y1 s1 b1_sense of place_brief

Manchester School of ArtBA (Hons) Landscape Architecture

academic session: 2009-2010 years: one & graduate diploma

session: one units: 14011501/ 14012501

Y1_S1_B1_Sense of PlaceBrief

Introduction

As we go through life, we develop, consciously or otherwise, a personal database of landscapes, each conjuring up its own specific mixture of sights, sounds, smells and other associations. These experiences and memories have a profound influence on the way we perceive new landscapes. Unconsciously, we decode the language of a place based on value judgements derived from our personal autobiography. The ability, as designers, to deconstruct these judgements is a useful way to articulate our intuitive response, communicating the essence of the landscape as experienced through our own personal lens.

Our response to place, although largely governed by visual stimuli, is also influenced by other sensory elements such as smell, sound and touch. Often these are accepted as part of the scene, acting subliminally on our consciousness, but are nevertheless extremely important in forming our view and memory of a place. This project will explore a number of ways of looking at and thinking about landscapes and will encourage experimentation with different means of communicating and representing our personal ‘Sense of Place’.

Knowledge

• An understanding of the how our individual perceptions of the physical world are constructed• An understanding of the inter-relationships between the ‘natural’ and the ‘human’ in the

construction of landscape and place

Skill

• To have the ability to de-construct the landscape and communicate our personal perceptions• To use desktop research to support an understanding of “Why things are the way they are”

Imaginative Interpretation

• To experiment and present creatively, personal representations of different landscape components

Programme

Monday 27th Sept, 9-12am: Launch Part 1 and Perception Workshop

Monday 27th Sept, 1-4pm: Talk and workshop – Representations of Landscape

Tuesday 28th Sept, All day: Trip to Peel Tower, Ramsbottom, Bury

Monday 4th Oct, 9-12am: Presentation and Review of Part 1

Monday 4th Oct, 1-4pm: Launch Part 2, Mapping the Place (Presentation and workshop)

Tuesday 5th Oct, 2-5pm: The Golden Triangle, City Walkabout

Monday 11th Oct, 9-12am: Presentation and Review of Part 2




Part One: Walking the Line

On Monday, we will discuss and compare our own personal landscapes and the associations these have for us, and also techniques for recording and representing the landscape. This is by way of preparation for a trip to Peel Tower, on the Lancashire Moors, north of Manchester. Here we will explore the surroundings of an industrial milltown set within a landscape of hills and moors. In a walk from the valley to the hilltop tower we will observe and record the transition from town to village to surrounding countryside. We will focus on the complex relationship between the given or ‘natural’ topographical elements and human or social elements in the construction of the landscape and unique sense of place. Using a sketchbook and a range of pencils and pens, you should draw on the exercises and discussions of the previous day to record the landscape with the aim of capturing and communicating your own particular interpretation of the ‘sense of place’. Elements you should focus on include:

• The main lines which shape the landscape • Varying patterns in the landscape and the elements which generate these• The main components of the landscape and the relationships between these• Scale – the broad sweep of the landscape down to the tiniest details• The textural and tonal qualities of the landscape• The quality of light and its effect on land, sea, buildings, water• Views – from the town and path to the tower and from the tower to the wider landscape

You should also make a record of your walk in terms of your emotional response to the landscape such as fear, joy, exhilaration, exposure, claustrophobia, sadness, nostalgia, etc., or associations which the landscape has for you to other places or memories. In the process, try to be aware of all your senses, including sound, touch, smell, and ‘map’ this aspect of your experience as well. The aim is to produce an illustrated and annotated record of your walk which reflects your own personal emotional journey, as well as the full range of sensory experiences along the route, capturing your own personal sense of the place in its broadest possible sense.

Outputs_Individual Portfolios:

• A fold out A5 booklet (concertina or map style), containing a sequential record of your walk, with annotated sketches recording not only your sensory impressions but your personal emotional responses along the route.

• A second A5 booklet, to match the first, recording the line, tone, texture, colour and pattern of the landscape and conveying a sense of the quality of the place from the large scale to the tiniest detail. This should be based on your sketches on the day but colour, tone or notes can be added afterwards to highlight key elements.

• A series of 3 A3 paintings or coloured drawings using media such as oil, acrylic, pastel or collage to convey an abstract impression of the essence of the landscape on the day, focusing on the sense of changing light and movement.

• Sketchbooks: You should keep a sketchbook throughout the year or session and use it to record your impressions and ideas on the projects through sketches, doodling and notes. This is for submission with your portfolio but will not form part of the formative review.




Part Two: The Golden Triangle

After an introductory session on memory maps and sensory mapping, we will go on a triangular walk around Manchester city centre, between three cardinal points, all major public spaces of very contrasting characters. First we will walk the whole route as a year group, stopping to discuss at key points along the journey. Afterwards, in groups of 6, you will discuss and compare your own impressions and agree a strategy for mapping the route to reflect these impressions. The groups will then walk the route again visiting the three spaces and, in pairs, record an agreed range of data for each space. This could be done by descriptive words, by measuring noise levels, by smells – good and bad, by estimating the concentration of different activities, by degrees of enclosure or openness, by amounts of litter or cleanliness, etc. You must collectively decide which is most important to you and then collect evidence to measure these factors on your trip. You will then have to produce as a group a series of ‘sensory’ or ‘cognitive’ maps, not necessarily to scale, comparing the qualities of the three spaces and the relationships between them through the imaginative use of graphic devices, annotation and illustration.

Outputs_Datasets

• 1 no. A1 Route Map. This should identify the relationships between the three spaces and the qualities of the route linking them. This should reflect the group’s shared perception of the significance of key elements along the route and feelings which the walk generates. The map should be highly visual, although text may be used as art of this graphic quality. It should be accompanied by sketches and images such as magazine or newspaper photographs or flyers, which reflect an aspect of the character of the place in an abstract or metaphorical fashion.

• 3 no. A3 Sensory Maps for each space (9 maps in total). Each of these should ‘map’ a distinct aspect of the space as described above. The same data should be mapped for each space so that they allow a comparison to be made between the three distinct spaces. These ‘maps’ should be in landscape format and combined together in linear fashion as a sequence. Again, a range of graphic techniques to communicate data should be explored, such as textures, collage, text, etc.

• A written description of the group’s discussions and explanation of the strategy for mapping and comparing the spaces to be on a single side of A4 in arial at 11pt, no less than 200 words.

• Workshops: The outputs from all workshops during the session will also be assessed as part of the Datasets element of the unit and should be submitted with the final portfolio but will not form part of the formative review.

Recommended reading

Bell, Simon. Landscape: Pattern, Perception & Process. E&N SPON. 1999. 712/BELL

Angus J.L. Alan G. The North West. Series England's Landscape. V. 8. Pub: Collins. 2006.

Annely Juda Fine Art. Christo-project for wrapped Reichstag. Berlin. Catalogue of an exhibition. London. 1999. 709.24/CHR/ANN

Appleton. J. The experience of landscape. Wiley. 1996. 719.01/APP

Schaal. H. Landscape as inspiration. Academy editions.1994. 712/SCH

Digby. J. The collage handbook. London. Thames and Hudson. 1985. 745.54/DIG

Farnworth.W. Approaches to collage. London. Batsford. 1976. 745. 594/ FAR

Wescher. H. Collage. New York. Abrams. 1968. 751.493/WES

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