November 2021 by Landscape Middle East

The First Specialised Landscape Magazine in the Middle East

MIDDLE EAST

NOVEMBER 2021

The First Specialised Landscape Magazine in the Middle East

EDITOR’S NOTE In this issue we meet one of the biggest champions of the Landscape Industry in the Middle East, Dr Jala Makhzoumi who is this year’s recipient of the industry’s highest award, the Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award given by the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA). Read page 18 for our exclusive interview. We also speak to the Landscape architects behind the landscaping of the Sustainability pavilion at Dubai’s EXPO 2020. desert INK are hoping that their project will be a blueprint, as well as an inspiration to fellow architects and clients when carrying out projects in the future. See page 8 Also featured is Saudi Arabia’s pavilion which has become part of the Guinness World Records for its huge scale features including an interactive water feature designed by Ghesa. (See page 14) On pages 26 & 44 our focus turns to Russia, where we look at two separate projects, the first is in the Russian monotown of Almetyevsk, which has been brought into the 21st Century with a complete rejuvenation of its city center and overhaul of its entire public realm works. Then we review a major urban transformation in the city of Shyshymska Gorka carried out by Polish Landscape architecture firm S&P Architektura Krajobrazu (S&P). Please email us admin@landscape-me.com if you would like to have your company’s landscape projects featured in the magazine.

Managing Partner: Ziad Maarouf Amine Copy Editor: John Hampton Administrative Assistance: Sarry Gan Art Director: Ramon Andaya Contributors: Nora Aridi, Romit Chakravarty, Olga S. Mirosaw Sztuka, Will Bennett, Harsh Anjaria, Jala Makhzoumi, Ana Mateus Printed by: Al Nisr Publishing LLC Webmaster: www.pdinventive.com

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8 CONTENTS 14 November 2021 - Issue 173

How Sustainable is the Landscaping at the Sustainability Pavilion?

14 18 26 30 34

Saudi Arabia Pavilion Water Features

40 44

The new landscape experience that could galvanise our industry

A Champion of the Profession Landscaping Russia’s Monotowns The Farm The Many Faces of the City

Reimagining city boundaries

30 18 2

I NEWS AND EVENTS

‘Yowalah’ wins the Urban Commissions 2021: PLAY! competition, supported by A.R.M. Holding

A.R.M. Holding’s Urban Commissions competition winner links community with design A.R.M. Holding today announces that Beirut-based architectural firm, Bits to Atoms, has won Dubai Design Week’s annual design competition; Urban Commissions, which was themed around playfulness for 2021. Titled ‘Yowalah’, the winning proposal is an inclusive and inter-generational public space, designed to undo social disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. A.R.M. Holding’s involvement in the initiative is part of the company’s ongoing mission to give back to the community and is in line with supporting and driving the objectives laid out in the UAE’s 2040 vision. Mohammad Saeed Al Shehhi, CEO of A.R.M. Holding, said: “A.R.M. Holding is driven by our commitment to give back to the community. We see the world as a collaborative place which is made more inviting and beautiful through the creativity of its people. Public spaces and installations such as ‘Yowalah’ invite people to come together as a society, whilst enriching the community as a whole. Bits to Atoms has presented an outstanding response to this year’s Urban commissions brief and we are excited to see it be brought to life.” Offering play areas for kids, as well as a space for sports and gardening, Yowalah uses 3D-printed beams assembled into frame beams to ‘weave’ the fabric of a healthy society. Regaining public spaces and stitching communities back together again, the recycled materials are fabricated on-

demand, without moulds or stocks, reducing further the overall impact on the environment of the initiative. “The modularity of the design is key in its flexibility to adapt any program or site, but also for easy maintenance and replacement,” explained Bits to Atoms CEO and founder, Guillaume Crédoz. “The colourful polycarbonate elements are used to form a continuous curved spatial beam, standing on thin steel pillars, to which many accessories can be hung.” Elements include ladder steps, swings seats and exploration tubes for kids, as well as planting pots and pergolas for gardening projects – all 3D-printed with local recycled materials from the automotive industry and unique in their design. The Beirut-based architecture and research firm has been awarded AED60,000 plus AED40,000 production fees, including all project development technical plans, renders and production management and supervision. The proposal was received and reviewed by a jury of experts composed of directors from A.R.M. Holding and Art Dubai Group. For more information on A.R.M. Holding’s Urban Commissions initiative and to visit Yowalah during Dubai Design Week in d3, please visit https://www.dubaidesignweek.ae/features/urbancommissions-2021

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I NEWS AND EVENTS

MAPEI construction chemicals contributes to the sustainable build of Expo 2020 Dubai MAPEI supplied a total of over 200 sustainable products to more than 55 pavilions, 16 zones and 60 areas across Expo 2020 Dubai, weighing over 8,500 tons As a Partner of the Italy Pavilion, MAPEI provided more than 30 eco-friendly products that weighed in excess of 100 tons, to help build the Italy Pavilion that will showcase a unqiue blend of Emirati flair and Italian culture UAE, October 2021 – MAPEI Construction Chemicals LLC, the fully owned subsidiary of MAPEI Group, the world’s leading manufacturer of adhesives, sealants and chemical products for the construction industry, is proud to announce its participation at Expo 2020 Dubai as the Partner of the Italy Pavilion. It has supplied over 30 ecofriendly products, weighing over 100 tons; for resin and cement-based floors, installing ceramics and marbles, wall finishes and water proofing solutions towards the sustainable build of the pavilion. MAPEI has applied its innovative ciruclarity approach to build the state-of-the-art pavilion made from recyclable products. MAPEI partnered with the Italian Commissioner’s Office, the governing body responsible for organizing and managing Italy’s presence at the Universal Exposition, and with lead architects from the conceptualization phase, to bring to life a unique blend of the Emirati flair coupled with the Italian 6

culture at this year’s World Expo. Designed with the concept of innovatively using recycled materials in the build of the pavilion, MAPEI has recreated real sand dunes and coated a suspended walkway within the Italy Pavilion through the use of coffee beans and a special powder made from orange-peel. MAPEI’s Techical Services Team further provided 360-degree involvement from the initial conception of the project, using groundbreaking engineering technology to extend MAPEI’s contributions; overcoming challenges and aggressive site conditions, bringing the conceptualized ‘Beauty Uniting People’ pavilion to life at Expo 2020 Dubai. A stand out feature at the Italy Pavilion, embodying Expo 2020’s thematic values of sustainability and innovation, are the five large water pools for the cultivation of three types of algae: Spirulina, Dunaliella and Haematococcus. The microalgae will be used in the bio-fixation of the carbon dioxide emitted within the pavilion. MAPEI supplied eco-friendly waterproofing solutions with non-toxic materials for the pools to ensure the healthy growth of the microalgae. The Italian building products manufacturer has cemented its presence at Expo 2020 Dubai, attaining various exemplary projects leading up to and within the Expo site. Commenting on MAPEI’s presence in the UAE, Veronica Squinzi, CEO, MAPEI Group says: “The UAE has been for many years a strategic market.

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I DUBAI EXPO

Forming billowing clouds of infinite textures and shades of green, great swathes of native plants sweep between the pathways and structures of Terra

How sustainable is the landscape at the sustainability pavilion? desert INK, the landscape architects behind it’s design, explain why

The landscape design for the Sustainability Pavilion is one of the most sustainably constructed landscapes in the region, according to its designers, Dubai based Landscape architecture firm, desert INK. But with so few examples of truly sustainable design practices in the Middle East, how does desert INK measure their own success? The firm cite the use of native and adaptive plants which they say ensures that the design requires a fraction of the irrigation required in comparison to conventional landscapes. Couple this with highly efficient sub-

surface irrigation for trees and palms which provides water into the roots rather than at the surface, and they achieve further savings, says desert INK’s Managing Director, Duncan Denley. Adding, “The native and adaptive plants utilised also require just a fraction of the maintenance needed to keep non-adaptive species healthy in the UAE and are likewise far more resilient.” Moreover, irrigation water is provided from the building’s captured AC condensate combined with treated sewage effluent. Sewage from the pavilion and surrounding

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The landscape comes alive during the evening with a shadow play of contrasting foliage and architectural forms

The globe-headed flowers of native Echinops float above billowing Sporobolus spicatus along the pavilion's outer boundary

The warm tones of the hard landscape are further enhanced by strategic lighting, ensuring a welcoming atmosphere despite the monumental scale of the surrounding structures

buildings is treated through a reedbed filtration system which visitors can explore via a sequence of boardwalks floating just above the surface. Clean water exiting the reedbed system is then fed into the irrigation system and re-used to irrigate the project’s vegetation. The landscape likewise uses locally sourced aggregates, stones and other materials which carry a much lower environmental cost than those typically imported for such a project. “The landscape design features countless innovations and trials of new materials with the hope that future designed landscapes will adopt and build upon these precedents. The landscape design brought into cultivation more than 100 ‘native and adaptive’ plant species, many of which were grown from seed collected from the UAE’s wadis, deserts, and mountains. One further innovation is the distinctive paving which was developed by desert INK with specialists to incorporate recycled glass and waste materials from the metal smelting industry. “The resulting paving is visually striking, yet also highly sustainable. Bamboo composites are employed in lieu of hardwoods while the entire planting palette represents a huge step forward in the use of native and adaptive plants within a designed landscape.”

I DUBAI EXPO You’ve said that the landscape irrigation across the pavilion requires a fraction of that of conventional landscapes. Can you be more specific? How much less water is needed? Can you quantify the water savings? We’re still ascertaining exactly how low we can go with the water consumption now that the plants are well established, but our calculations were based upon a 60% reduction on the municipality irrigation standards. The landscape design has over 100 native and adaptive plants. What percentage is this of the overall plant species? All of the plants featuring in the design are either adaptive or native, approximately 30% native and 70% adaptive. What lessons did you learn from designing the pavilion’s landscape? I think the primary lesson we learned is that to create something truly unique, you need to leave your comfort zone far behind, take some calculated risks and believe in the team’s ability and passion to make things work. From a technical perspective, the truly pioneering part of the landscape is the native plants, and we have enjoyed a very steep learning curve when it comes to the native plants many of which had never been cultivated commercially before. Now we have infinitely more knowledge when it comes to the appearance, habit and cultivation potential of these native plants. Did the onset of the pandemic affect your design plans or choices in any way? Since the design was long completed and the construction well underway by the start of 2020, the only significant effect which the pandemic exerted on the project was the

The distinctive flowing forms of the paving frequently undulate to form casual seating and presentation areas

Many of the UAE's native plants are highly efficient at capturing water from the moisture-heavy fogs which linger on cool winter mornings

one year launch date delay. Obviously, when it comes to vegetation, the extra year helped us massively and the plants have established more during this period. Since completing this project, has desert INK incorporated more sustainable practices into their other ongoing projects? We have been pioneering native plants and local materials in our designs for some time, but we certainly now are confident to push this agenda further and harder than we ever would have before EXPO. We have also now built in

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Visitors to Terra's rooftop landscape ascend through an experimental collection of pure native grasses, perennials and shrubs to a café commanding inspiring views over the pavilion and beyond

A redbed filtration pond cleans sewage which, when joined by condensate from air conditioning is used to irrigate the landscape

The sculptural forms of the e-trees and building canopy serve not only generate electricity, but also shade pedestrians beneath

other sustainable practices into our standards now too, such as root irrigation and eliminating the use of hardwoods in favour of bamboo composites. Sustainable practices often cost more for the client despite the obvious benefits for the planet. Do you feel that clients still have to be educated and persuaded to incorporate sustainable practices/options into their budgets? How do you manage that? One of the challenges with sustainability is that rarely do we know the real costs involved in the development process. For example, if a client purchases stone from a quarry which damages the local environment simply because it is cheaper, the client does not pay the full cost of the product; they only pay its selling price and someone else pays the ultimate cost of the pollution and damage created by its extraction. We realize that most clients will always push back against any cost uplift caused by sustainable design moves, so we turn this on its head. Instead of talking about the capital cost, we instead highlight the long-term savings on irrigation, maintenance and material replacement. A great thing about sustainable principles is that a single sustainable move can deliver multiple benefits. Take urban tree planting using soil

The heavily-veined, spiky leaves of the native Echinops spinosissimus contrast wonderfully against the pavilion's recycled glass paving

cells below hard surfacing for example. The tree contributes oxygen and sequesters carbon. The soil also acts as a giant sponge and helps urban drainage. It also shades and reduces urban heat island effect and provides habitat for wildlife and insects and delivers positive mental benefits to humans. The challenge with this is it is very difficult to put numbers to these benefits and measure the exact cost benefit for the client, so we currently resort to being really passionate and convincing! As an industry how would you rate both your company and your peers’ performance in sustainable development/ design? Could we do better as an industry overall? I would say that the industry as a whole is still talking a lot about sustainability, but a few practitioners truly taking sustainability to their core. I think we have all been guilty of ‘green washing’ in the past, but we need to fundamentally

I DUBAI EXPO

The bright orange stems of Euphorbia tirucalli provide stunning contrast with the silver-green hues of Echinops spinosissimus Combining native grasses, perennials and shrubs with adaptive sculptural plants such as Yucca rostrata has yielded wonderful contrasts of form in the urban xeriscape zone

An element of intrigue and anticipation is created through witholding and framing views in a carefully curated sequence

Concealing and revealing itself through a series of spaces, the journey to the pavilion's entrance offers a rich and varied experience

change our standard practices and move away from old school landscape architecture. At desert INK, we have certainly made some good moves, but we have a long way still to go. Sustainability is not a binary solution however, and with each subsequent project, we push this agenda further along the road. The task of developing a truly sustainable project is a daunting one and I have yet to see a truly, 100% sustainable project. If you aim for perfection, then it is easy to be daunted and give up entirely. At desert INK we therefore don’t set the goal of being 100% sustainable, but rather aim to make each project as sustainable as it can be within the limitations of our commission, budget, client, site and other factors. What we have learned however is that what was seen as a ‘cutting edge’ sustainable principle for us three years ago is now standard for us, and with each new commission we venture further towards true sustainability. How does the Middle Eastern landscape industry compare to the landscape industry in the US or Europe for example when it comes to incorporating truly sustainable practices? Regrettably the industry in the Middle East, and particularly developers here are somewhat short-sighted, looking only at capital costs and it is true to say that sustainable practices often cost a little more at the outset, but pay back tenfold over the lifetime of the project. A lot of research has been conducted in US, Europe and Australia however which are providing better models for calculating the real costs and benefits of sustainable vs. business as usual construction practices, but as an industry, we have a long way to go. Known for their context-driven, sustainable landscape designs, desert INK are a landscape design consultancy based in the Dubai Design District. With 18 years of experience in the region, Managing Director Duncan Denley leads a creative team backed up by the 30 years’ experience held in the Desert Group and vision of CEO Michael Mascarenhas.

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I EXPO 2020

Saudi Arabia Pavilion Water Features Ana Mateus Head of Design – GHESA Water & Art Saudi Arabia Pavilion by Boris Micka Associates is an outstanding architectural landmark at the center of the Opportunity Thematic District at EXPO 2020 Dubai. With nothing less than three record-breaking features, the Saudi Pavilion is a sure draw. The Pavilion holds the Guinness World Record for: •“The Largest LED Mirror Screen” (1,302.5 square meters) - that can be found on the façade of the building itself, •“The Largest Interactive Lighting Display” (7,798 lights) - bespoke interactive flooring at the art exhibition “Vision”, •“The Longest Interactive Water Feature” - at the Public Palm Garden. This one is an impressive digital water curtain, with 32.234 meters in length and 3.1 meters high, covering the entire south wall of the Public Palm Garden. It is a high-definition digital water curtain with each nozzle

operated by ultrafast solenoid valves that allow the production of all types of graphics, designs, patterns, and texts. The system works as a screen where each jet is a pixel, allowing resolutions equivalent to 300ppp.

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This particular feature is a world premiere that stands out for also being interactive - four interactive stations allow visitors to choose amongst different patterns and make them appear in the water curtain flow. The ensemble of designs covers the thirteen regions of Saudi Arabia and takes inspiration from distinct categories such as architecture, heritage, decoration, textiles, and nature.

I EXPO 2020

Another dynamic water feature welcomes the visitors at the entrance of the Pavilion. Formed by a central circle with 3 meters diameter and two lateral lines with a total length of 14 meters, it is also a high-definition digital water curtain. Like in the previous one, ultrafast solenoid valves individually control the nozzles, allowing the display of all kinds of designs, patterns, and characters. It is a highly appealing feature, inviting visitors to step into the central circle in a truly immersive experience

The lighting installation also plays a relevant role in the water features. They are illuminated in color by DMX-controlled projectors, equipped with the last generation of RGB-LED lights that maximize brightness while reducing power consumption. The installations work in a closed circuit and only require an additional water supply to suppress water loss from evaporation or splashes. The water treatment system further reduces consumption and guarantees the quality of the water, complying with physical, chemical, and microbiological safety requirements. The Saudi Arabia Pavilion has been awarded a Platinum rating in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) by the US Green Building Council (USGBC). As the highest internationally recognized sustainability rating, this certification positions the KSA Pavilion among the most sustainable developments within the Expo 2020 site and worldwide. It is the largest structure among the visiting countries, with five stories high and spreading over an area equivalent to two football fields. It offers a stateof-the-art immersive experience to explore the country through four core pillars: people, heritage, nature, and opportunity. After the event, the Pavilion will remain as a legacy architecture of the EXPO 2020 Dubai. Client: Aramco Building Contractor: Alec Engineering Architect: Boris Micka Associates Water Features Contractor: GHESA Water & Art Project Engineers: DAR Architect of Record: Khatib & Alami Photos by Nicolas Dumont

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I INTERVIEW

Iraqi Dr. Jala Makhzoumi is the recipient of this year’s International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award for her contribution to Landscape architecture in the Middle East. In a wideranging interview about her career, she shares some of her thoughts on the everchanging perception of the Landscape industry in the region and why Landscape is a tool for recovery in postconflict regions.

A CHAMPION OF THE PROFESSION Iraqi Landscape Architect Dr Jala Makhzoumi is a trailblazer in her own right, she has redefined the meaning of Landscape in the region by promoting the Landscape profession through her research and publications, as well as pushing boundaries in her work that spans decades. However, her greatest legacy will be the future generation of home grown industry professionals that she has taught and inspired in her role as a lecturer at the American University of Beirut (AUB).

The prominent landscape architect was awarded the laureate of the 2021 Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award as part of the opening ceremony of the International Federation of Landscape Architects’ (IFLA) World Congress, which took place in Malaysia this summer. It’s the highest honour that the international landscaping body can bestow on a landscape architect and is testament to Makhzoumi’s reputation beyond the Middle East for being a champion for her people, often standing

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Chemlan Landscape with Mamariya site plan

up and protecting sensitive sites and communities threatened by real estate development which would be detrimental to the local environment. Makhzoumi received her bachelor degree in architecture from the University of Baghdad, Iraq, a Master’s degree in Environmental Design at Yale University and Doctor in Landscape Architecture from Sheffield University in the UK. In 2013, she co-established UNIT44, a Lebanon based design and planning practice offering a wide range of services in architecture, landscape architecture, ecological planning and urban design. Jane Findlay president of the Landscape Institute (LI) presented the award on behalf of IFLA’s president, to Dr. Jala in person in Findlay’s home in Birmingham, UK. In a recorded video, she explained that The Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award

Chemlan Landscape with Mamariya

celebrated a living landscape architect whose “achievements and contributions have had a unique and lasting impact on the welfare of society and the environment and on the promotion of the profession of landscape architecture.” The award is named after notable British landscape architect Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, a founding president of IFLA, whose most well- known works included Cheddar Gorge and the Kennedy Memorial at Runnymede in the UK. Findlay shared some of the reasons why jurors selected Makhzoumi for the award, highlighting her work in post-conflict communities and describing her method of work as a “holistic, developmental approach to mediate community needs with ecosystem health, biodiversity protection and landscape heritage conservation.” She also noted

I INTERVIEW

Erbil Greenbelt MP with Khativ + Alami site sketches

her professional and academic expertise including post-war recovery, energy efficient site planning and sustainable urban greening. It’s hardly surprising then that Makhzoumi’s latest project encompasses much of the above. In a recent interview with Landscape ME she told us that she is working with Beirut Urban Lab at AUB on a project funded by UNESCO, to develop criteria for the valuation and mapping of the city heritage in the neighbourhoods that were directly affected by the devastating Port explosion on August 4th 2020. Makhzoumi said that the project, which uses the UNESCO Heritage Urban Landscape approach, is proving to be “a learning experience” for all of the architects, urban designers and planners who are involved. She said: “It is the first time that landscape is considered as ‘heritage’, a landscape framing applied to shift the emphasis on heritage from

Tripoli Abu Ali River (2)

buildings and monuments to the entire urban fabric. This apart from the actual mapping of green and open spaces, residential gardens, gardens of educational and religious institutions, municipal gardens as well as streets and stairs.” Never one to rest on her laurels, Makhzoumi is simultaneously working on another project which she says, similarly couples ‘landscape’ and ‘heritage’, albeit, modern architectural heritage. “I am part of a large interdisciplinary team assembled by the World Monument Fund aimed at restoring the Mosul Archaeological Museum that was damaged extensively by ISIS. The project is funded by Aliph Foundation and I’m hoping that the redesign of the museum gardens will inform the understanding of landscape away from pictorial, visual products. Rather, we envision the garden as a dynamic context that engages visitors and encourages reflection on cultural and natural heritage.”

Tripoli site sketches Rehabilitation Abu Ali River with URBI

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Tripoli site sketches Rehabilitation Abu Ali River

See below for some of the highlights of our discussion Landscape Architecture is undermined as a profession in this part of the world and the public have a limited understanding and appreciation of it…. It will take time to cultivate the culture of landscape in non-Western cultures. The reason lies partly in the layered meaning of the English term ‘landscape’, it’s difficult if not impossible to translate. ‘Landscape’ was introduced during British and French westernization of cities. The word continues to be associated with tree-lined boulevards and municipal parks and traffic roundabouts that date, for the most part, to the decades following colonial rule in the region. As a result, public understanding of the word landscape continues to be associated with public realm landscapes, and perception of the professional scope of landscape architecture is limited to urban beautification. Efforts to change local appreciation of the profession has started through the work of young landscape professionals, researchers and academics. Landscape is a tool for recovery in post conflict regions The idea of using landscape as an approach to post-war and post conflict communities is very new. When I first proposed a landscape approach to reconstruction following the 2006 war in Lebanon,

colleagues in the Architecture Department Reconstruction Unit at the American University of Beirut, were sceptical as to what landscape can do in the face of the extensive destruction in southern Lebanon. The approach was tested through a landscape design studio I taught with Architect, Urbanist, Rabih Shibli, Department of Landscape Design and Ecosystem Management, at AUB, that was set in the village of El Qleileh. We presented the studio outcome at conferences and the AUB City Debates 2007 to much acclaim. The landscape approach needs to be tested more widely to prove credibility before international agencies like the UN will consider adopting it. My passion for teaching and research make me an academic first… The rewards are immeasurable of working with students, undergraduate and graduate, helping them define the problematic, questioning their method and approach, debating the advantages and shortcomings of a solution they propose, structuring the way they express their concept graphically and verbally, are all integral to the teaching of design in landscape architecture, but also in architecture and urban design. Successful teaching rests on two premiss, first, enthusing students, infecting them with the love of landscape, second, building their self-confidence, to help them realize they are able and capable, provided the individual is willing and

I INTERVIEW

Erbil Greenbelt MP with Khatib + Alami

eager to learn and develop of course. I have taught design studio since 1975, throughout the region, and can’t remember a student that was not ready to learn. If they are not interested in the subject, it is mostly the fault of us as teachers. Our talent is often poached from us in this region in favour of opportunities in the West Sadly, this pertains not only to the profession of landscape architecture but to all professions/ industry’s in the region. Landscape architecture is an emerging profession in the Middle East and so opportunities for student internships and training are often not available here even though it is a necessary component of design education.

Erbil Greenbelt MP with Khatib + Alami

I was inspired to move from architecture into Landscape architecture as ecological landscapes were always my first fascination and if you consider Landscape as a habitat, the practice takes on a deeper more permanent meaning. The overlap of ecology and design has fascinated me since I first came across it in the writings of Ian McHarg in the early 1970s. It took decades of research and practice to understand how ecology can guide and inspire design that is responsive to the local environment and culture – responsive was the word we used before sustainability was introduced, the outcome is one and the same. I was drawn to the idea of landscape when I was studying architecture in Baghdad. The more I read, the greater my fascination. I was attracted to the fact that design creativity in landscape architecture is ruled by the potentials and limitations of a context, whether this is a project site, the master plan for a city or the planning of a region. It is precisely because landscape design is context responsive, landscape architects have the potential to contextualize the scenarios they propose, so they are not imposed, not imported from elsewhere but anchored in the reality of the context, equally in arid regions and Mediterranean ones.

The TheFirst FirstSpecialised SpecialisedLandscape LandscapeMagazine Magazineininthe theMiddle MiddleEast East

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I INTERVIEW

Project in Cyprus - 37 ha tourist development

The link between architecture and landscape architecture is becoming more and more blurred. A good designer will breach these boundaries and consider a holistic approach Realizing the complementarity between architecture, urban design and landscape architects is slowly being realized by large practices and by developers. I know this from the fact that graduates from AUB with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, are employed by large consultancy firms in the Lebanon, for example DAR and Khatib and Alami.

Projects in Cyprus - Hotel

Right to Landscape 2013 Ashgate

Ecological Landscape 1999 Routledge

The teaching syllabus is evolving for Landscape architects to focus on our climate challenges… Landscape architecture curricula is evolving to respond to the global crisis, be it environmental, climate change, or related to public health, COVID pandemic. The concern for and the conviction that landscape architects can contribute to these global issues was voiced by James Hayter, president of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA), in his concluding message for the World Congress 2019 in Oslo. Hayter focused on five goals (Climate change, food security and agriculture, community participation, health and wellbeing, indigenous cultures) that reflect the expanding role of landscape architecture.

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I TRANSFORMATION

Landscaping Russia’s Monotowns A symbol of Soviet Landscapes in PostIndustrial Russia, these urban settlements built around single industries are undergoing major transformations.

The Russian city of Almetyevsk located in Tatarstan Republic in the east-central part of European Russia provides Eastern Europe with the bulk of its crude oil. The city’s bountiful natural resources are the backbone of its local economy, with manufacturing plants producing everything from paper to pulp to tires and soap. Almost one in ten Russians – live and work in one of these factory towns where a single industry accounts for most of the local economy, according to UNESCO figures. However, in recent years, there has been a major drive to transform these monotowns with innovative urban design and landscape architecture projects.

Moscow based architectural studio Arcanika worked on a multi-stage renovation project in the city of Almetyevsk to transform its public realm and provide its citizens with a main hub to congregate, as well as open green spaces and parks to enjoy life. Arcanika’s CEO and founder, Nikita Vykhodtsev explained that the project had deep roots in the city’s history and should help to reshape the mono-city’s future. “It shows how the city can transfer from a resource-based economy to an innovative one by improving the quality of urban areas.” The project initiated by Tatneft, a Russian oil company and the largest tax payer in the country, as

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well as the anchor employer in the monocity, saw major landscape and urban design works carried out in its streets, parks and surrounding buildings. “A newly built community center replaced a former department store from the 1970s, the goal was to create a multi-functional building for all-season activities such as arts, culture and science,” said Vykhodtsev. Adding, “Patterns on the perforated façade relates to the geology of the region. An original drawing is a stylized sequence of the oil-containing layers of the Almetyevsk ledge, which also refers to a corporate identity of “Tatneft”. “The Administrative cluster PJSC Tatneft is a set of buildings constructed throughout times. Reconstruction united these buildings into a cluster matching the company’s status, creating an entirely new look of curved black glass symbolizing flowing oil.”

I TRANSFORMATION

In order to unite different functions, Arcanika created a public space, which became a new center of attraction for the citizens of Almetyevsk. “The space is divided in different theme-zones. In the center, there is a sculpture “Karakuz”, surrounded by pedestrian and green zones. An Eco-trail made of larch connects the main entrance of the headquarters with an underground parking and a park with a square in front of the Community center. “One of the problems of Almetyevsk is an absence of the city center, as its infrastructure has not changed since the Soviet time. For us, architects, it was significant to create a project deeply connected with history and traditions of the region and also contribute to transforming the mono-city.” “A new public space united the cultural and business life of its citizens – a modern request, affecting the quality of city space and desire of young generation to stay in the hometown. The project gave birth to the first area in Almetyevsk which can be described as a ‘city center’: people hang out in the shade of the trees, work, study and spend leisure time in this area all year long. In order to accentuate consistency of tradition we found

a local legend of Tatar woman-warrior sculpture called ‘Karakuz’, and put it in the middle of the square.” Concluding Vykhodtsev said, “The reconstructed city center has become a driver for growth not only for big businesses such as restaurant chains but also for local brands (fashion labels, dance studios etc.) Moreover, the parks have become a magnet not just for children and family gatherings and people exercising but also for influencers filming their ads and reels for social media in the park. This shows how public spaces can mutually benefit all of its citizens in very different ways.”

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I CITY FARM

The

Farm By: Landscape Consultants, Oman

Landscaping a modern day city farm

The purpose of any landscape design is not only to provide physical spaces but also to create emotions so the user can feel connected to the space. We at Landscape Consultants were fortunate enough to be associated with such a project where we could show various aspects of landscape architecture and design, beyond simply creating green gardens. The Brief We were approached by Muamir Designs for a private farm project. The client wanted to rejuvenate their farm and the brief was not only to create physical spaces that give a sense of place, but the client also wanted to have a personal and emotional connection with the space as they have grown up playing within farm and have fond memories of it. The idea was to turn the farm into an oasis

without losing the traditional identity of a farm from the region, while also acknowledging the fact that it’s located in one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the region. Therefore, our main brief was to create a modern yet cozy space while keeping the traditional values alive within the development. The farm already had a few fruit trees and palms that were planted by the family. They use the farm mostly on weekends or festivals for family gatherings. They also had a fish pond which they wanted to retain and enhance. We took the challenge to develop the farm while keeping as many existing trees as possible, creating spaces for various buildings, providing a modern swimming pool, kids pool with slides and various spaces for seating and entertaining, as well as a fire pit. The family also wanted to house animals and birds within the farm.

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We wanted the design to have the balance between traditional elements and modern spaces while keeping sustainability at the center. The Design Process We started by providing a questionnaire to the client to be filled out by all family members to find out their vision for the space. Based on their preferences we started laying out spaces in the most optimized manner. We started connecting spaces while keeping the position of existing palms intact. In an attempt to design in the most sustainable manner, we covered as many areas as possible with gravel and native grasses near the parking area. The parking area is designed with permeable layers. We came up with four distinct spaces: • Farm Areas • Pool Deck • Animal areas and services The client explained that his mother loved to do gardening and he has fond memories of growing up watching her in the farm so he wanted a vegetable garden space near the existing house. The client wanted to have a traditional

irrigation system known as ‘falaj’ system. We respected the demand, but at the same time never wanted the falaj system to be just a piece within design without purpose. So the site was inspected for a water source and an old water tank was found, which was above the ground. To make the falaj system work we connected the system to the water tank. The tank puts the water into the falaj through gravity flow. The tank gets the water through a well within the site normally, but during the rainy season

I CITY FARM

City farm A storm water system is designed to take most surface water and channelize it into an underground tank, which later can be used for irrigation purposes. By combining the falaj system along with the track which circles around the farm we created the walking path which goes from dry landscaped wadi with some xerophytic plants and grasses to farms and vegetable gardens, lastly to the modern pool deck areas and seating areas. This path also became the backbone for the project. Pool Deck areas Another objective was to keep the old fish pond, rejuvenate it and use the same feature. The fish pond was located

almost in the middle of the farm where we intended to keep the pool area. The fish pond was protected by a mound and rip rap walls. To create the pool a natural stone retaining wall for the waterfall with water slides. This way the services for the pool can be combined and provide two different ambiences and privacy for the pool deck on sides of the retaining wall. While developing the pool we also noticed a grove of palms and trees. We retained the trees by designing a green island which binds the pool and deck. The pool deck was connected by courts with planting to provide a niche for separate seating the deck is kept wide enough to put loungers and enjoy barbeque by pool side.

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Animal areas and services The client wanted to keep various animals and birds at the farm. For that we discussed with the client and they agreed to separate the animals from bird enclosures. The bird enclosure is kept near the pool deck area, as well as a duck pond beside the lawn for kids to see and play. Other animals were kept near service buildings. The animal enclosures are designed with natural materials and in a way they provide open spaces for animals to move around. Apart from the major spaces, the client wanted to have some quiet seating spaces to enjoy. For that we created separate seating spaces with shades which can be used during various seasons. They provide an intimate seating area surrounded by various flowering and scented plants and trees.

All remaining fringe areas like parking and boundaries are treated with permeable materials like gravels and pavers to ease storm water movement. The parking areas are surrounded with gravel, grasses like fountain grass and succulents to minimize water usage. Throughout the design process the client supported us by providing very valuable feedback and letting us experiments with design elements, which made the design process smoother and more cohesive. In the end through a combined effort, we managed to create the oasis the client had envisioned. Land Area: 8000 m2 Loaction: Seeb, Muscat Client: Muamir Deisgn, Muscat, Oman Landscape Architect: Landscape Consultants, Muscat, Oman

I ECOSYSTEM

The Many Faces of the City SPLACES: Reflections and Aspirations of Hope in a City’s Leftover Spaces

By Nora Aridi The very nature of a city is complex and multifaceted. At times delicately, and at times not so delicately, striving to balance the intricate shift of authority and freedom in the everyday. Places and spaces in the city are physical everchanging imprints of these complexities. 2004 was an exciting moment in time for urban life in Beirut, the city was in the midst of the post war era; regenerating, rebuilding, and redeveloping. An optimistic flare of excitement and opportunity cradled every fragile cell in the city. Many spaces in the city were previously abandoned and searching for new life. Some spaces were disputed over as their owners were now long gone, they had fled abroad as a backlash to the civil war. These very spaces were left to absorb and ingest the city’s social and political complexities. The frail line between private and public ownership was ridiculously ambiguous, thus these spaces retreated, falsely denying their worth and value. They became ‘neglected’ only housing temporary

happenings and were sometimes even temporarily exploited; temporary paid car parks, make shift children’s playground, a place to walk the dog, to hang out in hiding, to store things or oneself out of sight, and in some cases even occupied by squatters. Beirut, therefore, became the stepping stone into the world of SPLACES, and a journey into a more thorough understanding of what makes a city. The City Cities are made up of several layers. In fact, Beirut is literally made up of seven layers; seven entire cultures, sandwiched together one above the other. As we peel away each layer we find frozen deep within its core; time, space, identity, language. Within each layer some of these core findings may be at conflict with one another, and some may live symbiotically, feeding the whole harmoniously. The city is indeed an ecosystem of its own, fragmented and connected in every way possible.

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But who are the participant in this ecosystem? This is a question that has many answers: Is the city for the many faces of the flora and fauna? Is it for the clouds, storms, sun and planets? Is it for the buildings, monuments and landmarks? Is it for the cars, planes, busses and trains, Technology, AI and virtual reality? Is it for the people; people in power or feeling powerless, people with homes or homeless, the thinkers, the doers, the freedom seekers and the conformists? And so, you see the list goes on…Of course we all know the city is home to all of these things and more, whether it is welcome or not. The Body and the City: The physiological connection between our bodies and the outside world has somehow always existed, whether in the technology we design or the cities we build. The way our veins bump blood through our bodies creating networks of movement towards and away from the heart, is much like the multiple networks leading to the center of a city. “Patterns that exist in the world outside the body exist also in the world inside the body.” Bonnie, Bainbridge Cohen, 1983: 66. The patterns used to design a city are simply a manifestation of what exists within us both in body and mind, and this is no accident. However, the design of the high-rise and the rapid speed of urbanization has come with its shortfalls, creating a disconnect from the internal projection we sought to create. This detached, disjointed approach suggests that there has been a lack of understanding between the living and the sterile. In this context, the sterile is the introduction of the physical non-living object; the building, the bench, the wall and so on. Without the existence of the traditional

biological definition of life, non-living objects are lifeless and are therefore sterile. Perhaps David Harvey said it best, where he describes built spaces as creating a divide of the physical senses; in which sight is more routinely insulated from sound, touch and other human beings. The symbiotic relationship between the sterile and the living has become deadening; “…a man sees from his office window a tree blowing in the wind but cannot hear the wind blowing,” said Sennet. The Authoritarian City: With the rise of smart cities, there has been a rise in authority over the individual. This is not to suggest that smart cities cannot and have not contributed to better urban living, they have just encroached heavily on the threshold of individual freedom and healthy collective relationships. As suggested by Bridge and Watson, cities have an authority embedded within. The layout of streets and location of things, the traffic lights, and police impose structure in our lives, behaviours, and chosen paths; power is both reflected and embodied in the city. The question is where do we draw the line? The Right to the City and Ownership: The right to the city reflects on our previous question ‘But who are the participants in this ecosystem?’. We have of course chosen to discuss the human participants, however, not all humans are truly welcome in the urban ecosystem. As well as hope, there is also hostility and a lack of acceptance towards many people and certain social practices. Let’s take a moment to familiarise ourselves with people’s social needs.

I ECOSYSTEM

Lefebvre alleges that social needs have an anthropological foundation. These needs are both opposed and complimentary; the need for security and opening; certainty and adventure; organisation and play; the predictable and unpredictable; similarity and difference; isolation and encounter; immediate and long term prospects; exchange and investments of independence, communication and even solitude. With so many needs, urban dwellers are already programmed with a set of inherent social practices that must be carried out, or else there becomes great dissatisfaction in urban living. By appropriation of public space - or of the ambiguous public/private space - within the city, urban dwellers are inadvertently practicing their needs, and in many instances changing the city’s intended spatial configuration by doing so. Therefore, the right to the city implies the right to fully engage in and make use of spaces in the city (Harvey, 2000). The Experimental City: The city exists as a microcosm of a county’s virtues and vices; economic wealth and deprivation, social equality and inequality, climate change control and climate change consequences - all chaotically and systematically contained in the physical and ideological foundations of a city. It is by way of right that the city becomes the dominant arena for creating change, specifically in the wake of challenges. In order to create and steer change we must first experiment (Karvonen et al. 2014). By explicitly staging experiments we change the way in which we build, manage and live in cities. Experimentation allow for the smart city, the happy city, the low carbon city, the sustainable city, the eco-city. These urban movements give life to the notion of better living. Thus, it is the experimental city that is prominent across a broad spectrum of urban thought and practice (James Evans et al. 2016).

Defining SPLACES SPLACES are situated around or beside the functional places in the city. These undefined, uncontrolled margins offer a temporary retreat or hideaway from the more structured conforming spaces. They are momentarily possessed by their users; where they are free to plan, act, and practice their free will without the interference of factors beyond the SPLACE itself. If only for a short moment in time. After some years of effort to delicately seize the free-flowing spirit of a SPLACE an everevolving definition - quite unlike the purpose of a definition - was poetically transcribed. Much like the experience of a child taking delight in catching and gathering the seeds of a dandelion flower after having blown them out into the unknown. A SPLACE is a disruption in the typical urban flow or a moment of deviation, they are an expression of the city’s natural transcendence when left to its own will. What may sometimes be viewed as untidy, unplanned parts of the city, these spaces nurture an instant of fear, or hope, a happening(s) and a memory. If the city is a body and a being, then SPLACES are the entrails; unappealing to some, visually out of sight to many, yet a vital functional part of the whole. A Physical and Social Dimension: Take a moment to observe your city, you will begin to witness how Mother Nature and city dwellers - sometimes simultaneously - embark on a journey of appropriation. Creeping through the crevices of a SPLACE, to reclaim their right to the the city by defying authority and structure. Over several years of similar observation, in several cities, many SPLACES both alike in form and unique in number began to unfold. By identifying specific characteristics a global typology was created, ranging

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37 29

I ECOSYSTEM

Alleyway

Sidewalk

Back of House

Stairs

Through Road

Car Park

Train Track

Dead End

Large Space in Between Buildings

Narrow Space in Between Buildings

Underpass

Wall

Spatial Typology of SPLACES Pedestrian Flyover

from abandoned or temporarily un-operated train tracks to narrow spaces in between buildings; commonly found in cities that have developed organically. A full, and by no means final list can be found below: Contemplation and Design Interventions As a designer, we all too often find ourselves in this neverending loop of over designing, of no real understanding of the true ‘nature’ behind the space or the user, of compromising the better good with other less noble purposes, but the very essence of the profession is humbler. We have been given the vast privilege and responsibility to facilitate the lives of urban users, to seek

out places of respite, imagination, creativity, opportunity and above all draw one’s attention towards community and connection. SPLACES offer room for escaping the everyday urban bluster (noise) for those moments of deviation that we all desire. All the while they become part of a network of something larger in which every day urban life can be, and should be diverse. With the pandemic still looming over us, now more than ever should we design for alternative public spaces in the city. Perhaps we will now realise that somewhere along our urban journey we lost touch of what it really is to be human, to be a part of the nature world, and what it means to find belonging and connection to ourselves. And more importantly what it is to be living alongside something larger, rather than just the individual. When we think in terms of the collective, imagine the numerous ever-expanding possibilities that may manifest when confronted with a SPLACE. By understanding the role of SPLACES in a city we begin to visualise the possibilities and opportunity for connection, to repair the disconnect that has so rapidly spread throughout body and build. Reconnecting the body to the city by allowing our senses to re-align; our ears can begin to hear, and our noses can begin to smell, and our hands can begin to touch what our eyes see. Through SPLACES we can claim our right to the city and welcome the right for other living things (fauna and flora) to dwell in the city, where we are free to create a temporary, adaptable and transient space. SPLACES can offer the opportunity for ‘self-builds’ through large scale modules - similar to giant lego pieces - free of digital connection so that we may truly reconnect to ourselves, and work together, heal together and with each other in person. Perhaps SPLACES can become the inverted smart city, the experimental part of the city where the signs read ‘leave your phone at the door and reconnect’. Nora Aridi is a senior Landscape Architect based in the UK.

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I LIVING ENVIRONMENT

The new landscape experience that could galvanise our industry

WILDEN proposes a shared vision for landscape professionals that could improve personal wellbeing and solve numerous challenges 40

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I believe everyone reading this shares common values to work with, improve, and share the joy of landscapes at some level. Yet for most people having access to inspiring landscapes is limited because of barriers of time, money, and personal priorities. Few have the means to invest and fewer still choose to get involved with their own garden with any depth. But to improve our planet, we must do it first at home. This is a founding belief of WILDEN Design. The landscapes of our homes are where knowledge grows, beliefs are tested and turned into our values. Our mission is to start a new movement of gardeners and create a generation of inspired nature enthusiasts. WILDEN’s Kit Garden experience was created to bring together the worlds of inspiring landscapes, sustainable living, wellness, and outdoor lifestyle with high quality design. If you’re reading this then we can grow this vision together. Here’s why: Let’s face it; landscape design isn’t that accessible Modern trends in garden design have focussed on rapid ‘greening’ by using oversized tropical species, low quality imported tiling, and worst of all, plastic grass. For these sins most gardens in the UAE are high

All WILDEN gardens start with hand crafted layouts to find the best design ideas for every Client.

maintenance, with failing alien plants, extremely hot surfaces and even emitting toxic VOC gasses… it’s no wonder there’s a pandemic of nature disconnection, and a crisis of gardens that lack soul! Hiring a designer can be costly especially if you don’t get it right, and bespoke design can cost a lot; starting prices of AED 15,000 for a design are not in everyone’s budget. Our kit gardens target middle-income, young couples and small families that crave an outdoor lifestyle and want to do their bit. A group that deserves a beautiful and inspiring outdoor space without needing a second mortgage. So, we’ve packaged award-winning design expertise to make this happen for prices starting under AED 6,000. The kit service includes high quality 3D visuals, plans, and planting design to ensure clients are excited and knowledgeable about their garden before it has even begun. Our passion for nature is the reason Clients choose us already so that’s why every step of this new approach will educate and inspire others to experience garden creation. Start as a customer, end as a gardener! A beautiful lifestyle, simplified We create uniqueness in kit gardens through understanding and responding to the site. Our team of senior landscape designers brings freshness to every plot by crafting a layout to improve each garden in its own way while utilising tried

I LIVING ENVIRONMENT and tested elements from a chosen design. Future WILDEN kit garden releases will include options for planting and materials for personalisation and we see this as a central philosophy to engage people as passionate custodians of the land. We know we’re successful when we see a client getting their hands dirty pruning shrubs for the first time or posting pictures of recent butterfly visits in the garden. Nature nerds unite! We continue to share our learning openly with Clients and the public. This works fantastically when friends or neighbours can benefit from shared knowledge. It’s part of the collaborative ‘pay-it-forward’ ethos that we encourage with our team, our suppliers, and our Clients. Better still, by prioritising locally sourced or manufactured materials our commerce will support domestic businesses and other local entrepreneurs, reducing reliance on global supply chains at the mercy of economic shifts, pandemics, and commodity prices. This reduces shipping and the carbon cost of importing materials as well as promoting local character in our designs. We say: buy local landscapes, locally! Our dedication to this approach will create opportunities for our suppliers to receive repeat work and in turn we select suppliers that are like minded in their operations choosing materials sustainably, high welfare standards and opportunities for their workmen along the way. We’re always looking to grow our network of builders than are professional, communicative, collaborative and love sharing their passion for landscape. This support will help us to collaborate with developers and real estate agents where we can add significant value to large property portfolios and support larger environmental and sustainability targets, putting gardens and nature at the heart of 21st century living. Fresh, fast and fun The experience begins with an online consultation to set up the service which uses remote and digital solutions wherever possible to reduce the cost. This improves the standard process of engaging design services to match what’s expected when buying other high value products online. The human touch is not lost though with a full presentation of the draft design and our hand-sketch

layout which embeds our personalised design thinking; a key feature which is lacking in most domestic landscape services. Our fiercely local approach showcases native and adapted species of flora that thrive in the increasingly hot weather of the region, not to mention saving our Clients buckets of money in maintenance and water use. We love desert plants and want to prove what we’ve always known; that nature knows best and being immersed in a garden which is in harmony with its environment we feel our shoulders drop and our spirits lift.

A better world starts in your garden We hope you see gardens for what they represent – our individual pockets of Earth’s surface which we are guardians for; here to nurture, love, and improve their contribution to our own lives and all living things nearby. We view gardens as an ecological patchwork, a jigsaw of rich greenspace; at once entirely separated yet in fact deeply connected in all dimensions to that of our neighbours - spiritually entwined through the various contributions from surrounding flora, fauna, water, air, sun, shade, neighbourly noise and drifting aromas of winter BBQs. WILDEN kit gardens is the vision to multiply our shared love and common good that comes with nurturing a pocket of nature by turning individual gardens into our global green network. Will Bennett is a Chartered Landscape Architect and awardwinning designer from the UK. He is the Founder of WILDEN Design and their kit gardens experiences are available from 10th November; www.wilden.design

The WILDEN kit approach will deliver a chosen style of garden for any budget. Shown here is the ‘wadi’ garden for budgets of AED 30k and 150k.

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Poolside and in children’s playgrounds, PolySoft surfaces are a sophisticated solution for outdoor areas where fun in the sun can also be hot and hazardous. Installed by leading hotels such as the jewel-like Bvlgari Resort Dubai, in New York’s Central Park, in the beautiful splash parks of Saudi Arabia and at China’s luxury Jin Fang Spa, PolySoft can be designed to enhance or blend with every environment.

those surfaces. Developed for searingly sunny Australian conditions, PolySoft has poured its own welcome mat in the hot holiday capitals of the world — from from Queensland to Cancun. At home in the high-tech headquarters of Google or in a tropical garden, PolySoft appeals to people who want to worry less and enjoy more of life’s pleasures.

THE QUALITIES OF POLYSOFT:

The exciting range of vivid and subtle PolySoft hues is just the start of cutting-edge technology that mitigates the risks of slipping and provides a soft-fall landing for boisterous and adventure-seeking kids. Those colours are also formulated to retain their brilliance in harsh UV conditions and under exposure to chlorine.

Surface temperatures cooler than concrete, asphalt or rubber

Managing Director of PolySoft, Ophelia Zhu, says “Our Australian researchers spent years evolving and testing a new surface treatment that would make problematic aquatic and playground zones safer and more beautiful.” The scientists’ ultimate solution was to combine polyolefin beads in an aliphatic binder that pours flexibly around obstacles and play equipment and can be applied to seamlessly cover steps, pool edges and play platforms.

Hygienic and easy to maintain

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Independently verified anti-slip rating for wet or dry applications Resilient yet soft underfoot Excellent impact attenuation for playgrounds The strong chemical bond between PolySoft particles ensures superior lateral strength and durability Colourfast technology protects against premature fading and provides resistance to UV radiation, and to chemicals such as chlorine

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Distributor and Authorised installer A member of Tanseeq Investment Group

Tanseeq Projects LLC, Sobha Sapphire – Suites 1201 & 1202, Business Bay, Dubai, UAE Tel:+971 4 361 7199, info@tanseeqprojects.com, www.tanseeqprojects.com

33 43

I SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPE

Reimagining city boundaries An ambitious green infrastructure project has put a Russian city at the forefront of urban sustainable living By: S&P Architecture 44

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Shyshymska Gorka project is the first stage for a major urban transformation scheme by Polish Landscape architecture firm S&P Architektura Krajobrazu (S&P). The project was recently completed in Uktus, a district of Ekaterynburg – the two million inhabitant capital of the Sverdlovsk region, in Russia. The ambitious urban scheme, developed together with the Dutch architectural firm KCAP, for local developer Brusnika, aims to transform a mix of dilapidated wooden and brick houses, and haphazard blocks of flats constructed during the last 50 years in various styles, into a cohesive urban structure. The aim is to provide all necessary amenities to current and future inhabitants, including a substantial green infrastructure component. The scheme also establishes an equally ambitious set of goals that if met, will at least partially, make this area of the city more climatically, economically and socially resilient. “The project is a good illustration of our client’s motto – ‘we do not build flats, we build cities,’ explained S&P. “The first stage, consists of four parts. Designed by various architects as urban blocks, with traffic free central courtyards that form green hearts for each of the four neighborhoods. The scheme also includes a major transformation of streets between and around the blocks. “All four blocks are constructed on underground carparks, freeing internal courtyards and surrounding streets from

disorderly carparking that has been a major problem of many world cities. The impact of car parks that will still remain at the street level, have been carefully mitigated with use of planting and thoughtful planning. Courtyards have been turned into communal gardens, with 75% covered by planting. With children’s playgrounds, sport facilities, water features, shrouded in dense planting of shrub, perennials and large tree specimens, courtyards provide shelter from the heat of continental summers with temperature rising to 30 plus degrees, as well as the strong Ural winter winds- with temperatures plunging below -25 C. “The surrounding streets have been planted with lime tree avenues and a mix of deciduous and evergreen shrubs mitigating the heat island effect and organizing space. Wide bicycle lines constructed along the streets create the core of a future district-wide bicycle system that will be integrated with the planned city network. “One of the major challenges while working on the design, was a steep change of levels going down eastward towards the Iset river. In some places, the central WestEast avenue was climbing at a 12% steep slope - making it unusable for elderly or disabled. If not solved, it could have resulted in difficulties with commercialization of spaces along the avenue. The problem has been solved

I SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPE

by turning the street into a pedestrian, green boulevard/ linear park. With a path at a pleasant incline of 3%, all groups of potential users can enjoy the space, making a former problematic area into the new center of neighborly activities. It has been transformed into a green axis, a linear neighborhood park, providing such needed in densely build cities public verdant space. With a strong geometry, the avenue provides a no-fuss, bold design statement, strengthened by a mass planting scheme of shrubs and modern perennial border mixes. A mix of evergreen pines, spruces and eastern hemlock with deciduous limes, birches and acers, creates a strong structure for the space, twelve months of the year. During winter the steep grass slopes of the boulevard turn into a wonderland for tobogganing children and their parents. “To help activating the new neighborhood “Brusnika” together with an art foundation “Kulturnyi Tranzit” created an art residency. Various artist started using the

central axis as an exhibition place for art installations or happenings with the main aim of involving all residents of the district. So far, the results of their activities show that a skillful use of landscape and commercial techniques together with cultural and social activism can create vibrant, lively spaces. “At the landscape level the project demonstrates how with the right use of topography and a bold planting, a potential design problem can be turned into an asset. The scheme uses landscape as a unifying feature, with simple repetitive components, that bring clarity to the public realm. The first stage of the Uktus district transformation provides a bold footprint for the rest of the area. If carried out it has the potential to create a vibrant, friendly neighborhood with a strong and unique character.” Photo credit: S&P Architektura Krajobrazu Photographs of art Installations: Art Residency “Shysymska Gorka” www.sztukaipartnerzy.pl

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I BOOK REVIEW

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BOOKS OF INTEREST The book “REFLECTIONS IN THE LANDSCAPE” was recently published by Editorial Arquine, a prestigious Mexico-based publishing house specializing in architecture and design, and written by Jimena Martignoni, Argentinean writer and curator of urban and landscape design projects in Latin America and a regular contributor to Landscape Middle East Magazine. The book delves into the most recent works of Chilean landscape designer Teresa Moller who was awarded with the 2020 Global Award for Sustainable Architecture, sponsored by UNESCO, and included as one of the fifty most important landscape designers worldwide in the book “250 Things a Landscape Architect Should Know” (Ed. Birkhäuser). Unlike other books that list and describe projects, for “Reflections in the landscape” Jimena Martignoni proposes ten subjects, through which is possible a poetic exploration of landscape design. With this perspective and by means of many conversations with Teresa Moller about these subjects —Earth, Water, Trees, Fruits, Stone, Trails, Signs, Essence... among others— are portrayed some of the most interesting projects of this celebrated designer, such as the 2016 Venice Biennale, the 2017 International Garden Exhibition of Berlin, the gardens in Shanghai and of course many projects in Chile like the unforgettable oceanscapes of Punta Pite. Together, the scope of projects and the stories behind them, which make up the work of Teresa Moller, offer a legacy for landscape designers and lovers. The book is written both in Spanish and English and has 268 pages. A series of full-size images with descriptive captions marks out a differentiation between the two languages. The book is now available in the webpage of “Editorial Arquine”.

Publisher: Arquine Texts: Jimena Martignoni Size: 14 x 21 cm Pages: 268 Spanish/English

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Zeoplant LLC T: +971 4 4473588 F: +971 4 4473587 info@zeoplant.com www.zeoplant.com

Pentair T: +971 4 320 8777 malikhan@mettsfzc.com www.mettsfzc.com

LANDSCAPE PRODUCTS WT Burden T: +971 4 8860700 F: +971 4 8860701 streetfurniture@wtburden.ae www.wtburden.ae Tanseeq LLC T: +971 4 3617199 F: +971 4 3607966 info@tanseeqllc.com www.tanseeqllc.com

IRRIGATION Hunter Industries T: +001 760 591 7114 F: +001 760 591 7194 Hanna.Zaidan@ hunderindustries.com www.hunterindustries.com Middle East Agrculture Company (MEAC) T: +971 4 8861151 F: +971 4 8861152 www.meac.com.sa METTS FZC T: +971 4 4470927 F: +971 4 4470928 info@mettsfzc.com www.mettsfzc.com Alwasail Industrial Co. T: +971 4 8886987 F: +971 2 6733565 hashim@alwasail.com www.alwasail.com

Satma International L.L.C. T: +971 4 2956088 F: +971 4 2956077 satmaint@emirates.net.ae www.satma.ae Trade Circle Technical Industries T: +971 4 338 1941 Fax: +971 4 338 1140 raskin.robins@wafi.com or info@tcti.net www.tcti.net & www.thosepoolguys.com Water in Motion LLC T: +971 4 277 0244 info@waterinmotionllc.com www.waterinmotionllc.com

DESIGN & URBAN PLANNING ambientStudio T: +971 4 5544716 info@ambientStudio.com www.ambientStudio.com

SOIL ADDITIVES Gulf Perlite T: +971 55 1235248 T: +971 55 15339640 info@uaeperlite.com www.gulfperlite.com

LANDSCAPE CONSULTANTS JC Melone Landscape Design FZ LLE T: +971 50 6410715 jcmelone@gmail.com

PRECAST CONCRETE PRODUCTS / HARD LANDSCAPING PRODUCTS Consent LLC T: +97143472011 F: +97143472957 sales@consent.ae www.consentblock.com

BUILDING MATERIALS Stones &Slates LLC T: +971 4 885 4688 info@stonesandslates.com www.stonesandslates.com

TREES & HERBS Acacia LLC T: +971 4 265 3397 info@acacia-ae.com www.acacia-ae.com

SPORTS FACILITIES/ PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENTS Tanseeq Projects LLC T: +971 4 361 7199 info@tanseeqprojects.com www.tanseeqprojects.com WT Burden T: +971 4 8860700 F: +971 4 8860701 streetfurniture@wtburden.ae www.wtburden.ae

METAL FABRICATOR Metaline LLC T: +971 224 3369 info@metalinellc.com www.metalinellc.com

Book your space Now! Contact: admin@landscape-me.com • Tel: +971 4 4470927

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I NEW ONGOING PROJECTS middleeasttenders.com STATUS : NEW TENDER TRADE CATEGORY : AGRICULTURAL, LANDSCAPING AND IRRIGATION

+971 2 634 8495

NEW & CURRENT PROJECTS Tender Cost (USD)

Post Date

Closing Date

Kuwait

10/20/2021

1/16/2022

Ministry of Water & Irrigation (Jordan)

Jordan

7/10/2021

12/31/2021

Operation and Maintenance of Plantations and Gardens in the Malaz Municipality.

Riyadh Municipality (Saudi Arabia)

Saudi Arabia

1467

11/9/2021

12/23/2021

Agriculture & Irrigation Maintenance

Execution, Development and Maintenance of Aesthetic Agriculture and Irrigation in Bayan Palace, Al Diyafa Palace, the Hall of Ceremonies and VIP Visitors and The Surrounding Areas and The Leading Roads.

Amiri Diwan (Kuwait)

Kuwait

11667

9/24/2021

12/19/2021

Aggroups & Gardens O&M

Operation and Maintenance of Aggroups and Gardens in Al-Batha Municipality.

Riyadh Municipality (Saudi Arabia)

Saudi Arabia

1467

10/28/2021

12/8/2021

Plantations & Gardens O&M

Operation and Maintenance of Plantations and Gardens with the Scope of the North Municipality.

Riyadh Municipality (Saudi Arabia)

Saudi Arabia

1467

10/28/2021

12/8/2021

Red Palm Weevil Control

Provision of Control of Red Palm Weevil.

Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs & Fish Resources - PAAFR (Kuwait)

Kuwait

3333

11/8/2021

12/7/2021

Agricultural Tools & Equipment

Supply of Agricultural Tools and Equipment.

Ministry of Defence (Kuwait)

Kuwait

250

11/8/2021

12/7/2021

Irrigation Networks & Accessories

Maintenance of Irrigation Networks and Crops.

Ministry of Social Affairs & Labour (Kuwait)

Kuwait

3333

10/28/2021

12/5/2021

Machinery & Equipment

Supply of Machinery and Equipment for the Antibiotic Bacterial Resistance Project, for Microbes Isolated from Meaty Chicken Farms.

Agriculture & Fisheries Development Fund AFDF (Oman)

Oman

11/8/2021

12/2/2021

Landscaping & Irrigation Maintenance

Call-off Price Agreement for Landscaping ,Irrigation, Ancillary Works and Test.

Public Works Authority - ASHGHAL (Qatar)

Qatar

8585

11/7/2021

11/30/2021

Drip Irrigation Network

Operation and Supply of Materials and Maintenance of a Drip Irrigation Network.

Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs & Fish Resources - PAAFR (Kuwait)

Kuwait

500

10/26/2021

11/28/2021

Ornamental Plants Applied Units O&M

Operation and Maintenance of Applied Units for Ornamental Plants and Cut Flowers.

Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs & Fish Resources - PAAFR (Kuwait)

Kuwait

1000

10/26/2021

11/28/2021

Seeds

Maintenance of Stations of Seeds, Metaphor and Seedlings.

Ministry of Water & Electricity (Saudi Arabia)

Saudi Arabia

400

10/29/2021

11/24/2021

Gardens Maintenance

Maintenance of Gardens, Green Spaces and Irrigation Networks.

Najran Municipality (Saudi Arabia)

Saudi Arabia

267

10/24/2021

11/24/2021

Indoor Plants

Supply and Installation of Indoor Plants at New Passenger Terminal Building.

Bahrain Airport Company (BAC)

Bahrain

10/29/2021

11/23/2021

Automatic Nursery System O&M

Maintenance, Operation and Provision of Spare Parts for the Automatic Nursery System at Warsan.

Dubai Municipality (Published on eSupply Portal)

Dubai

11/9/2021

11/21/2021

Seeds & Agriculture Materials

Supply of Seeds and Agriculture Materials.

Samaritans Purse (USA)

Iraq

11/9/2021

11/18/2021

Agriculture & Rural Empowerment Activity

Agriculture and Rural Empowerment (ARE) Activity - APS#001/Annual Program Statement.

Chemonics International (Lebanon)

Lebanon

11/24/2020

11/18/2021

Tender Name

Description

Client

Region

Agricultural Machines & Equipment

Rental of Agricultural Machineries and Equipment to Work

Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs & Fish Resources - PAAFR (Kuwait)

Irrigation Networks & Accessories

Design, Supply and Installation of Irrigation Networks and Their Accessories.

Plantations & Gardens O&M

The First Specialised Landscape Magazine in the Middle East

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