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