yay landscape!
In a recent speech, the president of SUNY ESF announced the first vertical beams being installed on our new, platinum rated, Gateway Building. After months of passing the giant hole on our campus the first signs of progress peak. Finally popping from the ground like the flowers that surround the still gray Syracuse. And on my way to work it was this sight, combined with the neighboring Center of Excellance, that broke my winter ill. Both buildings, one just on it’s way up, the other, another platinum Leed building in Syracuse, mark that the environmental movement has its worth. And around both sites, hundreds of daffodils cover the muddy ground hiding the remains of winter- remains that would otherwise continue our ever present settling.
These are the signs of progress I have been waiting for. Technology & Time.
I have never hated the winter. Until this past one. I have never felt so stuck, so sad, so miserable. Or maybe I just have never noticed it’s relation to a constant gray sky. But the flowers bottle the yellow and push it through their petals reminding me, that it won’t be gray forever. Time has passed and we’re moving on. New life will be here soon. Thank god.
& Our technology. The Gateway building is incredible. Reflecting not only on our historical forestry past, but of our remarkable sustainable future. Built using all new technologies, it is able to run not only its own functions, but to power other ESF buildings. Gateway is the forefront of the technological design world. And to reflect our hippy-dippy sweet side? The building uses more wood than any remaining building on campus. Sustainably harvested? You bet…because 75% of the building materials were recycled from the older homes deconstructed in the neighborhood area. Amazing.
Hope is restored
I could sit at this desk forever. A nice view of the block. A nice breeze from the window. Good company surrounding me.
& All I want to do is make make make. I just want to design things. Everything. & I want to learn the skills to create everything. I want every tool I need to make everything I can.
It’s the only thing I care to do.
create, make, design, think. A lovely lovely cycle
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My Thoughts On Dirt
Hi all! I recently started a new Landscape Architecture/ Design blog. It’s not the type of blog that hosts a collection of fancy designs from the best Landscape Architects around the world. Instead, it’s a collection of my thoughts, epiphanies, and discoveries, as I stumble through the world of Landscape Architecture. If you’re interested in what I have to say, what I’m thinking, or just design and the environment in general, check it out! I’ll still post here, but I wanted a place to organize my thoughts as I grow as a designer. Hope you’ll check it out!
‘Who gives a fuck about an oxford comma,’ as they say.
(Source: bluishorange)
Here is a page from Whyte’s -Social Life in Small Urban Spaces. & from this I’d like to draw an extremely valid point. “People tend to sit where there are places to sit” Phew, I know it’s complicated but did everyone understand that one? Yes? Good.
There are way too many places where this simple design concept is forgotten. & It can be applied anywhere! People will bike where there are bike lanes and bike racks. People will walk where there are trails and sidewalks. If you build it they will come (within reason). So it makes sense that as designers we have an impact on how people react in space. If you can influence how they move, you can influence how they think. & if you can influence how they think, you can make a lot of really positive changes in the world. Yay designers!
Finally taking an Industrial Design course ( well 80% sure I’m taking it) and the professor is the man who made this. I love humorous design. & I think I’m going to really enjoy this class… and cinder block/sugar cube making man.
For this sweet little stop the town has three choices; 1. leave the bookstore to rot, continually serving as an eyesore and potential lawsuit (after all there are crazy kids like me crawling around in there!) 2. tear it down; costly, messy, & still not dealing with the eyesore issue! or 3. sell (or give) the property to someone who can revitalize it and take care of it *cough cough* me! Aside from a necessary beautification & historical overhaul, the site has huge potential for social interest. As with many of my peers, I find there is a definite cultural center missing from sweet little Ronkonkoma. There is no friends-esque coffee shop worthy of our time, and certainly no where to go after 9 PM (even on weekends). For a goody two shoes like me this was always a serious problem! All I ever hoped for was a cool place to hang out; the iconic spot for my friends where we would waste time, catch up, and just enjoy ourselves. What I want for the bookshop is to revitalize it fully; environmentally, aesthetically, economically, and socially. A cafe for comfort, a modest art gallery for local artists to showcase themselves, a place for start up bands to get out there, a shelf for the lost book, a garden for the passerby or the sitter-in, and a hopeful spark for the community. A move in favor of the revitalization of what is an incredible area. In reality here is a perfectly capable young person willing to give their all to the town. A site that has gone to ruins would be completely overturned with only positive outcomes. And hey; the town would even finally be getting those gosh darn taxes it’s been without for years! All it needs is a little love…and I can do that.
FINALLY FINISHED MY PERSPECTIVE! Hooray! Almost there kids! Almost there!
Just found out one of the program’s IND professors was the creator of this incredible children’s interactive playground on the HIGHLINE: So cool! Must remember to have her give a mini lecture at one of the club meetings!
New idea of “Dumpster Diving”
