Diego VazquezLA 203 Basic Landscape Design

Spring 2016Andrew Wilcox

Table of Content ... pg 1Theory Responses ... pg 3Lexicon Entries ... pg 15

External Discussion Responses ... pg 25Individual Insights ... pg 27

Invading The Landscape (Photo Essay) ... pg 28 Is It Real? (Photo Essay) ... pg 30

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Rambunctious Garden: Chapter 2 The Yellowstone Model

In this chapter, the author looks to show the how nature is divided. However, I took from the chapter was how it was capable of having different use of the land. For example, it was mentioned how at first the Indians took care of the land, then they were kicked out because they were “invading.” But, we need to take into consideration that the landscapes we appreciate were kept in that shape even though there were Indians in the land. The point I am trying to get across is that men are not the problem, the real problem are men that look to take advantage of the land instead of just letting it be.

Also it needs to be taken into consideration how nature is always changing, that means it will change even if humans are present or not. Humans try to have nature in a static form, because that is the way it is “supposed” to be. As a result humans tend to keep the land-scapes in the “original” form without taking into consideration all the possible damage it could be caused because of it. The main point of the chapter was about how change is a natural pro-cess that does not follow a guideline. As designers we need to accept the changes that will occur in the landscape and understand how to work with them.

Rambunctious Garden: Chapter 2 The Yellowstone Model

In this chapter, the author looks to show the how nature is divided. However, I took from the chapter was how it was capable of having different use of the land. For example, it was mentioned how at first the Indians took care of the land, then they were kicked out because they were “invading.” But, we need to take into consideration that the landscapes we appreciate were kept in that shape even though there were Indians in the land. The point I am trying to get across is that men are not the problem, the real problem are men that look to take advantage of the land instead of just letting it be.

Also it needs to be taken into consideration how nature is always changing, that means it will change even if humans are present or not. Humans try to have nature in a static form, because that is the way it is “supposed” to be. As a result humans tend to keep the landscapes in the “original” form without taking into consideration all the possible damage it could be caused because of it. The main point of the chapter was about how change is a natural process that does not follow a guideline. As designers we need to accept the changes that will occur in the landscape and understand how to work with them.

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Another important I get from giving the importance to the process as well is because it allows the landscape architects to view different alternatives to the design based on the design parts he or she had previously. In addition, the process is a great way we can explain the principles our design has. Also, if we show the process it demonstrates the organization we have as a designer. The importance of the process was demonstrated in our second project were we had to show how our set of rules made the final result. With those ideas in my mind I had to agree with the argument made in Devolutionary Architecture that focus more on the process, rather than the final product.

In this chapter the main focus was about how the architecture and architects look at the process, rather than the end result. The lesson taken from the Devolutionary Architecture was as the opposite, as landscape architects we tend to focus more on the end result, while taking into consideration the process. The reason why the process is an essential part of the final result is because you can go back and point out where the design ideas came from. The process aids designers to look at the multiple variations a design can have.

Atlas of Novel Tectonics: Devolutionary Architecture

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Field Conditions

The purpose of the writing piece is to blur the line between the field and the figure. Understanding the relation between both the figure and field is more important than knowing what they are. As landscape designers we are in charge of creating those relationships. Landscape architects look to create a landscape with multiple layers. In each of those layers the figure and field relationship is blurred out more and more. Now, in the application I can have of figure and field in a landscape design is to bring the audience in.

Getting the audience involved is a feature that can be achieved with the involvement of figure and field. The most recent example of this concept comes in the final project where we need to design an edge. However, we need to be smart on the things we add and how we activate the edge condition because if the connection between figure and field is not strong than it can hurt the design. Also, it must create a situation that create an experience for the visitor. For example by making the visitors feel comfortable or uncomfortable with the topography or with the added structures. At the end the field conditions are an essential part to a design and being able to blur the line between them is an important tool a designer needs.

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Projective Ecologies:Ecology and Landscape as Agents of Creativity

Also after I took place in the activity I have been looking to create a specific situation in my design of the Silver lake reservoir. However, it is not always possible to make the temporal situation obvious and that is the reason why many people that occupy the landscape do not notice it. A strong designer creates the situation he or she wants and the audience understands it.

The point I took away from the chapter Ecology and Landscape as Agents of Creativity was to look for temporal situations. In landscape architecture we look to create specific situations and the ones that do so have a strong design. In addition, over the past 10 weeks I have been a part of activities that activates the landscape in a very specific way. An example of being part of an temporal situation came a few weeks ago in the activity called “Moving Diagrams.” The reason why it was important of being part of this activity was because it allowed me to feel the landscape in a specific way that I would have not experience it.

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Pamphlet 28:Augmentive Landscapes:

Pamphlet 28 focuses on a specific topic that deals with blurring what is nature and what is artificial. This is a very interesting topic because we currently live in an environment that has a both nature and artificial in them. For the most part we do not see the difference. During the past 10 weeks I have been told to design an edge condition for a reservoir. It must be taken into consideration that the reservoir by itself is already an artificial form, now the challenge is to have nature in it and not have it sticking out. The approach I had in order to blur the line between nature and artificial was mixing them both. By adding concrete “islands” with natural jacarandas with a grass area around it, the relation between natural and artificial becomes less clear.

Now, as my design develops more and more I decided to add concrete walls that cut into the existing topography, making it feel artificial, however the wall has an irregular shape that make it feel less artificial than it would if it was geometric.

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Pamphlet 30:Coupling-Strategies for Infrastructural Opportunism

For example if we decided to use an elevated platform on the edge of a 2x2 it would change the purpose of the piece because a new form of using the landscape was revealed. It is very important to understand that if we had or subtract anything from the landscape it changes the use of it because a new use was revealed. Also the reading looks to focus on the way we see the landscape. Seeing the landscape and being part of the landscape is very different. The way we experience a landscape varies depending on the person and how they decided to occupy the landscape. However, a similar condition can be intended by the landscape designer.The pamphlet aided me by focusing my attention to what the

landscape is revealing and how it reveals it. The connection I make with this reading to my studio experience is how as landscape architect we focus on giving a purpose to what we have in a landscape. For example in our first project, we were told to create landscape out of 2x2 surfaces. As landscape designers we had to look at ways to make the landscape serve a purpose. With the addition of other elements such as forest and field we were able to achieve it. It needs to be taken into consideration that we reveal a different use for the landscape by making those connections.

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Balance Context

Equality is shown on a field, where one side does not dominate over the other one. Balance can be shown in many ways, not in a strictly symmetrical form.

The information needed to understand a topic or question. The importance of having this information is because you need background to be able to properly interact with the topic.

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An exact contrast of a form.Information needed to understand.

Four individual pieces to imitate a bigger form.An activity that needs more information in order to understand it.

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Habitat

The location where people, animals, plants occupy. The location can be anywhere, and for the most part maintained.

Multiple organisms located in an area. A landscape where many organism take over.

Migration

The movement of specie from its original habitat. The importance of having a move-ment in an area can be both a benefit and damage

Movement of species to a different environment. A natural and not noticeable form of migration.

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Reserve

It is a protected area that is considered home to multiple species. Its importance is to maintain the diversity in our planet.

An area with multiple species. A bird sanctuary, where the species live “freely.”

Hybrid

A combination of elements. Multiple ideas that have harmony in a piece.

Combination of two forms to make a third one with traits of both.

A result of the application of multiple rules.

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Assistance Ecology

The help or aid to move an important element of a landscape. It is important to under-stand the importance that this help has to the environment

Aid form of movement through an area. A simple form of assistance by taking a picture of another person.

It pertains to the important of the environment and the benefits it gives to humans and the landscape. It also focuses on maintaining it protected from the human activities.

Some humans in a natural environment. A clear place where men has not manipulated.

Modernization

Change of a site over time, constantly. Addition or subtraction of elements in the land-scape.

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A change in the form of the environment. A new structure that alters the landscape.

Landmark

An element in the landscape that grabs the viewer’s attention, accent, that has a meaning behind it.

A symbolic place that gathers people. A Cal Poly Pomona reference point.

External Discussion Responses

Chris Aykanian

During the presentation from Chris Aykanian on April 6th 2016, the focus of it was to talk about pic-tures on slides. However, Chris Aykanian had different opinions on each one of the pictures. I would like to focus on a specific slide, when Aykanian focus where the architecture ends and when the landscape architecture begins. Being able to know where the architecture ends and where the land-scape architecture begins is very important, because as landscape architects we need to be aware of where we are designing and what is around our project. Another point I took from the presentation was on how as architects or landscape architects we do not need to pose a problem that needs to be solved. As designers sometimes we need to create harmony between both sides. As designers we must create the most pleasant experiences for the audience and be able to bring them back to the site. In addition, Aykanian focused on the spaces that the landscape or architecture offer. As design-ers we must be well aware of all the endless possibilities we can get from the space we have. The reason for the awareness is so that we can have smooth transitions if that is our design intent.

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External Discussion Responses

Moving Diagrams

This activity took place in Venice Beach, the purpose was to communicate physically what we other-wise would communicate graphically. The dynamic was to move as a group in order to show an idea. This particular activity required coordination between the participants. My take away from the activ-ity was the difficulty to show a concept with a group of people, even more difficult if the group was relatively small. However, it must be noted that an aid we had in this activity was being located in the sand. The reason why it benefited us was that it gave more freedom to our movement and our ex-pressions, for example we could communicate our movement with figures on the sand and at a larger scale it would be clearer. Also it must be noted, that the different combinations we have in our bodies to express an idea, and if we take into consideration the other participants the combinations become endless. At the end, after experimenting and struggling to communicate, I came with the realization that one is part of the landscape. Even if we do not intentionally intent to be part of the landscape we are place to be part of a bigger picture.

Individual Insights Invading The Landscape (Photo Essay)

Now for the past two years I have been a landscape architecture students and in that time I have been introduced with new ideas of what landscape is and what we should do with it. To begin, I have seen the endless possibilities landscape offers, such as looking to create relations between people and the environment or creating a different environment. In both situations the landscape architect is responsible for that relation. However, as a furthermore in the program I have noticed our criteria becomes more specific and we receive more responsibilities that we must incorporate in our design. Finally, being a landscape architect, a designer, is a big responsibility that we must understand first, and then design for the client.

This piece will demonstrate how we as humans invade the natural landscape. To begin when those pictures were taken I was walking in the natural landscape, as a result I might have disturbed many wildlife or altered an ecosystem, in a small way but I might have done that. Also it must be noted how many houses are located within the natural area. By having houses we are taking the natural habitat of many potential species. In addition, we tend to add more species into those areas, with the excuse that it makes our house look better. Finally, we are invading the natural landscape by having artificial elements such as the “Hollywood” sign in the mountains, and what is the purpose of it? None whatsoever. It is only taking a spot in a natural landscape. We need to stop invading or we will regret the changes we make.

Second year of landscape architecture has been a transition process. During this process I’ve no-ticed difficulty and challenges that needed to be overcome. However, with all the struggles, lections were also part of the mix. The first lection for me was organization. Organization was crucial in or-der to have a project. The next one, was creativity, for me this was the most difficult, because I felt like everything was already done, or that I was just copying others. Presentation was the next one, this was probably the most important part because, it’s the part when you show your final product and convince the client why they should pick you over the others. But, the most important point I learned during second year was the importance of understanding the concepts. Understanding the concept is an essential point in order to even start a project. During my second year as a landscape architecture student was when I learned the importance of understanding before you start design-ing.

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Is It Real? (Photo Essay)

The following piece looks to show how the landscape and nature make one. It demonstrates how the line between artificial and natural can be blurred. This can be achieved by simply adding an arti-ficial piece and surrounding it with many plant material that create the illusion that one is in a purely natural area. Also it must be noted how the artificial side is very strong but then is slowly becoming weaker, and the suddenly it becomes strong again. The landscape is an area that is constantly changing and it eventually becomes a hybrid, a combination of both nature and artificial. By blurring the line the landscape becomes a more interesting area to occupy.

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