Site photos for "Ugly" aspect

landscape within this area is not fully developed, the site are mainly used by industry and engineering works and residents buildings, lots of wasted areas.
The concept of Green London is not only about how much trees they are planted, it is also point to a diversity of habitats, the benefits to human life, and influences for future generations, etc.. Above site photo seems does not achieved that aims, so that is why I think this area is "ugly".
Our new slogan "Enrichment around Royal docks" (Tom revised it) is a perfect concept to develop this area.
----Lili

Meeting Outcomes Wednesday 27/10/10

Hi All,

Firstly, thanks to everyone for all the research contributions which really helped us assess and analyse the site from so many viewpoints. As a result, we were able to discuss, complete and agree to do the following tasks:

*we drew diagrams of -300, present day, +3, +30 and +300 years showing the five elements (Lili will create photoshop images of them)
*we drew a 300 year sketch design
*we drafted a model design (Simon will build this model) 
*we tweaked the slogan to "Enrichment of the Royal Docks"
*we created a draft storyboard and there are related tasks to complete as follows:

There are a number of new tasks associated with the draft storyboard below so look for your name and complete the task for the team as follows:

Storyboard (draft sequence):

*site location slides including Anka's streetmap (Simon to compile)
*diagram of site - present day as five elements (see above - Lili's photoshop image)
*selection of photos showing good aspects of the site (Jenny and Stevie to provide)
*selection of photos showing poor aspects of the site (Athanase and Lili to provide)
*SWOT and Brainstorm feedback which are subsequently addressed in the concept (Anka to compile)
*300 year sketch design drawing (needs to be a photoshop image - Lili?)
*concept model (Simon doing - see above)
*5 images of five elements (Lili's photoshop images - see above)
*B4 and after images (Simon and Stevie already completed)
*Final images - sketches (Lili) and photoshop images (Jenny, Stevie and Athanase's CAD Visualisation project work)

Anka, Lili and Simon will meet on Monday at 10:30 to complete the storyboard. All contributions, mentioned above, must be completed before then!

Thanks again
s

Research +

I've tried to bundle subjects so that they (mostly) link with your existing survey topics (but its not possible in every case) as follows:

Simon -climate/ microclimate/ pollution/ topography/ elevation/ direction of slopes/ drainage/ watershed
Anka - vegetation/ common species/ BAP flora/ geology and soils
Jenny - sights/ sounds/ views and vistas/ major structures ie significant buildings, bridges, pylons
Lili - site character (beautiful/ugly); quality of architecture/common fauna/ BAP fauna
Stevie - panaramic pictures/ land-use/ man-made deposits and contamination/ derelict land/ surface water (open water and rivers), vehicle routes, train lines, canals
Athanase - materiality/ maintainance/ history/ social history/ population distribution/

I'm going to go through the Unitary Development Plan and try and summarise the current thrust of Newham Council's Policy for the site. If I can map some of this, I will.

I've ignored subterranean services (gas, electricity etc) as this information is notoriously difficult to obtain. I feel its not a priority in terms of our project brief - hope all this is OK.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any queries. Mobile phone is probably best.

Thanks

Simon  

Summary of group activities following 20 October class

SURVEY DATA - EVERYONE
Before we move onto our next iteration of the sketch design we need to complete our survey work
I've posted a plan of our site onto the Skydrive (UDP - base map for survey data). Please use this as a base plan and produce your survey drawings on tracing paper at A3 size. At our next meeting we can then overlay our traces to work out our sketch design. 

Everyone needs to produce 2 plans - one representing the present day, one representing 300 years ago. Simon has listed in an earlier post the aspect of the site you need to concentrate on (I think everyone should be clear about this!).

Once you have completed your maps please post them onto the blog - we can then all have a think about how we want to move forward with the sketch design before Wednesday's meeting.


Things we need to consider when revising our sketch design include: 
Vistas through docks
Morphology, visual links
Hydrology (islands?)
Physical links - bridges, circulation routes
 
DESK RESEARCH - EVERYONE
Simon, I've looked through all the posts on the blog and can't find any information about the desk research we need to do (Unitary Development Plan / Bio-diversity Action Plan etc). Please could you post this onto the blog and give us all a task to do!

SWOT ANALYSIS - ANKA
Revise SWOT to produce a more succinct version.
Produce a SWOT diagram for key points (following survey work for accuracy).

GOOGLE EARTH IMAGE OF SITE - SIMON
Produce Google earth image at A3.

Our next meeting is at 10.00am Wednesday in our usual location under the stairs at Avery Hill.

Thanks, Anka 

 

Eyesore-Its

Here's mine... Anka

 

Ink drawings

Hello all,

I hope you don't mind but I've done some ink drawings/paintings (one for 30 and one for 300 years). They are not very beautiful (like lili's fabulous ink drawings from last year) but I think they say something useful about our land use over 30 to 300 years. I'll bring them along on Wednesday for you to see if you want to use them.

Jenny

Eyesore it---post your photos here

Hi All,

please post relevant photos below, should be easier to print out all photos together on Wednesday's morning. please also upload editable file on Skydive, in case, we need to use the original file.

The title for this image should be THE RIVER BANK, 

then Stevie say: 'the river is lack of good views !'

Concept Diagram

Hi All

I finished the 30 year's concept diagram drawing, just added the information what I remembered,   please

please make comments!!!!! reminds me what information should add to the map and what is most important!  so that I can renew this map by end of Tue.

Also, I apologize for the map made in photoshop, it was supposed to do with Ink paper, but I really tried  several times then failed all the time....  I uploaded the ink paper drawing below, which I did it in last year, let's see if it is worth to try again.-------Lili

Research

Just in case you didnt have enough to do its important that we each continue to research and analyse different aspects of the site. This will help us with the new design and demonstrate a deeper knowledge. When we met last Thursday, we each took on the responsibility of collecting data as follows:

Stevie - panaramic pictures of the places we visited and their function
Simon - climate and microclimates
Jenny - context such as sights, views and sounds
Anka - vegetation
Lili - character of the different places (are they beautiful, ugly?)
Antanase - materiality

Mark was doing circulation and movement so hopefully he'll be able to contribute something on this or else we pick it up ourselves.

Its important that each person, if asked, can provide information on their given topic and substantiate their comments with some evidence.

Thanks

Simon

Ink drawing guideline zones for Lili

Latest Action Plan 13/10/10

Dear all, a positive session today with a warm response to our concept and slogan. Next week there's a crit where we promote our concept to a group of stakeholders. To do this we agreed to complete particular tasks as follows:

• EACH TEAM MEMBER must caption an 'eyesore-it' image (see brief for details) and add to Skydrive.
• Jenny and Lili - ink-based concept drawing (30 years and 300 years)
• Simon and Stevie - photoshop images of temporary art installations
• Anka - to write up the SWOT results
• Simon - print A3 image(s) of todays model

We have also agreed to meet at 10:00 next Wednesday (usual place) to build a new concept model. To be able to do this, EACH PERSON should bring lots and lots of multi-coloured, and textured, objects eg lego, pasta, bits of plastic, coloured paper, material etc etc. Don't forget our slogan is "Flooding the Royal Docks with colour" and the model needs to show this.
We'll also need to draw another 'bubble' diagram for the site based on 300 years next Wednesday. 
As its a CRIT its really important that we each do our best to make our concept understandable, exciting and persuasive (it needs to appeal to all the various 'stakeholders').  
Feel free to comment if you think I've missed something or you want to add something that will help us complete the task successfully.

I thought our model looked really good today - maybe we can make next weeks look even better!

Simon

Summary of group activities following 6 October class

Group:

1) Everyone to produce 2 or 3 modules for our concept model, based on artists/architects from 1855 (to be made into a single model during the lunchtime meeting on Wednesday).
2) Everyone to think of a slogan to communicate the concept (to be discussed as a group during the lunchtime meeting on Wednesday).
3) Everyone to produce an Eyesore-It, as outlined in the project brief (to be discussed as a group during the lunchtime meeting on Wednesday). To make this easier for everyone, please upload your best photos from Thursday's site visit onto the Skydrive as soon as possible. We will then have a larger pool of images showing what is wrong with the design of the site to choose from. As only one Eyesore-It image is required per group I'd suggest trying to link it to our concept in some way i.e. showing how areas of the site lack a clear character / how the site is disconnected. We can then demonstrate how our concept has arisen from our perception of the site's design flaws.

 

Art movements and architectural styles

Hello all, 

So, please find below a list of art movements and architectural styles (since 1855 when the royal docks were first opened) to use as an inspiration for our conceptual model. 

Please select two or three ideas to build as a model 'square' . Think about the movement/style in general or an artist/architect connected with Britain to inspire you. Do some research about them online or in books and then build your model in their style. 

It is a concept model so your model square can be abstract and not really convey real buildings or things or places.

VERY IMPORTANT! Leave a comment on this blog post to say which ones you are doing so we don't double up

Reminder of model base size: 21cm x 21cm. 

Max model height : 21cm

Model squares can be as full or empty, high or low as you wish. Try and be creative and use interesting, diverse materials and techniques to make your squares.

Please try and do three model squares if you can and bring them on Wednesday to the normal group work space (underneath the stairs/underneath reception) at 12:30 so we can assemble our model as a group.

ARCHITECTURE

Victorian Architecture 
1840 to 1900 AD Industrialization brought many innovations in architecture. Victorian styles include Gothic Revival, Italianate, Stick, Eastlake, Queen Anne, Romanesque and Second Empire.

Arts and Crafts Movement in Architecture 
1860 to 1900 AD Arts and Crafts was a late 19th-century backlash against the forces of industrialization. The Arts and Crafts movement revived an interest in handicrafts and sought a spiritual connection with the surrounding environment, both natural and manmade. The Craftsman Bungalow evolved from the Arts and Crafts movement.

Art Nouveau Architecture 
1890 to 1914 AD Known as the New Style, Art Nouveau was first expressed in fabrics and graphic design. The style spread to architecture and furniture in the 1890s. Art Nouveau buildings often have asymmetrical shapes, arches and decorative surfaces with curved, plant-like designs.

Beaux Arts Architecture 
1895 to 1925 AD Also known as Beaux Arts Classicism, Academic Classicism, or Classical Revival, Beaux Arts architecture is characterized by order, symmetry, formal design, grandiosity, and elaborate ornamentation.

Neo-Gothic Architecture 
1905 to 1930 AD In the early twentieth century, medieval Gothic ideas were applied to modern skyscrapers.

Art Deco Architecture 
1925 to 1937 AD Zigzag patterns and vertical lines create dramatic effect on jazz-age, Art Deco buildings.

20th Century Trends in Architecture 
1900 to Present. The century has seen dramatic changes and astonishing diversity. Twentieth century trends include Art Moderne and the Bauhaus school coined by Walter Gropius, Deconstructivism, Formalism, Modernism, Structuralism, and Postmodernism.

ART

1850

Romanticism - 1800-1880

Realism - 1830s-1870

The Pre-Raphaelites - 1848-1854

Impressionism - 1863-ca. 1885

1880

Neo-Impressionism - 1886-1906

Post-Impressionism - 1886-1905

Symbolism - 1880-early 1900s

Synthetism - late 1880s-early 1890s

Tonalism - 1880-1920

1890

Expressionism - 1890-1939

Fauvism - ca. 1898-ca. 1908

Secession - 1890s-early 1900s

1900

Art Nouveau - 1905-1939

Cubism - 1907-Present

Cubo-Expressionism - 1909-1921

Futurism - 1909-1939

1910

Bauhaus - 1919-1933

Biomorphism - 1915-1940s

Brabant Fauvism - ca. 1910-1923

Camden Town Group - 1911-1914

(Russian) Constructivism - 1914-early 1930s

Cubo-Futurism - 1912-1915

Dada - Dadaism - 1916-1923

Formism - 1917-1922

London Group - 1913-1930s

Neo-primitivism - 1910-1914

Purism - 1918-1926

Rayism - 1912-15

Suprematism - 1915- mid-1920s

Synchronism - 1913-ca. 1916

Vorticism - 1914-1920

1920

Art Deco - 1920s-1930s

Constructivism - 1920s-Present

Magic Realism - 1920s-1940s

Precisionism - 1920s-1940s

Rhythm Group - 1922-1932

Surrealism - 1922-1939

Verism - 1920s-ca. 1930

1930 - WWII

Concrete Art - 1930-ca. 1960

(The) Euston Road School - 1937- mid-1970s

Neo-Romanticism - 1930s-1950s

1945 - Post-War

Abstract Expressionism - mid-1940s -Present

1950

Hard-Edge Painting - late 1950s-Present

(The) Kitchen Sink School - 1950s

Matter Painting - 1950s-Present

Neo-Dada - 1950s

Pop Art - mid-1950s –Present

Situationism - 1957-early 1970s

1960

Conceptual Art - 1960s–Present

Junk Art - 1960s-Present

Land Art - late 1960s-early 1970s

Mechanical Art - 1962-65

Minimalism - 1960s-Present

Post-Minimalism - late 1960s-1970s

1970

Post-Modernism - 1970s-mid 1980s

Ugly Realism - 1970s

Neo-Conceptualism - late 1970s-Present

Neo-Expressionism - late 1970s-1980s

Bad Painting - late 1970s-early 1980s

1980

Graffiti Movement - 1980s-Present

BritArt / Young British Artists ("yBa") - 1988-Present

Neo-Pop - late 1980s-Present

1990

Net Art - early 1990s-Present

Massurrealism - early 1990s-Present

Toyism - 1992-Present

Lowbrow - ca. 1994-Present

Bitterism - 1998-Present

Stuckism - 1999-Present

2000

Thinkism - September 12, 2001-Present

Funism - ca. 2002-Present

Pre-SWOT info

Before reading this, please make sure you also read the post outlining tomorrow's meeting.

Pre-SWAT - WHAT WE THINK IS GOOD ABOUT THE SITE:

some good views and potential views of the river; central city airport; plenty of water to play with; some good existing attractions - excel, thames barrier, thames barrier park; mixed land-use; close proximity to canary wharf; easy access to other parts of london; central vista; flat topography; good (transport) infrastructure; airport (eg employment); local schools; big interesting and diverse events at the Excel centre; people drawn into the area from outside; Uni of East London; City Farm; new residential developments; famous and historic site; links to river Lea and Barking Creek; public open spaces; capital ring (walk).

Pre-SWAT - WHAT WE THINK IS BAD ABOUT THE SITE:

traffic congestion; noise eg planes; pollution (traffic and planes); too many visitors sometimes - local infrastructure fails, local people overrun; doubt the sustainable credentials of Excel; not enough services; linear shape; poor legibility within the site and wayfinding information; its a long circuit around the docks; safety issues around the airport; a windy, cold and exposed site; there's a flood risk; little local economic activity; not pedestrian friendly; many buildings like big sheds; lack of habitats; little vegetation development; space broken up into four quarters; its difficult to get to from some directions; not a good view to the other side of the Thames; cannot cross the river; lots of derelict sites; ground contamination; can't get to the riverbank; dominated by roads and cars; very little reason to visit the area; poor links to the olympic park.

Pre-SWAT - HOW WE PROPOSE TO CHANGE THE SITE

Biomass; flood-it; improve/ enlarge the City Farm; introduce pedestrian areas/ public transport; green-up the airport; more bridges; more habitats/vegetation; remove airport (no more domestic flights); drain royal docks (make bigger versions of Thames Barrier Park); Bird reserve at airport; roof gardens and underground gardens; shopping centres; wetland; canal network; glass manufacturing site (the new KEW/ Crystal Palace Exhibition); change the four quarters with circulation routes; improve the views; create direct access to the south bank; improve access to Stratford; riverside walk(s); marinas; river transport; reed beds - water filtration; wooded areas; kitchen gardens; river railway; fish-farming/ seafood; link up to Ebbsfleet; residential areas by the waters edge; exciting new quality architecture.

There's some really good stuff here.

Simon

Meeting tomorrow 7 Oct 2010 11:00 @ Excel

Hi everyone,

Another good day which is particularly satisfying after all our hard work up to this point!

For tomorrow, we have the general project aim "to use your professional skill to make the area a better and more sustainable place". We need to consider all the elements of visual composition of landscape ie buildings, water, vegetation, landform (including massing of buildings) and paving. We have been asked to focus our efforts on the 30 year period.

More specifically we'll need to complete an initial visual survey of our allocated area with the following outputs in mind:

• slogan
• review our pre-SWOT from today to highlight the key issues
• allocate the desk research activities across the team (to include any Unitary Development Plan and Biodiversity Action Plan)
• individually produce an "eyesore-it" image for discussion later
• produce a concept model

To help, today's brainstorm produced the following items to consider during the visual survey:

transport nodes; views and vistas; building heights and skyline; noise; pollution; vegetation; landmarks; paving; water; demographics and social use; morphology and topography; land-use; public open spaces; photographic survey; film survey; sketches.

Please refer to the next blog-post for details of todays pre-SWOT. 

Cheers

Simon 

Summary of meeting 5th October

Firstly well done everyone with the big effort putting together our 30 and 300 sketch designs - whether it was research, providing maps, having great ideas, drawing, sketching, summarising, focusing or providing food and space to work.

We finished late so agreed to briefly review the work at this mornings mini-meeting (maybe more woodland/ walks along the river or cultivated land amongst the housing districts) as well as producing:

a slogan that reflects our concept.

See you all later

Simon

GROUP MEETING LOG

Meeting 1: Wednesday, 29 September 2010. 10.00am - 1.30pm, Avery Hill
Present: Simon, Jenny, Lili, Stevie, Anka

Created version 1 of 30 year and 300 year habitat and vegetation plans for whole site

Meeting 2: Friday 1, 1 October 2010. 1.15pm - 1.45pm, Avery Hill
Present: Simon, Jenny, Lili, Stevie, Athanase, Anka
Discussed approach to habitat designation and incorporation of other groups' designs for 30 and 300 year habitat and vegetation plans for whole site


Meeting 3: Tuesday, 5 October 2010. 11.30am - 10.00pm, Kennington
Present: Simon, Lili, Stevie, Athanase, Anka
Created version 2 of 30 year and 300 year habitat and vegetation plans for whole site

Meeting 4: Thursday, 7 October 2010. 11.00am - 5.00pm, Site 3
Present: Simon, Jenny, Lili, Stevie, Athanase, Anka
Explored the group's site, initial survey. Discussed concept design.


Meeting 5: Wednesday, 13 October 2010. 10.00am - 1.30pm, Avery Hill
Present: Simon, Jenny, Lili, Stevie, Athanase, Anka
Created concept model. Discussed slogan. Reviewed Eye-sore its.


Meeting 6: Wednesday, 20 October 2010. 10.00am - 1.30pm, Avery Hill
Present: Simon, Jenny, Lili, Stevie, Athanase, Anka
Created revised concept model. Reviewed Eye-sore its. Preparation for crit.


Meeting 7: Wednesday, 27 October 2010. 10.00am - 1.30pm, Avery Hill
Present: Simon, Jenny, Lili, Stevie, Athanase
Produced designs for 5 elements for -300, present day, +3 years, +30 years and +300 years
Produced 300 year sketch design and draft model design
First draft of storyboard


Meeting 8: Wednesday, 3 November 2010. 10.00am - 1.30pm, Avery Hill
Present: Simon, Lili, Anka
Refinement of storyboard


Meeting 9: Monday, 15 November 2010. 11.00am - 2.00pm, Avery Hill
Present: Simon, Lili, Stevie, Athanase
Review of storyboard and materials
Revision of 5-element diagrams


Meeting 10: Wednesday, 17 November 2010. 11.00 - 1.30pm, Avery Hill
Present: Simon, Anka, Jenny
Review of storyboard, refinement of concept model