_dock_lalaport_toyosu/

Fudosan, M (n.d), Toyosu Redevelopment Project, Retrieved from http://www.mitsuifudosan.co.jp/english/project/toyosu/lalaport_toyosu/

Liu,r (2013) Corporate & Commercial Landscape, Publicshed by Dalian University of Technology Press, Dalian, China

Okumura, K (2011), LaLaport Toyosu by EARTHSCAPE, Retrieved from http://www.landezine.com/index.php/2011/11/toyosu-landscape-architecture/

IMAGES

Fudosan, M (n.d), Toyosu Redevelopment Project, Retrieved from http://www.mitsuifudosan.co.jp/english/project/toyosu/lalaport_toyosu/

Google map (2014), Retrieved from https://www.google.co.nz/maps/

Liu,r (2013) Corporate & Commercial Landscape, Publicshed by Dalian University of Technology Press, Dalian, China

Tokyo area Info: TOYOSU, (2010), Tokyo Finder Room Blog, Retrieved from http://tokyoroomfinder.blogspot.co.nz/2010/10/tokyo-area-info-toyosu.html

Yasin, Y (2008), Flickr, Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/vies/5439713273/in/photostream/

REFERENCE

A View On Cities. (2014). A View On Cities. Retrieved from St. Mark’s Square: http://www.aviewoncities.com/venice/piazzasanmarco.htm

Great Buildings. (1994). Great Buildings. Retrieved from Piazza Of San Marco: http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Piazza_of_San_Marco.html

Imboden, D. (1996). Venice For Visitors. Retrieved from Piazza San Marco: http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/piazza_san_marco.htm

Princeton, Piazza San Marco. (N.D). Princeton, Piazza San Marco. Retrieved from Piazza San Marco: http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Piazza San_Marco.html

Venice Explorer . (N.D). Venice Explorer . Retrieved from Venice Guide: Piazza San Marco: http://venicexplorer.net/venice-guide/venice_piazza_san_marco.php?hlangs=en

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2014, May 27). Wikipedia. Retrieved from Piazza San Marco: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_San_Marco

IMAGES

Architecture Wallpapers. (N.D). Architecture Wallpapers. Retrieved from: Architecture Wallpapers: http://www.free-desktop-backgrounds.net/Architecture-wallpapers/Street-architecture/Street-Piazza-San-Marco-at-night-Venice-Italy.html

Ashleyhurlburt. (2009). Arch Life Photography Blog. Retrieved from Arch Life Photography Blog: http://ashleyhurlburt.wordpress.com/

BarbieriNino. (2014). Wikipedia. Retrieved from Piazzetta dei Leonicini: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazzetta_dei_Leoncini#mediaviewer/File:Venice_-_Well_in_the_Piazzetta_dei_Leoncini.jpg

BeckChene. (2011). Wikipedia. Retrieved from Rialto Bridge: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rialto_bridge_2011.jpg

Canaletto. (2005). Wikipedia. Retrieved from Piazza San Marco: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_San_Marco

ChanKen. (2013). Sunrise at Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy. Retrieved from Sunrise at Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy: http://awesomesasquatch.com/2013/01/10/sunrise-at-piazza-san-marco-venice-italy/

Deposit Photos. (2013). Deposit Photos. Retrieved from Deposit Photos: http://depositphotos.com/22460353/stock-photo-Piazza-San-Marco.html

GuardiFrancesco. (2014). A.A.A Internet Magazine. Retrieved from A.A.A Internet Magazine: http://anaarpartblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/prikaz-italijanskih-gradova-u-slikarstvu-18-veka-bernardo-bellotto-william-marlow-francesco-guardi/

Impressive.Net. (2007). Impressive.Net. Retrieved from Piazza San Marco From Above: http://impressive.net/people/gerald/2002/09/29/18-24-10-sm.html

ItalianoAmore. (N.D). The Italian Tenors. Retrieved from Amore Italiano: http://www.amoreitaliano.eu/

J.Kaman. (N.D). Travel Images. Retrieved from Travel Images Italy 101: http://www.travel-images.com/photo-italy101.html

QuadriAntonio. (2010). Wikipedia. Retrieved from Quadri-Moretti, Piazza San Marco: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Quadri-Moretti,_Piazza_San_Marco_(1831),_01.jpg

Reuters. (2014). The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from The Sydney Morning Herald, World's best spots to propose: http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/travel/worlds-best-spots-to-propose-20081113-5y56.html

RiperVanFrank. (N.D). Talking Photography. Retrieved from Photography Columnist: http://talkingphotography.com/archive/2010/LosingTheDecisiveMoment.htm

SmithEdwin. (1961). Beetles + Huxley. Retrieved from Beetles + Huxley: http://www.beetlesandhuxley.com/exhibitions/edwin-smith.html?page=1

Students Blog, Intern. (2012). Students Blog. Retrieved from Students Blog: http://studentsblog.viublogs.org/2014/03/page/2/

Visit Italy. (N.D). Visit Italy. Retrieved from Piazza San Marco: http://www.visititaly.com/info/969206-piazza-san-marco-venice.aspx

PIAZZA ST MARCO, ITALY

ST PATRICK SQUARE, NEW ZEALAND

B E Y O N D T H E C R I S I S : T O W A R D S A N E W U R B A N PARADIGM

Barrett, M (n.d), Next to Godliness, Retrieved from http://www.agm.co.nz/images/pdfs/LN1209_StPaddy%27s.pdf

Buckle,H (2010) St Patrick’s Square Reaches Top 6 In World Architecture News Awards, Retrieved from http://www.designingfortomorrow.org/projects/view/st-patricks-square-reaches-top-6-in-world-architecture-news-awards

Design and art - creative synergy? (2014), Retrieved from http://www.boffamiskell.co.nz/news-and-insights/article.php?v=design-and-art---creative-synergy

Previous NZILA Awards (n.d) Retrieved from http://www.nzila.co.nz/about-nzila/previous-nzila-awards.aspx

St Patrick's Square (2011) Retrieved from http://www.jfcltd.co.nz/projects/project-details/type/view/projectid/47/st-patricks-square

St Patrick's Square (n.d) Retrieved from http://www.gatherandhunt.co.nz/Profiles/st-patricks-square

St Patrick's Square (n,d) Retrieved from http://www.nzila.co.nz/projects/projects-list/st-patrick's-square.aspx

St Patrick's Square Urban oasis restored (2012) Retrieved from http://www.boffamiskell.co.nz/project.php?v=st-patricks-square

Steve Woodward (2014), Retrieved from http://www.whitespace.co.nz/artists/steve-woodward.aspx

The History of St Patrick's Cathedral, (n.d), Retrieved from http://www.stpatricks.org.nz/History/CathedralHistory.aspx

IMAGES

Devitt, S (n.d), Next to Godliness, Retrieved from http://www.agm.co.nz/images/pdfs/LN1209_StPaddy%27s.pdf

EYEONAUCKLAND (2010), St. Patrick’s Square, Retrieved from http://www.de.urbika.com/projects/view/2713-st-patrick-s-square

Matt,L, (2013) Photo of the Day – St Patrick Square, Retrieved from http://transportblog.co.nz/2013/10/18/photo-of-the-day-st-patricks-square/

Melissa (2012) Fountains of Aucklan, Retrieved from http://melissadurbin.blogspot.co.nz/2012/04/fountains-of-auckland-please-apply-here.html

St Patrick’s Cathedral Auckland CBD (n.d), Retrieved from http://www.nzia.co.nz/awards/new-zealand-architecture-awards/nz-architecture-awards.aspx?activeYear=2009&page=2#

St Patrick's Square (n.d) Retrieved from http://www.gatherandhunt.co.nz/Profiles/st-patricks-square

St Patrick’s Square in Auckland, New Zealand (n.d), Retrieved from http://www.topboxdesign.com/st-patricks-square-in-auckland-new-zealand/st-patricks-square-design-exterior-2/

The History of St Patrick's Cathedral, (n.d), Retrieved from http://www.stpatricks.org.nz/History/CathedralHistory.aspx

Laura Burkhalter, (2009) Soft Propals: Reuse Community, Communal Space and Everyday Life, Retrieved from http://archinect.com/features/article/90159/beyond-the-crisis-towards-a-new-urban-paradigm

ENVIROMENTTHEORY SEMINAR

Environment

Definition:

The sum total of all surroundings of a living organism, in-cluding natural forces and other living things, which provide conditions for development and growth as well as of danger and damage.

The surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates.

The natural world, as a whole or in a particular geographical area, especially as affected by human activity

The environment is something you are very familiar with. It’s everything that makes up our surroundings and affects our ability to live on the earth—the air we breathe, the water that covers most of the earth’s surface, the plants and animals around us, and much more.

Orange line represents air temperature (we are now on 0.7c)% represents global warming threats (01 – 07 (24% in-crease) 07 – 14 (5% increase) mainly cause by humans activities.Black represents carbon dioxide

The graph talks about ways in which we (man) can bring back nature into its natural state due to the serious environ-mental problem we face today i.e. global warming, acid rain, ozone depletion.

Man vs Nature

Gardens By The Bay

Location: SingaporeClient: National Parks Board SingaporeArchitect: Wilkinson Eyre ArchitectsLandscape Architect: Grant AssociatesStructural Engineers: Atelier OneEnvironmental Engineers: Atelier TenExhibition Design: Land Design StudioQuantity Surveyors: Davis Langdon SeahArea: 101 Hectares Conservatories value: £350 millionThe construction of Bay South Garden started: 2007Completed: June 2012

In January 2006, an international master plan design com-petition was launched to seek world-class design ideas for Gardens by the Bay. The master plan for Marina South forms part of Singapore’s new Gardens by the Bay development wanted to the distinctive flora of the region to create a new destination in the city. From “Garden City” to a “City in a Gar-den”.

Figure 1: Singapore’s Garden by the Bays (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 3: Marina Bay Sands Hotel (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 2: Grant Associates Garden by the Bays (Author un-known, n.d)

Figure 4: Singapore garden by the Bays (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 5: Singapore marina bay hotel ocean night view (Author unknown, n.d)

805.7 m width 1000m length

Figure 7: Map of the Gardens by The Bay complex (Author un-known, n.d)

Figure 6: Site plan of Garden by the Bays (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 8: Grant Associates Garden by the Bays (Author un-known, n.d)

Supper TreesThe supertrees illustrates man’s attempts at recreating na-tures balance. These unique trees of up to 15m in height designed by grant associates are iconic vertical gardens. Providing scale and dimension to the Gardens while mar-rying the form and function of mature trees, the Supertrees also create height to balance the tall developments in the Marina Bay area. You can also take a stroll along the OCBC Skyway, a 128-metre long walkway with a height of 22-me-tres that connects two Supertrees at the Supertree Grove, and take in a different view of the Gardens. At night, these canopies come alive with lighting and projected media. And aerial embedded with sustainable energy and water tech-nologies integral to the cooling of the cooled conservatories.

Figure 10: Garden by the Bays Super trees (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 9: Night view of the super trees (Author unknown, n.d) Figure 11: Night view of the super trees (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 13: Elevated view of the super trees (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 12: Garden by the Bays Super trees (Author unknown, n.d)

Located in a national park in the edge Marina Reservoir of Singapore this monumental conservatory is 24,500m², at the value of 350 million pounds. This project designed by Wilkin-son Eyre won in an international design competition as part of a team led by landscape architects Grant Associates. Built over reclaim land this Gardens captures the essence of Sin-gapore as the premier tropical Garden City with the perfect environment in which to live and work. Intended to be an en-ergy efficient showcase of sustainable building technologies and to provide an all-weather edutainment space within the Gardens.

The Supertrees are home to enclaves of unique and exotic ferns, vines, orchids and also a vast collection of brome-liads such as Tillandsia, amongst other plants. They are fitted with environmental technologies that mimic the eco-logical function of trees – photovoltaic cells that harness solar energy which can be used for some of the functions of the Supertrees, such as lighting, just like how trees photosynthesize; and collection of rainwater for use in irri-gation and fountain displays, exactly like how trees absorb rainwater for growth. The Supertrees also serve air intake and exhaust functions as part of the conservatories’ cooling systems.

Figure 14: Diagram on how the Super tree function (Author unknown, n.d)

Conservatories

The Cooled Conservatories represent an innovative archi-tectural, structural ingenuity. But in a landscape architects perspective the conservatories environmental engineering and imaginative landscape design are beyond extraordi-nary and both explore the horticulture of those environ-ments most likely to be affected by climate change. As iconic features of the gardens, they showcase the applica-tion of sustainable energy solutions, and offer spectacular visual and spatial experience for visitors. Inside, cool air is delivered at low velocity, trickling in and between the plant-ed displays, providing the right growing conditions for the

plants as well as comfort for the visitors. The conservato-ries comprise two spectacular structures, which minimize their environmental footprint by smart use of location, struc-ture, systems and materials. The de-humidifying technolo-gies that combined with other innovations, results in 30% power savings compared to conventional cooling technol-ogies. Thermal stratification ensures cool air settles at the lower occupied zone and warm air is allowed to rise as part of the overall strategy to only use energy where necessary.

Figure 15: Grant Associates Garden by the Bay (Author unknown, n.d) Figure 17: View of the conservatoires (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 18: View of the conservatoires (Author unknown, n.d)Figure 16: Elevated view of Garden by the Bay (Author unknown, n.d)

Garden by the provides a vast variety of plants from Asia, and also other plants to help acknowledge how tree and plants are major factor to our future of living. The Flower Dome showcases the cool-dry climate of the Mediterrane-an and semi-arid regions, such as South Africa and Chile. Cloud Forest replicates the cool moist climate found in trop-ical montane regions between 1,000 to 3,500m above sea

figure 19:Garden by the Bays planting (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 20:Garden by the Bays planting (Author unknown, n.d) Plan of the conservatories (Author unknown, n.d)

figure 21:Plan of the conservatories (Author unknown, n.d)

Cloud Forest

A 35-metre tall mountain covered in lush vegetation shrouding the world’s tallest indoor waterfall showcases plant life from tropical highlands up to 2,000-metres above sea level.

Ascend to the mountaintop in comfort by lift before de-scending via two walkways in the clouds for an aerial view of the canopy and mountainside below. Accessible by an elevator, and visitors will be able to descend the mountain via a circular path where a 35-metre (115 ft) waterfall pro-vides visitors with refreshing cool air.The “cloud mountain” itself is an intricate structure com-pletely clad in epiphytes such as orchids, ferns, peacock ferns, spike- and clubmosses, bromeliads and anthuriums. It consists of a number of levels, each with a different theme.

Figure 22: The Cloud Forest (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 23: The Cloud Forest (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 24: The Cloud Forest (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 25: The Cloud Forest (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 26: The Cloud Forest (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 27: Section of the Cloud Forest (Author unknown, n.d) Figure 28: Section on the cloud Forest (Author unknown, n.d)

Flower Dome

The Flower Dome at 1.2 hectares (3.0 acres), replicates a mild, dry climate and features plants found in the Mediter-ranean and other semi-arid tropical regions (e.g. parts of Australia, South America, South Africa).The Flower Dome is 38 metres (125 ft) high and maintains a temperature between 23°C and 25°C, slightly lower at night.The Flower Dome features 7 different “gardens” as well as an olive grove with a bistro and a central changing display field has

also been incorporated to enable flower shows and dis-plays to be held within the conservatory.

Figure 29: The Flower Conservatory (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 30: The Flower Conservatory (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 31: The Flower Conservatory (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 32: The Flower Conservatory (Author unknown, n.d)

Figure 33: section of the Flower Conservatory (Author unknown, n.d)

The Gardens have been designed with the environment in mind, adopting environmentally sustainable technologies. In particular, the cooled conservatories are intended to be a statement in sustainable engineering and energy efficiency.ecological function of super trees provide harness solar energy which can be used for some of the functions of the Supertrees, and collection of rainwater for use in irrigation and fountain displays, exactly like how trees absorb rain-water for growth. The Supertrees also serve air intake and exhaust functions as part of the conservatories’ cooling systemsA lake system which takes into account the aesthetics and hydrology within the Gardens’ catchment has been incorpo-rated

into the Gardens’ design. It serves to capture run-off from within the Gardens and acts as a natural “eco-filter”, cleansing the water using aquatic plants beforethe water is discharged into the reservoir To keep the plants growing well, pruning and clearing dead leaves are a daily affair, resulting in a growing pile of plant matter. And what about maintaining the cool environment they live in? To meet these two needs, the Gardens by the Bay uses horticultural waste to power the chillers that cool the con-servatories. The Gardens also adopts other cutting-edge cooling tech-nologies, which saves at least 30 per cent on energy con-sumption compared to conventional cooling technologies, making the

Gardens a sterling example of reusing and reducing waste The horticultural waste comprises plant cuttings from main-tenance work in the Gardens and other parks around Sin-gapore. These cuttings are processed off-site before being used in a biomass co-generation system in the Gardens to produce energy. About 2,000 tons of mixed horticultural and organic waste are burnt each month to run a steam turbine, generating enough electricity to cool both conservatories! The result-ing ash acts as fertilizer in the Gardens while waste heat is captured to regenerate a liquid desiccant for removing

Figure 34: section of Garden by the Bay ecosystem (Author unknown, n.d)

But one thing I want u to consider it that what is this is all built on? The fact that that it is built on reclaim land could lead to a form of habitat destruction which is bad for the ecology and the environment. Also next to a city it is highly susceptible to soil liquefaction during earthquakes, which can amplify the amount of damage that occurs to buildings and infrastructure and increase the danger from flooding.

Figure 35: Garden by The Bay being built (Author unknown, n.d) Figure 36: Garden by The Bay being built (Author unknown, n.d)

city=Link=Marina

city Garden by the bays river

conservatoriessupertrees

Figure 37: Diagram of how Garden by the Bay function (Sharookh Waeduer-amae, 2013)

Central Park Landscape Architect: Frederick Law Olmsted & Calvert Vaux Architect: Jacob Wrey MouldMaster Gardener: Ignaz Anton PilatOwned: New York City Department of Parks and RecreationOperated by: Central Park ConservancyType: Urban ParkInitially opened: 1857Initially area: 314.8 hectares Expansion completion: 1873 Current area: 399.9 hectares Visitors: 37.5 million annually

In the mid-1840’s New York City had grown into a bustling urban terrain with a large population, crowded tenement buildings, cramped neighbourhoods and little open space. It was around this time that many public figures began to call for an open large space accessible to those of New York City. Many argued that such a place would be the “lungs” of the city and would combat against diseases thought to be airborne. In 1857 the park’s early stages of development were finally put into action when the city held a competi-tion for best design of Manhattan’s new park. Landscape designer, Frederick Law Olmstead won with his Central Park Greensward Plan. Initially the park was 314 hectares.

Later in 1873 the park was expanded to just under 400 hec-tares. It is the most visited park in the US. Olmstead’s vi-sion for the usage of Central Park was quite different from how New Yorkers believe a park should be used today. Ac-cording to Olmstead, Central Park was to serve as an open space for the common workingman to sit and enjoy nature after a long day of factory work. Olmstead’s ideal Central Park was one in pristine condition, in which people would observe, relax, stroll and engage in mental activities.

Frederick Law Olmsted started his career as a journalist for the New York Times. He had written about slavery in the southern states and about public gardens in England. Be-fore he took on the role of a landscape designer after the death of his mentor and friend, Andrew Jackson Downing. Who many claim as being the father of American landscape architecture.

On one of Downing’s trips to England, he met Calvert Vaux, an architect who shared the same views as him about land-scape. On that trip Downing offered Vaux a job to work with him in the states. Two years later Downing died which brought Olmsted and Vaux closer. The duo were responsible for some of the most significant landscape designs.The park contains a myriad of attractions; there are sever-al lakes and ponds, two ice-skating rinks, the Central Park

Zoo, the Central Park Conservatory Garden, and the central park Reservoir. Indoor attractions include Belvedere Castle with its nature centre, the Swedish Theatre.

Most of the park is open spaces for leisure activities. The park is entangled with paths that meander around trees, over ridges and across valleys. It has 30 main entry points and there are many more paths leading into the park for pedestrians.

Frederick Law Olmsted

-Started career as a journalist and co-founded the maga-zine ‘The Nation’.-Andrew Jackson Downing became a mentor and friend. -Began partnership with Vaux.-He and Vaux designed Prospect Park; suburban Chicago's -Riverside parks; the park system for Buffalo, New York; -Milwaukee, Wisconsin's grand necklace of parks; and the -Niagara Reservation at Niagara Falls.

Calvert Vaux

-British-American architect and landscape designer.-Trained as an apprentice for Lewis Nockalls Cottingham -Became partners with Andrew Jackson Downing. -Recruited Frederick Law Olmsted.-They started a partnership as Olmsted, Vaux and Company.

Figure 1: Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux(Author Unknown, N.D)

Figure 2: Plan view of Central Park(Author Unknown, N.D)

Length – 4023m Width – 805m 30 Main entry gates

Hudson River

Harlem RiverEast River

YorkvilleHarlem

Manhattan

Figure 3: Google earth view of Central Park(Google Earth, 2013)

On the northern end there is the great hill, Harlem Meer, conservatory garden, the north meadow and the Wisteria Pergola. I’ve put the section of the site below to get a better understanding of the terrain.

The great hill

Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux designed the Great Hill as a carriage concourse where visitors could enjoy com-manding views of the Hudson River. With the passing of time and the growth of trees, the view slowly disappeared. In the 1940s and 1950s, the Great Hill was turned into a recreation area with tennis and volleyball courts and horseshoe pits, but by the 1980s, it was abandoned and in ruins. Currently The Great Hill is an open hilltop meadow with picnic tables, a three-quarter mile soft surface oval path and lawn under a ring of stately trees.

Harlem Meer

Four and half hectares of water surrounded by lush vegeta-tion and immersed in a calm atmosphere compose the Har-lem Meer. Named after the Dutch word for "small sea", the Meer is a large body of water located north of Conservatory Garden.

Wisteria Pergola

The Wisteria Pergola features century-old wisteria vines at-tached to a wooden shelter that is reminiscent of the original that was designed by Calvert Vaux. It was created as a cool refuge from summer sun, and as an overlook to the music concerts below at the original Bandstand. It was restored by the Conservancy in 1986.

Conservatory Garden

The Conservatory Garden was opened in 1937 to replace the original but quickly deteriorating structure that had been a part of the Park's initial plan. The Garden, designed by Gilmore D. Clarke, is composed of 2.4 hectares of beautiful seasonal plants that are arranged into three styles: English, French, and Italian.

North Meadow

This large, 9.3 hectare meadow includes twelve fields.

Figure 4: The Great Hill(Author Unknown, N.D) Figure 5: Wisteria Pergola(Author Unknown, N.D)

Figure 4: Harlem Meer(Author Unknown, N.D) Figure 6: North Meadow(Author Unknown, N.D)

The middle section of the park consists of the central park reservoir, the great lawn and Belvedere’s Castle. Metropoli-tan museum of arts. Central Park ReservoirThe Reservoir was built between 1858 and 1862, to the design for Central Park of Frederick Law Olmsted and Cal-vert Vaux, who designed its two pump houses of Manhattan schist with granite facings. It was never a collecting reser-voir; it was used to receive water from the Croton Aqueduct and distribute it to Manhattan. After 131 years of service, it was decommissioned in 1993. It is one of the main ecolog-ical sanctuaries in the Park, housing more than 20 species of water birds.

Figure 7: The Great Lawn(Author Unknown, N.D)

Figure 8: Belvedere Castle(Author Unknown, N.D) Figure 9: Central Park Reservoir(Author Unknown, N.D)

The great lawn This feature of Central Park truly embodies how we view parks today. This well-known space in Central Park was not actually in Olmstead’s Greensward Plan.Originally, the area that the Great Lawn now sits in was the Crouton Reservoir. The reservoir was eventually drained in 1931 after a water tunnel was built in its place nearly 15 years prior. The drained reservoir remained undeveloped for a few years until the city decided to create a large grassy field. Eight baseball diamonds were constructed into the corners of the lawn in 1950.Belvedere CastleBelvedere Castle is a building in Central Park in Manhattan, New York City that contains exhibit rooms and an observa-

tion deck. Since 1919, the castle has also been the location of the official Central Park weather station.

The southern end of the park has the lake, the mall, and pond, sheep meadow and the highest point of the park. The summit rock, standing at a height of 43.2m, Summit Rock is the highest natural elevation in the Park.The lakeThe Central Park Lake, in conjunction with the Ramble, cre-ates an essential part of the "Greensward" design plan creat-ed by Olmsted and Vaux when designing the initial features of what would become Central Park. What is now a stunning and picturesque 18-acre lake was once nothing more than a large, untamed swamp. The Lake was opened for its first winter of ice-skating in 1858 which stopped a few years af-ter. Allowing the Lake's former wildlife inhabitants to take up residence there once more. The 18-acre Lake is the largest of Central Park's naturalistic water bodies.The MallThe Central Park Mall leading to the Bethesda Terrace pro-vides the only purely formal feature in the naturalistic original plan of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux for Central Park, Once referred to as an "open air hall of reception" by its creators, the Mall was specially designed to accommo-date the width of carriages passing through its bounds.The pondThe Pond is the perfect escape from the busy city. Situated below street level, visitors can temporarily ignore the noises of the urban world and take a calming stroll along the wind-ing pathways along the edge of the water. Hallett Nature Sanctuary, the only permanently fenced-off section of Cen-tral Park aside from Reservoir, occupies 14,000 m2 of the wooded headland that extends into The Pond. The area had been set apart by Robert Moses as a bird sanctuary in 1934, but decades of neglect were repaired in the 1980s.

Figure 10: The Mall(Author Unknown, N.D) Figure 12: SheepMeadow(Author Unknown, N.D)

Figure 11: The Pond(Author Unknown, N.D) Figure 13: The Lake(Author Unknown, N.D)

Figure 14: Red Tailed Hawk(Author Unknown, N.D) Figure 16: Swimming Duck(Author Unknown, N.D)Figure 15: Dogwood(Author Unknown, N.D)

Today in the centre of Manhattan, New York lays a vast green space of flora, fauna, lakes, fields, walking paths and much more. Central Park is home to over 25,000 trees, has a stand of 1,700 American Elms, one of the largest remaining stands in the north-eastern U.S region. In 1886, 235 differ-ent species of birds were recorded in Central Park.

Today however, Central Park is a place where people are en-couraged to run, exercise and engage in sports. The park’s use has evolved with modern notions of what is healthy. The same can be said about what is considered to be at one with nature. Due to the rise in population, which has increased the amount of bi-product we produce, how we perceive na-ture has changed as well. What used to be woodlands or open fields would now require solar panels and ground wa-ter filtration systems to be considered as being beneficial to the environment.

Olmsted believed the goal wasn’t to make viewers see his work. It was to make them unaware of it. To him, the art was to conceal art. And the way to do this was to remove distractions and demands on the conscious mind. Viewers weren’t supposed to examine or analyse parts of the scene. They were supposed to be unaware of everything that was working.“Gradually and silently the charm comes over us; we know not exactly where or how.” Olmsted’s works appear so nat-ural that one critic wrote, “One thinks of them as something not put there by deception but merely preserved by happen-stance.”Their approach was different but their intentions were the same. The goals for both projects were to establish a natu-ral space in an urban environment to rejuvenate nature.

Figure 18: Population Graph(Author Unknown, N.D) Figure 19: Mulberry Street(Author Unknown, N.D)

Park CityMovementFigure 17: Diagram of Central Park(Shirish Prasad, 2014)

ENVIROMENTTHEORY SEMINAR

The Plight: Ian Mcharg

Ian L. McHarg (Novemb er 20, 1920 - March 5, 2001) was a Scottish landscape architect and a renowned writer on re-gional planning using natural systems. He was the founder of the department of landscape architecture at the Universi-ty of Pennsylvania in the United States

In 1969, he published Design with Nature, a finalist for the National Book Award and a book that led to fundamental changes in the teaching and practice of landscape architec-ture

His father was a local minister in the industrial city of Glas-gow, Scotland. McHarg showed an early talent for draw-ing and was advised to consider a career in landscape architecture. His early experiences with the bifurcated landscapes of Scotland—the smoky industrial urbanism of Glasgow and the sublimity of the surrounding environs—had a profound influence on his later thinking

It was not until after his term in the Parachute Regiment, serving in war-stricken Italy during World War II, however, that he was able to explore the field of urban landscape architecture. After working with the Royal Engineers during World War II, he travelled to America. He was admitted to the school of architecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design where he received professional degrees in both landscape architecture and city planning. After com-pleting his education he returned to his homeland, intend-ing to help rebuild a country ravaged by war. In Scotland he worked on housing and programs in “new towns”, until he was contacted by Dean G. Holmes Perkins from the Uni-versity of Pennsylvania. Dean Perkins wanted McHarg to build a new graduate program in landscape architecture at the University.[1]

Soon thereafter, McHarg began teaching at the Universi-ty of Pennsylvania, where he developed the department

McHarg was not only concerned with roads, however, he was also one of the first people to realize that the best way to preserve open space is to sustain our urban areas, which contain existing resources (such as sewer systems and streets) to handle human growth. Uniquely, McHarg approaches the understanding of our urban areas and their modern problems by visualizing the evolution of our historic cities.

AUTHOR REFERENCE TO THE TEXT.

Ian has spent his life trying to create oases in the metropol-itans that we call cities. The city that was nearest to Ian as he grew up was Glasgow. Glasgow was a grim, miserable town that was grimy and dirty. Recreating nature is not so much a pleasure, it’s a necessity. It’s not only an escape for the dullness of city life, but it also is what makes life worth living. The silence of the forests, the trickle of a stream and the chirp of the birds. This cannot be found in the large cities, and urban surroundings. The issue with the industrial metropolitan created many problems, however the coun-try side is not the fixed for the problem. What really needs to be done is a blending of the cities and the countryside. From this many ideas have been spawned. Ideas like green belts, open space areas, and parks. All of these give cities a connection back to the country side.

SUMMARY OF THE READER

PAGE 1In the first page Ian Mcharg talks about his migration from Scotland to America. He then identifies human and societal aspects during that time such as poverty, the depression and war. He develops further into the way people chose to live off the land and in general how people lived. Also slightly compares the industrial and country landscape. He then states the issue between the relationship of people and the land. From this we understand that he is very pas-sionate about the necessity of sustaining nature.

PAGE 2On the second page he uses a lot of rhetorical questions to further discuss the pervious comparisons. Also between Scotland and America. Ian disagrees with a lot of industri-alized places and the way they have been pretty much just placed on top of the landscape rather than creating some-thing that works with the existing land. From one thing to another it raises a lot of negatives behind the scenes that he feels are created in the cities. Poverty, disease, race,

urine and crime. Manhattan is used as an example.

Design with Nature by Ian McHarg

Product DetailsSchool & Library Binding: 197 pages Publisher: San Val (February 1995)

Language: English ISBN-10: 0613923332 ISBN-13: 978-0613923330

of landscape architecture, and developed a popular new course, titled Man and Environment in 1957.[2] The course featured leading scholars whom McHarg invited to his class to discuss ethics and values, as well as other ideas ranging from entropy to plate tectonics. In 1960, he hosted his own television show on CBS, The House We Live In, inviting prominent theologians and scientists of the day to discuss the human place in the world, in a style similar to the one he honed teaching “Man and Environment.” In 1963 Ian McHarg and David A. Wallace, his academic colleague from the University of Pennsylvania, founded the firm of Wallace and McHarg Associates, later Wallace McHarg Roberts & Todd (WMRT) which is known for its central role in the development of the American environ-

mental planning and urbanism movements.

As the first-wave American environmental movement swept across American college campuses in the 1960s and early 1970s, McHarg became an important figure, linking a compelling personal presence and a powerful rhetoric with a direct and persuasive proposal for a new integration of human and natural environments.

“PLIGHT DEFINITION”

A dangerous, difficult, or otherwise unfortunate situation.

a condition, state, or situation, especially an unfavorable or unfortunate one

The Plight is actually chapther three out of the most nfluen-tial landscape architecture book “Design with Nature”

This book searches for a place for nature in this world run by man.

-Design With Nature has done much to redefine the fields of landscape architecture, urban and regional planning, and ecological design. It has also left a permanent mark on the ongoing discussion of mankind’s place in nature and nature’s place in mankind within the physical sciences and humanities.

-First published in 1969, it was one of the first contempo-rary books to combine science with poetical writing and to call for environmental planning on a local level. Accord-ing to McHarg, everything in the environment (such as humans, rocks, soils, plants, animals, and ecosystems) should be taken into account when planning anything built by humans.

PAGE 3On page three he talks about the amount of pollution has created from the industrial areas has highly impacted the natural features such as the rivers consisting of waste and sewage. He also talks about the air pollution generated too. It’s like everything built shall bloom its surroundings rather than smother it.

PAGE 4On page four McHarg talks about the countryside in rela-tion industrialized areas have sucked out the beauty and life of it. Sterilized lands, felling forests and contaminated creeks. He believes that nature regenerates faster in ru-ral areas than in urban areas due to human influences. But even then the country has its downsides. Geological changes and farming is definitely affecting the landscape. Mississipi, New York and Lake Erie are examples in this text.

PAGE 5America is supposed to have this green image but it clearly becomes a full on industrial area and the only nature lies in the streams and flood plains. Its all about the loss of na-ture.

Identifies aspects of city features that reflect the 18th Cen-tury. He is obviously discussing the landscape changes over time.

Greed is reflected from those people who built upon the wealth of the land basically. A lot of land mismanagement too. Too caught up in generating the economy without thinking about all the environmental issues.

During the end of the page he does acknowledge cities such as Boston, New Orleans and Philadelphia during the 18th Century that had beautiful land and architecture were admirable.

PAGE 6•The USA is on a stage after showing the ability as a large nation to beat – oppression, slavery

•The environment, the backdrop is a major threat to her success.•Failure is in our values of Western World

Man is exclusive divinity of man – god is made in the image of man and I will predict the nature of its cities and their landscapes.

Anthropomorphic and Anthropocentric view!

This is where man seeks not unity with nature but con-quest.

Nature is perceived as just a backdrop and a financial re-ward for those who choose to control it. PAGE 7He discusses how the world is built upon economics.The affect that societal events have played a major role in the development of the land and how settlements have suffered from these extreme events. He creates this economists view upon everything.

Looks at the profit and money aspect of the land. All in the name of profit

The model they follow leaves out all important components to human ambitions and accomplishments and the require-ments of survival. Looks at the biophysical parts of the environmentSo all of the plant/ organism eco systems. Hydrological processes.He refers to these aspects in relation to how this could all change over time.

PAGE 8“man-nature”Religions, morals and values of the people which perhaps influenced the way people lived.Examples: judahism , Jehovah, Christianity.•This page looks at Religion – McHarg sees this as a major source of moral attitudesIt emphasizes the ‘exclusive divinity’ of man and his god given dominion over all things/license him to subdue the earth.McHarg goes through and says that belief has and does influence the view of nature and man – the environmental degradations are inevitable consequences of these views.

(“ the most beautiful landscapes and the richest farmlands should be highly valued”Comparing the natural landscape to the urban areas where human intervene should have more value based on nature rather than how it is exploited)

PAGE 9 •Hydraulic Civilisations – those who believe that man and nature are undivisable and the survival and health is con-tingent and depending on the understanding of nature and her processes. •Uses the Japanese society as an example of this belief – their use of garden making being an important part of their culture – symbol of Tao, Shinto and Zen.

PAGE 10He refers to past times as people being non-human based on the how people lived.•Quesitoning destroying nature to justify man•Anthropocentric Art – western civilisation created – great inheritance, wealth, music and painting as well as architec-tureLooks at The acropolis etc – all speak of the divinity of man.

Refers to the relationship between man and god .

PAGE 11-Page 11 is about McHargs Solution based on a ecological view. -He discusses several perceptions such as the oriental, scientific, western and ecological view.-In this text he uses several rhetorical questions. From this you are able to ponder in what he is trying to say.

OVERVIEW

ENVIRONMENTALEnvironmental protection is now a world concern. Signifi-cant environmental improvement does not necessarily re-quire a vast effort. It can be achieved through flood control programs, clean air legislation, scientific management of regional farmlands, wetlands, or forest. Towns and cities had vacant structures, were burdened with debt, and were full of crime and pollutants. The sur-rounding countryside was very tempting. Family-owned farms are becoming a rarity and what was once ‘America the Beautiful’ is now cluttered with a maze of poorly main-tained roads and unplanned scatteration.

SOLUTIONIt is clear that McHarg’s solution to improving our environ-ment in America is to improve society’s level of education about ecology. During the planning phase for development projects, citizens should not only take into account such limited issues as local tax revenue or property values, but a project’s future pollution and degradation on the landscape. We should think holistically about expansion and how it will affect our wetlands, forests, wildlife habitat, historic land-marks, scenic views, town character, and existing land-use when even the simplest form of human development takes place within our communities.

WIDER IMPLICATION-Rather than looking at the landscape as a pretty picture,

we need to look at it as a life supporting system.-One of the most important aspects of land planning will be that of growth management. Present projection predicts the population will double and double again within the next 100 years. Stress will be on urban land, farmlands, food pro-duction, freshwater reserves, and roadway capacities.

DISCUSSION

– a particular read in the text that caught our eye and stuck was the comparisons to the past behaviours of man with nature to the current. He writes about how some lived during the Depression in Scotland and begins to show comparisons in human behaviours when he talks about the dramatic change on decades from the protected Scotland to the great erosion diminishing nature in Europe and the United States.; examples such as the one on this slide.

“There were many young men who would not submit to the indignity of the dole or its queues and chose to live off the land, selling their strength where they could for food and poaching when they could not.” “Poor children who would not eat carrots pulled from the ground because they were dirty, terror-stricken at the sight of a cow. The army regularly absorbs young men who have not the faintest conception of living off the land”

What are the obvious comparisons in these pieces of the text or What is the main idea that you get from this piece of the text?

The idea that we found as a group was that these young men had that drive to be independent and provide/ fend for themselves during the time. It is inspirational to know that there were plenty of people who would queue up for the dole but where McHarg is concerned he wanted to show how much is changed with drive when living in the city – like the example of the children – they’ve been brought up in the city and not knowing or appreciating the fresh food that is available.

In terms of the land changes that we found in the text, it pointed out what we already know but take for granted, he begins to talk about the difference in land and buildings from Scotland in his youth and the trend from America in the current day. He talks about in the next section these industries and hamburger joints that we all think of from America and then moves the discussion to the changes in the environment behind the industries and manufacturing.

1.“Look behind the unkempt industry, cross the grassy railroad tracks and you will find the rotting piers and there is the great river, scummy and brown, wastes and sewage

bobbing easily up and down with the tide, endlessly re-newed”

Q:What do you think he is talking about in this text?A:From what I read this is an example of pollution and the effects of manmade decisions on the environment that McHarg saw. The issue is not only the aspect of pollution but the end of the paragraph as well - it is “Endlessly renewed” and from what I read I felt that it meant that the waste and sewage will always be pump ed into the rivers, there is no change. He speaks of the river

that first made the city but this is not that same river, once the city was “made” everything has changed.

Another example of this type of pollution and destruction to the environment is through the oil refineries:

2. “The outlines of its towers will be revealed as soft silhou-ettes in the hazardous haze. Drive from the airport through the banks of gas storage tanks and the interminable refin-eries. Consider how dangerous they are, see their cynical spume, and observe their ugliness. Refine they may, but refined they are not”.

Q: What do you think it means by this example from the text? – Refine they may, but refined they are not?A:Even though they are creating and producing these perfect products there is a consequence to this which is the effect on the environment. Comparison of how dangerous buildings like this that we now have compared to those that weren’t many years ago?

From these examples that we’ve quickly discussed and many others that we found in the reader McHarg moves on to discuss the main view that he his trying to get across which is the ecological view.

“The ecological view is the essential component in the search for the face of the land of the free and home of the brave… It consists of borrowings from the thoughts of men, forged into a workman’s code – an ecological manual for the good steward”.

Q: What do you think it is saying?A: I thought that was he was trying to say is that through all the “manufacturing, cynical industrialists, the insidious merchant” and all materialistic ideas that man come up with the ecological view will be the only way for us to be free. The environment is really important for society and the na-tions to achieve the founding goals which are – freedom.

In the final sentence he speaks of this text being the man-ual of borrowed ideas, hopes and dreams of those who believe the ecological view as being a code to being a good steward.-A good steward is not owning the land but looking after it. Here in New Zealand Maori call it Kaitiakitanga – preserv-ing and looking after the land.

ENVIROMENTSITE VISIT

Barry Curtis ParkLocation: Flat Bush, Manukau

Landscape Architecture Company: Isthmus Group

Collaboration Companies: Stormwater Solutions Ltd. E-Cubed Engineering Progenz Ltd. The Architecture Office Cicada Works Boffa Miskell

Client: Manukau City Council

Completion Date: April, 2009 (first stage)

Size: Length: 1.62 km Width: 0.77km Area: 94 hectares

Cost: 37 million NZD

Site Access: Ormistan Road, Chapel Road and Stancombe Road

Awards: 2010 NZILA: Bronze Award, Rural/Park/ Recreational 2008 NZILA: Gold Award, Rural/Park/Recreational 2008 NZILA: Silver Award, Visionary Landscapes 2008 NZILA: Silver Award, Landscape Planning/ Environmental Studies

Figure 1: Education Axis(Author Unknown, N.D) Figure 2: Storm Water Pond(Author Unknown, N.D)

Figure 3: Curltural Axis

2005

2010

Design

The park is built on a bold layering of natural and cultural patterns, designed to emphasise the differences and con-nections between them.

Streams converging on Barry Curtis Park form the heart of the natural layer. Reforested riparian corridors will naturally divide the park and highlight the topography caved by the streams.

The cultural layer on the other hand contains bold geometric shapes and horizontal planes that float above the natural layer, “letting the land breathe” and exaggerating the subtle contours of the site.

The park provides us with vast variety of passive and tranquil recreational area to relish in and take pleasure in such as the Wetland Neighbourhood Play Space, the cultural lawn and amphitheatre suitable for large-scale events, the Mul-ti-sports complex, fields and facilities, the skate park which is a (Community consultation design), the ecological en-hancements through extensive wetlands and stream resto-ration, the Iconic bridge, the arts – signature areas including sculptures, Education centre and picnic area with covered facilities.

History

The Flat Bush/ Tamaki area has a history that goes back be-fore 850AD. At that time it was known as Pukeiwiriki, named after the grandchild Ruaumoko the Maori God of Volcanoes. The name ‘Flat Bush’ was used in the 1850s, reflecting on how the forest landscape looked from the surrounding hills.

The park was created from a part of a large parcel of dairy farming land the Manukau City Council bought from the An-glican Church Trust Board, at $2.9 million for 290 hectares total.

As landscape and ecology have great cultural importance to the Maori, Flat Bush’s drainage gullies - which form the upper catchment of the East Tamaki - also contribute greatly to the area’s cultural heritage. So too do the many families who have contributed to Flat Bush’s social + culture history.

Figure 4: Plan View(Auckland Council, 2005)

Figure 5: Plan view(Aucklamd Council, 2010)

Environment

Vegetation

The aim of the planting design/signature was to rehabilitate the area and return the ecological function that would have existed naturally; the species chosen were representative of South Auck-land coastal habitats; were appropriate to the topography; they were designed to create functioning communities as quickly as possible to provide coverage and limit colonisation of the area by invasive weed species; good analysis of appropriateness of species to the topography of the area and the salinity of the environment was well observed; as well as maintaining a strong sense of natu-ralness and continuity throughout the area.

These topographical and micro climatic considerations, such as exposure, are important for the success of any restoration plant-ing project. The species for the different areas were also select-ed because of their subsequent potential to provide food, particu-larly important for the terrestrial native bird species that inhabit the area, and nesting habitats. The vegetation patterns contribute enormously to natural design. This is apparent where distinctive species like Cordyline Australis (ti kouka, cabbage tree), Phormi-um tenax (Harakeke, nz flax) and Cortaderia (toetoe) and feature tree species are concerned; natural pattern is often both simple and subtle. The feature of a single even slope is possibly one ecotone and soil type. For example, the whole streams side is covered in flaxes, cabbage tree, kanuka, manuka, scrubland, and flat storm water detention areas is covered in grasses, rushes and sedges. These species are often found on a particular aspect, soil type or area that has a certain level of moisture content, or on a boundary between vegetation or habitat types. Misuse of these species can make plantings look unnatural.

Green Fingers

Like the development of any park design sustainability was an important consideration to ensure enduring ecological processes, biodiversity and productivity. Located at the centre of a network of streams draining the Flat Bush catchment. Barry Curtis Park is connected to the wider landscape by numerous ecological and rec-reational green fingers. This will provide future links for wildlife between the park and large native bush remnants such as Murphy’s Bush, Point View Reserve and Totara Park.The park consists of more than 45 km of natural streams and gul-lies that form the Green Fingers. The rolling and ephemeral are the only natural features defining the predominately flat open park topography.

Storm water Ponds

The main pond adjoins the town centre and is located at the conver-gence of the stream corridor system draining from the surrounding

Publicness

Barry Curtis Park is a stage for communities to interact through sports play and large scale cultural events.

It consists of a ‘Cultural Lawn’ for ceremonial events and ‘Sportsville’ a complex of multi-code facilities, premiere sports fields and the John Walker running circuit. The park is also a setting for people to enjoy quieter and more contemplative activities. Paths weave through parkland of trees and forested streams. Landscapes are designed for reflection, from bold open spaces to intimate natural areas, from sculptural landscape with features to art.

SUSTAINABILITY

• Supporting Sustainable DevelopmentA strong community infrastructure and community capacity will not only assist the development of a strong and vibrant community, but will contribute to the sustainable devel-opment and management of Flat Bush’s natural and built environment.

• Recognising the Importance of Design and PlanningUrban design, parks and open space planning, physical infrastructure planning, and thenatural historical and cultural features of the area all have a major impact on the development of communities.

• Encourage crime prevention through environmental de-sign (CPTED) within the town centre and neighbourhoods.• Manage and maintain parks, open spaces and storm wa-ter areas to promote safety.• Ensure planting schemes minimise obstacles, like over-hanging plants, which are a hazard especially to blind and visually impaired people.

Sustainable Environment and Heritage

One of Manukau’s strengths is our cultural diversity. To ensure sustainability we need to celebrate, embrace and protect that cultural diversity, preserving the environment, history and heritage.

hills in the Flat Bush catchment area.The pond appears to span both sides of the park but is formed by two ponds separated by an embankment and piped under the road. This allows the pond to have extended detention, water qual-ity treatment and flood attenuation, helps to keep the storm water quality treatment process more transparent.

. • Work in partnership with Mana Whenua kaitiaki through active consultation to ensure environmental well-being and protection of cultural heritage (including wahi tapu).• Encourage community involvement in setting the scale, style and functionality of the Flat Bush town centre.• Ensure the naming of streets, parks, reserves and fea-tures such as plaques and signs reflect the ancestral and historic heritage of the FlatBush area.• Facilitate community initiatives directed at identifying and protecting heritage buildings and sites.• Ensure landscape development and planting schemes that preserve existing plants’ and trees’ heritage and in-clude planting native and heritage species.• Ensure the on-going care and maintenance of green and open spaces are to a high standard.• Protect the recreational amenity of the natural environ-ment e.g. eeling in waterways.• Ensure clean and tidy environments in the town centre and green spaces.• Minimise pollution to local waterways from excavations and earthworks through:- Monitoring and ensuring compliance with district and re-gional environmental standards and planning requirements

- engaging neighbourhoods in waterway protection and planting activities- developing a mosquito control plan for the waterways.

SITE DESIGNED FOR GROWING COMMUNITY/ SITE IN RELATION TO WIDER CONTEXT

LINK TO READING

“What are the connection between the design of this park and your reading and the landscape examples you showed in your seminar??”Quotes from the reading to identify links with site:

“Environmental protection is now a world concern. Signifi-cant environmental improvement does not necessarily re-quire a vast effort. It can be achieved through flood control programs, clean air legislation, scientific management of regional farmlands, wetlands, or forest. “

“. We should think holistically about expansion and how it will affect our wetlands, forests, wildlife habitat, historic landmarks, scenic views, town character, and existing land-use when even the simplest form of human development takes place within our communities. “

“One of the most important aspects of land planning will be that of growth management. Present projection predicts the population will double and double again within the next 100 years. Stress will be on urban land, farmlands, food pro-duction, freshwater reserves, and roadway capacities.”

-So as a result to growth within the area where the site use to be a farmland but then turned into a support system for the community. -Environmental protection is shown through the use of wetlands-clean environment, are crucial to our sense of health and wellbeing

ECONOMICS“He discusses how the world is built upon economics.”

“to preserve open space is to sustain our urban areas, which contain existing resources (such as sewer systems and streets) to handle human growth.”Ensure housing, amenities, facilities and streetscapes pro-vide quality living and business- environments and protect the value of residents’ housing investment.Ensure openness to commercial/entrepreneurial opportuni-ties in Barry Curtis Park and the- town centre.Encourage integrated and forward planning for the infra-structure and service needs ofbusiness including:- drainage and sewerage- effective transport network- information technology- - power and phone.

Figure 6: Plan view(Google Earth, 2013)

Figure 7: Plan view(Manukau City Council, 2010) Figure 8: Plan view(Manukau City Council, 2010)

References

Garden By The BayUnknown author (n.d) Singapore’s Garden by the Bays retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/26/travel/gallery/supertrees/index.html (Author unknown, n.d) Grant Associates Garden by the Bays from http://www.designboom.com/architecture/grant-associates-bay-south-gardens-by-the-bay/

(Author unknown, n.d) Marina Bay Sands Hotel retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SG-marina-bay-sands-hotel-gardens.jpg

(Author unknown, n.d) Singapore garden by the Bays re-trieved http://www.e-architect.co.uk/singapore/conservato-ries-bay-south-garden

(Author unknown, n.d) Singapore marina bay hotel ocean night view retrieved from http://travel-tips.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/singapore-marina-bay-sands-hotel-ocean-view-rooms.htm

(Author unknown, n.d) Site plan of Garden by the Bays re-trieved from http://www.worldbuildingsdirectory.com/project.cfm?id=4410

(Author unknown, n.d) Map of the Gardens by The Bay complex retrieved fromhttp://inhabitat.com/new-photos-sin-gapore%E2%80%99s-solar-powered-supertrees-under-con-struction-at-gardens-by-the-bay/gardens-by-the-bay-grant-associ-ates-7/ (Author unknown, n.d) Grant Associates Garden by the Bays Fig-ure 8 retrieved from http://www.istructe.org/getmedia/e8f33300-c603-4675-9c7f-fc5e07a54b6d/Exemplar-Submission-2.pdf.aspx

(Author unknown, n.d) Night view of the super trees retrieved from http://entertainmentdesigner.com/news/event-design-news/gardens-by-the-bay-singapore%E2%80%99s-horticultural-sanc-tuary/

(Author unknown, n.d) Garden by the Bays Super trees retrieved from http://www.travelandbeyond.org/wp-content/up-loads/2013/10/SuperTrees1-RJohn.jpg

(Author unknown, n.d) Night view of the super trees retrieved http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Singapore/Central/Cen-tral_Area/Singapore/photo1388449.htm

(Author unknown, n.d) Grant Associates Garden by the Bay retrieved from http://www.istructe.org/getmedia/e8f33300-c603-4675-9c7f-fc5e07a54b6d/Exemplar-Submission-2.pdf.aspx

(Author unknown, n.d) Elevated view of Garden by the Bay retrieved from http://architizer.com/blog/world-architec-ture-festival-announces-shortlist/

(Author unknown, n.d) View of the conservatoires retrieved from http://www.mosbuild.com/MosbuildMagazine/7/MBM-7Rus.pdf

(Author unknown, n.d) View of the conservatoires http://properti.kompas.com/read/2013/06/04/15154478/Waduh.Tak.Ada.Gaung.Indonesia.di.World.Architecture.Festi-val.2013.

(Author unknown, n.d) Garden by the Bays planting re-trieved from http://www.ilikearchitecture.net/2012/10/singa-pore-gardens-the-bay-wilkinson-eyre-architects/

(Author unknown, n.d) Plan of the conservatories retrieved from http://www.ilikearchitecture.net/2012/10/sin-gapore-gardens-the-bay-wilkinson-eyre-architects/

(Author unknown, n.d) Plan of the conservatories retrieved from http://www.ilikearchitecture.net/2012/10/sin-gapore-gardens-the-bay-wilkinson-eyre-architects/

(Author unknown, n.d) The Cloud Forest retrieved from http://www.getyourguide.com/singapore-l170/gardens-by-the-bay-t33094/

(Author unknown, n.d) The Cloud Forest retrieved from http://singapore.mytour.com.tw/view_info.asp?id=214

(Author unknown, n.d) The Cloud Forest retrieved from

http://embundankaca.wordpress.com/tag/gardens-by-the-bay/

(Author unknown, n.d) The Cloud Forest retrieved from http://www.tanglewoodconservatories.com/blog/2013/02/modern-conservatories/

(Author unknown, n.d) The Cloud Forest retrieved from http://inhabitat.com/wilkinson-eyres-carbon-positive-singa-pore-gardens-by-the-bay-wins-the-2013-riba-lubetkin-prize/cooled-conservatories-gardens-by-the-bay-craig-shep-pard/?extend=1

Figure 27: Section of the Cloud Forest (Author unknown, n.d)Unknown author (n.d) Section of the Cloud Forest. Re-trieved from http://www.ilikearchitecture.net/2012/10/singa-pore-gardens-the-bay-wilkinson-eyre-architects/

(Author unknown, n.d) Section on the cloud For-est retrieved from http://archi.ru/world/23695/oran-zherei-dlya-tropicheskogo-klimata

(Author unknown, n.d) The Flower Conservatory retrieved from http://embracepurity.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/gar-dens-by-the-bay/

(Author unknown, n.d) The Flower Conservatory retrieved from http://thisbigcity.net/singapore-superpark-green-tech-nology-biological-diversity-city/

(Author unknown, n.d) The Flower Conservato-ry retrieved from http://inhabitat.com/new-pho-tos-singapore%E2%80%99s-solar-powered-super-trees-under-construction-at-gardens-by-the-bay/gardens-by-the-bay-grant-associates-7/

(Author unknown, n.d) The Flower Conservatory retrieved from http://cavinteo.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/flow-er-dome-at-night-gardens-by-bay-bay.html

(Author unknown, n.d) section of the Flower Conservatory retrieved from http://archi.ru/world/23695/oran-zherei-dlya-tropicheskogo-klimata

(Author unknown, n.d) section of Garden by the Bay eco-system retrieved from http://delightnature.com/planets/singa-pore-the-futuristic-gardens-in-the-gulf

(Author unknown, n.d) Garden by The Bay being built retrieved from http://www.greenroofs.com/blog/2012/06/27/greenroofs-walls-of-the-world-virtual-summit-2011-episode-

(Author unknown, n.d) Garden by the Bays Super trees retrieved from http://andredistel.photoshelter.com/image/I0000sgprP8RG-Kn8

(Author unknown, n.d) Elevated view of the super trees retrieved from http://destiasoewoyo.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/gardens-by-the-bay-oleh-grant-associates-dan-wilkinson-eyre-architects/

(Author unknown, n.d) Diagram on how the Super tree func-tion was retrieved from http://gabikrastinkova.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/singapore-supertrees/

29-closing-keynote-address-gardens-by-the-bay-singapore/

(Author unknown, n.d) Garden by The Bay being retrieved from http://www.greenroofs.com/blog/2012/06/27/green-roofs-walls-of-the-world-virtual-summit-2011-episode-29-closing-keynote-address-gardens-by-the-bay-singapore/

(Sharookh Waedueramae, 2013) Diagram of how Garden by the Bay function retrieved by Sharookh Waedueramae

Central Park

About Us - The Official Website of Central Park. Central Park Conservancy. (2014). Retrieved March 24, 2014. http://www.centralparknyc.org/about/about-cpc/

Central Park(2014). Retrieved March 18, 2014, from Wiki-pedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park

Central Park History, (2014). Retrived from http://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/olmsted-parks

Heckscher, M H ( 2011) Creating Central Park, Shenzhen, China.

Figures

Google Earth, (2013) Plan View. Retrieved from Google Earth

Prasad S S, (2014) Central Park Diagram.

Unknown Author, (N.D) Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. Retrieved from http://www.prospectpark.org/about-prospect-park/history/architects

Unknown Author, (N.D) Plan View. Retrieved from http://www.mappery.com/map-of/Central-Park-Map

Unknown Author. (N.D) The Great Hill. Retrieved from http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attrac-tions/great-hill.html

Unknown Author. (N.D) Harlem Meer. Retrieved from http://www.centralparknyc.org/

Unknown Author, (N.D) Wisteria Pergola. Retrieved from http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attrac-tions/wisteria-pergola.html

Unknown Author, (N.D) North Meadow. Retrieved from

Unknown Author, (N.D) The Mall. Retrieved from http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/mall-literary-walk.html

Unknown Author, (N.D) Sheep Meadow. Retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Sheep_Mead-ow_%28Central_Park,_New_York_City%29#mediaviewer/File:3015-Central_Park-Sheep_Meadow.JPG

Unknown Author, (N.D) The Pond. Retrieved from http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/pond.html

Unknown Author, (N.D) The Lake. Retrieved from http://www.centralpark.com/photos/show/11057/summer-day-on-the-lake

Unknown Author, (N.D) Dogwood. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IMG_1527Dogwood.JPG

Unknown Author, (N.D) Red Tailed Hawk. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Red-tailed_Hawk_Buteo_ja-maicensis_Full_Body_1880px.jpg

Unknown Author. (N.D) Swimming Duck. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Swimming_Duck_at_Cen-tral_Park.JPG

Unknown Author, (N.D) Mullberry Street. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulberry_Street_%28Manhat-tan%29

Unknown Author, (N.D) Population Table. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City

Barry Curtis Park

MANUKAU CITY COUNCIL (n.d.). FLATBUSH MASTER-PLAN. Retrieved March 2010, from http://www.manukau.govt.nz/SiteCollectionDocuments/Flat%20Bush%20Draft%20Masterplan%20and%20Built%20Form%20Con-trols.pdf

MANUKAU CITY COUNCIL (n.d.). FLATBUSH PUBLIC DOMAIN MANUAL. Retrieved March 2010, from http://www.manukau.govt.nz/SiteCollectionDocuments/Flat%20Bush%20Draft%20Public%20Domain%20Manual.pdf

MANUKAU SITY COUNCIL (n.d.). FLATBUSH. Retrieved

http://www.michaelyamashita.com/html/galleries/114/book-galleries/new-york-flying-high/18

from http://www.manukau.govt.nz/SiteCollectionDocu-ments/Flat_Bush_Brochure.pdf

Figures

Auckland Council, (2005). Plan View. Retrieved from www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Google Earth, (2013) Plan View. Retrieved from Google Earth

Unknown Author, (N.D) Educational Axis. Retrieved from http://www.isthmus.co.nz/?action=project-detail&id=42

Unknown Author, (N.D) Curltural Axis. Retrieved from http://www.behance.net/gallery/8120529/Barry-Curtis-Park-Ma-nukau-New-Zealand

Unknown Author, (N.D) Storm Water Pond. Retrieved from http://www.isthmus.co.nz/?action=project-detail&id=42

SustainabilityPROJECT SEMINAR

4.0 Sustainability

• Supporting long-term ecological balance.

• The environment must be protected… to preserve essential ecosystem functions and to provide for the wellbeing of future generations; environmental and economic policy must be integrated; the goal of policy should be an improvement in the overall quality of life, not just income growth; poverty must be ended and resources distributed more equally; and all sections of society must be involved in decision making.

• Understanding the many interconnections between economy, society and the environment

• Able to be maintained at a certain rate or level.

• Conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources.

“Sustainability is the process and understanding that landscapes are a fabric of systems and interconnectedness. And that these systems can

form balance or imbalance as relationships between the landscapes change” -George Woolford (Senior Landscape Architect at Bespoke)

1962 - Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, brings together research on toxicology, ecology and epidemiology to suggest that agricultural pesticides are building to catastrophic levels, linked to damage to animal species and human health.

Fig.2. 1970 - First Earth Day. Roach, J. (2009)

Fig.3. 1986 - Chernobyl nuclear station accident generates a massive toxic radioactive explosion. Gillman, L. (n.d.)

Fig.1. Rachel Carson. Radio Green Earth (2011, June 4)

4.0 Sustainability4.1 Contemporary Landscape

Cumberland Park

• Prime Design Consultant: Hargreaves Associates• Civil Engineering: Barge Cauthen & Associates• Structural Engineering: EMC Structural Engineers• W a t e r F e a t u r e D e s i g n : C o m m e r c i a l A q u a t i c

Engineering• Planting & Irrigation: Hawkins Partners, Inc.• Lighting Design: LAM Partners• E l e c t r i c a l E n g i n e e r i n g : P o w e r M a n a g e m e n t

Corporation• Geotechnical Engineering: TTL, Inc.• Environmental Engineering: Civil & Environmental

Consultants, Inc.• Surveying: Thornton & Associates, Inc.• Graphic Design: Blue Tractor Digital Design Co.• General Contractor: Hardaway Construction Corp.• Bridge Building Architect: Hastings Architecture

Associates• Developer: Metropolitan Development and Housing

Agency Program• Manager: American Constructors Inc.• Operator: MetroParks

Fig.4. Cumberland Play Park for FamiliesMeinhold, B. (2012, April 25)

• Architects: Hargreaves Associates + EOA Architects

• Location: Nashville, Tennessee, USA

• Developer: MDHA

• Program Manager: American Constructors

• 2.6 hectares of park 274 meters of riverfront

• 213 meters of esplanade

• 1,200 people for an event

• 3,800,000 liters of storm water captured and reused for irrigation in a typical year

• 200 tons of Tennessee Crab Orchard Sandstone

• 180 trees and 1650 shrubs planted

• 1.6 acres of meadow and riparian grasses restored.

• Undercover hardstand for temporar y basketball courts, skate park or ice rink

• $9.5M construction cost

Fig.5.Cumberland_Nashville_04_HistoricAerial. Hargreaves Associates (n.d.)

Prior to the creation of Cumberland Park the site was a wasteland on the river bank of the Cumberland River in Nashville. As part of the greater river revitalisation plan which was endorsed by the community in 2010. The site now serves as a community park for Nashville residents and is aimed at bringing people back to the riverfront.

The unique design of the site links the park to the river and offers exceptional views across the river to the city via the cat walks that extend out and along the river. The site offers many interactive, recreational facilities for young children and encourages activity through the use of features such as a splash pad, rock climbing wall and slides. The site also features an amphitheatre which can hold events for up to 1200 people.Cumberland Park has been transformed from a riverfront wasteland to a sustainable recreational area for the residents of Nashville. The site has incorporated a number of features help make it sustainable such as geothermal energy for the lighting around the site, cisterns to catch the storm water which is then re used for the irrigation across the site. Cumberland Park serves as a functional recreational park in Nashville and gives residents a reason to come back to the riverfront of Nashville.

4.1.1 Descripection

Fig.6. Cumberland Park transfer. Sina (2013, October 12)

4.0 Sustainability4.1 Contemporary Landscape

Fig.12. Crissy Field, San Francisco. Hargreaves Associates (n.d.)

Fig.11. Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, San Francisco, California. Hargreaves Associates (n.d.)

4.1.2 Hargreaves Associates

Fig.7. Brightwater Wastewater Treatment Facility, Seattle, Washington. Hargreaves Associates (n.d.)

Fig.8. Byxbee Park,Palo Alto, California. Hargreaves Associates (n.d.)

Fig.9. Destination Bayfront, Corpus Christi, Texas. Hargreaves Associates (n.d.)

Fig.10. Belo Garden, Dallas, Texas.Hargreaves Associates (n.d.)

4.0 Sustainability4.1 Contemporary Landscape

4.1.3 Geography

Fig.13. Map. Hargreaves Associates (n.d.)

Fig.14. Hargreaves Associates (n.d.)

Fig.15. Google map.

FIg.16. Riverfront Park Master Plan. Nashville Metro Parks (n.d.)

4.0 Sustainability4.1 Contemporary Landscape

4.1.4 Diagram

4.0 Sustainability4.1 Contemporary Landscape

4.1.5 Concept plan

Fig.17. Master plan. Landezine/Landscape Architecture Works (2014)

4.0 Sustainability4.1 Contemporary Landscape

Fig.18. Cumberland Park Diagram. Hargreaves Associates (n.d.)

4.0 Sustainability4.1 Contemporary Landscape

Fig.19. Cumberland Park Diagram. Hargreaves Associates (n.d.)

4.0 Sustainability4.1 Contemporary Landscape

Fig. 20. Cumberland Park by Hargreaves Associates. Landezine/Landscape Architecture Works (2013, April 19)

Fig. 21. Jazz on Cumberland. Fergusson, D. (2011).

Fig. 22. The Riverbank and Esplanade in Cumberland Park. Landezine/Landscape Architecture Works (2013, April 19)

Fig. 23. Bridge.Archidaily. (2013)

Fig. 24. Cumberland Park. Landezine/Landscape Architecture Works (2013, April 19)

Fig. 25. Building. Landezine/Landscape Architecture Works .(2013, April 19)

4.0 Sustainability4.2 Historic Landscape

Parc des Buttes Chaumont

• Designer

• Engineer: Jean-Charles Alphand,

• Architect:Gabriel Davioud,

• Horticulturist: Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps,

• Landscape Architect:Edouarh-Francois Andre

• Location: 19th arrondissment, Paris, France

• Date: started 1864 and opened 1867

• Size: 24.7 hectares

Fig. 2 The park under construction. Wikipedia (2011).

4.2.1 Descripection

Parc des buttes Chaumont, a place was almost bare of vegetation, the bodies of hanged criminals were displayed after their execution from 13th century until 1760. After French revolution, it became a refuse dump and depository of sewage. Another part of the site was a former gypsum and limestone quarry. The parc des buttes Chaumont is the most acclaimed product of the design team directed by engineer j c alphand supported by horticulturist Jean pieere deschamps, architect edouard andre. J ean ja created all the major parks of Napoleon III ,these park were part of the dramtic plans for the remodeling of paris that were called for by nappleon and under the direction of the prefet of Seine Department of France Baron Hassumann , Hassumann’ s remodeling brought about the boulevards, the building lots, the promenades and street planting that remain inimitable characteristic of paris. The site was also chosen by Baron Hassumann.The landform is the most remarkable feature of the park. It results from an extraordinarily accomplished act of land restoration that remains an object lesson in the use of earth works to create spaces manipulate visitor’s perceptions.

Fig. 1 Before construction.Culture and stuff. (2011).

4.0 Sustainability4.2 Historic Landscape

480 m

700 m

4.2.2 Geography

FIg. 3 Location map.Google Map. (n.d.). Fig. 4 Size of site Google Map. (n.d.).

4.0 Sustainability4.2 Historic Landscape

4.2.3 Concept plan

Fig. 5 Concept Plan. Wikipedia (2011).

4.0 Sustainability4.2 Historic Landscape

4.2.4 Diagram

4.0 Sustainability4.2 Historic Landscape

Fig. 6 Google Map (n.d.).

Fig. 9 Main entrance from Place Armand.Wikipedia. (2011).

Fig. 7 Glamourapartment. (2011). Fig.8. Wikipedia. (2011).

FIg. 10. Location of the island. Wikipedia. (2011). Fig. 11. The Long suspension bridge. Wikipedia. (2011).

4.0 Sustainability4.2 Historic Landscape

The so called suicide bridge

Fig.12. The long bridge. Mxsmanic.(2011). Fig. 13. Suicide bridge. Wikipedia. (2011). Fig. 14. Path to the suicide bridge. Mxsmanic. (2011).

FIg. 15. View looking down from the long bridge. Mxsmanic. (2011). Fig. 16. The view looking down from so called suicide bridge. Wikipedia. (2011)

Fig. 17. View looking down. Mxsmanic. (2011).

4.0 Sustainability4.2 Historic Landscape

Fig. 18. Mxsmanic. (2011). Fig. 19. The Temple de la Sibylle. Guideapolis. (2011). Fig. 20. Jpdelabouverie. (2011).

Fig. 21. Connecting bridge on the cliff of the island. Mxsmanic.(2011).

Fig. 22. A panoramic view across the city. Tripadvisor. (n.d.). F I g. 2 3 . Th e gro t to i s 1 4 m e t re s w i d e a n d 2 0 m e t re s h i g h . Deswaziere, D. (2005).

4.0 Sustainability4.3 Reader

• brownsfield

• Water as attraction

• Urban park

• Paths directing you

• Beside cities

• Both green spaces

4.3.1 Similarities 4.3.2 Differences

• Parc des Buttes Chaumont plants are exotic species

• Cumberland Park plants are 80% native species

• Pa r c d e s B u t t e s C h a u m o n t m o r e n a t u r a l i s t i c , traditional, English garden

• Cumberland Park waterfront park

• Parc des Buttes Chaumont topography, mountain

• Cumberland Park more flat

• Parc des Buttes Chaumont observational park

• Cumberland Park interactive park

Fig. 1. Ground fountain. Meinhold, B. (2012, April 25) Fig. 2. Long bridge. Wikipedia (2011).

‘The phrase “urban sprawl” and the rhetoric of pro and anti urban sprawl advocates all but obsolesce under the realisation that there is no growth with out waste. “Waste

landscapes” is an indicator of healthy urban growth.’

‘Like a biological organism, the urbanised landscape is an open system, whose planned complexity always entails unplanned dross in accord with the dictates of

thermodynamics. To expect a city to function without waste (such as in a cradle-to-cradle approach), which represents the in situ or exported excess not only of its growth but also of its maintenance, is as naïve as expecting an animal to thrive in a sensory deprivation tank. The challenge for designers is thus not to achieve drossless urbanisation but to integrate inevitable dross into more flexible aesthetic and design strategies.’

4.3.3 Drosscape

‘What I ca l l drosscape, or the inevitable “waste landscapes” within urbanised regions that eternally elude the overly controlled parameters, the scripted

programme elements that designers are charged with creating and accommodating in their projects. Adaptively reusing this waste landscape figures to be one of the twenty-first century’s great infrastructural design challenges’

‘What I cal l drosscape, or the inevitable “waste landscapes” within urbanised regions that eternally elude the overly controlled parameters, the scripted

programme elements that designers are charged with creating and accommodating in their projects. Adaptively reusing this waste landscape figures to be one of the twenty-first century’s great infrastructural design challenges’

SustainabilityTHEORY SEMINAR

4.0 Sustainability4.3 Reader

“Drosscape” is a very unique look at the world of design and the future. Written by Alan Berger, a lecturer at M.I.T. Berger states that “America is deindustrialising” cities all over the U.S. are producing large areas of land that he calls ‘waste landscapes’ or “Drosscape” these pieces of land left behind are old land where factories used for many different applications. Many of them leaving waste which has been building up form years and years of use. The land left behind has scared many people away from doing anything with it and therefor abandoned.

A sprawl city is very common in the U.S. and this is where much of the problem comes from, the city is always expanding and the places where the city ’s industr ial zones are now being pushed out to the fringes.

He also puts to us the idea that “dross is natural”. He mentions that “everything is made from something” suggesting that the pollution that is contamination the site is natural. Berger also raises the question that is it possible to have “growth with out waste.” “ Waste landscape” is an indicator of healthy urban growth.” This helps us to understand that its not what were doing, its more the fact that were are thinking about it in the wrong way.

These are not the only benefits f rom “Drosscape”. Berger explains that many big corporations are buying up the waste landscapes and building shopping malls, warehouses and any other various businesses. They manage the problem of waste by covering it up with car parks or other impervious surfaces. Berger agrees that this might not be the best idea the company “saves large sums of money on the purchase of the land”. This again is because of the idea of waste scaring people away when the land is very useable.

Berger believes that we need a different way of design and thinking, to over come the issue of the “Drosscapes”. This means not only think ing outside the box but working together as the “big four”, by this he means landscape architects, urban designers, planners and architects all as one body making decisions on not just dross sites but the city as a whole. He implies the word “Drosscape” means that the “waste landscapes” should be scaped and used to its advantage instead of ignored or destroyed.

The author also talks about the future of the ideas of “Drosscape” saying that we need to avoid ‘being open-ended as to succumb to future schemes that are better organised’. This is another valid point in which raises the question of weather we can design for the future or in terms of design and infrastructure, and if so how far into the future.

This piece of tex t is ver y relevant to not only the United States but also around the world. The ideas of “Drosscape” can be taken into any part of designing in places that have already been used for any use such as farmland and residential housing. Many project in New Zealand have used “waste landscapes”. For example the stone fields housing development at the foot of MT Wellington in Auckland. This in its day was an old quarry, which for may years had no use and has recently been turned into housing for the influx of migrants coming to New Zealand.

Alan Berger believes that dealing with these “waste landscapes” is one of the challenges for the future and thinks that not only a new way of thinking is needed but a much bigger overall plan for the future. He wants us to embrace these “holes” in the city and allow us to understand that “Dross is natural”.

Fig.3. Alan Berger (professor of Urban Design and Landscape Architecture at M.I.T )

SITE VISITSustainability

4.0 Sustainability4.4 Site visit

StonefieldsM A U N G A R E I S P R I N G S

WETLAND

• Location: Stonefields, Auckland, New Zealand

• Landscape Architecture Company: Natural habitats & Surface Design

• Client: Todd Property Group, Auckland City Council

• Size: 5.3 hectare

• Materials: concrete, rock, wood, vegetation, water

• Budget: 2 billion for the whole Stonefields development

• Access: Stonefields Avenue

• A w a r d s : 2 0 1 3 ' P R I D E O F P L A C E ' N E W Z E A L A N D LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AWARDS

4.4.1 Geography

Fig.1. Stonefields. Google Map. (n.d.).

Fig.2. Google Map. Google Map. (n.d.).

4.0 Sustainability4.4 Site visit

Fig.3. Google Map. Google Map. (n.d.).

4.0 Sustainability4.4 Site visit

4.4.2 Master Plan

Fig.4. Master Plan.

4.4.3 History& Quarry

4.0 Sustainability4.4 Site visit

Th e Sto n e f i e l d s vo l c a n i c s i te wa s fo r m e d a l m o s t 9000 years ago. The recorded of Maori activity and o cc u p a t i o n h ave s i x h u n d re d ye a r s . Th e h i l l w a s attaching at the base by stonewall, and have a large huts and food pits away from there.

The Maungarei Springs wetland is heavily influenced by the former quarry, which dominated the site for 65 years prior to the creation of Stonefields. This is evident by the hundreds of rocks, which are situated through and around the site.

The stones have great significance to the history of the site and play a large part in the sustainability in the design with the help of the stones durability, which was one of the main design drivers for Stonefields in the hope of creating a sustainable area for future generations.

“ B l u e s t o n e i n a l l i t s f a r m s f r o m c r u s h e d 1 0 m m aggregate used in concrete to massive hand selected b o u l d e r s a n d e v e r y t h i n g i n b e t w e e n h a s b e e n utilized from the quarry the crafts of stone masonry is celebrated through different types of stonework from dry stack to refined cut stone walks”.

The other benefit is that it creates much healthier habitats not only for the wild life but also the residents. The park is the main green space for residents and having clean water is vital for the health of them. This is important in a place where there might already be harmful toxins in the ground from the former quarry.

Fig. 5. Stonefields (n.d.).Fig. 6. Stonefields (n.d.).

Fig. 7. Stonefields (n.d.). Quarrying.

4.0 Sustainability4.4 Site visit

4.4.4 Vegetation

The large wetland area takes up most of the park, which creates a very pleasant area for residents and visitors to the park to enjoy the surrounding. The wetland its self is about 4 hectares in size. The largest pond is near 150m across its longest side with the smallest being nearer to 80m long

The wetland helps minimise the harmful substances that collect in the ponds through the wetlands plants, which absorb some of the bad stuff. They also help by letting the water run into the ponds in which some of the heavier sediment sinks to the bottom where bacteria and microorganisms break them down into less harmful minerals and substances. This also helps stop the spread into other waterways that the ponds may affect.There are many reasons for this but the main two are cleaning the water for reuse and the other creating healthy habitats

Reusing water is a big par t of the master plan of Stonef ie lds. Al l the run of f f rom roads and water collected from house roofs is filtered through the wetland where it sits while being cleaned. It then can be pumped up when needed for watering the parks and gardens, washing cars and even flushing toilets! This technique has been widely used in Australia where water is at a premium in the summer months.The other benefit is that it creates much healthier habitats not only for the wild life but also the residents. The park is the main green space for residents and having clean water is vital for the health of them. This is important in a place where there might already be harmful toxins in the ground from the former quarry.

Common wetland plants like flax are mass planted alone the path to the first pond from west, this transition from vast open space to the mass planted flax (the height below the eye height) creates a dim view of the pond that attracts people to walk further down to the pond. Sedges like carex are planted around the ponds, this is commonly used for wetland planting, but they soft the hardscape on the on the bank and firm the bank. They also planted toe toe on the terraces of the cliff south of the site. Although it’s a wetland plant but also grow on dry and poor soil. A few strips of toe toe add color to the dry and dull cliff. Also provide a distant view for people.

The Stonefields site is sustainably viable through the filtration of water and through the use of the old quarry and serves as a functional reserve for the local residents of stoneifeilds and will do for many years to come.

4.4.5 Water

Cumberland Park

Images

Roach, J. (2009) Earth Day Facts: When it is, How it began, What to do [Photograph] National Geographic. Retrieved fromhttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/04/090421-earth-day-facts/

Radio Green Earth (2011, June 4) In Celebration of Rachel Carson [Photograph] Retrieved June 3, 2014 from http://radiogreenearth.org/blog/?p=3077

Gillman, L. (n.d.) Aerial View of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant [Photograph] Retrieved June 3, 2014 from http://www.faqs.org/espionage/Ch-Co/Chernobyl-Nuclear-Power-Plant-Accident-Detection-and-Monitoring.html

Meinhold, B. (2012, April 25) Nashville Riverfront Transformed from Wasteland to Cumberland Play Park for Families Retrieved 3 June 2014 from http://inhabitat.com/nashville-riverfront-transformed-from-wasteland-to-cumberland-play-park-for-families/

Hargreaves Associates (n.d.), Brightwater Waste Water Treatment Facility [Photograph] Retrieved from http://www.hargreaves.com/projects/PublicParks/Brightwater/

Hargreaves Associates (n.d.), Belo Garden, Dallas, Texas [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://www.hargreaves.com/projects/PublicParks/BeloGarden/

Hargreaves Associates (n.d.), Byxbee Park, Palo Alto, California [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://www.hargreaves.com/projects/PublicParks/Byxbee/

Hargreaves Associates (n.d.), Candlestick Point State Recreation Area [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://www.hargreaves.com/projects/PublicParks/Candlestick/

Hargreaves Associates (n.d.), Destination Bayfront, Corpus Christi, Texas [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://www.hargreaves.com/projects/PublicParks/DestinationBayfront/

4.0 Sustainability4.5 References

Sustainability

Inerview

George Woolford (Senior Landscape Architect at Bespoke), personal communication, April, 2009

Bibliography

Environment & Heritage. (2014). What is sustainability. Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/sustainability/

Global Learning. (2011). What is sustainability. Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://www.globalfootprints.org/sustainability

Reference

Hargreaves Associates (n.d.), Crissy Field, San Francisco, California [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://www.hargreaves.com/projects/PublicParks/CrissyField/

Hargreaves Associates (n.d.) Cumberland Park [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://www.landezine.com/index.php/2013/04/cumberland-park-by-hargreaves-associate/cumberland_nashville_01_locatorplan/

Hargreaves Associates (n.d.) Cumberland¬_Nashville_04_HistoricAerial [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://www.landezine.com/index.php/2013/04/cumberland-park-by-hargreaves-associate/cumberland_nashville_04_historicaerial/

Sina (2013, October 12) Cumberland Park transfer [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_50ebeb170101bm70.html

Hargreaves Associates (n.d.) Riverfront Park, Nashville, Tennessee [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://www.hargreaves.com/projects/Waterfronts/RiverfrontNashville/

Nashville Metro Parks (n.d.) Riverfront Park Master Plan [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://www.nashvilleriverfront.org/facts.html

Landezine/Landscape Architecture Works (2009-2014) Cumberland Nashville Site Plan [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://www.landezine.com/index.php/2013/04/cumberland-park-by-hargreaves-associate/cumberland_nashville_03_siteplan/

Hargreaves Associates (n.d.) Cumberland Park Diagram 04 [Diagram] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://www.archdaily.com/228388/cumberland-park-hargreaves-associates/diagram-04-21/

Hargreaves Associates (2012 April, 23) Diagram 02 [Diagram] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://www.archdaily.com/228388/cumberland-park-hargreaves-associates/

Landezine/Landscape Architecture Works (2013, April 19) Cumberland Park by Hargreaves Associates [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://www.landezine.com/index.php/2013/04/cumberland-park-by-hargreaves-associate/

Hargreaves Associates (2011). Nashville Riverfront Transformed From Wasteland to Cumber land Park. Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://inhabitat.com/nashville-riverfront-transformed-from-wasteland-to-cumberland-play-park-for-families/cumberland-park-hargreaves-associates-3/?extend=1

Landezine/Landscape Architecture Works (2013, April 19) Cumberland Park [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/1335144258-cumberland-park-photo-11.jpg

Landezine/Landscape Architecture Works (2013, April 19) Cumberland Park [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/1335144191-cumberland-park-photo-10.jpg

Bibliography

Hargreaves Associates (2011). Nashville Riverfront Transformed From Wasteland to Cumber land Park. Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from

http://inhabitat.com/nashville-riverfront-transformed-from-wasteland-to-cumberland-play-park-for-families/cumberland-park-hargreaves-associates-3/?extend=1

4.0 Sustainability4.5 References

Parc des Buttes Chaumont

Images

Culture and stuff. (2011). Parc des Buttes Chaumont [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 fromhttp://cultureandstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Le_Secq_-_Pl%C3%A2tri%C3%A8res_dites_Carri%C3%A8res_dAm%C3%A9rique-589x428.jpg

Wikipedia (2011). Parc des Buttes Chaumont [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Buttes_Chaumont_Charles_Marville.jpg

Google Map. (n.d.). Parc des Buttes Chaumont [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 fromhttps://www.google.co.nz/maps

Glamourapartment. (2011). Parc des Buttes Chaumont [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 fromhttps://www.glamourapartments.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Parc-des-Buttes-Chaumont_4.jpg

Mxsmanic.(2011). A site visit to Parc des Buttes Chaumont [screenshot]Retrieved on 3 June 2014 fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7wbihWoSMM

Guideapolis. (2011). Parc des Buttes Chaumont Paris, 19eme [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 fromhttp://www.guideapolis.fr/resources/MEDIA_ROOT/MEDIA_ROOT/T1270820201000.jpg

Tripadvisor. (n.d.). To Parc des Buttes Chaumont [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 fromhttp://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/02/1d/f1/f8/filename-p1060807-jpg.jpg

Deswaziere, D. (2005). La grotto [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 fromhttp://img.1.vacanceo.net/classic/11262.jpg

Franklin, M. (2005). Buttes Chaumont grotto [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 fromhttps://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8148/7490321630_bbe1f819b1_z.jpg

Bibliography

Tate, A. (2001). "Parc des Buttes Chaumont, Paris". Great City Parks. London: Spon Press.

Culture and stuff. (2011). Parc des Buttes Chaumont Retrieved on 3 June 2014 fromhttp://cultureandstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Le_Secq_-_Pl%C3%A2tri%C3%A8res_dites_Carri%C3%A8res_dAm%C3%A9rique-589x428.jpg

4.0 Sustainability4.5 References

Stonefields

Images

Natural Habitats. (n.d.) Stonefields Flercher living villas [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 fromhttp://www.naturalhabitats.co.nz/pod-images/imagescommercial/StoneAerial_1.jpg

Google Map. (n.d.). Stonefields [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from /www.google.co.nz/maps/preview

Stonefields. (n.d.). MasterPlan [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 fromhttp://www.stonefields.co.nz/Shared/Media/Stonefields/Images/ContentImages/Stonefields%20MasterPlan-v13%205.jpg

Stonefields (n.d.). History [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 fromhttp://www.stonefields.co.nz/shared/Media/Stonefields/Images/BannerImages/history1.jpg

Stonefields (n.d.). Leading water sensitive design [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 fromhttp://www.stonefields.co.nz/config/Shared/Media/Stonefields/Images/ContentImages/ThirdPipeSystem3.jpg

Natural Habitats. (2011). Maungarei Wetland [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://www.naturalhabitats.co.nz/pod-images/blog/WedgeParkandWetlandOfficialOpening-(blog).jpg

Priestley, L. (2011). Retail plan must wait [Photograph] Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://static2.stuff.co.nz/1386021805/783/9469783.jpg

Bibliography

Barrett, m. (2013). Stonefields. Retrieved on 3 June 2014 from http://architecturenow.co.nz/articles/stonefields/

Naturalhabitats. (2013). Stonefields. Retrieved on 3 June 2014 fromhttp://www.naturalhabitats.co.nz/our-news/in-the-media/stonefields

4.0 Sustainability4.5 References

PROJECT SEMINAR

· INFRASTRUCTURE

Introduction to Houtan ParkLandscape Architect: TurenscapeDesigner: Kongjian YuClient/ Owner: Shanghai World Expo Land Development Co . LtdDate: Begun: 2007, Completed: 2010Location: Banks of the Huangpu river, Shanghai Size: 14 Hectares.Dimensions: 1.7km x 30 to 80 Budget: $15.7 million(“Shaghai Houtan Park”, 2011)

The site was “previously owned by a steel factory and a ship-yard, had few industrial structures remaining and was largely used as a landfill and storage place for industrial materials” (Turenscape - Houtan Park”, n.d, para.3) and so was littered with industrial and construction debris before the work began.

The objective of the park design was to create a showcase for the 2010 Shanghai Expo as a regenerative public green space. The park needed to accommodate for a large in-flux of visitors during the exposition from May to October, it also needed to “demonstrate green technologies, trans-form a unique space to make the Expo an unforgettable event, and transition into a permanent public waterfront park after the Expo.” (Turenscape - Houtan Park, 2007)

A Living OrganismThe designers saw Houtan Park as a living organism. A living organism has the ability to adapt, change, and pro-tect itself, and this is how they designed the park. The linear constructed treatment wetland demonstrates how a biologically productive landscape can increase habi-tat biodiversity by using native species, treat polluted wa-ter, and control urban flooding while preserving the re-gional culture and enhancing the beauty of the river front for public space. (Turenscape - Houtan Park, 2007)

The park is a high-performance low-maintenance mod-el of infrastructure seen in landscape architecture. It is achieved through the use of agricultural terraces, treated water, reclaimed industrial structures, and recycled ma-terials from the site. (Turenscape - Houtan Park, 2007)

Figure 2. Water quality improvemnet (Houtan Park n.d.).

Figure 3. - Houtan Park before construction (Houtan Park n.d.).

Houtan ParkHoutan Park is a long narrow area locked between the Huangpu River and an urban expressway. The length of the site on the water edge is 1.7km but only averaging in width between 30 to 80 meters. (Turenscape - Houtan Park)

“Huangpu River is a highly pollut-ed” (“Turenscape - Houtan Park” n.d para 5)and has a national water quality ranking of V the low-est grade on a scale of “I to V and is considered un-safe for swimming and recreation and devoid of aquat-ic life.” (“Turenscape - Houtan Park”, n.d, para.5)

A large concrete wall at top elevation of 6.7m had acted as a floodwall to protect against 1000-year floods, but it was not only rigid and lifeless, it meant that there was no access to the shoreline. This could have been replaced with some-thing more aesthetically pleasing but would still prevent ac-cess to the water and “preclude habitat creation along the water’s edge.” (“Turenscape - Houtan Park”,n.d, para.5) So an alternative flood control design proposal was necessary.

Kongjian YuThe designer of Houtan Park Kongjian Yu was born a peasant's son, he “grew up working in agricultural fields. Land was both part of his daily life and a source of livelihood.” (Xin Yu, 2007) Dr Yu received his Doctor of Design Degree at The Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1995. From here he joined the SWA Group from 1995 till 1997. He has been a professor of architecture and land-scape architecture and also the founder and dean of the Graduate School of Landscape Architecture at Pe-king University (Xin Yu, 2007 and Kongjian Yu, n.d) Dr Yu is the founder and president of Turenscape, which is an internationally awarded firm with around 6 00 pro-fessionals, it is one of the first and largest private archi-tecture and landscape architecture practices in China. He has one many awards for his ecologically and cultural-ly sensitive projects. (Xin Yu, 2007 and Kongjian Yu n.d)

Figure 1 – Concept image of Houtan Park (Houtan Park n.d.).

Houtan Park, Shanghai, PRC.Houtan Park is Kongjian Yu’s largest and most ambitious landscape development. It is situated on a heavily polluted Brownstone site on the Huangpu riverfront in Shanghai, PRC.

Figure 1: Haungpu River in Shanghai (Google Earth).

Figure 2: The site before work on the park commenced (“Land-scape Performence Benefits”).

The park’s constructed wetland, ecological flood control, reclaimed industrial structures and materials, and urban agriculture are integral components of an overall restorative design strategy to treat the polluted river water and re-cover the degraded waterfront in an aesthetically pleasing way.

Yu’s driving motivation in all his landscape work is to re-establish a healthy relationship between the people and nature that was lost by industri-alisation, and to regenerate such sites from the

environmental damage industrialisation caused.

Yu’s goals for the park included:

• Water treatment using wetlands,• Flood control,• Food production,• Creation of wildlife habitat,• Education, and• Social spaces with attractive plantings.

The design strategy, which Yu calls the Art of Survival, was used to transform the site into a living network of systems and thus the park can be called infrastructural. Houtan Park is primarily an example of ecological in-frastructure, but it is also an exceptional example of an infrastructural landscape because it is multi-functional.

Houtan Park Water Cleaning System

River water is pumped into the system at high tide and then moved along a series of terraces by gravitational action caused by the large eleva-tion changes at the site in a sequence of ponds that drop by about 5 metres over the length of the park (from the water’s edge to the road run-ning alongside the park on its southern side).

Figure 3: Plan of the terraces used for water cleaning (Saunders, 2012).

The design of the water cleansing terraces was inspired by the terraces of rice paddies in tradi-tional Chinese agriculture.

After being allowed to settle to remove rubbish and sediment, the river water is filtered through soil under dense rows of trees and aquatic plants before emerging into the first of the ter-races.

At each level of the terraces particular types of pollut-ants and contaminants are removed. Different species of wetland plants were selected for their ability to absorb specific pollutants from the water. These include heavy metals such as lead, fertilisers such as nitrates and phosphates, and biological contaminants. Chemical catalysts are also required to be added during the pro-cess to precipitate out certain pollutants that cannot be easily removed by any other means. Each terrace level is separated from the next by gravel dams that provide additional filtration.

Figure 4: Planting plan specifying the various wetland plants required for water cleansing, including various grasses and rushes (Saunders, 2012).

The water’s final cleansing is via running through sand fil-ters in a process called “polishing”. Finally it reaches the clean water cistern and although it is not sufficiently clean enough to drink it is clean enough to use for irrigation.

In several places at the site, water is aerated (oxygenat-ed) in gravel beds or by trickling down the surface of the roughly textured stone cascade walls, and also create pleasant water features for visitors to view.

Figure 5: Stone cascade wall - one of the aeration strategies at work in Houtan Park (Saunders, 2012).

Figure 6: Water fountains aerate water and create a playful setting for visitors (Saunders, 2012).

Lushly planted, and botanically diverse, the different types of vegetation are organized into different coloured bands, which give the park a modern feel and style.

Paths alongside the water treatment terraces and ponds also create a peaceful and interesting jour-ney and signs along the way explain how the park cleanses the polluted river water. Contemporary styled boardwalks made of sustainable bamboo are strategically placed so that observers can travel deep into the park’s functional wetlands and learn about the processes at work.

Never one to waste anything, the large steel arbours and sculptures which have been artfully installed around the park

to provide shelter from the sun and focal points, have been created from relics of the park’s history as an industrial site.

Figure 8: The skeletal remains of an old warehouse, a relic from the site’s past, has been refashioned into a hanging gar-den and also houses a cafe (Saunders, 2012).

Figure 9: Steel panels, another relic from the site, refashioned into a shelter from the sun for visitors (Saunders, 2012).

The park’s functions also include flood control. When the high concrete sea wall was removed from the river edge it was replaced it with two levees, one along the riverbank that provides protection from twenty-year floods, and a second higher one on the inland edge of the site, which is intended to protect against 1000 year floods.

Since the site was created the biodiversity of the site has improved dramatically. It now has 93 species of plants and over 200 species of animals have been observed there.

While Houtan Park has a very contemporary feel to it, Yu has not ignored the Chinese sensibilities about land-scape design. However, Yu’s ideas for the site involved modernisation of these traditional Chinese landscape features.

These include the terracing, gates and thresholds, lay-ered views, bridge-type structures that are reflected in the water, the red-ribbon running through the centre of the park which references Chinese mythology. You could call these his cultural negotiations.

Figure 10: the red-ribbon walkway (Saunders, 2012).

Field-testing has shown that the system treats around 2,400 cubic metres of water per day; it takes the water a week to arrive in the open-air cistern at the downstream end of the site. When the 2010 Expo (on land adjacent to the Park) was running this water was used to irrigate the Expo site and to fill its fountains and pools. Now the cleaned water is ejected back into the Huangpu River. Once the Expo finished that site was intended to be used as a cultural centre for the region.

While this might be the proverbial clean drop of water in a dirty ocean, Yu recognises that the core of the project is its demonstration of how polluted water can be cleaned by plants and gravity-enabled filtration and aeration. The premise of the project was to create a showcase for ecological services and productive landscapes. His aim is to produce infrastructural models for the massive change that has to come in China’s future. To Yu, the message is more important than the results; the point is, he argues, is to establish the right direction.

It would be difficult to argue against the beauty of the park, but Yu’s vision of beauty is specitically rooted in notions of productivity, agriculture and ecology.

He has said that beauty comes from the satisfaction of a need; that culture is adaption to nature and that the sustain-able solution becomes culture, and sustainability is all about balancing nature with civilisation.

Figure 11: View from Houtan park back towards Shanghai City (Shanghai/Houtan Park, n.d.).

References

Saunders, William S., & Yu, Kongjian (2013). Designed Ecol-ogies: The Landscape Architecture of Kongjian Yu. Basel: De Gruyter.

Shanghai/Houtan Park (n.d.) Retrieved from Arch Dailys Website on . http://www.archdaily.com/131747/shanghai-houtan-park-turenscape/.

Landscape Performence Benefits (n.a., n.d.) In the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s website. Retrieved from: http://www.lafoundation.org/research/landscape-performance-series/case-studies/case-study/424/

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE: Shanghai Houtan Park: Landscape as a Living System (n.a, n.d.) On the American Society of Lan-scape Architect’s website. Retrieved from: http://www.asla.org/2010awards/006.html

Shanghai Houtan Park. (n.a, n.d) In Turenscape’s website. Re-treived from http://www.turenscape.com/english/projects/project.php?id=443

Xin Wu. N.D . YU Kongjian – Biography. Retrieved from http://www.doaks.org/library-archives/icfa/garden-and-land-scape-collections/contemporary-landscape-design-collec-tion/yu-kongjian/copy_of_doaks-gal-dc-yu-bio

N.D . Turenscape- Kongjian Yu . Retrieved from http://www.turenscape.com/English/Designer.php

Images

Yu, Kongjian. (n.d.). In W. S. Saunders (ed.) Designed Ecologies: The Landscape Architecture of Kongjian Yu. Landscape as a Living System: Houtan Park. p169 -183.

Landscape Architecture Foundation. (n.d.) Retrieved from: http://www.lafoundation.org/research/landscape-performance-se-ries/case-studies/case-study/424/

Google Earth. (2014).

Shanghai/Houtan Park (n.d.) Retrieved from: http://www.arch-daily.com/131747/shanghai-houtan-park-turenscape/.

Houtan Park. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.turenscape.com/english/projects/project.php?id=443

Figure 1: Haungpu River in Shanghai (Google Earth).

Figure 2: The site before work on the park commenced (“Land-scape Performence Benefits”).

Figure 3: Plan of the terraces used for water cleaning (Saun-ders, 2012).

Figure 4: Planting plan specifying the various wetland plants required for water cleansing, including various grasses and rushes (Saunders, 2012).

Figure 5: Stone cascade wall - one of the aeration strategies at work in Houtan Park (Saunders, 2012).

Figure 6: Water fountains aerate water and create a playful setting for visitors (Saunders, 2012).

Figure 7: Bands of planting (Saunders, 2012).

Figure 8: The skeletal remains of an old warehouse, a relic from the site’s past, has been refashioned into a hanging gar-den and also houses a cafe (Saunders, 2012).

Figure 9: Steel panels, another relic from the site, refashioned into a shelter from the sun for visitors (Saunders, 2012).

Figure 10: the red-ribbon walkway (Saunders, 2012).

Figure 11: View from Houtan park back towards Shanghai City (Shanghai/Houtan Park, n.d.).

INFRASTRUCTUREPROJECT SEMINAR

Emerald Necklace Name(s): Emerald Necklace (Olmsted called it Green Ribbon) also known as Boston Back Bay Fens project

Location: Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts, United States

Landscape Architect: Fredrick Law Olmsted

Consultants: Arnold Arboretum co-designer Charles Sprague Sargent

Client: Boston park commission

Dates: Designed 1872 to 1892 and constructed by 1895

Cost:Unknown original cost. Over the past decade,almost $60 million in capital expenditures for parks and waterway improvements have been made in the Emerald Necklace by the City of Boston and the Town of Brookline.

Parks:Boston Common 1634Public garden 1837Arnold Arboretum 1872Back Bay Fens 1878Franklin Park 1881The Riverway 1892Olmsted Park 1892Jamaica Pond 1892

Size (Dimensions):Width: 3.33km/2.07milesLength: 7.33km/4.55milesArea: 1,100 acres (445 hectare) (4.5 km2) (Boston Common to Franklin Park)260 acres (approx.) (Jamaica Pond, Olmsted Park, he Riverway, Back Bay Fens)

Walking Route: Length - 7 miles (Boston Common to Franklin Park)3.5 miles (Jamaica Pond to Back Bay Fens)

Figure 1. Emerald Necklace map (Google Maps, 2014).

Figure 2. City of Boston. (City of Boston, 2013).

Function of Emerald Necklace

The Emerald Necklace integrates “ideas of transport infrastructure, flood and drainage engineering, purification functions of wetlands and ecological restoration into the creation of an aesthetic scenic and recreational park landscape for citizens” (Zaitzevsky, 1992).

The Emerald Necklace project is an example of ecological restoration (of Back Bay Fens in particular). The Back Bay was restored to a natural, unpolluted state.

Today the parks have lost much of their original intended function of water purification. The Emerald Necklace now is a place where run off and flood waters drop their silty load before entering the Charles River, and still acts as flood control but the purification feature of the park is mostly in-existent due to the damming of the Charles River. The restoration programs today seem to restore only the scenery and aesthetics of the park and completely miss the underpinning processes that made the Emerald necklace an important infrastructure in Boston.

Today

Boston is “America’s walking city” so walkways and green connections are great for this.

The park meanders past the Museum of Fine Art, internationally known medical, cultural and educational institutions, schools and hospitals. It is a busy area of the city, so the park is widely used by the citizens and tourists.

Figure 3. Boston area. (Google Maps (Boston) 2014).

Boston 1870

-Overcrowded, dense, noisy, dirty.

-Rapid expansion of population because of the Industrial Revolution.

-City crammed with buildings and people. Many citizens were unable to travel outside of the city.

-Park Act passed allowing the government to acquire lands for parks within the city.

-Back Bay was heavily polluted. It got worse as the population grew. It was already “naturally pungent without human input”, but with the discarding of wastes into it as well it turned “septic”. The tide twice a day would make it “tolerable” but as the population numbers increased the quality of the Back Bay decreased.

-Due to the polluted Muddy River people did not want to live near it. Cleaning up the river meant that real estate around the area had benefited and people now had an escape from the crowded urban life.

Figure 4. Boston-1870 (National Park Service, n.d)

Figure 5. Emerald Necklace Parks (Emerald Necklace Conservancy, 2014).

Fredrick Law Olmsted

Fredrick Law Olmsted is highly recognised for his works, a combination of theory and practice that helped shape the American Landscape from city to wilderness. Known for working with processes of nature at Niagara Falls, constructing a forest in Biltmore and for transforming Boston’s polluted Fens and Riverway into public space that enhanced human health, safety, welfare whilst bringing the wild into the city. Olmsted’s vision was believed to be the first attempt to construct a wetland, built on tidal flats and Boston’s floodplains spoiled by sewage and industrial seepage. Functioning as a catchment and flood plane to protect surrounding plains from flooding. Incorporating into a green link interceptor sewers, parkways and street car lines, forming a landscape to accommodate the flow of water, people and waste removal, these structures formed the infrastructural skeleton of Boston.

“To provide a common ground to which all people could come for healthful relief from the pollution, noise and overcrowding of city life. Carriages, horseback riders and pedestrians could enjoy their recreations, and Bostonians could find places for both active play and quiet contemplation. He reshaped the topography to solve major drainage and sewage problems and to create a rustic environment.” (Benfield, 2013.)

However Anne Whiston Spirn an award-winning author and distinguished landscape architect and scholar, was the first to define The Emerald Necklace as an infrastructure, establishing it as the model of combined infrastructure and public space. Influential to her work, which is devoted to promoting life-sustaining communities: places that are functional, sustainable, meaningful, and artful, places that help people feel and understand the relationship of the natural and built worlds.

Figure 6. Jamaice pond .(Google Earth, 2013).

Figure 7. Jamaica pond Map. (Google Maps, 2014).

Jamaica PondName: Jamaica Park/Jamaica Pond

Location: Situated between Jamaicaway, Francis Parkman Drive, Perkins Street and Pond Drive.

Dimensions: Park- Length 0.9km/0.54 miles, Width 0.66km/0.41milesElevations (above sea level) - (South) 24m, (North) 23m, (LP) 17m, (HP) 26mJamaica Pond- Length 0.7km/ 0.45 miles, Width 0.6km/0.39 miles68acres (28 hectares) deepest at 53 feet (16m) averages at 25 feet (7.6m)

Date: 1892

Cost: From 1987 to today $2,660,064 in upkeep and additions.

Circulation: Olmsted enhanced the space with a 1.45- mile pedestrian way that surrounds the pond, and the Jamaicaway, originally a drive for carriage traffic that connects to the Riverway and Arborway parkways within the Necklace. Street parking on Perkins Street. 

Important Features :Jamaica Pond Boathouse Francis Parkman MemorialPinebank MansionPinebank Promontory

Jamaica pond is the largest natural body of fresh water in Boston and was proposed by Olmsted to be included in Emerald necklace. Olmsted described it as "a natural sheet of water, with quiet, graceful shores, rear banks of varied elevation and contour, for the most part shaded by a fine natural forest-growth to be brought out over-hangingly, darkening the water's edge and favouring great beauty in reflections and flickering half-lights." Before 1795, Bostonians relied on local wells, rain barrels and natural springs for drinking water. In 1795, private water suppliers developed a system of 45 miles, which used wooden pipes to carry water from Jamaica pond to the people. From 1790’s to 1848 Jamaica Pond was an important source of drinking water for the Boston population however due to the increasing population the water quality decreased and capacity problems occurred. From 1850’s-1890’s the pond was harvested for ice, harvesting 5,000 tons of ice a day from the pond, and was socially used for skating. As the pond became increasingly polluted fresh water had to be found elsewhere and Jamaica Pond lost use for Boston.

However Jamaica pond is a stark contrast to Back Bay Fens, the Riverway and Olmsted Park as no massive reshaping or designing of land or water was necessary to convert Jamaica Pond into a park. The 68 acre, 53 foot deep pond was formed by glacial movement and is fed by natural springs. Olmsted simply preserved much of the existing vegetation and framed the pond with new trees and shrubs, the park boasts nearly 1 1 acres of forest cover. All (buildings) but Pinebank Mansion were removed and a 1.45 mile (2.3km) walk was built around the natural pond. In contrast as Olmsted pulled a few buildings down during this time the Jamaica plain housing grew with the commercial development, providing homes for workers and commuters all building around the emerald necklace complex.

Jamaica pond may be known for its natural beauty, walking paths and sail-boats, but it also has an infrastructural role, it is the catch basin for storm sewers that run directly into the pond from the adjacent streets. Two main storm sewer pipes run from Parkman Drive from the west, water running through the storm sewer pipes with “traps” that help withhold debris and silt entering the pond. The pipes that run into the pond are solely storm pipes, which are separate from the sanitary sewer lines, however general runoff from surrounding paths and roads drain into the pond, and in recent years this has poured more nutrients into the water that feed pond-choking algae. One pipe is ceramic and sticks out of the ponds embankment across from Parkman Drive, and has cut a large gully into the ground, making it clear that it flows heavily at times. The other visible pipe is at the intersection of Parkman drive and Perkins Street, the long iron pipe extends far into the pond from the shoreline, where

manholes are marked Boston sewer. These pipes are simple blinks of how the landscape operates with the infrastructure.

Jamaica Pond is an important water body in the system network, as it is the source of the muddy river, which then drains into the lower Charles River. Jamaica Pond is served by two parkways, both intended to be integral to the parks, Arborway which connects the park to Olmsted’s previous work Arnold Arboretum (0.7miles(1.1km)), and the Jamaicaway at its eastern side.

“From Tremont Street, southwardly to Jamaica Pond, the waters widen out into pools and ponds, connected by a rapid brook. Besides the scenery a more varied Parkway, the road on the Boston side has been named Jamaica-way, thus, indirectly, by change of name, recognizing the change of landscape character. The public way on the Brookline side is named Brookline Road, the use of the word "road" being appropriate to its rural character.” -- Frederick Law Olmsted, Town of Brookline, Reports, 1889-1890. – Allerton view.

Figure 8. Skating on Jamaica Pond- 1859. (Wikipedia, 2011).

Figure 11. Jamaica Pond walking route – Present day. (Fitnessbyd, 2009).

Figure 10.Jamaica Pond and boat house – Present day. (Wordpress, 2010).

Figure 9. Jamaica Pond – Present day. (Garfield, S, 2008).

Figure 12. Emerald Necklace parks detail of Jamaica Pond. (Emerald Necklace Conservancy, 2014).

Olmsted ParkName: Olmsted Park

Location: Situated between Perkins Street, Pond Ave, Jamaicaway and route 9Dimensions: Park:Length: 1.23km/0.76milesWidth: 0.34km/0.21milesElevations: (above sea level) – (South) 22m, (North) 6m, (LP) 1m, (HP) 24m Leverett Pond:Length 0.45km/0.28miles, Width 0.18km/0.11miles (0.02km/0.01miles shorter side) 12 acres, 8 feet deep (2.5 meters) Ward Pond: Length 0.10km/0.06miles, Width 0.11km/0.07miles. Approx. 2.8 acres, and 6.5 feet deep (2m) Willow Pond: Length 0.07km, Width 0.04km, 0.7acres maximum depth 6 ft (1.8m)

Date: 1892

Cost: From 1987 to today $2,363,683 has been spent on Olmsted park upkeep and additions.

Circulation: East entrance via Jamaicaway, west side via Pond street, South via Perkins street.

Important Features:Six historic pedestrian bridgesStone wallsWalkwaysDaisy FieldThe WoodlandsWildflower MeadowAllerton Overlook

Figure 13. Olmsted Park map. (Google Maps, 2014).

Figure 14. Olmsted Park (Google Earth, 2013).

Olmsted Park Olmsted Park was partially man-made, to ensure the Muddy River be freshwater, a large fresh-water pond near Brookline Village was re-introduced where a large swamp had originally existed, Leverett Pond was dammed, dredged and contoured and connected via a water course (Babbling Brook) to preserved ponds, Wards pond a small kettle pond and the tiny Willow pond via a small outflowing stream for the park system. In the northern section, is a narrow corridor through which the Muddy River flows on its way to the Charles River.

The water travels from Jamaica pond through Wards, Willow and Leverett Ponds before it reaches the Riverway. Leverett pond receives the largest outflow of storm water entering the muddy river. Because of the muddy rivers low gradient (less than 1ft/mi) in the area between Leverett Pond and the Charles River, the pond receives the predominant amount of storm water, occasionally resulting in high water levels and flooding. In 1990’s the average 8ft pond rose to 19ft. Wards pond is surrounded with wetlands(exotics and natives) that are able to withstand poorer soil quality, and constant water flow, for water treatment and catchment before entering the pond, and to reduce silt and poor water quality. Willow pond was intended to divert wet-weather flows downstream to Leverett pond, to prevent stream bank erosion, outflowing the excess water via pipes to the larger ponds conduit. These visual infrastructural components are only half of the process, but allows the infrastructure to be seen but also to be a public space to be enjoyed. The park also forms the broader segment of the Emerald Necklace Park System, with one of the largest historic forest in the necklace with 17 acres of forest cover.

Today modern improvements and additions to the park include two baseball fields, an ice-skating rink, and boardwalk installations at Ward’s Pond which was established as a protected preserve, shoreline rehabilitation and improved parking.

Historically it was an inlet, located adjacent to the stone bridge on the Boston side of Leverett pond is an important detail in Olmsted’s design for the northern end of the park, however has disappeared due to a drop in water level since the parks commencement, old photos show that the pond flowed under the bridge into a bowl-shaped hollow, which helped with water level rises, and flood waters.

Figure 15. Olmsted Park overlooking Leverett pond – 1900. (Zaitzevsky, n.d).

Figure 16. Babbling brook – Present day (Hmattison, 2011).

Figure 17. Leverett pond footbridge – Present day. (American Society of Landscape Architects, 2014).

Figure 18. Emerald Necklace Parks detail of Olmsted Park. (Emerald Necklace Conservancy, 2014).

Figure 19. The Riverway map. (Google Maps, 2014).

Figure 20. The Riverway. (Google Earth, 2013).

The RiverwayName: The Riverway

Location:The Park lies on the boundary of Boston and Brookline, it runs along Riverway Road extending to Route 9 in the south and Brookline Avenue in the north.

Size/dimensions: Area: 34 acres all up. Just less than 8 acres of this is water.Length: 1.4km/0.87 milesWidth: 0.17km/0.43 milesElevations (above sea level): At the northern most point 4-5m, 1m (south), (LP) 0, (HP) 6m.

Date: 1892

Cost:1987 to today on upkeep and additions: $3,769,884

Circulation: Walking/biking routes all along the park connecting to Back Bay Fens and to Olmsted Park through Brookline Avenue and Boylston Street. Riverway Road running along the north-eastern side of the park, connecting to Park Drive, Longwood Avenue, Brookline Avenue, Parkway Road and Netherlands Road. Main pedestrian access points are at Brookline Avenue and Park Drive though the park is accessible in most areas along the road.

Important Features:Gazebo at the Chapel Street BridgeRound House ShelterOlmsted’s stone bridgesBridle PathWalking / biking trailsOpen space for picnics

Figure 22. Riverway - 1895. (Muddy River Restoration Project, n.d.).

Muddy River often mistaken for the natural remnant of the New England landscape in Boston, however it is entirely man-made. Olmsted aimed to make this park look as natural as possible. To escape the city and be among nature he claimed was important for the health of Bostonians. Therefore in his parks he skilfully blended man-made sections with “natural” water and land formations to create a naturalistic park.

The topography of the site was manipulated and planted. Paths, bridle paths (for horses) and carriage roads were laid out thoughtfully to connect spaces, and where only marsh existed; fresh water ponds were created (this is further along the muddy river). The park is described as tranquil yet it is active for walkers, joggers and commuters on the parkways today.

The Muddy River lies on the border of Boston and Brookline. The muddy river was clogged and polluted and was described as “a source of disease”. In response to this, Olmsted created a gently meandering river system and widened it in parts to form a series of fresh water ponds in the river’s upper reaches. The meandering stream is bordered by wide areas of low lying marsh and continues up north as a narrow tree lined waterway. The Muddy River is the 3.5mile backbone of the EN.

This site is infrastructural because the Riverway was used as a cleaning mechanism; as water travelled towards the river it was cleaned through a natural system. It also acts as a flood control, surface run off is directed into the Muddy River, and then an underground water system diverts most of the flow of the Muddy River to the Charles River. This is different from Olmsted’s plan as originally this water flowed through the meanders of Back Bay Fens before entering Charles River.

Figure 21. Riverway - 1907. (Muddy River Restoration Project, n.d.).

Figure 23. Emerald Necklace Parks detail of Riverway. (Emerald Necklace Conservancy, 2014).

Figure 26. Former carriage bridges – Present Day. (Emerald Necklace Conservancy, 2014).

Figure 25. Muddyriver early-spring. (Muddy River Restoration Project, n.d.).

Figure 24. Muddyriver loop. (Weatherall, 2008).

Back Bay Fens Name: Back Bay Fens

Location: The park is sited between Beacon St in the north and the intersection past Brookline in the west, it is bordered by Park Drive and Fenway.

Size/Dimensions: Area: 76 acres all up.Park Length: 0.9km/0.56 milesPark Width: 1/0.62 milesElevations (above sea level: Highest elevation in the most northern part 8m, (South) 3m, (West) 6m, (LP) -1m, (HP) 8m.

Date: 1879

Cost: 1987 to today on upkeep and additions: $11,484,943

Circulation: Walking route from Commons to Riverway through the park. There is a mixture of paved and unpaved roads and crossings. Bikes are encouraged to drive on the road not through the park. Fenway bordering the east end of the park and Park Drive on the west side. Park is accessible from any road due to paths running along the border of the park.

Important features:Basketball CourtsBaseball FieldsRunning TrackClemente FieldJames P. Kelleher Rose GardenCommunity GardensJapanese Temple BellShattuck Visitor CenterWorld War II / Vietnam / Korean War MemorialO’Reilly StatueMother’s Rest PlaygroundWalking / biking trailsOpen space for picnics

Figure 27. Back Bay Fens map. (Google Maps, 2014).

Figure 28. Back Bay Fens. (Google Earth, 2013).

Back Bay Fens

Back Bay Fens was a highly polluted saltwater marshy area or swamp that flooded and endangered citizens’ health due to the contamination of the site. It was a dumping ground, an area of disposed wastes. This was a sanitation problem as well as an unattractive and malodorous site right at the centre of the city. In 1878 Olmsted was given the contract to design BB Park, he and John Charles researched the site, refined their plan and then the “Proposed Improvement of Back Bay” was published in 1879. Olmsted’s task was to “fix” this problem, so to do this he designed a park that restored the marsh to its previous “tide marsh ecology of the Fenway area”. The design allowed for a continuous flow of water by controlling the level of it, through the use of flood gates.

He changed the name from Back Bay Park to Back Bay Fens as he did not consider it as being a park because he believed it was a “sanitary improvement”.

The site was carefully graded and planted up to look natural.

2/3 of the Fens was dredged and filled. Filling in of the flats started on 1837, and by 1890 the wetland was filled to an average depth of 20 feet.

Back Bay Fens is a storage basin for storm water and to divert sewage flowing into the Fens so marsh can be restored and for aesthetic reasons. When dammed, meadows or lawns replaced marsh in some areas.

Charles S. Sargent who is the director of the Arboretum helped Olmsted with plant selection for the site; the Fens was planted up with over 100,000 plants, many of which were experimental. Due to some plants dyeing the Fens had to be replanted. But within 10 years the marshy landscape could fool the visitor that it had always been there. Horticulturist William L. Fischer who worked with Olmsted on central park, planted all of the trees. Olmsted used mostly native plants and some hardy exotics to give it a “wild” appearance of the area.

1910 the Roxbury Mill Dam was built on Charles River, causing the water in Back Bay Fens to be fresh water not brackish as it was previously (mix or fresh and salt water). This dam cut off the tidal flow of the Atlantic Ocean to the Back Bay area which came twice a day to wash out the sewage from the bay. The change in salinity changed the environment to one the plants could not tolerate, causing many of the marsh plants to die. With the death of the plants the site was again treated again as a dumping ground. However it has been restored.

Over time landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff added new features such as sport facilities and the Rose garden. These and other features such as the victory gardens were not originally in Olmsted’s design.

In 1996, 1999 and 2001 Muddy River flooding: damages to homes around the river so currently solutions to this are envisioned and plans are made to prevent this in the future. However since the Emerald Necklace is a historic site, great changes to the park cannot be made.

Figure 29. Dredging Back Bay Fens -1882. (National Park Service, n.d.).

Figure 33. Mud River After Construction - 1920. (National Park Service, n.d.).

Figure 36. Back Bay Fens – Present Day. (Emerald Necklace Conservancy, 2014).

Figure 30. Mud River During Construction - 1892. (National Park Service, n.d.).

Figure 31. Back Bay Fens - 1907. (Muddy River Restoration Project, n.d).

Figure 32. Back Bay Fens - 1907. (Muddy River Restoration Project, n.d.).

Figure 34. Muddyriver bridge. (Muddy River Restoration Project, n.d.). Figure 35. Vegetation. (Muddy River Restoration Project, n.d).

Figure 37. Emerald Necklace Parks detail of Back Bay Fens.(Emerald Necklace Conservancy. 2014).

Commons and Public Garden

Figure 38. Commons and Public Garden map. (Google Maps, 2014).

Figure 39. Commons and Public Garden. (Google Earth, 2013).

Boston Commons and Public Gardens

Boston common Length 0.48km Width 0.42km and 0.14 at short end Public garden Length 0.24km Width 0.40km

Emerald Necklace also includes Boston Commons, and the public gardens, established in 1634 and 1837 respectively. Olmsted’s vision was to link these existing spaces with the rest of the proposed parks. Together the spaces cover 73 acres of land at the North/east end of the Emerald Necklace system. The public garden was said to be petitioned for by philanthropist Horace Gray as the first public botanical garden, a competition won by architect George Meacham, whose paths and flower beds were laid out by engineer James Slade and forester John Galvin. At the southern end of the Emerald necklace system lies one of Olmsted’s earlier works in partnership with Charles Sprague Sargent Arnold Arboretum, north America’s first public arboretum. Established in 1872 the arboretum covers over 280 acres, with more than 15,000 plants ranging from trees, shrubs and vines. Altitude ranges from 15m to 79m at the top of Peters Hill. Comprised of four service greenhouses totaling at 348m², shade house of 293m², a 357m³ cold storage facility and 3 irrigated, in ground nurseries totaling 6,000m².

Commonwealth avenue mall is a greenway approx 1.5miles/2.4km, (32 acres) designed by Arthur Delevan Gilman and then Frederick Law Olmsted who designed the Newton portion of Commonwealth Ave and included the parkway as part of the Emerald Necklace park system. Designed in the French Boulevard style, is testimony to the Victorian era, in which a central public open space or a boulevard lined with trees and fenced with iron picket fence enhanced the townhouses and served as a public promenade. From building face to building face, it’s about 200 feet(60 meters). There’s a central 100-foot-wide(30m meters) pedestrian mall for strolling and sitting.

Arnold Arboretum

Arnold arboretum Length 1.72km Width 0.80km

Figure 41. Arnold Arboretum Maps. (Google Maps, 2014). Figure 40. Arnold Arboretum - 1900. (Jamaica Plain Historical Society. (1993).

Figure 43. Arnold Arboretum aerial photo - 2010. (Emerald Necklace Conservancy Green Team, 2010).

Figure 42. Arnold Arboretum. (Google Earth, 2013).

Figure 44. Emerald Necklace Parks of Arnold Arboretum. (Emerald Necklace Conservancy, 2014).

Franklin ParkFranklin Park was established in 1885.

It is 485 acres in total now although originally it was 527 acres.

It used to be a sheep meadow, which then got converted into a park.

It is considered as a “country park”, a “crowning jewel” of Friederick Law Olmsted’s Boston parks.

It is not in the middle of the more populated centre though is extremely popular. Considered to be important for the physical and mental state of city dwellers “exclusively with reference to the enjoyment of rural scenery”.

Topographical feature: gentle valley.

The Wilderness is a historic forest designed by Olmsted to be part of Franklin Park. This wilderness takes up 65 acres of the country meadow that the rest of the park is. Creation of it allows for the woodlands to be within the city.

It has many functions/facilities: Franklin Park is a woodland reserve, and is an area for active recreation and sport. It has a Zoo, golf course, basketball courts, baseball fields, tennis courts and cricket pitch, playground, walking/hiking tracks, cross-country track, open space on which public events are usually held, a stadium and the list goes on. This is an extremely active space compared to the rest of the Emerald Necklace Parks offering a variety of activities for people.

Here is a quote from the Emerald Necklace conservatory website that sums up the function of the park nicely: “the park brings together rural scenery, spectacular rock outcroppings, a woodland preserve, expansive pastoral vistas and an area for active recreation and sports. The park has six miles of roads and fifteen miles of pedestrian and bridle paths. With an annual children’s festival and special events throughout the year, the park is a popular destination for area residents, school children and visitors from across the region.”

Figure 45. Franklin Park Map. (Google Maps, 2014)

Figure 46. Franklin Park. (Google Earth, 2013).

Figure 47. Emerald Necklace Park Franklin Park. (Emerald Necklace Conservancy, 2014).

Parkways A parkway is a broad thoroughfare with a strip of vegetation dividing it in the middle or alternatively the plants are at the sides. Olmsted created many parkways in his design of the Emerald Necklace. Originally these were intended as a pleasure route for carriages following the meandering Muddy River. These paths were generated to connect the series of parks from Back Bay Fens to Franklin Park.

Today with the addition of the Commonwealth Avenue Mall this system connects to the Public Garden and the Boston Common north-east of the park. Olmsted’s paths in the Emerald Necklace park are strategically placed to cut through different levels (so one path was higher than another with a vegetation strip in between). This provided a different view from each of the paths, divided foot and carriage traffic, and a lower path meant the visitors did not see the city which allowed them to escape into the pocket of nature that the Emerald Necklace was. Arborway, Jamaicaway, Riverway and Fenway are all parkways of the Emerald Necklace. Today these are main commuter routes, though they still provide glimpses of the park. There are also plenty of paths within the park, some taking the walker closer to the water, or over it via a bridge.

Bostonians were able to travel for miles surrounded by naturalistic landscapes due to the Emerald Necklace being a linear park even though the single parks weren’t that large themselves. Places where parks were unable to be built, tree lined paths and parkways were created to connect green spaces.

Figure 48. Parkways. (Emerald Necklace Conservancy, 2014).

Figure 49. Parkway. (American Society of Landscape Architects. (2014).

Figure 50. Emerald Necklace Diagram

Similarities with Houtan Park

PollutionLife qualityInfrastructuralFunctionFlood controlPublic recreationLinear parksStructured around riverContinuous integral pathways

Differences with Houtan Park

SizeSiteTopographyPlantsGardensReasons to be builtUrbanisation

References:

Books:

Boston parks and recreation department. (2002). Open space plan Renewing the Legacy…Fulfilling the vision - 2002-2006. Part 4: Open Space Management Mission. The Emerald Necklace. America: City of Boston Government.

Cronon, W, (ED.) (1996). Uncommon grounds. Rethinking human place in nature. America: W. W. Norton.

Walmsley. Pressley Joint Venture et al. (1989). Emerald Necklace Parks Master plan. Boston, MA: Boston GreenSpace Alliance.

Weatherall, H. (2008). 60 Hikes within 60 miles. United States of America: Menasha Ridge Press.

Websites:

American Society of Landscape Architects. (2014). The landscape architect’s guide to Boston: Emerald Necklace. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.asla.org/guide/site.aspx?id=40785 Benfield, K. Switchboard Natural Resources Defense Council Staff Blog. (2013). http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/bostons_emerald_necklace_sets.html

City of Boston.gov. (2014). Parks and recreation: Emerald Necklace. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.cityofboston.gov/parks/emerald/ Emerald Necklace Conservancy. (2014). Emerald Necklace Conservancy. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.emeraldnecklace.org/ Jamaica Plain Gazette. (2010). Storm sewers drain into pond. (2014). Retrieved from http://jamaicaplaingazette.com/2010/01/22/storm_sewers_drain_into_pond/ MapMyFitness, Inc. (2014). 1.8 miler - Leverett Pond Loop. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.mapmyrun.com/us/brookline-ma/1-8-miler-leverett-pond-loop-route-49809694 MWRA Online. (2013). Metropolitan Boston’s Water System History: Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.mwra.com/04water/html/hist1.htm

Jamaica Plain Historical Society. (1993). Arnold Arboretum – 1900. Retrieved from http://www.jphs.org/people/2005/4/14/ignatius-sargent-and-the-arnold-aboretum.html

Muddy River Restoration Project. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.muddyrivermmoc.org/the-muddy-river-early-spring-2013/

National Park Service. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/86bostonparks/86visual1.htm

Weatherall, H. (2008). 60 Hikes within 60 miles. United States of America: Menasha Ridge Press.

Wikipedia. (2011). Ice skating on Jamaica Pond, West Roxbury, Mass. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jamaica_Pond,_Wext_Roxbury,_MA_-_skating_scene_(1859).jpg

Wordpress. (2010). Jamaica Pond Boat House. Retrieved from http://exploringvenustas.wordpress.com/2010/08/14/reflections-on-water/

Zaitzevsky, C. (n.d). Olmsted Park overlooking Leverett pond – 1900. Retrieved from http://www.highstreethill.org/history/olmsted.html

Wright, Horace W http://www.biodiversitylibrary/creator/83168. (1910). Some Rare Wild Ducks Wintering at Boston, Massachusetts, 1909-1910. America: The Auk.National Park Service. N.d. Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/86bostonparks/86visual1.htm

Picture References Emerald Necklace

American Society of Landscape Architects. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.asla.org/guide/site.aspx?id=40976

American Society of Landscape Architects. (2014). The Landscape Architect’s Guide to Boston: Emerald Necklace. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.asla.org/guide/site.aspx?id=40785

City of Boston. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/emeraldn_tcm3-4403.pdf

Emerald Necklace Conservancy. (2014). Emerald Necklace parks. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldnecklace.org/park-overview/park-map/

Emerald Necklace Conservancy Green Team. (2010). Arnold Arboretum aerial photo. Retrieved from http://encgreenteam.wordpress.com/2010/12/09/all-about-the-arnold-arboretum-by-finness/

Fitnessbyd. (2009). Jamaica Pond walking route. Retrieved from http://www.fitnessbyd.com/4-fantastic-spots-for-boston-runners

Franklin Park Boston Wikipedia. (2009). Retrieved from http://en.wik ipedia.org/wik i/Fi le:1906_Frank linPark_Boston_LOC040079v.jpg

Garfield, S. (2008). Jamaica Pond panorama. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevegarfield/2969811600/Google Earth. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.google.com/earth/index.html.

Google Maps. Boston. (2014). Boston area. Retrieved from https://www.google.co.nz/maps/@42.3033892,-71.1654391,12z

Google Maps. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.google.co.nz/maps/place/Emerald+Neck lace/@42.3225351,-71.1169683,17zdata=!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e37975b042c2ff:0xf5dee3300098dd59

Hmattison. (2011). Babbling brook. Retrieved from http://www.panoramio.com/photo/49177645

INFRASTRUCTURETHEORY SEMINAR

This essay comes from beginning of the Mesh Book: in-frastructure/landscape. As an introduction to the book, authors Julian Raxworthy and Jessica Blood introduce the concept of infrastructure as imperceptible. They in-troduce Peter Connolly’s section further on in the book with the idea that by focusing on visual effects of infra-structure will cause one to fail to recognize its functions.

An Aesthetic of Infrastructural Landscapes.

To focus on the visual ‘affects’ of public space and more importantly infrastructure is to fail to identify the more sig-nificant, its “functioning’s”. These first paragraphs raise the views of visible infrastructure in urban society. The au-thors begin, reminding us and themselves that this topic is timely, and that the interest in landscape infrastructure began from an initial aesthetically driven discussion, us-ing contemporary projects such as Alexander Chemetoff’s Bamboo garden and Enric Batlle and Joan Roig’s Parc Trinitat as examples of its practise in landscape. Suggest-ing that these projects are the emerging formal prototypes coming from the essential muscularity of infrastructure. And thus giving landscape architects an opportunity to re-connect with urban, something futilely achieved since Olmsted. Produced in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the projects “models” were influenced from the trend of the period of “deconstruction”. Focusing on the visual of the order or systems at work in the landscape, making the hid-den muscularity of infrastructure public and popular. Rax-worthy and Blood conclude that this period was a mere celebration- show of modern technology.

In the next paragraph Raxworthy and Blood focus on the rise of the aesthetics in infrastructure in response to com-munity backlash, about its celebration in their expense. Comparing it to wanting quality living, but not caring of its “look”. Stating community support the improvement of infrastructure in theory, but when it is located in their com-munity, they oppose the idea of it, as it’s in their back yard. (NIMBY-NOT IN MY BACKYARD) Consequently constrain-ing designers, where justification of building infrastructure is required and achieved through diverting attention from the “mongrel”, via “embellishment”. Contrast to those that work in the realm of infrastructure, who embrace and revel in its importance and its scale in the city and its effects on society. However this conflicting view on the importance of infrastructure is what has lead contemporary infrastruc-ture to sit between celebration and beautification, where decoration to distract from the working system is the go to approach. Examples include Taylor Cullity Lethlean who

The Mesh Book:Landscape/Infrastructure

Julian Raxworthy and Jessica Blood (2006 RMIT)

Julian Raxworthy• Worked as a landscape tradesman prior to becoming

a registered Landscape Architect.• Was a Senior Lecturer at Royal Melbourne Institute

of technology (2004) and Queensland University of Technology (2011).

• Cofounder of RMIT student landscape architecture journal Kerb.

• Visiting critic (2004 & 2005) and Research Masters Examiner (2005) at UNITEC.

Jessica Blood• Worked at school of Architecture + Design Landscape

Architecture department at RMIT• Co-wrote the Mesh Book: Landscape/infrastructure

Definition of infrastructureThe defintion of Infrastructure as de-fined by the Oxford English Dictionary is “The basic physical and organizational structures and fa-cilities (eg buildings, roads, power supplies etc) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise”. But as landscape architects we see that infrastructure is longer limited to streets and underground networks of pipes and wires, but includes the benefits gained by conserving and restoring urban forests, maintaining open spaces and incorporat-ing closed loop hydrological systems and providing fa-cilities for alternative low-impact transportation systems.

designed Auckland’s North Wharf Promenade waterfront. Raxworthy and Blood raise the debate between land-scape architects and communities on the importance of infrastructure, through its visibility and liking infrastructure for the wrong reasons.

Functionality, Modern-ness and Obsolescence of Infrastructure

This section is composed of three paragraphs, the main ideas of which are stated in the title of the section; func-tionality, modern-ness and obsolescence of infrastructure.

FunctionThe overall idea of this paragraph is that without func-tion, no infrastructure can exist. Infrastructure must sup-port something else to be an infrastructure, either support structurally or functionally. Julian Raxworthy and Jessica Blood compare landscape architecture with architecture disciplines stating that in architecture all infrastructures have a function, where in landscape architecture there is the concept of “appearing” as infrastructural. The authors argue that this cannot be regarded as infrastructure unless it had an actual function or appears to have a function.Functionless though ‘aesthetic’ “infrastructure” therefore is correlated to an ornament; a decoration to beautify some-thing but is not a fundamental framework with a particular responsibility that is infrastructure.

Modern-ness This paragraph conveys that infrastructure helps us mod-ernise and advance technologically; “Infrastructure is the ‘leg up’ for the next level of quality of life”. The examples the authors give us of this are things such as new roads, which are more convenient for drivers, and the expansion of sewer capacities to allow development of real estate in new areas. Private sector and government funding of projects is compared. Raxworthy and Blood talk about in-frastructural projects as business opportunities. Projects are unable to obtain any funding unless the investor profits from the project. They use a toll road to explore this idea. The importance of private funding to allow new infrastruc-ture to get built is then discussed with the Victorian City Link project as an example. The paragraph is conclud-ed with the idea that perhaps the focus of infrastructure should not be on the making of profits and asks the reader the question “who takes responsibility for infrastructure provision?”

Obsolescence of Infrastructure The last paragraph begins with looking at other writers

who discuss the ideological importance of infrastructure to landscape architecture. The Roman and Greek views of infrastructure are compared. Roman infrastructure is said to be an icon of a healthy public realm, it is a creation in an “artistic manner” which serves as a place of gathering, where the Greek origin of the public realm is “a place in which one could participate equally”. Julian Raxworthy and Jessica Blood conclude that the early infrastructure of Romans could be misread as public where in actual fact it could have been an expression of their “technological modernity” at the time, which they claim is the case for in-frastructure today. So the authors leave us to question the possibility of infrastructure serving as a way of creating a public space.

The Landscape is an InfrastructureThis section of the reader explains how infrastructure is all around us and we live in it everyday. Even though we may not see it, it is a necessity in order for us to live. Examples such as Black Bay Fens project (The Emerald Necklace) by Fredrick Law Olmsted demonstrate how this project can be picturesque, naturalistic, have a open space plan-ning function and also have a ecological function. In the it text says that we need to harness the elements provided to us and use them as an extra palette of materials to help us as Landscape Architects.

The Disappearance of InfrastructureOver the last ten years, ecology has become an important analogy for Landscape Architecture. But the industry has limited itself to hydrologic systems – the very visible and ubiquitous wetlands, rain gardens and swales, and real infrastructure – the systems that are hidden – have been ignored – the industry’s focus on hydrologic systems is insufficient. Raxworthy and Blood argue that the Land-scape Architecture industry have therefore disengaged themselves from the “very concrete of infrastructure” - all of the invisible or intangible systems that affect a site. Landscape Architecture needs to address all of these in-frastructural systems – the ecological, the geological, po-litical and the economic.

Raxworthy and Blood conclude that to work infrastructur-ally is to locate strategic moments that converse a number of disciplines that achieve significant outcomes, whilst en-couraging the potential in landscape architecture and in-frastructure. They challenge landscape architects with the idea that everything has infrastructure, but not everything is infrastructure. Concluding, the authors then encourage us to work infrastructurally; to be aware about the under-

pinning framework and systems of a site, rather then to set out to build an infrastructure for the sake of building an infrastructure.

“Like high-rise housing, also during the same time, where the community wants a quality of life part of this ‘Modern’ age, it may not necessarily be interested in the ‘look’ of it.”The Mesh Book – pp 154

“The model of the Roman aqueduct provides a tangible precedent for the possibility of infrastructure being an icon of a healthy public realm: the provision of resources in an artistic manner, by the government, which in themselves become an artefact for community engagement. ”The Mesh Book – pp 156

“There is a form of analogy between the systems of the landscape and their representation as infrastructure. Thus, to speak of water is both to speak of the flexible, dynamic system of hydrology as well as the conventions of its delivery in urban development.”The Mesh Book – pp 158

“The adherence to water by landscape architects and the main point of its agency in infrastructure has also re-duced its functional relevance, which is an important no-tion for infrastructure because its root is nothing more than function. In becoming more sophisticated, it is doing so by somehow demonstrating or interpreting this function, putting landscape architecture into a formal or perhaps ornamental role, thereby disengaging itself again from the substance, the very concrete, of the infrastructure.”The Mesh Book – pp 158

“In the meantime, let’s not talk about infrastructure, please; let’s just talk, and work, infrastructurally.”The Mesh Book – pp 161

INFRASTRUCTURESITE VISIT

INFRASTRUCTURE

Bayside Stormwater ReserveLocation: 1 Crestview place, Browns Bay, Auckland, New Zealand

Landscape Architecture Company: Boffa Miskell

Project Leader: Mark Lewis Landscape Architect, NZILA (G5)

Project Manager, Lead Designer: Sarah Collins Landscape Architect, FNZILA (R)

Consultants: Dempsey and Wood Civil

Client: North Shore Council

Dates: Designed and construction commencement 2008-2009, Completed 2010

Size: Length: 0.27 km (265m)

Width: 0.8km (77m)

Area: 20405 m² (0.02km ²) 5 Acres/2.05 HA

Materials: Concrete, turf grid, rocks (boulders), Macrocarpa timber, vegetation (e.g. flax-cabbage, kahikatea-swamp maire, sedge-rushland)

Budget: $1,000,000

Access: Crestview Place and Nigel Road (pedestrian ac-cess)

Awards:

Arthur Mead Environmental Award 2010 - New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects’ 2010 Resene Pride of Place Awards

Bronze Award in the Landscape Design – Rural/Park/Recreational Category of the New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects’ 2010 Resene Pride of Place Awards

Figure 1. Bayside Stormwater Reserve (Google maps, 2014).

Publications:

Allan, P. et al. (2010, December). IFLA Newsletter Land-scape Protection, 90, 10-18. Retrieved from http/www.chsla.org.cn/cn/spec/IFLANews_90.pdf

PaiseaDos. (2011, April). Landscape Architecture Re-view.Australia, New Zealand. Boffa Miskell, 5, 36-41.

Pistacchi, Ann. (2010, August). Bayside stormwater pro-ject-from principles to practice. New Zealand local govern-ment, v.46 n.8:p.24-25;

Bayside Stormwater ReserveIntroduction

Bayside Stormwater Reserve is a Boffa Miskell water infra-structural project. In partnership with North Shore City Coun-cil the project focused on the rehabilitation of a poor func-tioning concrete channel and graded storm-water pond into a naturalized stream channel and storm water wetland-pond in the Taiaotea upper catchment. The projects purpose was to improve storm-water management, flood control, enhance the local landscape, character, ecology and create recrea-tional value facilitating community use and appreciation. The design was highly influenced by its social surrounding and local resident’s needs, locals also helped design the drain cover and were heavily involved with planting. Boffa Miskell a leading New Zealand environmental planning and design consultancy, who work nationally and internationally on urban design, landscape architect, planning and ecology projects. Head landscape architect on the project Mark Lewis special-ises in catchment management, ecological restoration and water sensitive design, described the project as an “opportu-nity to extend what could have been a routine maintenance project into a demonstration project for sustainable design.” As the design evolved and layers of design and function be-came prominent, he later summarised the design as “a mul-ti-faceted approach to storm water design in line with North Shore’s storm water strategy programme.” The sites overall design explores the relationship between restoration infra-structure programmes and being a public space.

PublicnessFrom the beginning of design the project received high lev-els of positive community engagement which was achieved through the North Shore City Councils consultation program, Mark who is part of the NSCC says that “one of the objectives was to create a sense of community involvement and owner-ship with an increased environmental awareness in the local area.” The community understood exactly what was happen-ing in ‘their reserve’ at every step, and felt comfortable that their input had been acknowledged.

The Council engaged more intensively with the 20 private property owners downstream of Bayside Reserve to assist with stream enhancement activities on private land. Every household came on board and embraced the project, learn-ing about the function of the stream, native plants, and pest issues.

Land- owners became actively involved in the project, con-

sistently returning monthly to plant the stream edge and boundary. Between May and September 2009, more than 200 local residents had planted around 6000 plants and trees in the neighbourhood around the stream and reserve. The re-opening of Bayside reserve in August attracted a crowd of around 150 locals many of whom had helped plant the area in its construction.

Along with the local backing, a series of environmental inter-pretation panels were located around the reserve to provide informative details about the features that aid in the storm wa-ter treatment and local wildlife that dwell there. These panels were added after the opening to inform the wider community and visitors of the site to learn and appreciate the reserves infrastructural purpose and give insight to how it works.

The site provides the basic amenities for a public space, such as sealed footpaths, passive recreation spaces, large green fields and a playground, which all help enhance the value of the site as a public space as well as an infrastructural project.

The site was designed to increase environmental awareness of a local area through community involvement and owner-ship. The Bayside Restoration Project is part of a long-term programme right across North Shore City to improve stream and storm-water systems, while involving the community to better understand the importance of these infrastructures. This in turn will improve the environment and lifestyle of the area for the wide community.

DesignNorth Shore City Council commissioned this project with the requirement that it was designed to be an exemplary prod-uct to demonstrate the potential of storm-water reserves providing multiple environmental benefits. With this in mind, Boffa Miskell made sure that the site not only functioned as storm-water infrastructure pond but also allowed public ac-cess and passive recreation.

There are two pedestrian entrances on Crestview Place and one on Nigel Rd allowing easy access for the surrounding community and have been designed to showcase the bio-technical aspects of this site.

The site also provides a small children’s playground nearest the Crestview Place entrance, large grassy areas that have been left open between the south most Crest Place entrance and the pond to allow passive recreation, both providing fur-ther reasons for local people to visit the site. As we continue through the site, the paths soon merge into one and loop around the pond allowing a full view of the wa-ter treatment as well as two bridges, which look directly upon

vegetated islands and a jetty for visitors to the site to connect further with the water. Throughout the site there are detailed information panels in key locations which give the reader in-teresting facts and information about the biotechnical aspect of the site.

InfrastructureBayside Storm-water Reserve deals with runoff from the sur-rounding land, by treating it as it is collected within the site and as it travels through it. This reserve cleans the water before it enters the sea at Browns Bay enhancing the water quality of the beach. The site no longer met the storm water manage-ment design guidelines so a new design was built. This de-sign like the Emerald Necklace aimed to create a functioning landscape where the infrastructure is invisible as though the landscape was naturally occurring.

This project turned a 100m concrete channel into naturalised stream at the south side of the reserve. Dry stone rock con-struction is fixed in the stream to adjust the water flow, and control flow energy. Weir structures (barriers) alter the flow creating a slightly meandering stream and a series of cas-cades slow the water movement. The longitudinal slope was reduced from 6% to 1% to further reduce water flow speed.

Figure 2. Stormwater infrastructure (PaiseaDos, 2011, April).

Slopes

Pipes were cut back and concrete infrastructure was replaced with Filtrexx vegetated walls that look naturalistic. This infra-structure was used to create a rolling landform around the pond resembling the intention behind the Emerald Necklace. Filtrexx, erosion control mats and sock fascines are used in steep areas such as at pond edges to stabilize slopes to con-trol erosion and strengthen riparian borders. This is made out of compost or recycled organic materials such as coir and cleanses the water that passes through it. Wetland planted margins also help purify water and help stabilises slopes.

PondThe pond collects and holds storm-water which is then slowly released at a controlled rate, allowing downstream areas not to erode or flood. Underwater typography (bathymetry) was re-contoured to create flood storage increasing the volume of the pond to 12,720m3. The area around the pond is de-signed to accommodate possible raised water levels. Added depth to the pond also allows for sedimentation on the pond flood which prevents bigger particles travelling further down the steam.

The creation of a “natural” pond allows natural processes to also aid in treating water such as fish, insects, bacteria and plants.

The pond is surrounded by 1.5m concrete tracks with an ad-jacent 2m lawn area which all up provides 3.5m wide access for people and maintenance vehicles where required.

Forebays and IslandsThere are two forebays which are located where the streams enter the pond, they trap large pieces of dirt from entering the pond and retain sediment. They are also graded to be able to contain a large amount of water for flood management. Gabi-on wall structures at the forebay edges (where stream enters the pond) are built into the land for stability in cases of heavy water flow. Gabions are cages filled with rock/concrete. In each of the forebays there is an island. These are filled with wetland plants that trap dirt and filter water.

Figure 3. Stormwater system (green)

PipesThis artistic cage covers the pipe that connects the pond to the stream. It holds back large debris and vegetation from creating blockages downstream. The dome is steel, hot-tip galvanised and coated for stability. In this pipe and others, there are “fish ladders” or “fish pass-es” for the fish that spend a part of their life at sea. These structures allow the fish to return upstream.

Emerald NecklaceThe design of Bayside Storm-water Reserve has the same intention of the Emerald Necklace Parks which aimed to cre-ate a functioning landscape where the infrastructure was in-

Figure 5. Forbay detail (PaiseaDos, 2011, April).

Figure 6. Forbay detail (PaiseaDos, 2011, April).

Figure 4. Sections (PaiseaDos, 2011, April).

Eleocharis sphacelata Kuta

Cortaderia fulvida ToeToe

Carex secta Purei/Pukio

Phormium tenax Flax

Carex virgata

visible as though the landscape was naturally occurring. This was done through “naturally” appearing water bodies and rolling slopes. Both projects deal with storm-water and flood management.

Restoration

Stream restoration is one of the consequences of the way local authorities in New Zealand manage storm-water. Dated storm-water infrastructure cannot cope with the increasing amount of storm-water collected as a result of land develop-ment. Further, there are firm expectations on local authorities to deliver upon an environmental manifesto.

Planting the stream banks and surrounding areas is one of the keys to improving stream health and the phytoreme-diation carried out by these plants reduces pollution in the storm-water before the water flows out into the receiving en-vironment (the Pacific Ocean). Bayside has also adopted an innovative approach by installing floating vegetated islands (FVI). Storm-water device monitoring studies have shown that these vegetated systems provide superior water quali-ty treatment to the un-vegetated detention basins. Further research has shown the retrofitted FVIs are very good at nu-trient removal but they have not been used much to clean storm-water. The FVIs at Bayside were part of a controlled study by the University of Auckland and were found to have significantly improved storm-water runoff water quality. They also found that the physical entrapment of the particulate pol-lutants by the plants’ roots seemed to be a significant pollut-ant removal pathway.

Phytoremediation consists of plants taking up the contami-nants found in soil, water and air and transforming or degrad-ing the contaminants to a less toxic substance before it is re-leased into the atmosphere, where it is further degraded by the action of the sun. Phytoremediation is a long term project which relies on the plants being able to thrive in less than ideal conditions. Plants that do this are called “hyper-accu-mulators” (plants that absorb toxin, such as heavy metals, to a greater concentration than the media in which they are growing).

Plants used in constructed wetlands, like Bayside, which is also a storm-water retention basin, include sedges, rushes, reeds and grasses because they are flood tolerant and are able to take up pollutants. These plants need to be able to resist the forces of floods and remain in the ground, as well as being able to stand up to periods of complete immersion and periods of dry weather.

Plants used at Bayside include: Eleocharis sphacelata KutaCortaderia fulvida ToeToeCarex virgataCarex secta Purei/PukioPhormium tenax Flax

Much like Houtan Park in Shanghai, which was built to demon-strate the potential benefits of green technologies, Bayside has also adopted ecological infrastructure methodologies i.e. natural water treatment wetlands, flood control, creation of wildlife habitats, education and social spaces.The Bayside project’s success at cleaning the water can be evidenced by the existence of aquatic species habitats at Bayside. These now include the Damselfly, Native Trout, Male Red fin Bully, and Woody Cased Caddiflies.

Figure 8. Plants in the Bayside Reserve. (Gainsford, 30 April 2014).

Bayside stormwater reserve concept plan (PaiseaDos, 2011, April).

Conclusion

Bayside Reserve is not a typical infrastructural project, Bof-fa Miskell and North Shore Council designed the project to transform the area into an attractive and functional commu-nity resource that the entire neighbourhood can enjoy, whilst at the same time treating contaminants in storm water run-off from surrounding streets. The site steers away from gen-eral riparian plantings and visual infrastructure, rather using effective plantings like floating islands, two separate pond chambers creating separate stages of water filtration. The functional design and public involvement were essential to the creation and continuous use of this space and emphasis-es the importance that infrastructure can be effective and ap-preciated whilst also blending into a residential public space.

References

Allan, P. et al. (2010, December). IFLA Newsletter Land-scape Protection, 90, 10-18. Retrieved from http/www.chsla.org.cn/cn/spec/IFLANews_90.pdf

Boffa Miskell. (2013). Bayside Stormwater Reserve. Retrieved from http://www.boffamiskell.co.nz/project.php?v=bayside-stormwater-reserve

Borne and Fassman. (n.d) Urban and transport. Re-trieved from Fassman http://on-cue.co.nz/dipcon/DIP-CON2011%20Oral%20Abstracts/Monday/Session%205%20Urban%20Transport/Borne.pdf (2014)

Borne, K. E. et al. (2013). Ecological engineering. 54, (173-182). Retrieved form http://www.pubfacts.com/author/Eliza-beth+A+Fassman-Beck

Carter, N. (2011). Restoration of an Auckland urban wa-tercourse – Taiaotea Creek. Auckland. Retrieved from http://www.golder.co.nz/en/modules.php?name=Newslet-ters&op= viewarticle&sp_id=164&page_id=709&article_id=531

Filtrexx sustainable Technologies. (2010). Filtrexx Sustain-able Technologies. Retrieved from http://www.filtrexx.com/

NZ Water. (2010). Urban Stream restoration and commu-nity engagement: examples from New Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.morphum.com/files/NZ_Water_2010_pa-per.pdf

PaiseaDos. (2011, April). Landscape Architecture Review.Australia, New Zealand. Boffa Miskell, 5, 36-41.

Waircare. (2014).Stream Restoration. Retrieved from https://www.waicare.org.nz/Get-involved/streamrestoration.aspx

Figures

Auckland Council. (2014). Retrieved from http://maps.auck-landcouncil.govt.nz/aucklandcouncilviewer/

Google maps. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.google.co.nz/maps/place/1+Crestview+Pl/@-36.7233293,174.7385458,17z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x6d0d3a4ec9c987c3:0x3c-455090c87645e7?hl=en

PaiseaDos. (2011, April). Landscape Architecture Review.Australia, New Zealand. Boffa Miskell, 5, 36-41.

Photo’s courtesy of Nicola Gainsford taken on 30 April 2014:Eleocharis sphacelata Kuta photoCortaderia fulvida ToeToe photo Phormium tenax Flax photoCarex secta Purei/Pukio photoCarex virgata photo