PROJECT SUMMARY + FINAL DESIGN IDEAS

Project Summary:

At first I found this project quite difficult. I didn't feel inspired to draw in my sketchbook and wasn't sure how I would ultimately bring everything together to form design ideas that would be relelvant to things I had been looking at or reading about.

However, I found that by combining a blog with the sketchbook, I could use both to provide ideas for the other and I found that actually it was quite a good system.

I am surprised at the end results, because I wasn't really sure what they would look like until I started making them. However, once I began putting the bits together it all fell in to place. 

This has been a challenging, but ultimately rewarding project..

Final Design Ideas:
 
These are mixed media collages i've made in response to work from my sketch book and research on my blog.
I photocopied images from my sketch book that particularly interested me or stood out as being visually strong. I needed a way of bringing all my different ideas together and found that collage seems to naturally fit this. It has meant that I can move things around and play with different colours/textures/shapes easily as I go...


 

Inspiration:

VnA Chair (Sketchbook/Blog)

Flooring Pattern from hatching Grids (Sketchbook/Blog)

Inspiration:
Japanese Garden Rocks (Sketchbook/Blog)

Patterned Rug  Path (Blog)

Japanese Garden Theme (Blog)

Rocks and Children (Installation, VnA Courtyard, Visit)

Inspiration:
'Mask' Sculpture - Part of a VnA Chair (Sketchbook/Blog)

Patterened Plinths (Sketchbook - b+w pencil flower sketch)

Focal Point (Sketchbook)

Grid Paving (Blog/Sketchbook)

Inspiration:
Church Spire (Sketchbook)
 Paving Sets (Sketchbook/Blog)
 Frank Lloyd Wright, Stained Glass (Blog)
Andrea Cochran (Blog)
Ulf Nordfjell (Blog)

 

Inspiration:
Stachys Drawing (Sketchbok)
 Community Garden (Blog)
Foliage (Sketchbook)

Inspiration:
Chairs, VnA Visit (Sketchbook/Blog)
Community Garden (Blog)
Paving - Rug/Japanese Garden/Neo Bankside (Blog)
Stone Roof (Drawing, Sketchbook)

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT II

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT (b.1867 - d.1959)
Architect / Interior Designer / Designer
USA 

F-L-W also used to design the interiors for his homes and produced some really beautiful stained glass work and furniture. 
When thinking about the minimalist garden, the shapes in the stained glass really stand out. They almost look like garden plans, where the shapes could be planting. When looking at them like that, you can start to see where the ratio of mass and void is so important. I think the furniture would look good in all three gardens. I will look further in to the furniture at a later date.

 

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT (b.1867 - d.1959)
Architect / Interior Designer / Designer
USA

Whenever I have creative work to do, I always revisit the work of F-L-W.  His use of materials and shapes has always particularly interested me - the way that he combines natural elements like wood or stone with clearly man made concrete or sharp lines next to water. He also doesn't create a barrier between his architecture and the landscape, managing to blend the two together,  but yet also keeping a clear distinction between them. Clever stuff!

PATH PATTERNED RUG

The pattern on this rug makes me think of overlapping paths. I could apply this idea to any of my chosen garden styles - just adapting it by using different hard landscaping materials..

KANTO SHIGEMORI GARDEN INSTITUTE CO.

KANTO SHIGEMORI GARDEN INSTITUTE CO.

Japan

I can't find much more information on these gardens or this company, but I really like the work they have done. These images cover a few of their projects

 

 

 

MIREI SHIGEMORI

MIREI SHIGEMORI (1896-1975)
Landscape Architect / Japanese garden history expert
Find out more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirei_Shigemori

This is a really important statement for me about the work of Shigemori:

"Shigemori...spoke extensively of the growing estrangement between people and the primordial power of nature, and his gardens are full of hybrid symbols that seek to reveal the cultural and natural histories their sites. Traditional garden forms are reinterpreted with modern materials and attempt to reengage the viewer with the ever developing continuum of Japanese culture".

 

Going to look out for this:

ULF NORDFJELL

Ulf Nordfjell
Landscape Architect
Sweden
http://www.nordfjellcollection.se/ 

Swedish garden designer Ulf Nordfjell is one of my biggest design heroes. When describing his garden design style, he states:

 "...Swedish nature is always present in my design and I like to use natural materials, but the structure of my parks and gardens is always modern, with very strong design elements". 

For me the combination of clean, modern hard landscaping in materials like wood and stone combined with looser more naturalistic planting creates gardens that are beautiful, strong balanced and functional.

I will reference his work a lot when working on this current project. The garden design styles I have chosen (woodland/japanese/minimalist) will need careful consideration when getting the right balance of materials and landscaping. Nordfjell seems to always be conscious of not letting one element dominate the others and of leaving space where it is needed. 
 

 

  

 

MINIMALIST GARDEN

The second garden theme that interests me is the Minimalist style. In my opinion it is one of the most difficult garden design styles to execute well, because the elements are so limited that there is no where to hide. I think it would be good though, to practice really limiting my materials and plant options to see what the outcome is.

I also think that this design style will work well with the restricted 5mx7m size of plot that we have for this project - as often urban, roof top and courtyard gardens opt for a minimalist design approach

PATHWAYS

HOCKNEY PT.2 - SKETCHBOOK WORK

David Hockney
Sketchbook Work

Some more inspiration for my own sketchbook. I like these quick observations Hockney made as much as the finished pieces because they really get a sense of the place itself, before it gets filtered through his brain and altered. He fills the pages really well also and his use of paint allows him to be both bold and detailed at once (important when observing nature)

HOCKNEY - A BIGGER PICTURE

David Hockney 

'A Bigger Picture' Exhibition

21 January - 9 April 2012, RA 

One of the best exhibitions i've ever been to.. . . .  .