Yelena Myakisheva
Landscape Design Portfolio
Index Projects 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Brownfield Freeform: Berkeley Brickyard, CA. Daylighting the Watershed: Fort Baker, CA. GIS Analysis Inspired Design: King Farm, Canada. Growth in Four Dimensions: Wurster Courtyard, Berkeley, CA. Ecological Center and School for Sustainable Design: Half Moon Bay, CA. Designing for Growth: Blake Garden, Kensington, CA. Z Bench: Rochdale Village Cooperative, Berkeley, Ca. Resume
1. Brownfield Earthwork: Berkeley Brickyard The Berkeley Brickyard is entirely landfill: layers of municipal waste covered with a clay cap and visible construction rubble. There is a plan to add it to the bay park system. The challenge for this project is to create a landscape that takes advantage of the malleability of earth while still meeting typical standards of accessibility, maintainability, and keeping the clay cap covering the contaminated fill in tact.
C
a
F
E
A
b
B c
D
1. Brownfield Freeform: Berkeley Brickyard A
entrance
park office/bathrooms
a
baccharis pilularis
prunus illicifolia grove
b
B
willow thicket
path to the tower
debris
tower vista point
board walk
C
bike path
covered picnic area
sunken path
1.. Brownfi row w eeld d Freeform: ee o : Berkeley e e ey Brickyard c ya d
Human traffic is directed along designated paths to protect the landscape from too much human interaction. The paths lead the visitors to experience the landforms by taking them between, into, and over hills and trees. Following the paths, the visitor is led to the tower and peninsula view points; the bay view is hidden from the approaching path until the end. Although the landscape lacks rectilinear structure, it is D
still decipherably man made, with parts of the demolition debris still visible. Social spaces are found at path intersections, including a blacktop painted with the map of the park system. The plant palate includes native, condition tolerant species, especially those that appeal to wildlife. Mostly the site would be covered by clumping grasses, like red fescue. Monterrey cypress
Entrance E
is common in the area and is used as a wind block for other trees. Coast life oak is featured for it’s view blocking potential and is used only at higher elevations because of aggressive roots. Arroyo willow is used in damp areas. Rosa californica, ceanothus, pickle weed, aesculus californica, manzanita species, and prunus illicifolia for color interest.
Path F
Peninsula Vista Point
c
tower
willow thicket
2. Daylighting the Watershed: Fort Baker Fort Baker sits just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. It used to be a military fort from 1850 to 2000 but was never in combat use. The fort is currently used as a first class resort, a children’s museum, a marina, a restaurant, a fishing pier, and a small piece closest to the bay bridge is still actively used by the coast guard. The existing programs need unification for the space to have identity. At the center, the fort’s parade ground and beach are man-made landscapes created when a marsh was filled with mud dredged from the bay. This design turns the empty parade ground into an interpretive hydrological park which focuses on water remediation. When first visiting the site, I learned the water was contaminated from a recent spill at the nearest water treatment plant caused by a typical rain storm event. This inspired the idea to use the site to process it’s own rain runoff and gray water in a way that would be informative to the visitors. Such lightly contaminated water could be filtrated using natural processes, turning pollution directly into fertilizer, and in doing so make the beach safe for activity. The creek that is currently buried under the parade ground becomes the unifying gesture in the landscape. Thus the water can be made legible and in places accessible.
Plan
This project was analyzed at four levels:
2. Daylighting the Watershed: Fort Baker
Program: The design expands visitor services, such as short-term rentable moors in the marina, bike rental, and a visitor’s center. New interpretive park features.
program
Circulation: New pedestrian path placement is based on worn out areas in the lawn of the parade ground caused by current traffic. The paths would help tie together the different programs and visitors to Fort baker by encouraging travel to other areas of the site. A section of road and parking is removed to unify the greenspace.
drainage
Drainage: The existing topography of the site is greatly modified to reestablish the creek. The creek is curvaceous to maximize the length of the creek within the site. Much of the area would remain level to allow pedestrian access to non-fragile areas.
circulation
Vegetation: Some of the existing eucalyptus would be removed for safety concerns. The reestablished creek calls for reintroduction of habitatforming vegetation.
vegetation
2. Daylighting the Watershed: Fort Baker
The plant palate consists of species primarily native to the area. These plants are used to use up the nutrients in the water and promote native wildlife. Native plants would also be attune to the seasonal availability of water, as the pools would shrink in the dry season.
Basic Stream Planting
Along the creek, willow and blackberries provide a barrier against visitors and fruit for wildlife. The creeks are made extra rough with rocks and fallen trees in order to maximize the water/land surface on which the periphyton grow that aid the water cleaning process. The stream is slowed by it’s curving path, pooled in places to allow particulates to settle. The last pool is designed to allow in the slightly salty water of the bay for plants that thrive in this condition. Educational panels are posted along the creek in order to warn about the dirtiness of the water and the remarkable process by which the water is made clean. In this way the creek is an extension of the museum in it’s role to educate the public.
Collection
Filtration System Diagram
Stage I
Stage II
Stage III
Release
2. Daylighting the Watershed: Fort Baker The coast area is special because it allows water traffic connection to the bay. The moors become more accessible to the general public to facilitate water travel, including day boat parking to allow daytrips by boat to Fort Baker. A new feature in this area is the combined pier and boat launch ramp. This feature creates a viewpoint at the end of the main axis pointing out into the bay. The waterfront area contains more drought tolerant plants which attract birds for birdwatching. The removal of unnecessary parking space allows the design to restore the beach, which would now be safely accessible.
3. GIS Analysis Inspired Design: King Farm King Farm is a property near Sault Ste Marie in Ontario, Canada. This is a group project with Natalie Serdiuk and Brianna Weldon, to design a green-field housing development using only GIS data and internet sources.
site, streams, roads, schools, buildings
We analyzed the site based on infrastructure, energy harvesting potential, and the possible damage to and by the environment.
good siting for wind power generation
By narrowing down the areas, we discovered where it was most reasonable to cluster residential development and where we could place uses that do not require easy connection. We discovered the difficulties of working on a site where we could not simply gather the data we needed such as vegetation types and location, so that we could design more minimal damage to existing woodland.
stream buffer zone and alluvial soil zone
flat slopes
3. GIS Analysis Inspired Design: King Farm We chose to combine residential and commercial buildings to lower exposure to the cold in winter. Apartment buildings were designed as with large atriums to allow for year round gardening for psychological benefit. The light blue in the renderings denotes dedicated commercial and public spaces. The bulk of the residences are grouped in the south-east corner to make it accessible to the existing neighborhood. The farming cooperative is placed in the south-west corner so that it would not be encroached upon by other residents. In the more remote north section, we placed more seasonal uses, including community garden plots and walking paths.
4. Growth in Four Dimensions: Wurster Courtyard Wurster courtyard is located on the second floor of the building housing the college of environmental design. The design is an inspiration room for the design students by creating a space that plays tricks with the eyes and allows for students to experience the “aha!� state of mind when they realize that the jungle has an underlying rationale and can continue this feeling in their work. The vertical nature of the vines is also meant to get people to look upwards and straighten out their backs after their long days hunching over their desks.
4. Growth: Wurster Courtyard The vines are planted small and grow quickly enough to be plainly visible by the building’s occupants. At the same time they are deciduous and thus show seasonal variability. This design brings the concept of growth and seasons back into a building where it is too easy to lose connection with time. Over the long term the vines form a roof over the space and shade out lower parts, creating tree-like trunks that form a forest. Because of the second floor location and the desire to have an inhabitable space, it is an intensive green roof. The simple plant palate consists of ipomoea alba, replaced over time with wisteria sinensis. These are under-planted with viola, cyclamen and oxalis oregana for a forest feel.
5. Ecological Center and School for Sustainable Design This is a greenfield site on the coast of Half-Moon Bay. The project was to place the buildings for an ecological center and then design the surrounding gardens and experimental agricultural areas. The design is accessible to pedestrians and vehicles with minimal damage to the landscape. The site gets a lot of summer fog and winter precipitation so the dune buildings face south for greatest warmth. The site also has strong coastal winds so the gardens and paths are sunken and surrounded by tree windbreaks. Unused parts of the site are restored for native and migratory birds and other wildlife. Paved areas are kept to a minimum to avoid effecting runoff intensity and they drain to pools b used for irrigation. Dams are set up in the stream to mitigate construction runoff. Overall, plant choice would have to be tested for such a coastal site, which is part of point of center. Best practice would be to use plants that are either native, edible, c or near-native condition tolerant.
a
e
A
E
B
C
•z
D
d
D
cantilevered overlook*
electricity is generated by large wind turbines, these being slow enough to reduce danger to birds, without lattice structure for roosting
d
E
e
loggia
edible garden
retention pool
fire trail
5. Ecological Center for Sustainable Design
The design arranges the structures and features in such a way as to break up the landscape into human scale spaces. The design takes advantage of the mixture of new buildings and existing topography with tunnels and bridges for a variety of experience. The buildings are tucked into the landscape so that their roofs transition directly into the slope and their green roofs merge with existing vegetation. In the case of the exhibition center, this allows enough topography change to fit in a amphitheater. c
C
agriculture demonstration plot
class room tunnel
raised path
creek retention pool
warm court dormitory buildings a
A
parking
vegetated swale
exit and entrance roads exhibition center
amphitheater
covered bridge
b
B
green house and cafe
plaza
exhibition center
orangery
6. Designing for Growth: Blake Garden Blake Garden is a 10.6 acre garden that was gifted to the Landscape Architecture department of UC Berkeley in 1962. The project redesigns a section at the main pedestrian entrance that had gone fallow. This specific section is also the entrance point of a creek and storm runoff that are in culverts up to the site.
a A C
B b
c
This design greets the visitor with a mixture of fruit-producing and native plants. At the same time, the design shows off the hidden creek. The features and plant species of this spot reflect those found in other areas of the garden for a sense of unity.
6. Designing for Growth: Blake Garden The growth of plants allows the space to change over time in a controlled way. Instant effect would be wasted in a garden that has the staff and the visitors to enjoy the gradual transformation of plants from seeds into giants. retention ponds with weirs. ceanothus ground cover
Stage I: This stage includes hardscape modifications and all major planting, especially willow for bank stabilization. The area is covered with a meadow mixture of plants propagated from seed and bulb. This stage includes intensive weeding to keep the current invasive blackberries from reestablishing. The larger plants should be planted as young plants to reduce cost and promote plant health. Stage II: All the plants become established, so all watering should cease. The meadow is still intact but the trees begin to provide vertical interest. At this point, replacement of plants with shorter life spans begins.
mulch service path dry meadow
submerged
Stage III: The plants reach maturity and the design now fits with the rest of Blake Garden in style. Large parts of the meadow are shaded out by trees and should be mulched. Fruiting trees bare enough fruit for visitors to harvest.
riparian
Stage I: Plants have established. (1-5 years)
Quercus agrifolia Vitis californica
Malus domestica
Sequoia sempervirens
Arctostaphylos sp.
Arbutus marina Cercis occidentalis
Carpenteria californica
Punica granatum
Salix lasiolepis
Stage II: Shrubs and small trees reach maturity. (5-10 years)
Stage III: Large and slow-growing trees reach maturity. (about 30 years)
6. Designing for Growth: Blake Garden A
a The pedestrian entrance in on the site and is paid special attention. The design makes the entrance more formal by moving the gate away from the little-used vehicular entrance and creating symmetry around it. Californian wild grape is used dramatically to screen the view and add intense color in the fall. It also blocks the unpleasant parking lot view from inside. Plant palate for the entrance is based on species that can be easily propagated at Blake Garden, especially those abundant nearby. “Native wild flower mix� refers to a mixture of native seeds including local fescue, poppy, clover, blue-eyed grass, and lupin species.
Entrance Elevation
6. Designing for Growth: Blake Garden C
c
To relate to the closest garden area, a vegetable and cut -flower garden, fruiting trees and flowering plants are primarily used in the design. Many visitors come to the garden to get ideas for their own gardens. The focus in the plant palate is to emphasize the beauty, cohesiveness, and potential of native plants, which are more appropriate for the local climate then similar looking foreign plants. Native plants efficiently respond to the local climate and seasonal variation in rain. The palate is also intended to be safe for children and resistant to deer who frequent the garden. The contaminated water inflow is run through a weir to remove large debris. Marsh plants soak in the pollution in the water. Their are ponds to retain water and slow it down.
B Seasonal Interest Bark, Trunk Shrub and Tree Flowers Perennial and Annual Flowers Fruit Fragrant Leaf color
b January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
7. Z Bench: Rochdale Village Cooperative The ‘Z’ Bench is a design-build project I produced with Natalie Serdiuk. This was the first construction project for both of us so it was a challenge to keep our design simple and forgiving enough for our skills while living up to our designing abilities. There was need for a stepping ledge down from a pile of boulders and to make the neglected space more inviting and social. This led us to several designs which we proposed to the cooperative and the final design was modified to reflect their feedback. The style of the bench is based on existing benches at the site, although it is modified to be free-standing. We chose to make the bench out of unpainted redwood to match nearby raised beds and because of sequoia trees nearby. Eventually the bench would be painted to cover graffiti that is a common problem in the area.
Resume
! " "
# $ $ % & ' ( & ' & (& & # & ) & & * & !'
" ( & ) & + & & & ' #& & $ ,
* (
" - $ . /0 1 3 4
& # 5 ! 6 7 5 $ , ( 5 7 $ # 6 $ 6 $ $6 , #& 6 & 5 & 8 5 , $ 7 6& $ $ & * $ , $ $ - # 8 & 5 ,
3 4 ( 4
- 5 # !
) # 5 * 6 $ $
9
( $ : $ $6 $ 5
0 5 . 3 9
5 $ •
# ;6 7 < ,