Digging in with SO-IL

This one caught my attention today by combining the love of urban agriculture and rooftop gardening in one visually stimulating package. Spotted via Dezeen: "Brooklyn architects Solid Objectives - Idenburg Liu (SO-IL) have designed a rooftop landscape of allotments to showcase green roof technologies on an industrial building in Queens, New York City."




:: images via Dezeen

The work was commissioned by green roof manufacturer, Garden City Roofs. A little more detail from Dezeen: "Roofs are underused in New York City. Garden City Roofs, a startup company headed by Beth Lieberman, caters to a growing need for technical expertise and access to green roof systems. Garden City Roofs is converting the unused roof of a large industrial building into a showroom and knowledge-center for green roof systems. SO-IL has been asked to evaluate access, layout the roof systems and hard-scapes and design a sales- and learning center on the roof."




:: images via Dezeen

A favorite image of mine, evoking some of the swoopy artistry of a Thomas Church sketch from the 1950's replete with egg-like sun...

:: image via Dezeen

It's interesting to see the 'object' that appears on the roof... The reason? Not sure. The purpose. Um, use the word Truncated Octohedron? Turns out it's a "...structure will be a showcase of materials that are either completely biodegradable or recyclable."






:: images via Dezeen

More like architects that couldn't resist the urge to plop some structure on top of a structure in order to give it resonance as a 'project'. You'll see the hexagonal patterns applied on the farming production surface as well, which work well for nested spaces with interior pathways - a good garden layout. Probably the least successful part of all of this is the bad acronymic name, which I first thought was just random, then realized spelled an elongated SO-IL... uh, ok... well cool project anyway. :)

What I did on my Summer Vacation...

Summer is a great time to think - specifically in Oregon where August and September are typically the prime season and weather for outdoor activity, as well as conducive to the more cerebral... so what have I been doing? Well primarily watching the Beijing Olympics, working too much and too long, finishing a Fellowship application that (knock on wood) will lead to a good amount of travel related to green walls, preparing for a class that I am co-teaching in the fall at Portland State University - and generally enjoying summer. Thus a little lull in blogging. I have been keeping up with the other blogs entries - which seem to slow as well during summer (with some exceptions) - and will pick up again soon (or in September, post-Labor Day vacation) with some catchup!


:: Early Version of Olympic Forest Park - image via Garden Visit

The end of summer has also offered the opportunity for the less cerebral - going to some perennial favorite late summer activities - namely that of the Portland Adult Soapbox Derby. Half hipster hangout - half excuse to drink PBR in the park - it's one of those anti-corporate Portland events that makes the city so unique and fun (read: the anti-flugtag) Below is not a shot from '08, but a favorite from a few years back below - guess you can never escape the office:


:: Office Cubicle - image via Portland Ground

Another diversion this week was a trip up to Auburn, Washington (in the vicinity of Seattle) to go see the Radiohead show in support of the fabulous album In Rainbows. The verdict: show=amazing; venue=so/so; parking and traffic=hellish. We were back in the lawn and rain and it was still amazing - but the photos were a bit abstract - so I found a nice one of something up front - that showed the band and the eco-friendly LED lighting:


:: image via Flickr - atease

While Radiohead attempts to present tours with a green agenda, the location of the White River Amphitheater was dubious in many regards... namely being pretty much car only access. We parked in the free lot - and upon finishing the show at 11:30ish, didn't actually leave the venue until 1:30 - so imagine if you will conservatively 5000 cars idling and creeping around in a concentrated space for about 2 hours - lets imagine . No wonder people were getting a little testy. Here's the scene in a more serene photo.


:: image via Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce

The experience of collectively Flugtag, Soapbox Derby, and Radiohead made me start to think about the viability of large-events - both from a social and environmental perspective. I'm definitely a fan of live-music, but there is definitely as scale issue regarding what is acceptable to appreciate a concert or venue. A small bar is great - but how many of your favorite (undiscovered) bands will be found there? So in the age of mega-concerts, festivals with 100k people in attendance, or even a large-scale event in downtown (obama visit?, flugtag?) is it realistic within the fabric of our cities and outlying areas to accomodate - in a meaningful way. Throw in security issues - such as those faced in Beijing or upcoming in 2012 in London - in multiple venues in an international spotlight - and the logisitics become mind-boggling.

While the grand-scale issues of traffic can't be solved simply at a venue like the White River Amphitheatre, the small-scale designs of parking, traffic, and overflow parking were abyssmal. This led to gridlock that was totally unnecessary and avoidable. As we inhabit, temporarily, these spaces for events - what role does design play in these processes... definitely something that fits into the transportation dynamics and evolutionary adaptation necessary from a Landscape Urbanist perspective... thoughts?

China's Urban Forest

Via Bustler, an amazing competition winner at the New Urban Streetscape in Beijing, sponsored by New World China Land Limited. Entitled 'Urban Forest' and anchored by SITE New York along with Chinese firm WaHa Studio.


:: image via Bustler

Bustler offers some extensive text, so definitely check out the link and the description. Some highlights: "It is our team’s view that one of the main values of horizontal surfaces in the cityscape is to use streets, parks, plazas and gardens as means of mediation between neighborhoods, building heights, economic levels and territorial functions."


:: image via Bustler

Continuing: "In designing the New World public space, the SITE/WaHa “Urban Forest” concept has been influenced by an observation that the existing site is roughly shaped like a growing tree, with a crown of extended branches. It can also be seen as similar to a river, with many tributaries, or linked to the cardiovascular system of a human body."


:: image via Bustler

More: "The main features of this concept – an evolution from plaza to architecture, inside and outside treated as simultaneous events, dense forest areas in the cityscape and an infinitely flexible paving design – are readily applicable to other parts of the city."




:: images via Bustler

My favorite quote from the entry, via Bustler: "In summary, the horizontal surfaces and mounded configurations of the Urban Forest establish a universal (but also site-specific) concept - including a tree branch • river tributaries • vascular system • Chinese calligraphy • regional landscape imagery - for Beijing’s New World center. This iconography is expressed vertically and horizontally, physically and symbolically, experientially and ecologically."

To which we can all say, huh?

Or perhaps, can we throw another metaphor into that mix maybe? Either way, I really like the concept, although a bit heavy-handed - or maybe a chance to use my favorite new saying 'ham fisted'. Anyway, my biggest rant is the flat black and white graphics. The idea is great, but gets lost in the scribbly and frankly amateurish illustration... while sometimes a very powerful and evocative... are just patently bad. Landscape can be done well in black and white - but is for the most part - much, much better in color. Or if you're going to do black and white - at least do it simply and well.

Good to see that good concept beats good graphics - but would be better to see both.