TOPOSINSTALLATION PROPOSAL

KENNY SPERLINGLA401

NOTE:as I have also developed a proposal as a part of a group, this proposal is unfinished and presented for the value of the concept only. Should this proposal be deemed interesting, appropriate, or otherwise, it will be developed further.

THE ASSOCIATED FACTIONS OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTUREMapping the Undergraduate Landscape Architecture Curriculum at the College of Environmental Design, California State Polytechnic University Pomona

PROPAGATORS

TECHNICIANS

OVERSEERS

ADVOCATES

SUBVERSIVES

yr 1

CONCERNS

Plants

Data

Ecologies

Cultures

Questions

BIAS

Biological

Mathematical

Analytical

Interpersonal

Potential

METHODS

Inherent Qualities

Detailed Drawings

Extensive Perspectives

Resolving Deficiencies

Innovative Concepts

PRODUCTS

Botanical Compositions

Construction Documents

Systematic Interventions

Cooperative Societies

Atypical Interpretations

LEGENDSCALE

Personal

Any

Regional

Communal

Varied

yr 2 yr 3 yr 4

KENNY SPERLINGLA 401

WILCOXFALL-2012

sectional area represents the perceived percentage of instruction related to each faction across the department as a whole

placement of knowledge, skill, and value markers

indicate general associations with the

adjacent factions

Site Analysis

PublicSpace

Sustainability

Case Studies

Syntactic Design

Programmed Design

Site Design

Client Needs

Narrative Design

Ecotechnical Systems

Knowledge

Urban Design

Group Work

Watersheds

Grading Slope Analysis

Construction Detailing

EIRsSocial Impacts

Plant Characteristics

Surveying

Form Expression

Syntax

Plan Section Perspective

Narrative

Phenomena Criticism

Datum

<researc

h><indesig

n><sketch

ing>

<presenting>

<photography>

<photoshop>

<woodworking>

<built-frame photog

raphy>

<hand drafting>

<autocad>

<physical modeling>

<scale>

<sketchup>

<topographic data>

<persuasive

graphics>

<illustrat

or>

<plant identification

>

<defending decis

ions>

<plant functions>

<planting plans>

<video p

roduction>

<communicati

ng concepts>

<interdiscip

linary coord

ination>

<infographics>

<charettes>

<advanced 3D modeling>

<rendering>

<slope ca

lculations>

<CAD detailing>

<irrigation

design>

<client prese

ntations>

<group coordination

>

<advanced fabrication>

<investigating poten

tial>

<navigating the rabbit hole>

<skills>

Make Progress Every Day

Work atScale

No“Plop” Art

PlantNatives

Values

DesignSustainably

ImproveSocial

Conditions

OverlapSystems

Embra

ce th

eAm

biguit

y

Interactionsare at

the Edges

IndividualPerspectives Becoming

Not Being

RevealDon’t Repeat

UnderstandThe Process

AddressContext

No InvasiveSpecies

Understand theSystems Behind

the Graphics

NoIrvine Co.

Craftsmanship

Interdisciplinary Work

AnalyticalUnderstanding Question

EverythingNothing

is Sacred

QualityGraphics

KeepRefining

NoBanal

NoGazebos

CURRICULUM MAPPING

INSTALLATION STATEMENT

topos - greek for ‘place’ - technical translation variously as ‘topic’ or ‘line of argument’

Of all the various interpretations of what it means to be a landscape architect, ultimately the derived work, regardless of the strategy, situates itself upon the landform — the topography. The conceptual understanding of topography is a uniting factor amongst the students of the landscape architecture department at cal poly pomona due to its inclusion in first year studio work. In later years individual strategies deviate and classifications for various approaches to landscape emerge, however topography is something to which they all can relate and respond.

This proposal suggests a single “topos” suspended in the env atrium. A large spandex rectangle would be fixed to the east and west railings of the second story walkways between room 203 and the atrium stairs. Grommets would be attached to the fabric in a grid with strings threaded through them. Weights of various strength would be attached to the strings causing the spandex to deform in different intensities across the field resulting in an expression of topography. The system of weights would be dynamic allowing for the continuous reshaping of the total form. From above images of the various strategies of approaching landscape could be projected down upon the fabric allowing the individuals below the form to see those same images as distorted by the landscape. The projected images would cycle, overlap, and bleed into one another as an expression of the dynamism and heterogeny of the profession of landscape architecture.

INSTALLATION PLAN AND SECTION

not to scale not to scale

RM 203 atriumstairs

walkway railings

ground floor

INSTALLATION PERSPECTIVE

PROJECT MATERIALS AND BUDGET

spandex sheet:

grommets:

string:

weights:

CONCLUSION

this propsal is an attempt to address both the differences and commonalities between the “factions” of landscape architecture by associating their individual strategies with the common horizonal plane — the topos