For the last 4 years I have been fortunate to have a job as a Project Landscape Architect at Yurrah; I have been working full time at Yurrah and doing Vibrant Places work in my spare time. By day I'm a Landscape Architect, by night ... Yurrah are an Environmental Consultancy and it's been great to get a Land Planning perspective on Landscape Architecture. I'll never forget it and I'm sure it will influence my future work. But now I'm moving on and I'm very excited to announce I will be working at the new firm Meter Design. Meter will allow me to use the skills I've obtained doing my Vibrant Places work. Their focus is on Urban Design and Masterplanning at a conceptual level. Even more exciting I'll be working flexible hours, casually, meaning I can balance my Vibrant Places work with my Landscape Architectural work. And there are some really exciting things I am working on right now including Burnett City Chic ... and the soon to be announced Seaside Dinner (more to come on that). Games Night will still be on for 2013 and we have some great Special Event ideas happening soon. Lazy Sunday Cycle has expanded to Sydney and we are getting such large numbers that we are considering seeking sponsorship. We're starting to organise Brisbane Diner en Blanc 2013 and have some great ideas to watch out for. I'll be traveling to London in September for the London Design Festival with the bursary I received for my Queensland Emerging Leader Award and will be blogging the whole time I'm there. Thankyou for following me and I look forward to contributing more in the future. -Amy
I found this synopsis on EDRA, about Activating Public Space, and think it's a great summary: Public space can support shifting, flexible activity
that allows multiple, overlapping, personal and collective use and the accompanying imbuement of meaning and attachment. Reciprocally, design interventions can “activate” space so that it becomes inviting, vibrant, exciting, and useful.
In post-industrial remnants, forgotten and redundant infrastructure, empty modernist spaces, underused parks and waning business districts, design insertions may serve to revive urban spaces, making
them safe and enjoyable and cultivating a culture of
“city life,” as advocated by Jan Gehl and exemplified
by Copenhagen’s successful urban open space network.
Transitory events and spatial occupation may establish and embed new use patterns, staking community claims to public space, such as New York City’s painted plazas on a temporarily—and now permanently—pedestrianized Broadway.
Temporary installations can also serve as instruments of site analyses, testing how a public
reacts or how a place or idea interacts with water and
weather. And in a stalled economy, temporary installations are viable strategies to fill voids that are deadening holes in the urban fabric.
I find myself infuriated by what I will refer to as “Display Home” Public Spaces. These are new public spaces developed in new planned areas, which are uninviting, unusable and lacking soul; they do however look gorgeous in photographs, they sell, sell, sell and they win awards.
For some time now I have been toying with the idea of starting an award in Australia - a retrospective award where we look at Australian Landscapes/Urban Design and Public Spaces that were nominated or won awards 5 or 10 years ago and see what they are like now – review them based on whether they succeeded in their aims, ask people whether they enjoy using the space, observe people’s interactions in the space and in some cases see if they are even still there.
I was influenced by my experience at the 72Hr Design Challenge by OUTR at the Melbourne Docklands. I was looking forward to visiting this area because it had won awards and had looked slick on the cover of magazines, however when I visited areas were being removed or restructured because they weren't working and no one was there; it was a desert; a beautiful, designed, soul-less desert. They were working on adding ‘life’ to the area with temporary interventions, which I commended them for at the time, but I can’t really understand, if the area needs more work, why it won awards.
As an emerging Landscape Architect I was highly influenced by the Australian public spaces winning awards, and aspired to create work just like them. I'm glad I was able to experience some of these spaces first-hand and realise some aren't all that they boast to be, before embarking on a career of copying their "look".Designers are influenced by other designers, and so if even one of these award winning spaces is not exemplary then it starts a cycle we can’t break.I've been thinking about this for a while, but a recent article, Whom Does Design Really Serve? by Fred Kent (2012) on the Project for Public Spaces website, has reinvigorated my thinking. In the article Kent reviews and reflects upon one of these “Display Home” Public Spaces, Sherbourne Common in Toronto, which recently won an award from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects. Kent concludes that jury members of these awards are “tastemakers” not “placemakers” and too caught up in style. He too agrees that determining factor of the success of public space is “whether people are using it”, “Are they happy, and smiling?” and “Do they brag about how much they love it (not how many awards it’s won) to their friends in other cities?”Some of the comments on the article are interesting and I think actually further encourage me to pursue my Australian retrospective award idea. The commenter Roward Caister (3 October 2012) states that the, “planners made a concerted effort here to build the public realm before, rather than after, the new city precinct is built. There's no one there because.. there's no one living nearby at the moment. But, as a way to enhance the value of the neighbourhood for early residents and ensure that developers are given the best environment to market their units, the park was built first.” Caister may be correct; the space may be improved and more people may use it when people move there, but from Kent’s review it does sound like it will need some major improvements to humanize the space, and if it needs improvements why did it win awards, why is it considered exemplary? It sounds like it was created to be photographed, to sell people to move to the area. It may have a good “first impression”, but it isn't actually usable and in that way it is just like a “Display Home”.
I sometimes become quite disillusioned as a Landscape Architect when I see these “Display Home” public spaces and that’s generally why I pursue my interest in Placemaking and activating public spaces outside regular hours. I am still working on making this a feasible pursuit, but in the meantime, it is a passion that I will keep exploring. I know that PPS do some great reviews of Public Spaces (I urge you to check them out), but for my idea, I want to focus on those that won or were nominated for awards in Australia, so we review, as an industry, what we are doing. I don’t want these awards to be malicious or blame people. I just want them to be a catalyst for change and analysis in our industry.
My Australian retrospective award/review needs a name … any ideas? Please add ideas in the comments section! And if anyone wants to help, please contact me.
Yesterday, I hired a bike and as I rode through the foreign streets of Berlin my jet lag washed away. I felt free and felt connected to something I enjoy doing at home. I tore through the streets of Berlin trying to experience as much of it as possible in the few hours of free time I had been given. I am actually proud to say that I was stopped by quite a few tourists who asked me for directions (in many languages!), thinking I was a local. I was amazed by the shared nature of the streets in Berlin, and felt quite safe, without a helmet riding on the road, sometimes on dedicated paths, sometimes on cycle streets, sometimes on very busy roads right next to cars. The cars know how to drive around cyclists and the shared zones were easy to navigate! It made me feel safe. I reflected on this particularly while listening to the talk by Ben Hamilton-Baillie, who discussed shared traffic spaces at the Lab, last night. He discussed many exemplary projects where the street was changed so that the street dynamics were altered to complement the pedestrians and encourage “intelligent driving”. It's called Shared Spaces and encourages placemaking principals to be used when designing streets. He discussed the removal of speed signs and encouraging ambiguity, rather than strict rules upon drivers. This ultimately slows them down. He showed numerous examples of how this has worked; how these projects have made drivers feel uncomfortable to drive fast. Hamilton-Baillie discussed that we should trust the intelligence of drivers, something we aren't likely to do easily. I thought it was interesting that he discussed that highways were still essential for car movement, but in a 2km radius to community and local shop infrastructure, we should consider shared spaces. My favourite story was about the Ring Road removal in Kent. Hamilton-Baillie's team re-designed the road to focus on pedestrian movement to the buildings, not for the cars. Jeremy Clarkson was quoted as saying “millions would die” from this change. So, in a few years, there has been only one bruised knee. The statement by Clarkson received a lot of press; the fact that years on no one has been killed, hasn't made the news.
East Berlin Wall Gallery - as seen from my bike
Fix what is broken [car dominant society] …
… Not what works [pedestrian infrastructure]
Restrict what kills [cars] ...
… Not what saves lives [bikes].
 Sisdel Birk Hjuler presenting at the BMW Guggenheim Lab in Berlin Copenhagen Cycle Chic started with a photo posted by Mikael Colville-Andersen in 2007. Colville-Andersen wanted to show the beautiful lighting of the morning reflecting off the streets in Copenhagen, but what people around the world commented on instead was the bike riders in the photo, riding to work in their regular clothes. Colville-Andersen had never really thought of this as unique, but was intrigued by their interest and started the blog Copenhagen Cycle Chic to capture this culture. The blog has been extremely successful in spreading the message and capturing the “normality of riding”. To Sisdel Birk Hjuler, who presented Copenhagen Cycle Chic at the BMW Guggenheim Lab in Berlin, the blog captures “Bicycle Culture 2.0”. Cycling in normal clothes, was normal when bicycles were first invented, but with car domination, things changed. Other Cycle Chic blogs have started up all over the world, and as a huge fan, I have been tempted to start up one with my cycling buddies. Birk Hjuler commented that a new city starts almost every year, perhaps it is our year! There are some guidelines on the Cycle Chic website about how to start your own. It is certainly something that needs to be promoted in Brisbane, and with Lazy Sunday Cycle and Style over Speed (which I discussed and promoted in my Powered by Pecha Kucha talk on this day) I have seen more people excepting and realising that cycling in “normal clothes” is normal. However this has not put us in Copenhagen Cycle Chic's Top 80 cycle cities. Birk Hjuler discussed the “Copenhagenize Index for Bicycle Friendly Cities” Top 80 Cycle Cities List that the team at Copenhagen Cycle Chic have recently put together the list to inspire and encourage healthy competition. I think this is a great idea, and will be striving to put Brisbane on that list! So why is Brisbane not on this list? I did ask this question of Birk Hjuler, but I already knew the answer – our helmet laws. No Australian City was featured on their list, because of our helmet laws. They gave us a “zero” for their criteria of the “perception of safety”. By wearing helmets our cities are perceived as being unsafe, and I would agree completely. We do not have the number of riders to make our city safe for riding on the roads without a helmet. Our car drivers (including myself) do not know how to safely drive with cyclists around. This has got to change and the only way it can is by riding our bikes more, and encouraging more to do so! I would love to discuss my view of helmets, but will leave that post to another day. So how does Birk Hjuler suggest that cities get more people on bikes?- Get cyclist from Point A to Point B quickly and tell them how with good mapping! People should only be expected to cycle for quick 20 minute journeys.
- Apply basic marketing. Promote the positives of cycling, in the same way that alcohol brands promote the positivity of their products.
- Stop ignoring the bull in society's china shop. Build cycle infrastructure where car infrastructure is, do not steal space from pedestrian infrastructure. This connects with the quote at the start of this post. It is also something that Berlin is particularly doing wrong, but it's actually something we could commend Brisbane on.
- Use what you have. We have some great cycle infrastructure in Brisbane, we just need to use it!
Next week I embark on a journey to Berlin to participate in the BMW Guggenheim Lab! While I am there I will be: I’ll try and keep you up-to-date on my blog with what I’ll be up to. I can’t wait to be involved with this great initiative! Thankyou to Rachel Smith for including me in the program! EDIT: I've updated the links so you can find out more about the events.
(see end for photographers)Website | Facebook | Pinterest | Email
Diner en Blanc is a magical, elegant picnic in a public space. It is a spectacle event focused on Parisian values of sophistication, decorum, etiquette and good taste.
The popular international event Diner en Blanc comes to Australia in 2012. Yen, Brooke and myself (the UR{BNE} Festival founders) have been fortunate enough to be selected to host the inaugural event in Brisbane. We were interested in hosting the event because it will contribute to creating Vibrant Places in Brisbane.
Because this is the first year in Brisbane, I wanted to write a comprehensive guide of: - the history of Diner en Blanc
- how you can you be invited to the event
- how you can volunteer
- what the night will be like
- what you need to bring and why
- when and where
- what to wear
- other international events
After reading this guide if you still have any questions comment on this post or email brisbane@dinerenblanc.info The history of Diner en Blanc
In 1988 François Pasquier returned to Paris and organised a reunion with friends. So many friends wanted to come that he decided to hold the dinner party in a public space. To identify his guests he asked them to dress in white. Each guest was asked to bring one extra friend. They bought their own tables, chairs, decorations and food … and so started the tradition of Diner en Blanc!
The first yearly events in Paris, happened guerilla style and so the location of the events were revealed last minute, to evade the authorities. In more recent events Diner en Blanc has attracted over 12,000 diners (selected from over 30,000 hopefuls). To keep the tradition of the event diners are still not told about where the location is until the last minute, which means passers-by are surprised by the unfolding magical scene. The attendees still also wear white, bring their own tables, chairs, decorations and food, the hosts friends are invited first and everyone conducts themselves elegantly and with the greatest decorum.
How you can be invited to the event
You can register your interest online. It's first in best dressed, so make sure you register as soon as possible. Numbers are limited.
If you are lucky enough to be selected you will receive an invite about 1 month before the event.
The tradition of Diner en Blanc is that Diner en Blanc members first choose close friends to invite, those friends then recommend friends who are invited, and then new guests, who have registered are invited.
How you can volunteer
Diner en Blanc needs volunteers. If you are interested you can contact us at: brisbane@dinerenblanc.info What the night will be like
You will arrive at your assigned Transportation Location one hour before the event. These Transportation Locations will be central Brisbane points that will be places to easy park or catch public transport to.
This is the time when your volunteer will direct you to a bus, train, ferry or will walk with you to the Diner en Blanc destination. Until this point the location will be a secret! Imagine how amazing it will be to see passers-by's faces as they see 1000s of people all in white, pop out of nowhere and have an elegant picnic!
Your volunteer will show you where to set up your table. Everyone will arrive and the dinner will begin. Then there will be music, wine, laughing, dancing and merriment!
What you will need to bring and why
You will bring your table (which will be a square shape between 60-75cm), white chairs, food and decorations.
This may seem cumbersome, but by each guest bringing these items means that the event is a complete secret until it is all set up. The event will just pop-up as the guests arrive, there will be no evidence of the location until everyone arrives.
We will make it as easy as possible to bring your items. Walking distances will be short and the transportation will cater for the items you will be bringing.
When and where
The date will be confirmed very soon. We will announce it here with an update, on our facebook and website.
And for the location, it's a secret that will be revealed last minute!
What to wear
White, white, white … very elegant! Originality is welcome. Have fun and get all dressed up! Have a look at our Pinterest for ideas.
No T-shirts, coloured shoes, sports shoes, baseball caps or shorts.
|
RSS Feed