Nottingham, Easter 08

Gustafson Porter’s transformation of Old Market Square in Nottingham has stormed this year’s Civic Trust Awards, taking three of the coveted awards.

'Our intention was to create an elegant, multi-functional space that will stand the test of time. Our aim was to provide a relaxing space for informal daily activity as well as an exciting destination for events and local markets.'
Neil Porter

I experienced the Market square as welcoming to sit alone and eat in or to sit in a group and be relaxed. It is the center of the city and stands out as a meeting point.

Along with the average highstreet array of shops Nottingham has a historical heart, with snippets of architecture from days past around every corner.

Lankawi, Malaysia 2007-2008

A tiny taste of Lankawi:

It's a dramatic landscape of lush colours, bright orange rocks, deep green vegetation, perfectly clear blues, rows of linear rubber plantations.

Merkats roam the streets, beeches are alive, in the wet season water gushes under stillted houses and through the tunnel gulies at the side of the roads.

In the dry season the drains become craters and perspective lines in the landscape.

The skyline cable cart gives a birds eye view of dense tree tops.

Noodles and fish for breakfast, catch puffer fish, night markets twice a week in sometimes fixed sometimes roaming locations. Fantastic colour. mmmm

monkeys birds and crabs. Lankawi

water lankawi

Food Culture Lankawi

The night markets pop up twice a week yummmmm!

Monaco November 07

Between Fance and Itally

Monte Carlo in Monaco is a strange little place, between mountain and sea, it is easily seen in a weekend. It is beautiful and nice to visit but has little identity or culture of its own. Its a mix match of spec materials, random sculptures, flash cars and hotels amongst the older forgotten buildings, hilly terrain and lush vegetation. Nothing seems quite at home, not even the people as they are mostly there to remain rich and dodge tax! This plant, along with the curry plant appears all over the Principality, If you know what it is please tell me! and I discovered 'mind your own business' Soleirolia soleirolli (Helexine soleirolii)

SHEFFIELD. SLIC

Gatley and Manchester airport were the next stops, I could have stayed on the train and gone straight home, but having travelled for 4 hours I hopped off in Sheffield- the Second time I have ever been there despite growing up next door!Oh well it was a fun two day visit but I don't feel massively deprived!!
Had I stayed longer the Peak District would surely have been next on my list and and next time I go it will hopefully broaden my view on the city!
Noticeable characteristic of Sheffield include:
beautiful and various use of street trees,
lots of construction
quirky student character & friendly people
lots of brand new, corporate, high spec streetscape's,
some central drainage channels & mixed use (no pavement) streets,
lots of water features,
generic & commercial high street
Great free botanical gardens with wildflower planting and a bench carved out of a log

Here's a taster:

The reason for my visit to Sheffield was a SLIC meeting. SLIC is the Student Landscape Institute Committee and this was the first meeting of the academic year. We meet up to discuss how we can involve students in the Institue and vise-versa and we often set up stands of students work in conferences.

One competition SLIC is organising this year s a video competition for students as the accredited universities.

We discussed the breif for the competition & decided that the videos should relate to how life changing studying Landscape is! 'Its always on my mind'

We deliberated over how to produce a green wall for the SLIC stand at an up coming cityscape event. It is to be 17m long, 3m wide, relatively economic. It is to be constructed 3 days before the event, to be demolished three days after! Any ideas?!

SLIC is also planning to create an online overview/introduction to useful computer programmes in the field. The programmes that are to be blogged so far include: photo shop,illustrator, CAD & Sketch up. I will be concentrating on Illustrator.

Roll on the next meeting to be held in Leeds!

places

Folkeston has so much character, its old is preserved and along with its new commercial business, and that rustic, seagoing character has managed to remain its identity. The coast line still hosts challenges of getting in to the spaces, this avenur of old boat huts arches is no longer used but offers many visual delights with its wicked orange and green colouts, the wooden pattern of the mould can still be seen on the cast concrete slabs inside. Parts of the coast are undergoing gentle egeneration with a brilliant adventure play area, the old beach huts are still in working order and give a sence oif ownership of the beaches to the local community. However when I was there it was very empty, and that ws in the height of summer. Its pebbled beaches and rusty old themepark are not an obviouse attractive holiday destination. This is in contrast to (St Ives below)
Dungeoness (top right hand corner)is the most barren landscape, if in Kent it is definatly worth a visit! There might not be a lot to do there, or a lot of people but please please please visit dungeoness for its peculiarity. A nuclear powerplant gives the desoloute landscape an eerie atmosphere, the locals fish rather than swim despite the intense heat- I wonder if they eat the fish? there are some interresting sculptures and junk gardens and mostly it feels like si fi waste land!

St Ives
The seaside resort in Cornwall everyone wants to go to (i want to live there!)

St Ives is extremely popular due to its glorious beaches, the lack of cars(you can only park in car parks because of the quaint narrow streets) and its arty character.
We visited Barbra Hepworths studio which is now a gallery- it is perfect.
Folkestone alike many towns is trying to become an arts and culture including a music culture, led town- thus appealling to the modern market of interrest. There are many new studio's being rented cheaply in the centre, and alike St Ives the coast and historical character of the place is perfect to encapture and inspire artists.

Sweden Malmo

, Belgium Oostende, Sailing Scotland, summer job on Turk launches