PLACE
IN THE MODERN LANDSCAPE
TYLER PAGE
WILCOX
LA 401
CHAPTERS RESPONSE TO READING 1 2 3
SITE SPECIFIC ART PLACE AND PROCESS SITE DETAIL
RESPONSE TO WANDERING 4 5
GRAND CANYON ARCOSANTI
RESPONSE TO LISTENING 6 7
BODY BASED SUSTAINABLE CITY TEMPORARY PLACE
RESPONSE TO LANGUAGE 8
DESIGN LEXICON
RESPONSE TO
READING
1 SITE SPECIFIC ART “ONE PLACE AFTER ANOTHER: NOTES ON SITE SPECIFICITY” BY MIWON KOWN Art and landscape architecture have many parallels, but perhaps none more close than their shared contributions to the practice of site specific art. Author Miwon Kown’s essay entitled “One Place After Another: Notes on Site Specificity” outlines the principles of site specificity in art installation pieces, of which I compare with traditional notions of landscape site scale. Kown’s piece ultimately questions the idea if adherence to the traditional idea of “site” is necessary. I would argue that the spirit of place is often the inspiration for an artistic reaction, often called “site specfic art”, but doesn’t always have to only result in the production of site specific artwork. In an
attempt to explain the underpinnings of the concept of site, one must try to define it. Historically site was often associated with physical space (of varying scales), but the terminology grew increasing complex to confine as other influences had to be taken into account such as culture. As a culturally and politically driven medium, art reflects “site” in any form it exists inome fashion. However, to reground and connect with landscape notions of site I will be keeping within the literal physical definition of “site” for this pamphlet and will instead attempt to analyze and argue the changing relationship of the human corporeal form with physical and social sites of our modern landscape.
HUMAN SCALE
Andy Goldsworthy “Cracked Rock Spiral” http://2.bp.blogspot.com/MmAaNRnlxFg/UaH9psAsg0I/ AAAAAAAAD9Q/mr0VZRPCmLI/s1600/ art+100.jpg
Richard Serra “Tilted Arc”
SITE SCALE
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Robert Smithson “Spiral Jetty”
REGIONAL LANDSCAPE
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http://thesegalcenter.org/files/2013/03/Collage_ Dance_Theatre_MotherDitch05.jpg
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that the terminology is such that only “… the presence of the artist has become an absolute prerequisite for the Perhaps one of execution/presentation of the most interesting site-oriented projects.” (102) correlations Kwon The modern site makes to site specificty oriented project can then in the mdoern era is be performed with almost the documented shift little to no actual “site” towards making “site context and often artists specific” pieces travel to themselevs are just move be displayed somewhere to create the art. Corporeal other than they were form within the culture being originally intended. As examined must be quantified she states, “The “work” no longer seems to be a noun/ as a form of site through object but a verb/process… “means addressing the differences of adjacencies to be experienced as a and distances between one unrepeatable and fleeting thing, one person, one place, situation” (91). As a result, today’s performance art is one thought, one fragment essentially site specific art, next to another, rather than invoking equivalencies via as it relies heavily on site one thing after another.” specific conditions for its (110). In my opinion as success. society continues to progress This shift can this cultural sense of site will therefore explain how Culture itself can act as its play a greater role in the creation of place. own site. Kwon explains CULTURE AS SITE
KWON’S 3 PARADIGMS
PHENOMOLOGICAL
CONCIOUSNESS/INTERPRETATION OF PHYSICAL LOCATION
SOCIAL/INSTITUTIONAL
CULTURAL/POLITICAL SITE OF A WORKS PRODUCTION
DISCURSIVE
GENDER, NATURE, OR SEXUALITY AS SITES
2 PLACE AND PROCESS “RE-PLACING PROCESS” BY ANITA BERRIZBEITIA
ECOLOGICAL
PHENOMOLOGICAL
PROCESS
PROGRAMMATIC
SOCIAL
PROCESS
PLACE
Similarly, I also find myself in agreeance with the notion that place is derived from the outcome of processes rather than the derivative of just site responses. This has become a common consensus amongst modern practicing landscape architects, and has only been a recent historical switch according to Berrizbeitia. Whereas While Kwon’s essay projects use to be formal argues that site has many in that they were trying to frameworks that it can achieve a finished composition operate within, and is largely of a landscape, to trying to subject to interpretation in develop places that reflect the creation of place, author the many processes involved. Anita Berrizbeitia differs by Berrizbeitia compares dynamic viewing site as a reaction to (open) landscapes and formal process that ultimately results (closed) landscapes in this in the creation of place. She fashion. She describes the describes site as “open ended”, process of designing a site as where as place is “singular”, “the use of natures productive elaborating that site itself is capacities as technique to a highly specific reading of a develop the landscape” (185). physical location. Place on the This documented professional other hand Berrizbeitia states, and cultural ideological shift “is the result of a dialectical is best summarized by the relationship between author when she states: “We individuals and physical do not discuss visual, spatial, space, in which individuals or or phenomological qualities; institutions shapes place that we discuss frameworks, in turn shape them through emergence, the performative, social practices that occur the adaptive” (196). Designers within them” (176). While included in the comparison using large parks as a basis include heavyweights such as for comparison, Berrizbeitia James Corner and Mark Rios, outlines the various processes contemporary architects who and organizations for modern have advanced this notion of physical design. process driven places.
LANDSCHAFTS PARK DUISBURG-NORD
PETER LATZ
RE-PLACING PROCESS
FRESH KILLS JAMES CORNER RE-PLACING PROCESS
The process in which Berrizbeitia outlines consists of the following: 1. Design processes rather than a landscapes final form. Shift from creating compositions to working with systems 2. More site research and measuring the performance of existing systems 3. Natural history of the site: geomorphology and hydrology and adaptations of the landscape to change 4. Anticipating future evolution of the landscape, and establishing project objectives rather than a final vision or form
http://en.landschaftspark.de/website/ sites/lapano_en/uploads/galeries/pics/ der_park/Entstehung/HO5.jpg?750 http://www.landschaftspark.de/website/sites/lapano_de/uploads/galeries/ pics/freizeit_sport/Spielplaetze/21.23_ Erzbunkeranlage.jpg?750 http://media.silive.com/latest_news/ photo/11486361-large.jpg http://images.nymag.com/news/features/freshkills081201_5_560.jpg
Berrizbeitia concludes that site and the creation of place is the culmination of many influences interacting over a variety of scales. As she states, “The recovery of material histories, the introduction of new spaces, experiences, and aesthetic qualities, and the insertion of program scaled for different kinds of recreational and social activities all contribute to the recognition of that within one place there are many scales simultaneously at work.� (195). I believe this is a good summarization and simplification of the factors that are involved with the creation of place. Whereas Kwon tries to define what site can function as, and Olin derives importance from site context and precedence, Berrizbeitia understands the range of factors that are encompassed in the creation of contemporary places and how they will transform and adapt over time. By understanding the different methodologies behind the creation of place, designers are better equipped to view projects holistically and can therefore factor in environmental and social influences in their design process.
3 SITE DETAIL “THE ART OF LANDSCAPE DETAIL: RECESSIVE DETAILS IN A HISTORIC PUBLIC SETTING” BY NIALL KIRKWOOD, INTERVIEW WITH LAURIE OLIN within the dense urban The concept of maintaining a sense of place fabric of Manhattan, NY. The site of Bryant Park has a with “spatial and visual” continuity is often a matter of long history as a popular first interpreting established public space (see graphic), precedence, then responding so this along with its direct to site context. In the case of connection to the New York Public Library made the Laurie Olin’s design for the restoration and improvement contextual references of the modern landscape project of Bryant Park in New York, project design constraints and all the more important. Strong stylistic influences of opportunities were focused Ecole des Beaux Arts French upon maintaining existing architecture had already qualities of space while suggested strict parameters updating its appearance for the design aesthetic to and practical function. The challenge was to balance an flow with the surrounding already established historical architectural context, so the project aimed to blend in French landscape design with its surroundings while aesthetic while integrating accentuating its connections new uses and visibility into and usage as a public space. the park that is located in a commercial core
HISTORICAL SITE PROGRESSION
1853 http://3. bp.blogspot. com/-TBfTIhFg7_k/ UmWMa3eMzUI/ AAAAAAAAFcs/ y2yTD9ivywY/ s1600/CP+-+1853++01+-+JPEG.jpg
1899 http://www. newyork.com/articles/wp-content/ uploads/2013/09/1croton-resevoir_650.jpg
1934 http://www. bryantpark.org/ static/galleries/ history/13.jpg
1992 http://www.asla. org/2010awards/ images/largescale/403_05.jpg
http://i0.wp.com/www.therisenyc.com/wpcontent/uploads/2014/05/Fountain-2013-0913-IC.jpg https://farm8.staticflickr. com/7185/7113796661_237de35b01.jpg
DETAILS
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MATERIAL
Laurie Olin described the projects design process and emphasized that the greatest challenge was to make the project “seem like it was done whole”. Olin claimed this continuity came about from the emphasis on the articulation of details within the projects overall design. Details came in several forms, whether from particular construction techniques and aesthetics to materials and scale. The challenge of the project lied in its perceived simplicity. It took a strict filtering of influences with a highlighting of details to make the project a convincing part of the greater urban fabric. As Olin describes it, “There was a suppression of things in order to express something else that quite often gets lost.” (230). Allowing the “background” of the project to take precedence was a careful exercise in control, or as Olin states a careful “sleight of hand”.
Olin’s very intentional In historical settings adherence to Bryant Park’s such as Bryant Park, these precedence and context as a decisions become even more greater whole is something readily apparent when the that he saw in common with design is trying to highlight an his greatest influences such asexisting quality of space while Frank Lloyd Wright. Designers remaining a feature in the who integrate a place from background. the larger picture down to the From this interview I finest details simultaneously came to the realization that across scales understand the landscape can contribute “the relationship between to a sense of place simply by material properties and other distracting visitors from the conceptual considerations” unnecessary and highlighting (233) and their inextricable the sensorial experience as connection. Details that might much as possible. While it seem very mundane, such as might ultimately be a greater curbs or ADA ramps, can be challenge, sometimes it isn’t the biggest telltale signs that about what you contribute the designer responded and to a design but what your adapted to a sense of place. design allows to come to the forefront.
RESPONSE TO
WANDERING
LOO KOU T ST
4
GRAND CANYON
UT S TUDIO
PERCHED UPON A PLATEAU ENCOMPASSED BY SKY PEERING OVER THE SHEER WALLS THAT SURROUND A LIMITLESS DEPRESSION IN THE EARTH
BRIGH
T
AN GE LL OD GE
THE CANYONS INFLUENCE CONTINUES TO EVOLVE MY PROCESSION
AN ENTIRELY TEMPORAL EXPRESSION OF BOUNDLESS EXPERIENCE
AN OVERWHELMING SENSE OF DEPTH PRESENTS ITSELF
BUT SOMEHOW I REMAIN FIRMLY AFFIXED TO THE SURFACE OF IT ALL
THE PATH UNFOLDS TEMPORARILY DEPARTURING FROM THE PERIMETER
I AM ONCE AGAIN ALLOWED TO RECOLLECT MY BEARINGS AS I SEPARATE FROM THE VOID
THUNDERBIRD LODGE
I AM WELCOMED BY TREES CASTING SHADE OVER CONGREGATIONS OF VISITORS
ALL OF US REACTING INDEPENDENTLY IN A COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE
KACHINA L
I CARRY ON ANTICIPATING THE NEXT UNVEILING OF THE CANYON
BUT THE PATH HAS ALTERED MY PERCEPTIONS OF DISTANCE
E G D NA LO
LACKING ANY PUNCTUATION INTO THE CANYON
I MUST CONTINUE ONWARD
PROXIMITY TO THE CANYON ONCE AGAINS ENLIGHTEN MY PERSPECTIVE
DRIVING MY JOURNEY TO UNVEIL THE UNKNOWN
R A V O T EL
A PROMINENT LOOKOUT PROVIDES A VANTAGE BACK TO WHERE MY JOURNEY BEGAN
A WELCOME VALIDATION OF THE LANDSCAPE I HAVE TRAVERSED
E S U O H HOPI
THE PATH BEGINS TO MEANDER AND I DIVERGE FROM MY PREVIOUS TRAJECTORY
FUELED BY MY GROWING GEOGRAPHIC CURIOSITY
V
ELEVATION CONTINUES TO INCREMENTALLY INCREASE
FOR THE FIRST TIME I AM NOT MERELY ALONGSIDE THE CANYON
BUT ABOVE IT ALL
RC O T I S I V S P VERKAM
FINALLY I AM UNBOUND
THE SUCCESSIVE THRESHOLD OF PATH AND WALL FADES INTO MEMORY
OR CENTER
AS I AM CONSUMED BY THE
CANYON
5
ARCOSANTI ROAD
Few experiences of finding place can rival that of exploring somewhere you have never been to before. While finding new ways to experience where you have been before has its own revelations, new unexplored landscapes ARE the experience. My interaction with Arcosanti was to be AR entirely site interpretted. I knew the concept of the development, as well as had seen images on the web, but had no preconceived notions of the experience. Arcosanti’s setting in the arizona high desert landscape encouraged exploration before we even arrived. The journey there (see graphic) inolved a contextually connected to all narrowing progression of highways, roads, and back of the natural world around dirt roads. Once you arrive you. It was from this moment at the site the land you have I began to understand the experience to be derived traversed fades into the from the Arcosanti was to be horizon and you know you are somewhere completely entirely up to myself and my own search for what the site removed from society yet could reveal.
TO
C
OSA N TI
Arriving close to dusk my exploration of Arcosanti’s built environment was primarily done in the evening, both guided and on my own. I found the site to be human scaled, easy to traverse comfortably across the various built forms and the sites setting upon the terrain. This only heightened my curiosity to see Arcosanti as a whole from a new vantage point across the small valley on a parallel mesa. After an evening spent under the stars on the roof of the dormatories, I awoke with the sunrise to head out on my quest. Unsure of where to connect to the trail that led to the mesa, I descended down the terraced landscape of Arcosanti to the dirt access
road before finding the the start of the trail. Descending quickly down to the subterranean Agua Fria river, I began the ascent to the other side. The trail at first clearly designated which way to go, leading past a yellow shade structure as the trail increased in slope with everystep. Quite abruptly the trail vanished, consumed by the growth of brush, leaving me wondering if I strayed from the route. Unguided I continue on finding my way by scrambling the last leg of the ascent across boulders and rock formations much larger than myself. No longer using my feet to carry me I pull myself up the mesa by my arms once I reach an area to regain footing. I am welcomed into an unexplored landscape
ARCO S
brimming with the first of the morning light and a completely newcorporeal position. Still without a prescribed trail I follow the top of the rock formation along the edge of the mesa.
Unlike the Grand Canyon the experience is unrelenting and unrestrained. Just when I am unsure whether my path has lead me to my intended destination small
O SANTI
cairn or stacked stones used for wayfinding begin to populate. Once I reach the largest formation I am assured I have gone the farthest I can while being able to safely return.
The reward is an entire field of view of my journey traveled. Visually retracing my steps, I begin to realize the journey itself was the entire experience.
RESPONSE TO
LISTENING
6 BODY BASED SUSTAINABLE CITY HOW GREEN IS MY CITY BY MICHAEL SORKIN SCIARC LECTURE OCT 13, 2014 Prior to attending professor Michael Sorkin’s lecture at SCIARC, I was expecting an architectural/ portfolio overview like some of the last lectures I had attended. To my surprise the lecture questioned many ideas that were directly relevant to the idea of place at both theoretical and practical levels. Sorkin’s primary argument is that “ecological cities will be irresistibly shaped by the specifics of their bioclimatic and topographical situations...” Basically this is the idea that sustainable development arises from a logical and dynamic response to the site conditions. While this idea is not new within landscape architecture, and has been the supporting framework
for the development of landscape urbanism, it was outside the realm of conversation I have seen in modern architecture lectures. A much more landscape driven argument arose from the lecture when Sorkin proclaimed that, “If we architects and urbansists have a version of the Hippocratic oath, it is to keep sight of our fundamental task- creating PLACES that are sustainable, equitable and beautiful”. Albeit vague, this is the common decree of modern design process I but doesn’t begin to describe what processes actually influence this creation of place. His point however is that places are reactions to site and the many interactions that are all occurring simultaneously around them what Sorkin calls 8 Harmonies
8HARMONIES
AIR + CLIMATE FOOD BUILDING ENERGY MOVEMENT WATER WASTE BIODIVERSITY
PARTICULARITY
HABITS
LIVING CULTURES
NOSTALGIA
CULTURAL INFLUENCES
POLITICS
FAMILY
INDIVIDUAL
FRIENDS
COMMUNITY
I interpret these 8 Harmonies as the basic inputs needed to create and support a sustainable community. These are not specific to the creation of a certain type or quality of place, but instead universal. Applying this framework to an urban condition such as Los Angeles would look very different from a rural development. So while the inputs remain the same, they have to be reflective of their site context and conditions. A speculative framework such as this however cannot begin to factor in the true complexity of place. As explored earlier in Responses to Writing, a vast spectrum of influences create site and even more lead to the creation of place. To attempt to account for all of them would still not address cultural influences that vary greatly by region. Boldly, Sorkin attempts to attribute the strongest cultural influences that develop a sense of place as particularity, living cultures, habits, and nostalgia. While by no means reflective of a singular place, it is a comprehensive theoretical framework in an attempt to document place.
7 TEMPORARY PLACE CICLAVIA BY AARON PALEY CAL POLY BLDG 7 ATRIUM NOV 12, 2014 The idea of place can operate on various scales of permanence. Some places are a result of the time they have occupied the physical and cultural landscape, whereas others operate as places of temporality, cicLAvia is one of such phenomena. This periodic occupying of LA’s streets by bicycle and pedestrians, is in an attempt to shift the scale of experience within the urban fabric to create a sense of place. While most of the time we do not view our city streets as “places” that we occupy, during a cicLAvia event this is shifted and the place of experience is the street. Sensorial experiences of traveling through the city in an entirely different plane of experience creates a
temporary venue like no other. Only adding to the experience is the duration in which it can be experienced, often only from sunrise to sundown, and the same cicLAvia route is not often repeated. What is created as a result is a cultural, and physical phenomenona in the creation of place. I would argue that the draw to a temporary place such as cicLAvia can be even greater than established sites, and Aaron Paley the creator of LA’s version of the public event proves this. Since the event was first brought to LA, there has been an exponential increase in the amount of visitors and publicity that the event receives. Even more indicative of its success as a
CULTURAL
PHYSICAL DTLA
ROUTES ARE REFLECTIVE DTLA
OF THE WILSHIRE
CITIES THEY
VENICE
OCCUPY
function of public space is the growth in support the event has recieeved from cities and communities throughout the region. Surrounding businesses thrive off the increased demand and visibility caused by the event, public transit ridership increases tremendously, and much more. But besides these immediate benefits, entire regional physical and cultural benefits arise. Amongst the greatest cultural benefits of the cicLAvia is an improved image of the city in which we live in. By occupying the streets in a new fashion, your everyday surroundings obtain that much more visceral meaning. This has a direct correlation to the amount of time people spend walking, biking, or taking public transit as opposed to simply driving their cars. Spending more time within the urban fabric increases community investment and pride in their cities. In this method a temporary place such as cicLAvia has lasting permanence in the community and provides measureable improvements to quality of life and public spaces. Even those who do not participate in the event benefit from its effects.
Physically, cicLAvia has surprising permanence. Perhaps the most obvious is the converting of vehicular dominant streets to “open� streets. These streets increase the visibility of other forms of transit, the biggest being bicycling. Paley described the cicLAvia format and organization itself as a catalyst. After the event has taken place, the community has a new perspective on the importance of providing other forms of transit experience and to make it safe enough to occur on a regular frequency. As a result, many cities convert cicLAvia routes to bicycle friendly corridors by widening existing bike lanes, and increasing their visibility on the street usually by painting them green. In this way increased bicycle infrastructure is a celebration of the success of cicLAvia, because without the event this response was unlikely to occur. These newly adapted open streets become reflective of the cities they occupy, and the methods in which people get around to a variety of places within the greater urban context of Los Angeles.
RESPONSE TO
LANGUAGE
8 DESIGN LEXICON
AMALGAMATION JUXTAPOSITION PERMUTATION INTERSTICE AGGLOMERATE FRACTAL CATALYST TRANSITORY EPHEMERAL PERSPICUITY
AMALGAMATION : THE ACT, PROCESS, OR RESULT OF COMBINING OR UNITING INTO ONE
JUXTAPOSITION
:TO PLACE CONTRASTING ELEMENTS SIDE BY SIDE
PERMUTATION : ONE OF THE MANY FORMS IN WHICH SOMETHING EXISTS OR CAN BE ARRANGED
INTERSTICE : A SPACE BETWEEN SOMETHING GENERALLY CONTNUOUS
AGGLOMERATE : TO CONCENTRATE INTO A MASS OR GROUP
FRACTAL : A FIGURE OR SURFACE GENERATED BY SUCCESSIVE SUBDIVISIONS
CATALYST
:A FORCE THAT PRECIPITATES AN EVENT OR CHANGE
TRANSITORY :TEMPORARY, NON PERMANENT OR PERSISTENT
EPHEMERAL : LASTING ONLY A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME
PERSPICUITY :PERCEPTION OF TRANSPARENCY OR OPACITY