Manufactured Landscapes

Active granite quarry in Vermont, Canada (http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/index.html)

Abounded marble quarry, Vermont, Canada (http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/index.html)

Went to see Manufactured Landscapes at the BFI. It is the documentary about Edward Burtynsky's work from the last 10 years when he has been photographing the way industrialisation has changed the natural landscapes and the environment.

The photos above is how he started by looking at quarries in his native Canada, photographing how our life and industries are changing the landscape for good. The why he photographs it making it beautiful, until you actually start looking closer and realising what the photo is showing.

In the film he travels to China and is looking at the how industrialisation has changed the landscapes and nature in China. I like the why the documentary is made, not blaming China for the industries and the change in the landscape, but recognising our role in west as a major part in this. The industries in China are supporting our lifestyle in the west and ultimately it is our fault for the why China now are trying to cope with industries and the results and backlashes of this.

Showing an electronical factory in China. (http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/index.htm)

Some of the parts in the film is like another world. There are these images of what should be a green landscape and you can't see any plants or texture anywhere... It is incredible.

The Three Gorges dam (http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/index.htm)

The film shows the making of the Three Gorges dam along the Yangtze river. It is the largest engineering and construction site in the world, which has caused displacement of 1.2 million people and destroyed 11 cities. What is incredible is the the people in the villages are being paid to take down their own houses and the way it is done by hand is unbelievable.

(http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/index.htm)


(http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/index.htm)

But they are building the dam to cope with the huge amounts of energy that the industries take. The say that the dam will take 17 years in total to build and should be finished in 2009.

The film also shows us about recycling and ewaste. A large amount of our waste in the west end up in China where it is recycled and the process for this is mostly done by hand and especially the ewaste recycling is not good for people and it is whole images of ewaste villages and it is a terrible site of what of world might be like if we don't stop with the way we live now. It is like some kind of Scifi film! Scary stuff...

We also see photos from Shanghai and ship breaking down in Bangladesh. You come out from watching the film feeling a bit scared and ashamed of yourselves that we are the cause of those images that at first seem very beautiful - because of the why they are photographed by Edward Burtynski, then draw you in and then you are starting to see the details and start thinking and wondering. Edward Burtynski has said that he thought of making his photos political , but then thought that showing then without a messages, will cause an element of surprise and the viewer has to find out about the details in the photo himself and in the end he thought this was far more effective.

I love his photos and the message. I think it is very inspiring and also very scary. It tears you apart a bit, case we all want to keep living the way we do, but at the same time we realise that we can't.

Shipbreaking in Bangladesh (http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/index.htm)

Veggie patch

Thought I should update on how my veggie patch is doing. The potatoes are coming on great, can't see much of the carrots yet, which is a bit disappointing - since I love eating home grown carrots they taste much better than carrots bought in the supermarket. The peas are also coming on well and I need to put up some sticks for them to climb on. I love having a veggie patch, it makes you feel like a little kid again and there is no question that home grown vegetables taste a lot better than supermarket ones! I am gonna get some tomatoe plants during the weekend as well.

I obviously know that my veggie patch is far too small to even make a difference in the amount of vegetables that I buy at the supermarket. But it is a start. I also think that large communal allotments could be a great solution to large estates and work as a social and environmental benefits and at the same time give a forgotten neighborhood a great sense of place. This is something I am investigating and suggesting for a back street in Waterloo.

Readings

I have always been interested in sustainable design and decided to try to read up a bit more about the subject. I come across a book called 'Residential Landscape Sustainability - a checklist tool' by Carl Smith, Andy Clayden and Nigel Dunnett. As in the title it talks mainly about residential design, but the principles can be applied across different projects.

The issue with hard materials and landscape architecture is obviously a main concern when talking about sustainability. It is hard to be sustainable with hard landscaping material. Both if you combine sustainable methods with local materials this can be done. When choosing your material you should look at the embedded energy a material has, the process where it is made, the transport length and the life length and the maintenance of the material. For an example timber has low embedded energy, is a renewable material and is grown properly a very good hard material with a lot longer lifespan than clay and brick. The issue with timber is that only a small part of timber production can be described as sustainable. With a large part causing large scale clear felling, the introduction of fast-growing mono culture and removal of mixed old-growth forests.

To be sustainable timber production must consider the preservation of biological resources of the forest, conserve and manage watershed and soils, recognise people's rights and be economically viable. As designers we need to make sure that the wood we use have been produced in these processes. FSC is an international, independent, nongovernmental orrgnaistation which provides certification to forest owners who require authenticity for their timber production. This common knowledge to most people.

I also come across a few points that I hadn't considered before when I was reading the book. The book suggests using crushed waste from a site to provide hardcore for a new project. Which is reusing material already on site and reduces impacts of removing waste from site. I dound this simple and interesting. Other more obvious things are to make sure that if you use concrete, reduce the transport of the concrete and make sure that recycled aggregates are used in the process.

It also talks about simple solutions, like green roofs, brown and grey waste water collection, trees and their positioning to help energy efficiency of buildings, suds and much more. I can recommend reading the book. I will definitely get a copy to keep and use when I am thinking about materials I use in my projects.

The TCPA- the town and country planning association have a lot of interesting publications all download able on their website. The Climate change design by adaption is a good document. One of the most interesting points in there are talking about vernacular design. Which is a design that suits local climates and is a reflection of the customs and surrounding natural landscapes. Since a vernacular design has evolved to suit local conditions in place it is not entirely transferable to other places. But it provides a useful look at how other places and cultures have evolved to deal with the challenges of the current climate. And design in the UK can definitely benefit from this.

The document also talks about the adaptations that we are going to have start to design for immediately and not just in the future. It is good just to remind you what we always need to keep in the back of minds when designing and looking at new places.