Gila: Pictures from Arlington

Some pictures from Arlington, as usual, you can use these pictures.
It's great to read your comments and posts about the reading!
Have a nice weekend, and if you have any question regarding the site analysis, don't hesitate to email us.
Gila

Julie Bergeron - Hood & Lynch Readings

I thought both of these readings were interesting. The ideas in both articles will be very useful in moving forward with our own site analysis. Looking back, I now wish I had done the readings when we first started project 1 because of their direct relationship to what we are doing. I really liked Hoods approach to design. He looks at landscape differently and does not make any initial judgements on what he sees. He looks at the landscape and its effects on all different types of people as the most important aspect. Just as Gila told us, the users are the most important part of site analysis. Kevin Lynch's in depth site planning was very thorough and made a lot of sense. It is very important to thoroughly understand the landscape problem and ask the right questions before you are able to come up with a solution. He also talks about how the users are very important. Not just the influential clients, but the others effected by the design as well. I also agree that the ecology is very important to a good design and should be more strongly emphasized. Something else that is essential to good site planning is to plan for change and management. I think too many designers come up with great designs, just to then walk away from them without any plan to accommodate for the growing and ever changing environment.
Both readings were a great and I learned a lot from them. There were some great graphics in the readings as well!

Julie Bergeron - Project 1

Luis - Newberry Street Project #1

T Duffy Week 2 Part 2

T Duffy Week 2 work

Jean Oppelt 9/23/08

Post on Readings: I did not like the reading from Walter Hood. While I understand that he had valuable information to share with us, and that he spent quality time taking in information about the neighborhood park, I found it undirected and flighty and far too personal to be usefull for planning. The history of the area was more interesting to me. Also, I realize part of the reason we are assigned readings like this is to challenge our way of thinking and expand the input process of site analysis but I felt this swayed farther towards poetry and art than analysis....anyone else? In contrast I fully enjoyed the reading from Kevin Lynch. Lynch refers to the standard method of analysis and then expounds on it to bring in a more full sensory process. He manages to go through the nuts and bolts and somewhat dry process but also stress how more organic leads and ecology mindset must be incorporated into the overall paradigm to make it fully successfull and respect the "genius of the place". He manages to balance the necessity for site evolution with real unforseen consequences and stumbling blocks and unforseen benefits. For example, he reminds us how wetlands used to considered as dumping grounds and usuable only to fill land but now are protected and crucial to whole environmental impact of the area. I found I have highlighted this article prodigiously and will keep it handy as reference for future projects. Photos from Monday night pinup to follow:

Gila: some thoughts

some thoughts about your works:
Luis's work and his verbal presentation (on the other hand (:) reminded me the term "less is more", great concept, isn't it? the person who used this tern is Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, one of the first modernist Architect. He was a great architect who changed the world of Architecture and he also was the architect-directors of the Bauhaus school in Weimar, Germany. His works are still an example for sensative modernist design, and this sentence is still a great slogan.

Terry mentioned in his reading post the first part in Walter Hoood's book- 'Urban Diaries'. Hood describes a normative neighborhood that started to declain after the athouraties started to interfeere and a highway was built. Another place where an Architect and highways had a very great influence is NYC. Robert Moses was the Urban Designer who designed the great highways of New York City during the begining of the 20th century. His work gave Manhattan it's great monument bridges (Landmarks), but also ruined lots of neighborhoods and influenced lots of people's lives. This is a great case to show you how much power we have as designers, and how much influence our work has.

I posted links to the Cemetery Club movie and to the press kit on the right side of the forum.

Julie Bergeron- Site Analysis

Newberry Stree Analysis study

work from monday-Jean Oppelt

I found Gila's and Dan's comments helpfull especially in terms of understanding the overall purpose of the class. This is the first class I've taken at the BAC that is purelly emphesizing "inspiration" and I agree that it is important, as designers, to step outside the nuts and bolts and rediscover the art.

Terry Duffy: Class work 09.16.08

T Duffy's Site Analysis Part 1