STUDIO BRIEF : EPHEMERAL LANDSCAPE

How do we document impermanence? At what rate are landscape and the elements evolving and in what relationship to each other? Landscape and the elements it contains are constantly subject to the effects of weathering and movement (incidental and intentional). While there is an implicit expectation of permanence in landscape design, any expansion, growth, transformation, degradation, deterioration, and/or decomposition is unavoidable. The Ephemeral Landscape Studio is centred on the topic of change over time, with a focus on material exploration and landscape representation. The studio begins with an observation of the site, zooming out to capture the elements that affect the landscape and zooming in to document the change. This is followed by a design and build project using a malleable material. The project involves designing a form based on a given prompt, while also considering how form changes according to different experiences and perspectives. The final project for the semester incorporates observations from the first exercise with the designed form from the second exercise. The questions the project seeks to answer includes the following: (a) How is ephemerality and permanence captured in design (b) How will the elements on site affect the form? (c) What improvement should be made to better the design? (d) How can impermanence be represented in conventional architectural drawings? The three projects will culminate into a final exhibition at the end of the semester.

Keywords: Change over Time, Ephemeral Landscape, Material Exploration, Landscape Representation, Ecological Design, Site-Specificity

This module is the second of two core studios introducing students to basic design principles critical to the discipline of landscape architecture. It focuses on the interface between people and nature to examine compositions, functions, and systems of landscape elements through observations, exploration and representation. The module will foster students’ critical eye in analysing site and creating site-sensitive designs. The module will also expand on the development of graphical communication skills, including model making and motion-graphic making.

The semester will include 3 key design projects. For the first half of the semester, we will start with Project 1-The Current State, and followed by Project 2-The Intervention. For the next half of the semester, observations and analysis derived in project 1 & 2 will be used for Project 3-The Transformation.

Project 1

The first project focuses on experiencing and documentation of site observations; zooming out to capture the elements that affect the landscape and zooming in to document the change. This project involves analysing the site using conventional landscape architectural site analysis methodology, followed by an ’unconventional’ methodology of analysing using different lens (e.g. from the perspective of an ant, etc.).

Project 2

The second project is a design and build project using burlap, a fabric made of jute fibers that is commonly used in creating gunny sacks. The project involves designing a form based on a given prompt, while also considering how form changes according to different experiences and perspectives. This project ends with the building of the actual design on the site.

Project 3

The third project requires using the understanding gleaned from the observations documented in project 1 and the form iterations in project 2 to speculate how the design may transform and developed into a spatial experience. The semester will conclude with a final exhibition.

REFERENCES | RECOMMENDED READINGS | DOCUMENTARIES

[Theoretical readings]

Spirn, Anne. The Eye is a Door Wolf Tree Press, 2014 Meyer, Elizabeth. Sustaining Beauty: The Performance of Appearance. Jola - Journal on Landscape Architecture. 6-23. 2008

Lister, Nina-Marie & Hargreaves, George & Czerniak, Julia. Sustainable Large Parks: Ecological design or designer ecology? 2007

Spirn, Anne. Ecological Urbanism: A Framework for the Design of Resilient Cities. 2014

Jill Desimini, “Cartographic Grounds”, Places Journal., 2013

Herrington, S. Landscape Theory in Design. First edition, New York, NY: Routledge. 2016

Amoroso, Nadia. Representing Landscapes: Analogue. Routledge, 2019

[Resources on local context]

Tan, P.Y, Liao K.H, Hwang Y.H & Chua, V. Nature, Place & People – Forging Connections through Neighbourhood Landscape Design. 2018, with the focus on Chapter 5, 5.8 People, P1: Sense of Place by Agnieszka O. Guizzo / Jane Chan, pp 169-176.

National Parks Board. Trees.sg. Online geospatial information on urban trees in Singapore.

National Parks Board. Fauna & Flora web. Encyclopedia on Singapore’s rich fauna & flora.

Singapore Land Authority. OneMap 3.0. 3D visualization of Singapore’s city scape.

[Other inspirational documentaries, art works]

Eames Office. Powers of Ten. Produced in 1977.

Noguchi, Isamu. Water Stone. Documentary filmed in 1987.

Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty : True Fictions, False Realities. Berkeley, New York, University of California Press ; In cooperation with Dia Art Foundation, 2005

Goldsworthy, Andy. Transient and Ephemeral. Documentary of works between 1998-2017.

Elliason, Olfar. Playing with space and light. Ted Talk. 2009

Javacheff, Christo., de Guillebon, Jeanne-Claude. Running Fence. Documentary of works from 1976.

Roosegaarde, Daan. Creativity is our true capital. Ted Talk. 2017.