1.7 Learning from Venice

View of Venice from Giudecca (pinhole photo)

A selection of books on Venice and the Laguna have been added to Reading

As well as studying Venice itself and the Biennale, we will also be visiting some of the other islands in the laguna and learning about the ecology of area.

You should spend the week drawing as much as possible. Note down everything of interest, take photographs with care and think how they will relate to drawn images on the page. You are creating your own sourcebook of information and ideas about a city that lives with water and changing tides, and a lagoon landscape. Be interested in edges and topography. Make studies of temporal qualities and activities, and observations of social activity within the city’s physical fabric.

 

top: Campo Santa Margherita by Piotr Skrzycki, and above: Campo de la Madonna de l’Orto by Angelaine Doherty from a previous student study of Venetian campi, more here

Venice and garden door at Fondazione Querini Stampalia from ETS Sketchbook by Ryan Patterson

Those staying in London carry out your own studies - in particular thinking about what kinds of infrastructure there are in the city (transport, connective, social, ecological, energy) and how these are manifested. Look for ways in which physical infrastructures are inhabited (sometimes in unintended or surprising ways) and how more informal networks occupy the city.

view of London City airport from Steve Redgrave Bridge

2.1 Barking Riverside site visit

London Wildlife Trust pages on Barking Riverside Conservation
Barking Riverside Green Roof research project by the UEL Environmental Research Group
Barking Riverside Highly Commended in the Integrated Habitats Design Competition 2012

1.6 Rainham marshes

Rainham marshes is the most significant green space local to our site - part of the landscape is natural and part is a former landfill waste site. The character and ecology of the area give some clues to how parts of our site are and could be. Consider the importance of the site at a strategic scale as well as its qualities at a human (and smaller) scale. Make observations at a range of scales, on edges to the river, creeks, wetlands and paths. Draw (sketch) sections and perspectives, think about how you experience landscapes (viewpoint, sequence, movement, ephemeral qualities). You will also be travelling past our site on the train (between Barking and Rainham).

Think about the topography - natural and man-made, the natural succession of the salt-marsh, the dynamics of the ecosystem and how that relates to the river.

We will be walking from Rainham Station across the marshes to the RSPB reserve and the nearest station at the end of the day will be Purfleet, one stop on from Rainham on the same line.

Peter Beard's practice Landroom have a long-standing and continuing relationship with the marshes, having designed several interventions in the area at a range of scales and a landscape strategy that provides public access from the village to the river. Projects for both the local borough and the RSPB include the raised Trackway, bridges, seating, signage and classrooms.

http://www.peterbeardlandroom.co.uk/
http://www.designforlondon.gov.uk/what-we-do/all/rainham-marshes/

above: part of the Rainham Marsh public access works by Peter Beard _Landroom

1.5 Development plans and scales of intervention

As part of understanding our site and future context, we will be studying the existing development plans for the area and planning documents for the project. These range from strategies that provide the framework for built projects to happen, to design codes that set out a detailed material intent. We will visit some of the completed projects and compare the range of concerns between the very large and small scale.

Key project planning documents:
Design Code
Phasing plans
Landscape and biodiversity strategy
Infrastructure and servicing strategy

Barking Riverside landscape strategy


Projects Map from East London Green Grid, Area Framework 4: London Riverside

http://www.designforlondon.gov.uk/what-we-do/#/east-london-green-grid

Armada Green, part of Gallions to the Thames by Adams & Sutherland

http://www.adams-sutherland.co.uk/147-ar-1.htm
http://www.designforlondon.gov.uk/what-we-do/#/gallions-to-the-thames-1

Parklands Spatial Framework from London Riverside Opportunity Area Planning Framework

1.4 Infrastructure day

Itinerary:
* cross the Thames on the Woolwich Free Ferry;
* walk to Woolwich Arsenal passenger pier;
* take the Clipper high-speed catamaran along the Thames to Bankside Pier;
* Millennium Bridge by Fosters and Partners;
* Riverside Walk and Queenhithe dock, dating from Saxon times and protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument;
* new Blackfriars Station which is built on the existing rail bridge and spans the river with a photovoltaic array integrated into the roof;
* Southbank riverside walk: National Theatre, the BFI Southbank (formerly National Film Theatre), Queen Elizabeth Hall and Hayward Gallery, Royal Festival Hall;
* the Golden Jubilee Footbridges that share the foundation piers of the mid-19th Century Hungerford railway bridge;
* Imax cinema by Avery Associates, constructed within an existing roundabout;
* walk via Roupell Street to Union Street;
* the Jerwood Drawing Prize exhibition (at the link you can also download the catalogue which has low-res images of all exhibited work);

You are recording from direct observation and analysis of spaces, structures and your experience of them. Drawing skill is only developed through practice. Movement, at different speeds according to mode of transport, alters experiences of place, and the viewpoint from the river changes how the city is viewed. Many older buildings were designed to face the Thames. Large-scale structures such as bridges form strategic connections but are also occupied in unexpected, unintended, ways.

The catalogue from "SPANS: Viaducts, Bridges and Walkways" exhibition at the Building Centre 2008 has a range of case studies at a range of scales (not London-specific)

As part of the London Festival of Architecture in 2006, 51% studios collaborated with artists Neil Cum­mings and Marysia Lewandowska on Social Cin­ema: a project to create a series of tem­po­rary cin­e­mas, each installed for one night only. One of these occurred under the North end of the Millennium Footbridge
http://www.51pct.com/topic/social-cinema/
http://www.51pct.com/portfolio/social-cinema-3/

The piers under construction, image from Urban 75 website


Shortlisted entries from the 1996 RIBA competition for the Millennium footbridge
(above: model image of Niels Gimsing / George Rotne entry)


Previous Peabody competition for a habitable bridge, 1995
(above: John Outram Associates / Whitby Bird entry)


above: Woolwich Free Ferry crossing

Drawing from life

As an architect, become fluent in making analytical sketches. Think about the conventional orthographic descriptions - section, plan, axonometric - and make quick studies using the most appropriate.

Perspectives are generally useful as a viewpoint. Draw what you can see from where you are. Instead of drawing what you think something should look like, observe the apparent angles of lines and edges, light and shadow. Compare single static views with how you experience space. Annotate with other observations on occupation, changes, sound.

Judge your time: if we are at a place for 1 hour, do not spend 1 hour on a single sketch. Vary speeds, make some very quick sketches, some slower and more considered.

The Project Diary is a working document. Add photos, images and text to your sketchbook to make sense of the accumulating process.
Finally, if it interests you - draw it.

Drawing for Landscape Architecture – Edward Hutchison [712.3 HUT]
Drawing from Life – Jennifer New [760 NEW / online access]

above: sketches from Drawing for Landscape Architecture by Edward Hutchison

above: pages from 3rd year sketchbook by Piotr Skrzycki

1.3 Jubilee line extension

The Jubilee line, opened in 1979, originally terminated at Charing Cross. Over the next 15 years a number of proposals for extensions, including along the river and down towards south-east London, were considered. The project to extend the line to Stratford created strategic connections to East London and crucially, to the developing Isle of Dogs district. At the time of its construction it was one of the most expensive transport projects (cost per distance) in the world. It was also unusual in the client's approach to commissioning the project - with an architect leading the design of each station, even extending to fixtures and utilitarian vents.

Stations on the visit:
Canning Town - Troughton McAslan
North Greenwich - Alsop
Canary Wharf - Foster and Partners
Bermondsey - Ian Ritchie
Southwark - MacCormac Jamieson Prichard
Westminster - Michael Hopkins and Partners

Use your Project Diary sketchbook and draw freehand.
Travel light and practice sketching from direct observation and analysis of spaces, structures and your experience of them.

In particular we expect to see sketch sections of each station we visit. These require you to quickly analyse what you see and experience and translate it from 3-dimensional space to an orthographic drawing. In addition you should record, in drawn form, anything that interests you about the stations. This might be spatial, material, detail, structural, circulation or other patterns of use.

Be mindful of other passengers and pay attention to any requests from station staff.
There is no automatic right to take photos on London Underground. Tripods and camera flashes are absolutely forbidden.

There are some interesting diagrams, drawings and photos from the construction, in the documents here: http://www.omegacentre.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/studies/cases/metro-london_jubilee_2.php

Practical Exercises from The Street in Species of Spaces and Other Pieces, Georges Perec [844.914 PER]
The Jubilee Line Extension, Kenneth Powell [388.47209421]
Architecture of the Jubilee Line Extension, David Bennett [725.310942 BEN]

from top: early sketch section of North Greenwich showing the elevated garden concept;
longitudinal section of Canary Wharf;
early sketch of Southwark platform-level concourse;
exploded isometric of Westminster station and Portcullis House

1.2 Dagenham Sunday Market and Barking town centre

Working primarily in your Project Diary sketchbook, you should be developing an ability to quickly record and analyse architectural, urban and spatial situations. The sketch section and perspectival view are particularly useful, but axonometrics and plans should also be part of your repertoire. We are scaling up from the work in the unit space, and some of the themes remain: think about the relative scale of parts, how a given space is occupied, human scale. Also start to think about urban scale relationships and experiences.

Use photography wisely and intentionally. Think about what is best documented through drawing, and what is recorded in a photo. Think about where the photos will go in your sketchbook and leave space as appropriate. Remember that the Project Diary will be looked at throughout and at the end of the year so it needs to communicate to others as well as being a place to record/develop things for yourself.

Dagenham Sunday Market:
for a few hours each week this corner of the site is packed with visitors - traders and buyers. Its people-oriented hustle and bustle is in stark contrast to the industry and wildness of most of the river edge.
http://www.dagenhamsundaymarket.com/

Barking Town Square:
Barking itself is not part of our main site, but is the nearest town and gives the development area its name. It is an old settlement; Barking Abbey has existed since the 7th century. A major regeneration development in the town centre over the last 5 years has transformed the public realm and inserted new housing, commercial and community buildings into an existing town. The landscaping creates distinct outdoor spaces or rooms between these buildings and plays on expectations of scale and materiality.
http://www.publicspace.org/en/works/e061-barking-town-square/prize:2008
http://www.designforlondon.gov.uk/what-we-do/#/barking-london-road
http://www.muf.co.uk/archives/portfolio/barking-town-square-2
This Is What We Do: a muf manual  [720.922 MUF]

Barking Bathhouse:
a temporary relaxation spa on the edge of the town centre, designed by Something & Son.
http://www.barkingbathhouse.com/
http://createlondon.org/events/barking-bathhouse.html
http://www.somethingandson.com/projects.html

from top: aerial photo showing extent of Dagenham Sunday Market; within the market with the former power station; fairground in Barking town square; the Arboretum at night; Barking Bathhouse relaxation yard

Process + Format

The process of drawing is like writing a diary

it's a way of thinking about time passing

- Rachel Whiteread

In Out Stairway by Rachel Whiteread

We are interested in process:
* architecture as a process: consideration of time, weathering, adaptation, life-span, responsive and dynamic architectures
* understanding and drawing on ecological and man-made processes
* the process of working and generating design

The portfolio is process-based: it is accumulated throughout the year, is reflected upon and reworked as part of an iterative design process. It is not made at the end.
Studying architecture is time-heavy: you need to commit time and energy from the start.

format of work:
* Project diary (A4 sketchbook)
* Portfolio (A1 landscape sheets)
* Supporting studies book (A3 sheets, bound)

See "Manual" in the information links on the right, for detail on the format of work, portfolios and process.

Relevantly, an extract from the East book Expressing Interest [704.944 EAS] is available here, which discusses ways of drawing among other things

The ‘thing on the table’ is usually a map, and we are talking about a place. We are trying to be as precise as possible. Every little granite sett, every name, every window might be important, and might help … in our understanding of where we’re going to. This is not the time to make judgements or to generalise, or for wishing that the world was more tidy or operated according to your ideas or design principles. Wanting to do this drawing – the desire and the process – changes the way I look at a site.

The drawing is an instrument that reveals or charts the specific conditions of a place with all its complexity, conflicts, contradictions – the banal as well as the sublime. Once this drawing exists, a commitment is made. The room is full of potential.

They also quote Practical Exercises from one of my favourite texts Species of Spaces by Georges Perec.

Sketches for East Barking framework plan, by East

1.1 Studio build

What is a unit space for?
* Working studio
* Teaching
* Presentations
* Information
* Display
* Storage

Studio Aalto by Alvar Aalto

2nd Oct: Charrette
5th Oct: Pin-up and development
9th Oct onwards: cleaning, demolition, prototypes and construction

This first project contains all the elements of any architectural project:
You are both client and collaborator.
Carry out site analysis.
You will not only be designing but also constructing improvements to the unit space.
Unusually, you are able to spend time in the site and make prototypes and other full-size tests.
Document how the space is used, what it is like to be in, how it could be used, test your ideas.

Consider the dimensions of the space, ergonomics, comfort, usability and construction. How effective is your proposal - does it contribute to making the studio space somewhere more appealing to study and work in? Light and noise are important to comfort. Think of functionality and also delight.

Progress to drawings for production and construction, use them to investigate how something is built. Even though this is a collaborative project, it is important that you are all producing individual portfolio work. Cutting and quantities diagrams, construction drawings, details of connections and spatial tests, documentation of prototype production and testing should all form full-size drawings at appropriate scales.

Refer to: The Details of Modern Architecture vol.1 & 2, Edward Ford (MIT Press) [724 FOR]
as well as looking for inspiration in other architects (Miralles/EMBT, Prouvé, Aalto have been mentioned)

from top:
Sketch of Year one group tutorial (from "Basics Architecture: 03 architectural design" by Jane Anderson; Table Manners by Sarah Wigglesworth;
Sogn Benedetg chapel by Peter Zumthor; Assembly from 2-4-6-8 by Morphosis

Preparing Ground

We begin with a series of short projects and study trips in order to build up both shared knowledge and individual interests. These are all chosen to inform the main project in terms of understanding the site, programme, and unit agenda.

What we expect from you -

Criticality:
* in your own work and how you read and use other people’s work, sources, references
* be open to critique as part of the process
* be rigorous
* be precise – words matter, images matter
* how you communicate is important
* understand how things work, whether camera or drainage

Engagement:
* take your work seriously
* architecture is time-heavy
* be interested / develop interests
* engage with the site, East London and London – find out what is happening, find things that interest you (could be exhibitions/talks but also on the ground)
* take responsibility for your learning, own your work

Openness:
* do not rely only on your tutors, make use of your peers
* share your expertise and ideas
* make the most of different backgrounds and experiences
* critique each other
* we work with you so no hiding when there are problems
* no bluffing, no selling
* tell us if there is something you don’t understand (words/ideas)

Some advice -

Into the unknown:
* you cannot know how it will turn out all the time
* get used to that feeling, enjoy it
* you should be doing things you haven’t done before
* some of the themes and topics of study are also new
* be creative, imaginative, innovative
* understanding how things work allows you to innovate

Be open to the process and what your own work reveals to you, and engage fully.
Below is some more advice from John Cage:

making ground: ecological infrastructures

This year Unit G will continue an exploration of the qualities of place that make East London. We will be working in the Barking Riverside development area in the heart of the Thames Gateway; projecting from its present, a fragmented industrial landscape, to its future as the site of 10,000 new homes.

We ask how architecture can become part of a specific ecology: to accommodate biodiversity, to benefit from natural processes and to take a role in a localised network of relationships.

Making Ground refers in a literal sense to the man-made geology of the area, created through a historical accumulation of waste and other materials, and to the artificial raising and lowering of levels in order to manage flood risk and rainwater. It also describes the need to draw out a sense of place beyond the bright proclamations of site hoarding slogans and CGI visuals, and the way in which the establishment of infrastructure sets out a territory for the future development to inhabit. We will be working with programmes centred on transport connections: rail and river nodes.

We are interested in an architecture of transition: from industrial to residential, from fragmentation to connectivity, from the movement of transport to grounded-ness of place. Time is a key part of our understanding – from daily activity to seasonal cycles to long-term adaptation and change. Each proposal will encompass a range of scales from strategic understanding to detailed material resolution.