y1 s1 b4_agricultural bodies

Manchester School of Art BA (Hons) Landscape Architecture

academic session: 2010-11 year: one session: one unit: 14011501

Y1_S1_B4_Agricultural Bodies A place for urban agricultural production and consumption

Introduction

The Mancunian Way is a monument to the bold, utopian thinking and planning of the 1960’s. It was seen as a means of making cities more efficient and better connected, and of separating vehicular movement from that of people. However, like so many other infrastructure projects of the period, there were unforeseen consequences including the severance of large parts of the city from each other, as well as the creation of extensive lost or ‘non-space’ beneath and within the road system. Today, massive amounts of time and money are spent trying to overcome the problems this creates: trying to find useful purposes for ‘lost spaces’ and to make our cities more connected and safe. In an age of concern about the impact of human activities, and especially our cities, on the environment, there is huge potential for such spaces to contribute to adapting our cities to climate change, protecting biodiversity or producing food.

So far this session, briefs have focused on observing and responding to a range of landscapes and urban spaces. This brief continues this theme but extends it into a more detailed analysis of spatial make up and an introduction to the measurement and mapping of space.

It is absolutely necessary for you to understand space and place in relationship to the human body. An appreciation of this relationship will help you start to interpret and comprehend how humans function within the immediate and surrounding environment and develop a people-centred approach to design.

The project is run jointly between Landscape Architecture and the School of Architecture, in studio groups of about 15. The aim is to promote a more collaborative approach to this project and enable a number of architecture and landscape architecture students to work together for some of the time. The main stages of the project are outlined below, highlighting the key activities from each. A set of required outputs is listed at the end.

Part 1: Being there

This stage of the project is all about getting to know your site, in both an objective and a subjective way. How does it feel to be there? What differences can you observe within distinct parts of the site? What is it about the place(s) that generates these feelings?

• applying techniques for measuring space in relation to the human body and scale

• making marks on the landscape and observing how they alter your sense of place

• mapping the sensory and emotional qualities of the place

• carrying out research into the background of the site and area and into the themes of sustainable cities and urban agriculture

Part 2: Reinventing

Generation of an individual design concept for the reuse of one part of the overall site. Your proposals should:

• respond to your research and understanding of the themes of urban agriculture and adapting cities to climate change

• find new functions for the space which provide a positive benefit to the city

• make the site more usable, accessible and attractive for people

• consider the use and character of the site throughout the year and by day and night



Programme

For the duration of this brief, studio sessions for this project will be held in Room 602 and 604, on Mondays from 9-12 and 2-5, in order to fit in with the architecture timetable and allow us to collaborate with them. There will also be complementary site visits and workshops on Tuesday afternoon2-5, on some days. Additional Studio Lectures will be held for both architecture and landscape students covering key issues of relevance to the brief. A separate more detailed programme will be made available at the start of the project.

Week 1: Project Launch and site visit, followed by group workshop

Week 2: Workshop and group tutorials

Week 3: Interim review of outputs from Part 1 and Launch of Part 2 and 3

Week 4: Workshop and individual tutorials

Week 5: Final review of outputs from Part 3

Week 6: Portfolio preparation and sheet layout

You should arrive at least 30 minutes before your crits and reviews start so that your work is pinned up calmly, neatly and on time. Crits and reviews are the equivalent of a final examination. Late arrivals will not be given the opportunity to present. You must attend your final review for the entire duration of the studio day.

Recommended Reading

Brownell, Blaine, Transmaterial: a catalogue of materials that redefine our physical environment - New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006.

Haslam, Dave, Manchester England: the story of the pop cult city,

Lefteri, Chris Materials for inspirational design,

Sophie Vyzoviti Folding Architecture: spatial, structural and organizational diagrams, Amsterdam: BIS Publishers, 2006.

Continuous Productive Urban Landscapes: Designing Urban Agriculture for Sustainable Cities, Ed. Andre Viljoen,

Urban Agriculture: Permaculture, Allotment, Food Security, Green Wall, Urban Agriculture, Community Gardening, Vertical Farming, Author: LLC

Steel, Carolyn, Hungry City, How food shapes our lives,

Richardson, Phyllis, XS Big Ideas Small Buildings,

Richardson, Phyllis, XS Big Ideas Small Buildings – GREEN,



Submission Requirements

Portfolio

• A plan and elevation of a section of the site, based on group surveys

• Analysis drawings of the site and relationship to the surrounding area to reflect both the objective ‘facts’ and the subjective emotional and sensory aspects of the landscape

• An outline design proposal for your chosen section of the site drawn to an agreed scale. This should include a plan and two cross sections through your site.

• Sketches of the site and key details to illustrate its character and feel at a human scale

• A scale model of your transformed site. This should aim to communicate the main landform and key elements of the space in a three dimensional fashion. This will need to be presented in its original form but also photographed and produced as a board with written explanation

Data Sets

1. A powerpoint presentation and A3 document produced as a group to include:

• Background research on the Mancunian Way and similar highways infrastructure explaining both its origins and the thinking behind it as well as the current problems this creates for the city today

• A photographic and illustrational record of the site today with comment

• Summarise and illustrate the survey process and what it reveals about the site

• A record of the process and results of the process of ‘Making marks’ on the landscape by conceptually responding and reacting to the specific conditions of the site

2. A bound document containing your individual research and background work to include:

• Research into the themes of urban agriculture, habitat creation and climate change in the context of city space.

• Sketches and annotated ideas to show how your research informs your design thinking.

• 3 precedent studies with your own supporting text explaining their relevance to the site and context and how they have influenced your design thinking.

y1 s1 b4_agricultural bodies

Education