13 minute read
LI Campus and upcoming webinars
GreenBlue Urban: The Landscape Below Ground
Webinar available on LI Campus
Watch on LI Campus https://campus.landscapeinstitute.org/event/li-webinar-the-landscape-below-ground-with-greenblue-urban
GreenBlue Urban have always viewed our role in the urban design industry as educators – carrying out countless presentations, exhibitions and learning days for a wide variety of disciplines. Our investment in teaching people joining the landscape and arboriculture industries has been important to our towns and cities, many of which have benefited from high quality, resilient urban realm schemes creating sustainable and pleasant places and spaces.
The COVID-19 crisis has reinforced the need to provide the same level of educational support. GreenBlue Urban has embraced the digital age, and in particular is proud to support LI Campus. GreenBlue Urban have also focussed on providing resources online, with daily updates on the website; technical support, case studies and relevant blogs enabling all urban realm practitioners to keep up to date with the very latest in sustainable development methodologies.
Our most recent webinar for LI members, The Landscape Below Ground, is available on Campus and showcases differing tree planting methodologies together with the results achieved through academic trials on both sides of the Atlantic. This very pertinent subject will be of interest to many, as there is much conflicting advice available, but it is critical that we plant trees in a way that will guarantee longevity, otherwise future generations will not enjoy the canopy cover from which we all benefit. Numerous successful case studies are available to reinforce the message that trees planted properly can beat the odds to grow to maturity and bring benefits for generations.
New Government advice including the proposed requirement to have tree-lined streets in new residential developments will add pressure on landscape professionals to fight for enough space in these new areas for tree planting. This conflict is fully understood by GreenBlue Urban, and the support of the Landscape Institute for all landscape professionals will prove invaluable as we seek to maintain the UK’s green and pleasant land.
We thank the Landscape Institute for including GreenBlue Urban as a sponsor of Campus and look forward to a bright future as we increasingly appreciate the immense value of green infrastructure, and the understanding that collaborative working together is the way ahead.
Howard Gray, GreenBlue Urban
Howard Gray is an enthusiast for successful urban trees. He has been planting trees in urban areas for over 40 years and is passionate about making sure that every tree has the same opportunity of realising its species potential. Understanding the many conflicts, both financial and engineering, with planting in our congested towns and cities, he can work with designers and contractors to achieve the best result. Having worked on a number of SuDS schemes across Europe, with both local authorities and developers, he is uniquely positioned to present the vision – enabling sustainable cities through the use of green and blue infrastructure.
https://greenblue.com
Vestre: Nordic Life in Open Spaces
Webinar 1 December 2020
Book now https://www.landscapeinstitute.org/events
Impersonal cities rarely make good meeting places, and, in these times, we would probably all agree that we don’t need more boring streets where nobody interacts with each other. We are living in an ever more diverse society and we need to value diversity and eliminate prejudice in order to allow people to get to know each other, so at Vestre our vision is to create arenas for everyday democracy where people from all backgrounds come together. The best way to do that is to allow people to meet, share experiences, life stories, and ideas: that’s how we create a sense of community and belonging.
It’s no coincidence that, in recent times, more people are looking to Nordic countries and how they organise their society, which is characterised by free-market capitalism and a universal welfare state. It is a partnership between employers, trade unions and the government, promoting individual autonomy, social mobility and gender equality, leading to high productivity in the workforce.
Of course, the Nordic model is also behind the development of Scandinavian design over the last 60 years and for Vestre, design is always about more than aesthetics. Beautiful design must be accompanied by a consideration of democracy, affordability, accessibility, and sustainability.
For instance, one important point around inclusivity is that we consistently refuse to offer hostile design details on our products. This welcoming approach to the public realm relates directly to allemannsretten, or the right to roam. This traditional right ensures that everybody gets to experience nature and in Norway you can walk almost anywhere you want, even across larger privately-owned areas, as long as you show respect for nature.
Another important principle that we utilise in the design of our furniture is proxemics: the study of human use of space and the effects that population density has on behaviour, communication, and social interaction. The study of proxemics evaluates the way people in which people interact with others and, ultimately, the design of our urban spaces. We at Vestre are fascinated by the way in which different seating influences our behaviour and our furniture exists in infinitely configurable formats to allow for the creation of interesting social spaces.
Behind the design of Vestre products is always our desire to create social meeting places for all. Learn more about approach by signing up for our next webinar.
Romy Rawlings, Vestre
Romy Rawlings is a Chartered Landscape Architect and UK Commercial Director for Vestre, a Norwegian designer and manufacturer of street furniture. Romy’s 25-year career has been based in the landscape sector, and she is passionate about the impact of good design upon those using outdoor space, believing that landscape architects are well placed to counter many of today’s global issues. Romy is a former trustee of the Landscape Institute and chair of the LI Diversity and Inclusion working group.
https://vestre.com
Vectorworks: Intuitive tools to design the complex
Webinar on 29 October 2020
Book now https://www.landscapeinstitute.org/events
The new version of Vectorworks is out, and for the 2021 design and BIM software version there are some dramatic enhancements to the Vectorworks Landmark tools. Naturally, we’ll focus on this in the upcoming webinar on 29 October, and show you how to use a few of these features in a 3D workflow.
More and more landscape architects are transitioning to working in 3D, a necessity for a BIM workflow but also a massive advantage for visualisation and inclusion. In the webinar, we’ll demonstrate how to build a terrain model from imported data, how to add things like buildings and existing structure and how, with a few clicks, you can import a tree survey and populate the site with 3D trees that contain all the survey data.
Later, we’ll cover manipulating the site, and look at an updated feature for 2021 — the Grade tool — an enhanced way of creating connected grades. This tool will improve the control of levels and slopes immensely, both for the terrain modelling and for aligning hardscapes.
The next feature we’ll look at is the revamped Landscape Area tool. This is now a fully parametric tool which uses true styles. Further, it makes it incredibly easy to make sweeping changes to the content of landscape areas over a whole project. You can swiftly replace one style for another or adjust the content of a style and then push it out to all instances in the file. We have also added things like dividers in the tags, so you can sort the displayed content, as well as a simplification tolerance control for irregularly curved areas.
However, the most significant improvement, and a considerable advantage for BIM, is that landscape areas now can contain planting medium. You can specify what kind of soil or compost to use and to what depth, if you want mulch on the top, and even build up full profiles for roof or podium planting with everything from drainage board to waterproofing membrane. The Landscape Area tool talks with the site model and follows the surface contours and can create cut-outs in the site model, so you’ll get a correct cut and fill calculation straight out of the box!
We’ve only touched on a fraction of what Landmark 2021 can do. If you want to know more, join us for the webinar, but don’t forget to log in to Vectorworks University and watch the new feature videos there as well. Lastly, visit vectorworks.net/2021 to learn more about our latest version.
Katarina Ollikainen, Vectorworks
Prior to June 2019, Katarina worked as Senior Designer for Ann-Marie Powell Studio for five years. During this time, she had the opportunity to develop the studios workflow and to introduce new ways of working with, and sharing, data in the design process. Her interest in systematic approaches to problems and workflows stems from an earlier life where she developed and wrote manuals for parachute equipment. Katarina is now the Landscape Industry Specialist at Vectorworks UK and in this role, on top of playing Vectorworks (she has been instrumental in product planning for Vectorworks Landmark), she’s involved in the continuous work on BIM implementation. The main focus is on collaboration and workflows – how can we exchange information in the most effective way with all parties involved, and how can we use all this when we communicate with clients? It’s all about people.
www.vectorworks.net
Hardscape: Collaborating with Artists in the Public Realm and Placemaking Pioneers
Webinar 21 January 2021
Book now https://www.landscapeinstitute.org/events
This webinar offers an insight into how artists working in the public realm express their placemaking aspirations, bringing creativity and physical narratives to place, through cultural, social and heritage-led contexts, and looking how that journey is developed with research, sampling, material selection and most importantly, creative collaboration. This is an opportunity to get behind the scenes of placemaking projects and understand the vision of the artist, from initial design concepts to implementation, including the challenges of material choice, logistics, value engineering and client discussions, through to final installation.
Public art is freely accessible to everyone and anyone. It is often a reflection on society and can intentionally or indirectly determine a sense of place through its response to a particular site. It can be an all-encompassing communal activity and public engagement, reaching a wide variety of people. It can be inspiring, stimulating, divisive and challenging but can also help invigorate all sections of a community.
Traditionally public art provided a legacy of monuments, memorials, civic statues and sculptures commemorating or celebrating historic events and people. More recently the scope of public art has expanded, contributing to placemaking through embedded interpretation in the landscape design or via fleeting activities such as performance, dance, theatre, and ephemeral installations. Street art, including murals and graffiti, whether permanent or temporary, also embraces political themes and social protest, adding energy and dynamism to the public realm.
Permanent public artworks can remain in the public eye for decades and as such require skill and consideration in commissioning, collaborating, conceiving, creating, delivering, installing and maintaining.
Public art and creative interpretation should be planned from the outset of any placemaking project. Artists should join project teams early to ensure their contribution has an opportunity to flourish. This two-way creative collaboration can influence the design process from the start, which in turn unlocks greater creative potential and tangible economic value to the project.
Register for this insightful webinar and listen to the practical experiences of experts who have created and produced stunning, innovative public art for the public realm.
Mathew Haslam, managing director, Hardscape
Mathew Haslam, managing director, Hardscape
Mathew is a 1980s geology graduate who formed Hardscape Products Ltd in 1994, Mathew’s desire has always been to encourage the use of raw geological resources, whether in an organic state, or shaped by multiple production techniques to realise aesthetic demands and functions. He is a passionate advocate of creative design especially in the landscape design sector. Mathew puts maximum energy into educating and informing others externally, whether a student at an early stage of understanding paving specification or professionals wanting to know more about hard landscaping material choice.
https://hardscape.co.uk
Streetlife: Choosing sustainable materials for street furniture
Webinar 18 November 2020
Book now https://www.landscapeinstitute.org/events
In the world of street furniture there are several trends coming up. When it comes to materials, wooden elements are an all-time favorite with a natural look. It is environmentally friendly and, when the right wood type is chosen, it grows back. No extra treatments are needed to create the material. Of all kinds of wood, we recommend hardwood. Although this is not locally sourced, the quality of the wood stands for qualities that outperforms softwood’s features. Hardwood has a very dense structure, so the chance of torsion or cracks are minimised. Due to the density, hardwood is used untreated, so very low maintenance is required.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have plastic. Streetlife, a designer and producer of street furniture and small bridges, aims to be an inspiration for the circular economy, creating products for public spaces while preserving distinctive design and functionality. Achievements are made with three types of reused plastic, with their own colours, textures, and applications.
Thanks to the development in this field of research, we have succeeded in linking those material features to a specific product family where the material does justice to the product. The naming of the recycled products are linked to their appearance.
All Black is made from industrial and household waste plastic. This includes plastic bags, building and agricultural plastics, bottles, caps and beer crates. The material is composed of two thermoplastics: 50% PE and 50% PP. All Black has a matt appearance and a rough texture and is black throughout due to the use of a natural dye (carbon). The colour is retained by UV stabilisers.
Lava Grey is made entirely from recycled household plastic waste, such as packaging, cups, bags and trays. It consists of around 75% recycled PE and 25% recycled PP. This new anthracite grey substance has a fairly rough texture. In certain places, the surface reveals how the material flowed into the mould during the casting process, like a lava stream. Speckles of coloured plastic are visible in the grey mass, highlighting the origin of the recycled material.
Cloudy Grey is made from both plastic and textile waste. It consists of 50% recycled LDPE plastic combined with 50% recycled textile fibres from used clothes. This durable, grey material with blue tones has a matt appearance and an uneven texture. Fibres of coloured clothing add to the vibrant marbled surface, affording Cloudy Grey a unique character.
Stefanie Leitner, Streetlife
Stefanie Leitner is an Architect Advisor for the United Kingdom and Ireland at Streetlife. Since joining the company in January 2018, she has worked together with landscape architects on various projects. Before joining Streetlife, Stefanie studied Architecture, Architectural History and Art History in Vienna, Leiden and Portsmouth. In Austria, she worked as a freelance designer for almost 9 years until she settled in the Netherlands.
https://www.streetlife.nl/en
