Penultimate tutorial

That was today, and it was really good. We each went through our planting plans in detail and explained our thoughts behind what we had chosen and discussing the changes /additions we were making. I need to get it finalised on the plan now.

Monday is hardworks detail and I need to look at the line hierarchy from the comments made on Monday. So need to get on with that and also finish off the website.

Bumped into Scheherazade in the cafe today and she made us laugh when she said 'do you feel the burn? It is like a long run and the closer you get to the finish the harder it is, but you're ticking the miles off and you know when you get over the finish line the sense of achievement overcomes the pain and all the training has been worthwhile - a great feeling! A few more miles to go...

Interim Crit 1:50 and high drama on the way home...

It started off a difficult day yesterday... because the first one of my designs that I sent to print jammed the print queue so nothing would print. I got in early because the cleaners are there on a monday and as they sip their coffee I can get on with printing. So I was starting to panic a little thinking I would be late pinning up and Phil arrived and managed to sort the problem quite quickly and printing resumed.

So into the studio to pin up, plenty of room because not many people were there, at 10am less than half the class I think. But I see that as their problem and not mine, the crits are useful feedback and the only opportunity for it. How it becomes my problem and everyone else who is there on time is the apathy pisses the lecturers off, we have to wait longer for the crits to start and then miss out on some additional useful teaching. So, spare a thought...

I was pleased with how my crit went, definitely one of the better ones for me. When I printed my 1:50 it was quite dark and the rendering wasn't working so I can improve that. Detail on the other drawings needs to be addressed and I need to resolve the spring planting which I'll discuss in detail with Julia on Friday.

The next hanging (of work) is on the 8th May at Hadlow and is 16 - 20 A1 sheets, so I'm starting to think about how the wall will look  - which is exciting and incredibly scary all at the same time.

The day finished with high drama. On the way home as I went round the corner where the M25 rejoins itself after the A21 turn off there was a car smashed up and sitting in the middle of the 2 lane carriageway, luckily I had had my brakes fixed the week before so I jammed on and slowed onto the hard shoulder, looked at the car and a girl was sitting in it. I rushed over opened the door to check she was ok and the car was filled with smoke so I asked if she could move and if so get out the car. Meanwhile I called the firebrigade and police. The girl was badly shaken but no visible injuries so she sat in my car until help arrived. Firemen arrived first and I explained why I'd called them, because by now there was no real sign of smoke - a bit embarrassing - but the Incident Commander - a brilliant job title - explained that when the airbags explode they let out a smoke like substance and that is what it would have been (I learn new stuff every day). So he took control and said I could leave the scene and enjoy driving on a traffic free road! All the other cars had to wait for the debris to be cleared.

Rendered Design Plan

I've made a start on the design plan and decided I would wait for feedback tomorrow as to if it's working or not. I quite like the colours, on screen they have a real intensity which is often the case with the light at the seaside, but sometimes this is lost in the printing and can look quite different on paper.

The grey surface is laid in setts but this looks way too busy when I put it on this plan so not sure the best way to show them, a question for tomorrow. It's also missing people and bench detail but it is a work in progress.

So final crit tomorrow - I really can't believe it is here already - quite sad as it means we're getting near to the end of the course, one thing's for sure, I'm going to miss the people and the work and the focus... have to get a job!

Part rendered 1:50

Sketches

These are the sketches to support the 1:50 design. They probably need a bit more annotation. I printed sections out on Friday and was disappointed with the size of the title box on some of them, I thought I had done them the same, there'll be other amendments following tomorrows crit so I'll reprint them after that. I'm learning how important it is to print stuff out, it often looks so different on screen. I lightened all the colours in the hard landscaping and think I may have overdone that as well as it looks pretty light on the print out.

Sequential sketches for 1:50 design

I now need to annotate and render the 1:50 design and finalise the planting schedule and put it on the plan

1:200 re-rendered

The 1:200 plan needed attention after the last crit so I've re-rendered it and sorted out the annotation. It is a definite improvement.

Sections

I've been working on the 1:50 and 1:20 sections. they show the sunken garden quite well. They need a few pencil touches which I'll do once they're printed off.

Masterplanning 11 - Planting Plan in VW

The planting plan takes a long time, it's fun doing it, sketching stuff out, looking at images and working out how the area will look. A lot of refinement from the first draft, and there may be more but I'm going to leave it for now and start the sequential sketches.

2nd draft planting plan, final composition will include the schedule

masterplanning 10 - Planting Plan

I've been working on the plants and planting plan this week which I've really enjoyed. I've done it by hand at the moment as a first draft and then I'll do it in Vectorworks. The schedule is also in note form at the moment but I'll type that up.

Draft planting plan for 1:50

Some pages from my planting palette, I've not used all of them in this 1:50 section
and also added in a couple not seen here because I thought they would fit in.

The colour scheme is blues/purples/pinks and yellows with white and silver. I think it will look good next to the beach. The planted area is sunken with a wooden walkway through it and places to sit. It's not intended as a busy thoroughfare but as an intimate space which is what the design needs, in other elements of the design there are plenty of wide open public spaces for play or meeting in groups.