72 second Urban Re-Action

The 72 Hour Urban Action project was an absolute breath of fresh air, that was full of buzz and excitement, I was truly grateful for the opportunity to take part in such a fantastic competition.  An event that created a bombardment of ideas that acted as catalysts for future endeavors on the landscape of the city of Bat Yam in Israel and possibly the world!

I was part of the organisation team, it was my job to compile and sort out the preliminary information that is essential to perform a quality design for an urban public space. I got to work with a group of fantastic people who really made me feel welcome and gave me great insight into how a competition like this is put together. They gave me an invaluable experience that has inspired me to perform similar endeavors in the future. 

The participants in the competition fell into three categories for me:

• 
  
   The people who tried to decorate their site
• 
  
   The people who created elements and fitted them into their site
• 
  
   The people who made an attempt at trying to create a spacial composition

From a landscape architects point of view, the people who fell into the third category should of won the competition. For me spacial composition is what quality public design is all about. Creating a space that defines the objects rather then creating objects that define a space.

The first group of people for me maybe missed the entire point of the competition however they were there and they made up the numbers and from what I seen they certainly gained some excellent experience and hopefully they enjoyed the event and can take something from it.

The winners of the competition I believe fell into the second category, they designed an element and lodged it into position. The object certainly defined the space. As for the piece, it was very well constructed and looks like it will last many years. As for the space they were designing there was much space left unchanged, left over space that had no use but to harbour whatever happens to fall into its cusp. Personally I’m not a fan but I can also see why it deserved to win and I think I’ll leave it at that.

There is really only so much criticism I can give such a wonderful competition, it brought over 100 people from 22 different countries all together and inspired people to use public space, getting them outside, encouraging them to be active and interested in their local environment. For me this is what really makes the project a huge success and I hope 72 Hour Urban Action is a recurring event that gets bigger and more successful each year.

I was certainly disappointed I was not accepted as one of the participants however this opened the door for me to work on the project on a much larger scale and in hindsight I wouldn’t change that for the world. I didn’t get a medal or a prize but I felt like a winner just been involved. I gained professional experience, happy memories and a lot of inspiration from some great ideas and some fantastic people.

So there you have it, my “72 second Urban Re-Action”.

Students and experience, the great paradox!

Without doubt the number one reason for Landscape architects not hiring you is due to your lack of experience in an office, working on projects, meeting deadlines and having a real understanding of pressure. It seems fair, I know if I was running an office I would certainly favour applicants who had the experience that I want to use in the office rather than employ a person and hope that they fit in and work well. (Or so I want you to believe)

It's common sense that this element of criteria moves you up on the pecking order; it's just how is it possible to land a job as a student when everybody wants somebody with professional experience. Sometimes it feels like they want graduates with five years of experience under their belt. The fact is it is possible for every year, even in a recession fresh out of college students are gaining employment in their chosen field of expertise. So what's their secret, how do they get people to take a chance on them?

Honestly I have no idea, it may be because the LA got out of bed on the right side on the day of the interview, it may be something you said that gave him an insight into what you can offer, it may be because you just happen to be a gifted individual who just happens to fit the bill perfectly, it may be because you know somebody and they happened to be a great connection for you that did you lots of favours in getting your first job. It may be for a whole host of reasons however ironically you really can't depend on any of those reasons, there are just too many factors to consider when making such assumptions.

For me the only thing that can guarantee that you get the much needed experience or that first job is you, I know not the answer you wanted to hear, I'm sure you wanted to hear that I have some little trick or magic pill you can take and just like magic you'll get a job. No I'm afraid the only thing you can absolutely depend on is "you". So the question now is what is it that “you” can do is.

The answer lies in your attitude, you're a student, a little fish entering a pool of sharks, not the best scenario but it's a fair analogy. Everything is against you, why would anybody want to hire you and just who do you think you are wasting their time. This is sad but a common attitude expressed by students looking to enter the professional world of landscape architecture.

So let me help you by answering those questions:

Nothing is against you, you have every reason to be confident, you have worked hard, you've got the results and now you’re ready to enter an environment which will enable you to take it to the professional level. So get excited about it. It's not like you’re the first man to walk on the moon, literally hundreds of thousands of people have already succeeded at doing what you are about to do, so it is a fact, it can be done and there is absolutely no reason why you can't do it.

People want to hire you because you've met all the challenges and succeeded, you know how to get results otherwise you wouldn't be here today competing with others for a job as an LA. People want to hire you because you are a very capable individual who wants to succeed and continues to challenge yourself.

You are not wasting their time, as you have skills to offer them, skills that will help their business make a profit, and you are bringing something positive and constructive to the table. Further more you are their link to the present day education system, you are fresh and will have alternative viewpoints that they don't already have in the office. You are not just in a position to get a job; you are in a position to negotiate wages, conditions and involvement. (Maybe a little bit too ambitious).

People just like you do this every day, they are no more special then you and passed the same level of challenges you passed. It is a fact it can be done, it is a fact you can do it. Getting that first job is about attitude and not experience. Who do you want on your team, someone who is passionate, driven and eager to work or someone who has been getting average results for the past five-ten years. Let's be honest if somebody with lots of experience was that good would they be looking for a new job to draw up construction details for someone else along with a few sketch-up models. I'd rather have the first guy working for me and that's who you are!

Good luck getting that first job, it will be challenging, you will feel like giving up and you will fail repeatedly before you succeed, all you have to remember is this:

• It can be done
• It has been done
• And it will be done!

"If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of persistence."
Richard DeVos"

Co-Founder of Amway

Moving mountains with a pencil

Ever since man has looked at his environment he has wondered how to manipulate the environment to better suit his needs, we've litrally come from picking up rocks with our hands to tunneling holes through mountains. We lift it, shove it, place it, pick it, press it, turn it, pull it and dig it. From the mole hill right up to the granite based mountains. Nothing gets in our way, if it's inconvenient we change it, maybe not the most holistic approach to deisgn but you have to admit the logistics and engineering involved are really incredible.

The project I am about to show you is not as extreme as moving a mountain but impressive none the less, it involves manipulating an a old unused coliary (were coal is mined). With the ultimate objective of realising a retirment village. The most influential aspects of the brief were to implement a SUDS (sustainable urban drainage system) and to manipulate the mounds on site so that all material was used.

In order to undertake this project and any major project for that matter a study and analysis had to take place in order to calculate the amount of material that we were dealing with, the quality of the land and of course the topography. Without going into too much detail for the purpose of this blog I am simply posting a picture of the model a group of us made to help us understand the space and evalute what had to be done.

Above you can see a profile of the model, an image was taken and then photoshoped to help commuinicate levels and drainage, the entire analysis was documented in an A3 folder, which was presented with the final project submission.

My solution for the retirement village involved meeting five objectives:

• To create a natural space by interlinking the design with the surrouning forest of Dean
• To create recreation for the clientel of the retirment village by creating suitable uses throughout the scheme
• To create a sense of place by implementing a landscape that is unique to the site and has a central basis for the community
• To create a sense of safety by forming dwellings that overlook large open areas
• To incorporate a SUDS system that would create features throughout the scheme that would aesthetically compliment the landscape as well as being functional

Below I have put a page showing the overall scheme, including levels and the drainage system. All the residents have been given dwellings over looking the amentiy spaces and also over looking a community centre that acts as a place for meeting and carrying out activities. The SUDS system takes on both a naturalistic design as well as a formal design in other areas which is evident from the plan below.

The final project was realised in model form, allowing people to understand the space in a tangible 3D form. I think it's funny that with all the computor aided design packages and all the talent and skill that people offer as a result of computors, for me nothing conveys a concept better than an actual model of the design.

If a picture says a thousand words, then a model must say at least a million.

It was named Lightmoor Retirement Village, it accomodated 40 residents, a community centre and parking for 50 cars.

The Ecological Park Explained

The Blackglen Ecological Park was designed to meet five objectives.

• To work with the existing gym and leisure facility on site by creating uses in the park that would accomodate the gyms clientel
• To marry bio and social diversity by creating a haven for wildlife whilst encouraging people to use the space on a continuous basis
• To work with the topography of the site by incorporating a terraced scheme
• To generate cultural and educational learning by incorporating a learning centre
• To create a multi functional space by creating layers of movement and congregation throughout the scheme

The project took place over a six month period, it involved many site visits, working with the local authorities to gain specific information and researching other ecological parks, including doing a case study on Trafford Ecological Park, with the topic being "Trafford Ecological Park claims the status of being an ecological park, to what extent is this true?" This report really helped me understand the term ecological park and allowed me to produce a detailed and comprehensive project.

Below is a picture of selected work from the project which was exhibited to peers, lecturers and professional landscape architects and urban planners.

For further insight into me and the detailing of the ecological park check out the older posts below, which will allow you to click on individual sheets of the project including planting and construction.

"No Experience Required" My story

I was 18 and I had a five year plan in place to become one of Irelands leading Landscape and Garden design contractors as well as making a name for myself as a designer, my dream was inspired by an Irish garden desinger called Dairmuid Gavin. He was and still is a celebrity designer who takes on the big projects as well as the small. Love him or hate him the man has done a lot for the way the general public view garden design. We have come from a time in the last twenty years were it was not uncommon for people to leave their old broken down dishwashers and other kitchen appliences in their garden to a time were people are heavily investing in their garden, for a some people making the garden more inportant then the house they are living in. Now that for me is a major achievment.

So there I was with my five year plan, year 1 involved getting my cert. in horticulture, then year 2-4 involved me getting my degree in horticulture, all the time working in the industry learning about quantities and materials and implementing garden schemes. Mid way through year four I would begin working for a reputable landscape gardener and spend my money investing in tools, a van and creating a name for myself, bringing me to the end of year five upon which I would go out on my own and set up my own business.

I thought to myself what a perfect plan, little did I know this plan would be majorly disrupted by the opportunity to do a year of work experience in Australia for my horticultural studies. I had to do it, so my five year plan, became my 6 year plan. Upon coming back from Oz, I had to wait 8 months to go back to college and join up with the new semester, well from here to there another opportunity came up, this was a TV show with the one and only Dairmuid Gavin, my hero, the man I wanted to be. It was a TV reality show, with the winner recieving a contract to work with him in his new Dublin based office. Thousands applied and I came runner-up, was I sad, not at all, not one little bit!

Below a picture of Dairmuid Gavin, me and the two other finalists.

Within the first week of the competition I realised what I wanted to do with my life, my 5/6 year plan didn't matter anymore, something happened in the first week of the competition, something inside me clicked, I realised I didn't want to be like Dairmuid Gavin anymore, I wanted to be "Scott Renwick landscape architect", I wanted to rise to the top of my game in a world I knew very little about, and before I knew it I was back finishing my degree in horticulture and ready to begin my education in Landscape Design eventually finishing with the honours degree I have today. My original 5 year plan got altered and I now found myself in the middle of an 11 year plan, which included 8 years involved in thrid level education and a further three to get my landscape architects licence.

Well I'm now in year eight of that plan and ready to begin my career as a landscape architect in Israel with the view of obtaining my licence within the next three years. After this who knows where my plans will lead me, I have no idea, but you can bet it's going to be somewhere great!