The First Specialised Landscape Magazine in the Middle East
middle east
march 2021
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The First Specialised Landscape Magazine in the Middle East
Editor’s Note In this issue, In this month’s issue we have projects from around the world, starting out in Vietnam with a reimagined traditional family home centred around the veranda and surrounding landscape. If only the walls could talk! (pg 20) Then it’s across to Northern Italy, where we feature Teca house, an all glass facade tucked in the Biella Hills and embedded into its natural surroundings. (page 14) The new Convention and Exhibition Center in Buenos Aires is a city landmark that will last for generations to come, thanks to its innovative design features and sustainable properties including, solar panels, the use of natural light to save energy, and the collection of rainwater for watering plants. See it on pg 24. A timely resilient and flexible social space at the University of Michigan in the US is on display on page 10 — we can all learn from this one. Please enjoy the issue and get in touch with us if you’d like to be featured or have any questions or comments
Managing Partner: Ziad Maarouf Amine Copy Editor: John Hampton Sales Manager: Boushra Dinnawi Administrative Assistance: Sarry Gan Art Director: Ramon Andaya Contributors: Sophie Elias, Ramon Mosterd, Jimena Martignoni, Thanh, Veronika Driga, Abdulaziz Kharouf Printed by: Al Nisr Publishing LLC Webmaster: www.pdinventive.com
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contents March 2021 - Issue 165
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Irrigation scheduling and saving
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Interview with Veronika Driga, Landscape Architect
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A new heart for social interaction
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Teca House Territory Connection
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Forest Sports Park wins Best Landscape award in China
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The Secrets of a Veranda
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Buenos Aires’ landmark Convention Center is a beacon of sustainability
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TheFirst FirstSpecialised SpecialisedLandscape LandscapeMagazine Magazineininthe theMiddle MiddleEast East The
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I news & Events
Grand Opening of CYPEX’s Umm Ramool branch in the presence of Mr. Hashem Aljamal (CEO) & Mr. Ahmad Bin Rashed (Dubai Sports Society).
CYPEX Group expands its business and opens new HQ The Sports and flooring company diversifies into cleaning and disinfection Cypex Group is one of the leading companies in the region specializing in sports, playgrounds and flooring. After the pandemic hit in early 2020, they quickly future-proofed their business by diversifying into cleaning and disinfection. As one of a few approved service providers in the UAE by Dubai Municipality for disinfection and decontamination against Covid-19, Cypex has become a recognized name in the front-lined defense of the virus. In addition to disinfection, Cypex provides cleaning services, by serving all sectors with 4000 plus projects in less than one year. Led by their CEO, Hashem Aljamal, Cypex Group represents top quality brands from the international market having secured exclusivity in the GCC and North Africa for supplying their materials and equipment. The group recently opened a new branch in Umm Ramool compromising of head offices and warehouses.
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“Strategic planning is a lifestyle for Cypex Group’s management,” said Jordanian businessman and Cypex CEO, Hashem Aljamal. “Every day we have new goals and achievements which keeps us escalating our performances to achieve the highest peaks in the business, in order to keep ourselves in the same place as a market leader.”
Mr Aljamal earned his degree in Management Information Systems from the IT college at Yarmouk University in Jordan. While his degree exposed him to the Information technologies side of the world, the rest of his education was in business strategies and tactics. He has a passion for sports and fitness, which is why after his graduation, he continued working for his family business in the sports equipment manufacturing industry. He explained, “It had always been a dream of mine to be an entrepreneur in this business that’s why I chased this dream and came to Dubai in 2010, which is considered one of the most important business hubs worldwide.”
I landscaping specialist
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Why indoor plants matter By Tijana Popovic Founder of Tgreen Life Whether it’s your living room or your office space, indoor plants are an indispensable element of any welldecorated interior. Apart from having an aesthetic role which beautifies your working environment as well as your home, it has an enormous impact on your both mental and physical health. According to a new report by Research Gate, UAE residents are spending 80- 95% of their time between “four walls’, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have noted that concentrations of some pollutants are often two to five times higher indoors than typical ones outdoor. Therefore, it’s more important than ever to cultivate a calm and purifying environment with the use of indoor plants. Houseplants That Can Help You Breathe Easier Plants purify the air, protect us from various toxic air pollutants such as wall paint colors, different types of sprayers and, of course, cigarette smoke. What is more, they are also responsible for maintaining humidity in the indoor space since they release a lot of vapor to the atmosphere. In this part of the world especially, this is priceless if you take into consideration the fact that you spend most of the year under AC which excessively dries out the air in your home.
Houseplants Reduce Allergies A number of studies have shown that the level of allergens such as dust and mold is reduced in indoor spaces which are rich in houseplants. Houseplants Help You Sleep Better Some species, such as Dieffenbachia Camille, Philodendron Heartleaf, Monstera, Snake Plant, etc., release oxygen during the night . Therefore, the best option is to place them next to yo ur bed in order to get more fresh air. Indoor plants stimulate productivity and concentration and improve the memory but also affect patients’ healing process and recovery. Previous British research has shown that 47% of employees are affected by bringing indoor plants into the workspace which stimulate better focus, increase productivity and also boost their immune system. In addition to this, if their workspace was beautified by indoor plants, 45% of the employees were not only more creative but also more constructive in their decisionmaking process. Offices are not the only place where plants have a positive impact on the environment. Think about hospitals or schools, for example. The students who are exposed to more indoor plants will memorize in a faster and easier manner. Inpatients who spend time in hospitals filled with indoor plants tend to recover faster.
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I Case study
By: Abdulaziz Youssef Kharouf ICON - Intelligent Consult Consultant Engineers®
Irrigation Scheduling and Saving Introduction Innovative irrigation practices are becoming more essential considering the rapid technological advancements and environmental resources strains elevating the necessity of breeding innovation to enhance water use efficiency, gain an economic advantage and reduce environmental burdens. Innovative measures can often be as simple as applying or re-applying the basic principles effectively. In this case study, we will explore the irrigation water saving achieved by merely re-visiting/re-scheduling the existing irrigation controller schedules of an automatic irrigation system serving a large private plot’s landscape in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates without any other modifications on the existing irrigation network/system (zero cost intervention). According to the results, irrigation water saving of around 20% was achieved by only adjusting and optimizing the irrigation schedules. Implementation A study worth mentioning in this context by Cooley et al. (2009) compiled a list of currently available options for “improving the efficiency of water use in California
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agriculture”, and pointed out that all solutions fall under one of three categories: efficient irrigation technologies, improved irrigation scheduling, or regulated deficit irrigation, where the category with the largest potential for water savings is improving irrigation scheduling. In this case study’s project, a survey was conducted on the existing irrigation and landscape assets to identify existing system’s condition and problems with the irrigation system that reduces performance and overall irrigation efficiency. All the existing irrigation assets were surveyed and assessed including the supply source, tanks, pumps, lines, valves, controllers, irrigation devices, meters and soil condition. A full report was produced with the assessment and recommendation of simple cost-effective interventions that can be applied to improve the efficiency of the system element. As a first step, it was decided to only implement improvements on the irrigation schedule to assess the achievable water saving from that intervention alone. Regarding the existing irrigation schedules, it was found that they were a mix of multiple timings and were not consistent. Manual irrigation instances were
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also applied randomly and relatively intensely. Also, the applied irrigation demand rates were not following the local municipality irrigation demand rates (which are carefully selected irrigation rates based on studies and experience to select optimal values that match with the actual plantations water requirements) and were indicating over-irrigation.
Results & Discussion The implementations above resulted in considerable water saving by; monitoring/controlling manual irrigation to apply it only when required for operation and maintenance activities (education/awareness sessions for labors and operators) and rescheduling the irrigation operation to:
Firstly, the plot’s operations/maintenance team were reeducated on the correct practices in regards to applying manual irrigation only when necessary. A Foreman was assigned to monitor and ensure that no unnecessary manual irrigation was applied during the study period.
• Apply automatic irrigation schedule respecting clustering of plantations which are irrigated with the same irrigation device
Secondly, the current irrigation demand rates applied needed to be adjusted to the local municipality guidelines’ demand rates, as the municipality demand rates are optimal and consider seasonal adjustments. However, this adjustment requires comprehensive interventions on the overall system and existing irrigation devices. For the sake of this study; only intervention on the irrigation scheduling was done. Finally, new irrigation schedules were formulated for the 3 existing pump sets. Valves for the same irrigation device (bubbler, drip, sprayer) were clustered in cycles in a way to ensure that cycle flow does not exceed respective pump’s capacity. Also, the operation time for valves under the same irrigation device were unified, where the operation time was selected to optimize achieving the required irrigation water demand for the specific plant type based on the irrigation device application rate (volume unit over time unit).
• Cluster valves under the same irrigation device type in cycles of very close cycle flows that fully utilize but do not exceed pump capacity. • Run time for the hydro-zones have been selected carefully verifying the irrigation application for each plant according to the local municipality requirements taking into consideration the seasonal adjustment, which ensures higher efficiency of the system and delivers the different plants water requirements without over or under irrigating. More interventions were explored such as installing flow sensors downstream the pumps to read flows outside the automatic irrigation cycles, solar syncs for each controller (semi weather stations) that can update seasonal adjustments factors and other interventions. However, for the sake of this study stage it was decided to only apply enhancements on the existing irrigation schedule to assess the strong ramifications a poorly studied irrigation scheduling could have on the overall irrigation network. Conclusion & Recommendations Improving the irrigation scheduling for this subject existing automatic irrigation system helped achieve water saving of around 20% with zero cost required for the intervention. The existing irrigation schedules were re-assessed and basic principles were applied to enhance efficiency. With the currently available and rapidly developing irrigation technologies; it is vital to periodically revisit existing irrigation systems to reassess their efficiency and study potential interventions that would help with water saving, gain an economic advantage and reduce environmental burdens. References H. Cooley, J. Christian-Smith and P.H. Gleick. 2009. Sustaining California Agriculture in an Uncertain Future. Pacific Institute, Oakland, CA. Available online at: http://www.pacinst.org/reports/california_agriculture/ (verified 29 Jan. 2021).
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I Interview
tactile sensations from materials and finishes; sounds of water features and birds; and if possible something edible. If all these boxes are ticked, people will feel very relaxed and comfortable in a garden space.
Interview with
Veronika Driga
Landscape Architect Where did you study Landscape Architecture? I have successfully completed my Master’s Degree in environmental design from the Kiev University in 2012. I have worked across landscape architecture and interior design in Ukraine, Montenegro and UAE. I have been living in Dubai for the past 4 years and working on my own projects. Why did you decide to start your own landscape company? I have a lot of experience in Landscape design and I’m confident in my skills so it made sense for me to start my own company. It’s a risk but I believe I’ll be successful. What’s your experience been like operating in the UAE so far? It’s still early days, I’m just starting out and I’m slowly building the business but I’ve already had some projects reach completion stage and I’ve had good feedback from clients so it’s all positive! Describe your approach to Landscape design? There are many aspects to my landscape design approach, however, my main concern is to ensure that every design satisfies all of the senses: it should be aesthetically pleasing, blend shapes and colors in harmony; invigorate your sense of smell with flowers and herbs; provide
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Where do you draw inspiration from when beginning a new project? I usually begin by determining the needs of my client and what needs the landscape design should satisfy, and then create a general concept, zoning and complement the architectural style of the whole environment. What kind of projects excite you? Can you share any you are working on? At the minute, I’m really enjoying working on projects for private villa gardens and public parks. In the future, of course I’d love to work on more iconic projects. What is the most frustrating aspect of your work? And the most rewarding one? Having to have patience is the most frustrating aspect of our work as we have to wait for the landscape to grow and bloom! However, equally it’s the most rewarding as when you see one of your projects in a few years’ time, and it’s fully developed, then that is also rewarding and makes it all worthwhile as you know it will last for years to come. What are your thoughts on how the global pandemic (Covid) has affected the Landscape Architecture industry both ere in the region and globally? Covid-19 has affected the economic situation in every country. Many projects are frozen and landscape design is not developing as before. But the situation with increased restrictions and social distancing can add some value to residential landscape projects because people stay home more often and they want to have comfortable and well designed outdoor space.
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How have you adapted its working design in the post Covid climate? I hope we will get back to normal life very soon. But nowadays we have a more flexible schedule, and the possibility to work remotely from anywhere in the world. What is the difference between the landscape industry here in the Middle East compared to in other countries. The climate in the Middle East is very hot and dry especially in GCC. And of course, it affects softscape design. We can’t create English gardens with a lot of mix borders, flowerbeds, fruit plants, free style of landscaping. Instead of that landscape architects must think about sustainability and also be creative to compete with the very modern and futuristic environment of the UAE. And this actually opens up great opportunities for designers to realize some of their crazy ideas and innovations. My country (Ukraine) is very green and has the most fertile soil in the world. But often we can’t create something new because we have to complement the existing old European style of cities. If you had one professional motto to live by, what would it be? One of my favorite quotes: “Design is intelligence made visible.”
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I INSTITUTIONAL LANDSCAPE
A new heart for social interaction Eda U. Gerstacker Grove: a flexible and resilient social space at the University of Michigan By: Stoss The Eda U. Gerstacker Grove is a renovation of a 4-acre underutilized campus quad at the center of the University of Michigan’s North Campus. The Grove activates the space for the students, faculty, and administrators on campus, while it also serves as the heart of student social life. The project goals included; to create an outdoor civic space that effectively knits the campus community together, encourages collaborative, multidisciplinary learning, connects to the natural systems that underpin the campus, and provides a sense of place. Programming, flexibility, and seasonality The Grove is a lush and active space that can accommodate a range of rotating performances, events, and everyday activities. It was conceived as a flexible green quad, with clearings in an elegant grove that can host larger-scale activities like musical and arts performances, student and alumni events, and casual play or recreation including beach volleyball and swings. The
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configuration of the central plaza, paths, landforms, flat lawns, and volleyball “beach” were designed to maximize different types of programmatic use including a large tent, food trucks, event staging, and market stalls. The space hosts a series of changing installations by engineering and architecture students that combine interests in technology, design, and play. Designed to amplify daily and seasonal change, the space brings to life different parts of the quad in warmer and cooler months: flowering amelanchier signals the arrival of spring, while a ring of red and orange foliage trees transform in the fall. Formal expression The plaza paving is an expressive feature that in actuality was conceived as a cost-saving measure. With little budget for high-end pavers, the design team utilized pour in place concrete and the required expansion joints in an innovative pattern, creating a truly unique look and feel. Equally distinctive, sinuous custom benches of concrete and steel frame the walkways, providing space to sit, lounge, perch, play, and socialize. Finally, a playful topography creates a diversity of scale and experience. The green quad is marked by dramatic topographies, with grassy hills rising from an otherwise flat site to form
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I INSTITUTIONAL LANDSCAPE
shaded overlooks and lushly planted infiltration gardens probing deep into the quad’s surface to collect stormwater. Hillocks provide the gathering function of an amphitheater, without creating a void when empty. Clear sight lines were prioritized, with landforms rising no higher than 5 feet. Interactive lighting design Infiltration gardens collect rainwater on site while a weather station reads rainfall, temperature, and other data. One hundred acrylic rods with LED lights distributed between the prickly bald
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cypress trees and lush ferns in the gardens provide a reading of current weather conditions and illuminate rainy days: as stormwater enters the gardens, the rods gently flicker, creating an extraordinary sensorial experience for passersby. Ecological performance A performance study conducted by the Landscape Architecture Foundation found that the project has had a measurable ecological impact. The design reduces peak storm water runoff rates by up to 100% for a 2-year, 24-hour storm event and up to 34% for a 100-year, 24-hour storm
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event; and improves water quality by removing up to 80% of total suspended solids for a 2-year, 24-hour storm event. The planting of 179 new trees and the preservation of 39 existing trees has contributed to sequestering an estimated 2 tons of atmospheric carbon annually; the trees onsite also intercept an estimated 27,000 gallons of storm water annually. Species were also selected and placed to minimize irrigation needs: for instance, topographical high points were planted with drought tolerant no-mow grass.
The Grove is a new meeting ground and space for creative engagement for a diverse campus community, strengthening the university’s connections between and among disciplines, and establishing a new heart for social interactions. Demonstrating principles of flexibility, sustainability and innovative design, Gerstacker Grove is a responsive, resilient open space for the University. The space effectively enhances social connection, improves ecological health, and strengthens community wellbeing.
Lead design team: Chris Reed, Amy Whitesides, Tim Wilson, Difei Ma, Jarrad Newman Project consultants: Mannik Smith Group, Illuminart Project completion: 2016 Client: University of Michigan Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States Photography: Millicent Harvey (p10-12) and Mike Belleme (p13)
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I RESIDENTIAL LANDSCAPE
Teca House Territory
Connection
Formerly a small rustic building in the idyllic setting of the Biella hills in Northern Italy, Teca House has remerged as a modern masterpiece. The transparent container is embedded in nature and suspended in space were the old masonry work becomes the base for a contemporary architectural structure rooted and perfectly in tune with its territory. The symbiotic connection with the natural elements is conveyed by the structural and visual permeability of the building: it shows in the outdoor areas perfectly integrated into the orography of the place, the materials used, the delicate and refined colour schemes, the technological solutions adopted.
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Drawing inspiration from Philip Johnson’s Glass House, Teca House has a built area of about 80 m2 over three floors. On the ground floor, the access zones emulate the natural elements of the exterior through stone mural inserts and wooden boiseries. An intimate conference room in the basement is ideally suitable to host work groups and meetings. On the top floor, the living and bedrooms are located.
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Common spaces, such as the kitchen and the living room, face toward the exterior of the house, turning their gaze from the inside to the outside. Sculpted in metal, wood and concrete, the stainless-steel taps and fittings by CEA, here with black diamond finish, engage in a dialogue with the architecture, echoing its lines and underscoring the architect’s and client’s stylistic choices.
www.ceadesign.it Project: private residence Architecture: Federico Delrosso Architects – www.federicodelrosso.com Location: Biella, Italy Product name: FLAG + FREE IDEAS Photo Credit: Matteo Piazza
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I park
City view from the landmark Red Path.
Forest Sports Park wins Best Landscape award in China The innovative project scooped the WAFChina 2020 award By: LOLA Landscape Architects At the very first edition of the World Architecture Festival China, the design of the Forest Sports Park was granted no less than two awards. During the live ceremony, the project was first awarded the WAFChina 2020 for Excellent Design, later followed by the overall Best Landscape award. This new park for play, sport and relaxation is the result of a mutual design by LOLA Landscape Architects (NL), Taller architects (COL/NL) and Land and Civilization Compositions (CN).
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Masterplan Forest Sports Park Guangming.
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Birdseye view Forest Sports Park - impression.
The Shenzhen area is all about innovation, therefore the ambition was to make a park that is as innovative as the city itself. A park that can adapt to the constant evolution of sports and were we can constantly contribute to a more resilient nature. An elevated red path gives universal access to the forest. With a steady soft slope, connecting ramps and elevators it provides users from all age groups a safe and easy way to visit the mountain. To enjoy
the views of the surrounding city and the ability to immerse yourself in the thick forest. The Forest and Sports Park forms a slow transition space between the city of Guangming and the forest reserve. With the first phase of the 600 ha. park almost completed, the park is to become a unique destination for Guangming’s Big Bay area. As this metropolitan region finds its success in innovative industries, the park focuses on innovation in sports
Section Forest Sports Park shows the wide variety in biodiversity and use.
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I park
Diagram of the parks landmark Red Path design.
and ecology. Two R&D centres, one for sports, one for botany are centrally located in the park. From here, a constant evolution and diversification of the park will take place. On the central park loop, a linear plant and tree nursery is integrated. In a natural forest setting, visitors are able to get to know new and forgotten sports, as well as the latest techniques used in sports. A range from open valleys to lower hills and mountain forest offers the natural background for these sports and
Drone photo Red Path Forest Sports Park.
The elevated Red Path runs through the whole park.
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Stairs to the starting point of the Forest Sports Park
active leisure. The Red Path forms a landmark that connects the park to the city and the forest; a scenic route that passes by all different types of forest. In the park a series of pavilions hosts functions like a restaurant, restroom, viewing platform and forest cabin. In order to minimize the environmental
impact, the pavilions are modular and prefabricated. By placing them on stilts they avoid direct contact with the ground and at the same time provide shadow so that visitors can escape the summer heat. The construction of the second phase of the Forest Sports Park is expected to start in 2021.
Location: Guang Ming, Shenzhen, China Size: 600 ha Design: 2018 Construction first phase: 2019-2020 Organizer: Guangming New District Management committee Co-organizer: Shenzhen Guang Ming center for urban Development Design team: LOLA Landscape Architects, Taller architects, Land and Civilization Compositions Awards: WAFChina 2020 for Best Landscape, WAFChina 2020 for Excellent Design Photo credit: LOLA, TALLER, LCC Drone photo of the completed skatepark, one of many sports facilities.
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I RESIDENTIAL LANDSCAPE
In the memories of many people, the veranda is not only a transition space between inside and outside of the house, a cover from the sun light, rain but I can catch the cool breeze, but also a place where children sit and wait for their grandmother’s cakes coming back from the market, where mothers pick up vegetables or the family gather to pack cakes for Tet holiday in VietNam. In this house in Tay Ninh, apart from two awnings arranged at the front and back of the house, there are also two other verandas inside the house, surrounded by old fish-scale tiles reused from the old house, creating emotions for this particular space. The home would be interesting on its own if it was built from the stories of the people living in it. The first brick of the house was actually constructed by family members from the moment they told their stories. This is a house for two generations, common accommodation with two bedrooms, living space, kitchen, dining area. The homeowners have the same passion for nature and love simple, rustic things, especially the husband who is also an artistic and romantic soul. They have two lovely little girls who always want to be close to their parents. However, there was a concern about a long narrow house and everyone in the house being separated.
The Secrets of a Veranda
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I RESIDENTIAL LANDSCAPE
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It was proposed as a two-story house, which took up less than half of the land area. The rest of the land is used for gardening in the front and back of the house, which is both landscape and a space for friends gathering, where the husband takes care of trees, his wife grows vegetables, and children play. The garden provides the natural wind and light for the house in an urban area where concrete buildings keep growing. The living room, kitchen and bedrooms are divided into two blocks, connected by two verandas, void and green garden between the house. The separation of the building blocks ensures ventilation, maximizing the use of natural light for all spaces, limiting energy for lighting and cooling. The two-verandas space inside the house is a common place for the family to get together, making it easy for everyone to see each other. This is a place where the family dine together, where the kids study, dad lies in the hammock, mom relaxes, reads books or cooks. The lowered eaves, enveloping the learning space of two children, creating a space that evokes a sense of warmth and safety but still airy and flexible.
In terms of materials, the house was built mainly by red common bricks and old fish scale tiles kept by the family from their old dismantled house, which are close to nature, bringing a distinctive feel but suitable with the spirit of the building. Raw brick, without cement plastering, has been treated to bring a warm, simple feeling but still create a strong emotion, ensuring aesthetics and hygiene for use. In addition to determining enough demand for construction, the use of raw brick walls also reduces the cost of wall finishing or annual maintenance costs for cracking, painting and repairing walls. The recycled old fish-scale tile has brought a sense of time and place, giving us a sense of rustic and intimacy that the new tile color can hardly provide. The fish-scale tile system encompasses four verandas inside and outside the house, creating a shape in harmony with use. All create their own “equanimous veranda”, a peaceful place that holds all their family memories. 2HIEN Client: Ms.Trang Year completed: 2020 Location: Tay Ninh, VietNam Ground Floor Area (GFA): 75m22 Storey: 02 floor Construction: Hong Phuc Co., Ltd ; Huynh Anh Co.Ltd Suppliers: TOTO Sanitary. Viet Nhat Glass. Xingfa Aluminium Profiles Doors and Windows. Philips Lighting. Daikin Air Conditioning Solutions. Ha Tien Cement Photographs: Hiroyuki Oki Youtube:https://youtu.be/cFCdAHmE5j4 Design: CTA | Creative Architects Web: ctacta.com.vn
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I sustainabilty
Buenos Aires’ landmark Convention Center is a beacon of sustainability
The centre’s three underground levels allowed the preservation of surrounding green spaces and trees, while innovative design features include solar panels, a careful use of natural light to save energy, and the collection of rainwater for watering plants. By: Jimena Martignoni 24
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The Convention and Exhibition Center in Buenos Aires was born out of a national competition in 2012, run by the Ministry of Urban Development, a division of the City Government, and the Central Society of Architects (SCA). Architects Edgardo Minond and Estudio Bulla scooped the prize to design the new convention center and the project is now in its final stages, with a first of its kind park displaying large masses of native plants already open. The site is enclosed in an area known as the museums’ corridor, forming part of an urban axis, which connects some of the most important local museums. At one end, it connects with the traditional building of the Faculty of Law of the Buenos Aires University and an existing large park, and to the opposite side with another large traditional park.
The wining project proposed to bury the building for the Convention Center and to create a large green roof, or “topographical roof”, which would be perceived as another park. Not a separate park but a piece of a larger single green plain crisscrossed by a pedestrian integrating path system. Lucía Ardissone, one of the partners of Estudio Bulla, explained: “We wanted the three parks to be read as a single urban green piece; an ecology patch within the city. A natural place to serve our native fauna, attracting butterflies, birds, insects, especially being so close to the Ecological Preserve of the City of Buenos Aires.” Today, with the new building, the access plaza and the green roof completed, it is fair to say that the original goal of the landscape designers was
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I sustainabilty
achieved. Covering an area of 18,000m2, the green roof is established as an urban prairie, a landscape which evokes that of the local pampas, bringing bucolic images into the city and creating a new image more nature-related. Undoubtedly, what makes this project all the more remarkable is the creation of a new kind of park within the city: in Buenos Aires, where the old traditional parks present countless clusters of large trees mostly non-native and extensive areas of lawn, the incorporation of a place only planted with grasses and herbaceous extending for 240 meters means not only a novel image but especially a new kind of urban awareness for citizens. Planned in thick strips (a list of eleven species mostly native and a few widely adapted), the plants outline the path network. “The layout is clear,” explains Lucía Ardissone, — “Tall strips [of plants] at central spaces and short strips at the edge of the footpaths.” Golden hues provided by the grasses and colorful patches made by native groundcovers and vines are what visitors find when walking the paths
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up and down. Rapidly taken in as a new jogging circuit, which begins in one of the existing parks and ends in the sunken access plaza of the Convention Center, the green roof’s pathway becomes also a new panorama trail opening onto the city. Formerly, the old convention center was built at street level and facing the wide avenue where most of the most important local museums are located. Now, with the semi-buried building and, on top, the green roof
reaching seven meters above street level, the park acts also as an urban veranda offering views to the city never possible to be enjoyed in the past. The long and wide vistas to the traditional avenue, the distant city skyline and the large existing trees are a bonus, and considered as one of the most interesting points about the project. Completing the design for the green roof, a series of artificial mounds dots the space along the paths. Finished with a gentle slope and with a diameter of an average of seven meters, these green pieces break the horizontality of the new park and the frank reference to the pampas, thus adding a more dynamic visual experience. In order to reduce the loads on the main slab, the main structure of the mounds is made up of expanded polystyrene (EPS). On top, a layer of earth becomes the lawn growing medium. Although the green roof, or new park, is completed and started to be comprehended by
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I sustainabilty Buenos Aires’ inhabitants as a new (and now permanent) significant urban piece in a central area of the city, the project is yet to shine. At the time the contractual documents for the project began, after the competition’s results were presented, the City Government announced some important changes for the site’s proposal. Consequently, this meant some important design changes. Edgardo Minond explains: “After we started the set of contractual documents, two main changes were made: the bus transfer center had to remain at its original location, in front of the new building [on the same avenue] and a new subway station would be incorporated into the site, with a large public lobby integrated with the access plaza of the Convention Center and the existing Faculty of Law. This meant big changes for us, but instead of viewing it as a problem we saw it as an opportunity to make a more profound urban commitment.” The new architectural and urban proposal cohesively redesigned the access plaza in a way that is integrated with the levels of the subway station, truly changing the pedestrian arrival to the Convention Center both from the street level and
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from the green roof. Standing at 5,900m2 and 3.25 meters below street level, the plaza appears as a main open gathering space before entering the main building. Combining concrete and planted areas, this plaza is especially known for the three large Tipu trees (Tipuana tipu), native to Argentina, which were preserved at their original locations. Three massive concrete planters contain the trees and now are a strong landmark, or reference of the site. The excavation works for the project were huge and the full extension of the site is bordered by a retaining wall system comprised by double concrete vertical structures. The final stages of the project will entail the construction of a public underground parking area that is directly connected to the subway station and access plaza; and a sprawling green wall to cover up the building’s facade that extends out from street level. The completion of the subway station and the long-awaited connection between the three parks, will position the Convention Center and surrounding green areas as the focal point of the city’s urban fabric.
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Location: City of Buenos Aires, Argentina Client: City Government of Buenos Aires Master plan and architecture: Minond Estudio (Edgardo Minond) Landscape Plan: Estudio Bulla (Ana García Ricci, Lucía Ardissone and Ignacio Fleurquin) Lot area: 48,500m2. Green roof area: 18,000m2. Built Area: 25,000m2 Date of completion of building, access plaza and green roof: 2017 Photography: Gustavo Sosa Pinilla
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I Book review
Books of interest ROOTED IN SESIGN ISBN-9781607746973 PRISE-107.00Dhs.
BOOK DESCRIPTION: A stylish and full-color guide to creatively integrating indoor plants with home decor from the owners of the popular Sprout Home garden design boutiques. Indoor plants play a large role in the design and feel of a space. Focusing on indoor gardening--from small containers and vertical installations with air plants to unique tabletop creations--Rooted in Design provides readers with the means to create beautiful and long-lasting indoor landscapes. Tara Heibel and Tassy De Give, owners of the successful Sprout Home gardening stores, offer expert advice for choosing plant varieties and pairing them with unique design ideas. Sharing practical tips honed through hundreds of plant design classes, Heibel and DeGive tell readers everything they need to know to care for their one-of-a-kind green creations
OUDOLF HUMMELO
ISBN-9781580934183 PRISE-215.00Dhs.
BOOK DESCRIPTION: “Piet Oudolf is best known for his now-iconic designs for the High Line in New York City and Millennium Park in Chicago. Hummelo, his own garden in The Netherlands, is visited by thousands of gardeners each year. It serves as his personal design and plant propagation laboratory, and is where he has honed his aesthetic and created new varieties of plants for over three decades. This title charts how the garden of one of the world’s best-known and most-loved plantsmen has evolved, and gives frank assessments of his experiments that have gone both well and awry. Hummelo, timed to coincide with Oudolf’s 70th birthday and his acceptance of Holland’s most prestigious cultural award, provides his throngs of followers with a chronology of how his naturalistic style and career has developed. Lush photography documents how the garden has changed and inspired him over the years, and text by prolific garden writer Noel Kingsbury will ensure a lively read for all home garden enthusiast”
Urban Environmental Landscape ISBN: 9781864706307 Author: Dieter Grau Hardcover: 256 pages Publication Date: (10 Jun. 2015)
Book Descriptions: The book provides the latest trends in urban environmental landscaping, with informative chapters on basic principles, dimensions, reference standards and considerations across a range of themes, such as public parks, public plazas, waterfront public open spaces, and urban street environments It Showcases a broad range of informative high-quality projects spanning the United States, Mexico, Australia, China, and Europe and provides comprehensive reference material for architects, urban planners, preservationists ,and landscape designers, and all who are directly involved in town planning in the urban environment. For each part, we selected the most striking cases with the newest design standards to showcase spectacular landscape design With its headquarter in Tokyo, Japan and world class stores spread over countries like America, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, Taiwan and now in DUBAI – UAE, Kinokuniya is a globally known book seller of repute. The store in Dubai Mall is a massive 68,000 square feet wide paragon book gallery which stocks more than half a million books and thousand magazines in English, Arabic, Japanese, French, German and Chinese at any given time. The Store is also a distinct cross cultural hub wide range of time to time multicultural events such a comic art demonstrations, language learning workshops, book launches etc. The pleasant ambiance, stenographic design and add to it the impressive view of modern skyline – world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, Kinokuniya at The Dubai Mall is just the place to evoke emotions and add pleasure to your book shopping. You may like to visit our website for more information. www.kinokuniya.com
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