Owen Harries Landscape Blog

 In the design projects lecture last week, we were taken out around campus to sketch sequential sketches, we had 2 minutes per sketch, and then had to move into the next position. I did these sketches in Pilot V5 ballpoint pen, I have since started sketching with a thicker pen thickness to experiement with making more of a mark every time I draw, meaning I think about the lines I place on the paper more.

 I found the letter M on one of the old hinge brackets of the gothic door which goes into the Clegg building at FCH campus. I may have been able to find a better example of this letter had I searched more as the middle line of this one is longer than the outer ones and therefore looks less like an M than other examples may have.

 I found the letter X in one of the metal fittings in one of the old wooden gates at the front of Francis Close Hall campius which leads onto the A4019 main road. 

 I found the letter Y on the back of a wooden garden chair when on a tour of a garden over the weekend. To make this stand out more I could have used photoshop to make the background less vibrant than the Y itself.

 On Saturday 15th February, I went to a tour of Ashwood Nursery in the West Midlands, with my friends from the Young People in Horticulture Association (YPHA). In the morning, we had a talk all about Hellebores and how they are bred, propagated and grown on for sale, as well as seeing and being taught the differences between the main cultivars which they produced. Following lunch, we got an exclusive tour of 'John's Garden'. John is the owner of Ashwood Nruseries and has a very interesting, and immaculate garden. He spoke to us about how he likes to raise the canopise of most/all of the trees he plants in his gardens in order to produce conditions underneath for a shrub and herbaceous layer in his planting. Closely mimicking the woodland layers that naturally occur. Although it is only February, there was plenty of interest in his garden from the bulbs, Hellebores, Cornus, and the bark of the silver birch and Acer griseum trees, and the confiers in the garden. Lastly, we ha...

 For the letter W, I was struggling to think of what I could find which looked anything like it! However, this week when walking to one of my lectures, I noticed that the internet cables on the side of a house in Cheltenham looked like a 'squiggly' letter W and had to take a photograph. 

 This is a page of my sketchbook where I brainstormed some different points I could include in my survey and analysis work for the North Place site. I believe that revisiting site yet again will help me to discover more points and information to use in my analysis and survey of the site.

 While walking down Cheltenham high street to the bike shop this week, I saw the letter O in the end section of a bench. This shape was mirrored in the lower section of the bench's frame, a shame the number 8 isnt in the alphabet! I still took a photograph of the top half.

 "Make every tree a wanted tree." The quote above (Sinden, 1989, p. 10) really stood out to me when reading an extract of In a Nutshell:  Manifesto for Trees and a Guide to Growing and Protecting Them. This reader certainly reiterates my own feelings towards protecting and valuing trees more than our society already does. Many people simply do not understand the value of trees, not only ecologically, but to the people who've lived their lives around these trees. You can also consider, 'how many historical events has this tree seen?'. Although trees don't have eyes or nervous systems (that we know of!), I believe that considering how many historical events or generations they have loved through is a great way of giving trees personality and ensuring people value them enough to care for and keep them. Another point in this reader which many people don't consider is reducing their paper usage and recycling it where possible. We still, even in the digital age,...

 Having watched the short weekly 'watcher' on STOSS Landscape Urbanism, I decided to comment on the video, and their projects on my blog, and to consider on how I could use this as inspiration for current and future projects. In terms of the video, I found it visially intriguing how most of the visuals were in simple line form, and predominantly in black and white/greyscale. I feel this put more emphasis on the actual lines and forms being shown, as well as causing the sections that were in colour/more detailed to be more eye catching and draw more attention to them. When looking at their projects, it is interesting seeing that the general shapes of design elements are geometric shapes. The edges of each component are also curvaceous/organic and simultaneously geometric which I believe could be something beneficial to explore in future projects and designs, and to discover what effect these shapes and techniques might have on the usability and feel of the spaces. Following watc...

 I found that the bollards on Francis Close Hall campus look very similar to the letter I. This letter could have also been found in other forms such as in pillars/columns of older regency buildings in Cheltenham, or in most vertical, upright forms.

 I decided to get some early, rough sketches down in my sketchbook with regards to ideas for the North Place site in Cheltenham. These were done using both ballpoint pen and colouring pencils. These sketches are by no means developed or deeply thought out ideas, these were simply me roughly sketching the site and thinking about what could work with the placement, and rough sizes of compononents. I used the brief's design criteria to try and ensure all components were integrated, even at this early stage of the process. The green in these sketches not only represents green space and green 'corridors' through the site, but also the potential flows/paths/movements of people through the space. The main missing component from this sketch idea which I would like to integrate as I develop ideas is a bus/coach exchange or station where groups of people can easily access the site. This could also be useful as people who store their bicycles or cars at this facility could use the bus...

 I discovered that the cable connecting the telephone handset to my flat's doorbell unit looked like the letter U when the telephone is docked. The coiled nature of the cable makes this one look particularly interesting.

 I found the linkages of the automatic fire door closer on my flat's door looked like the letter V when exploring my surroundings for the alphabet. 

 Having been tasked with finding all letters of the alphabet in our surroundings this term, I have started with a t. This is lower case, and was found in a banister in my university accommodation block. I believe that this exercise is a great way of making us more aware and observant of our surroundings, and to expand our imagination and creativity.

 Below is a small example of some small mock-up, random sketch sections I drew in my sketchbook to explore and get better at watercolour rendering. I wanted to explore how much colours bled into eachother, and what effect this might have. I was also interested to explore the loading of the brush with paint and water, and how different ratios of water and paint on the brush would have differing effects.

 Below is an example of a 0.5mm ballpoint pen sketch which I did while on a ski holiday in Flaine, France over the Christmas break. I am happy with this sketch as I believe it accurately represents the view from outside of the hotel where we were staying. I think that this is well proportioned and perspectived on the whole.