Call for Ideas - Lost Spaces Competition

Here is a really interesting competition coming up:

Design Talks Institute (d.talks), a design advocacy organization, in collaboration with WATERSHED+, a part of the City of Calgary’s Utilities & Environmental Protection Public Art program, aim to address a particular challenge of public space--what to do with seemingly remnant pieces of public property.

The Lost Spaces design competition asks professionals and students in the fields of art, architecture, design, and engineering to respond to the diverse challenges of design, social sustainability, and low impact design improvements. The ideas competition aims to explore alternatives improving the use, public realm and ecological value of a lost space. 

A ‘lost space’ is any space that remains underutilized within our urban environment. They might be leftover pieces, a ghost of the planning past. Lost spaces are part of the public realm, rarely designed to function with both social and environmental benefit to the city.
You may consider a lost space as a passageway, a roundabout, space between two buildings, a highway shoulder, or tenants of the city's history and memory.


Dates:
January 5th, 2015 - Registration opens
March 20th, 2015 - Registration and questions deadline
March 30th, 2015 - Submission due (23:59 MDT)
April 29th, 2015 - Winners announced

Awards:1st Prize: $7,500 CAD
Five field prizes: $3,000 CAD each  Fields include: Water Services, Roads and Transportation, Parks, Planning, and Public Art.
shortlist renumeration fee (up to six awarded): $1,000 CAD each

The JurySusan Szenasy, Editor in Chief, Metropolis Magazine
Shane Coen, Principal, Coen + Partners Landscape Architecture
Pierre Thibault, Principal, Atelier Pierre Thibault Architecture
Shauna Thompson, Curator, The Esker Foundation
Diana Sherlock, Independent Curator

produced by: d.talks
supported by: WATERSHED+ and The City of Calgary
more info: http://www.dtalks.org/call-for-ideas
to register: hello@dtalks.org

ACAD Panel Discussion

A big thanks to ACAD and the Illingworth Kerr Gallery for inviting us to be part of the Panel Discussion following Jørn Mortensen’s fabulous talk on the 31st of March. It is timely conversation to be had and we found the discussion thought provoking and enjoyable.

Bristol Promenade Update

Our project for the end of the Brunel Mile in Bristol is near completion and here are a few more pictures of the progress!

It started life as an exploration of spaces and planes defining a public space, and later morphed into a design responding more precisely to the particular man-made conditions to create a landscape specific to the space.

Photo Credit Cullinan Studios

Photo Credit Cullinan Studios

Photo Credit Cullinan Studios

The final design is a boardwalk promenade space along a meadowy landscape fed by the runoff rainwater from the adjacent building. In collaboration with Cullinan Studio Architects and Grants Associates the journey of the rainwater is celebrated with the visible drain pipes, collection dishes and open rills distributing the water onto the grassland slope.
The different growing conditions (slope, orientation, rainwater runoff) are highlighted by the use of a variety of biodiversity and habitats (grasses, damp grassland, marginal vegetation and woodland groundcover). Combined with these conditions the experience of the harbour side (ruderal plants and riparian habitat) is drawn up into the Promenade.


This project was commissioned by Crest Nicholson Regeneration as part of the Harbourside development.

Urban Künste Ruhr

We’ve just come back from a workshop in the ruhr area for Urban Künste Rühr and what a pleasure it was! Urbane Künste Ruhr is based on the unique urban landscape of the Ruhr Area and works together with artists, networks, and cultural institutions to investigate the core of urbanity. We’re looking forward to continue working with them.

This week's talks

The first one is the Watershed+ artist in residence Rachel Duckhouse who will be talking about her work with the City of Calgary's Watershed + program. She will be joined for the talk by Twyla Hutchison, a Water Resources Engineer with Infrastructure Planning at the City of Calgary. Twyla is involved with river monitoring and forecasting, emergency response planning, design of erosion control and emergency mitigation as well as other development in the river valley. Together they will talk about Rachel’s work, data representation, collaboration between engineers and artists and complementarities of disciplines.

Date: Thursday, October 24
Time: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Location: Faculty of Environmental Design
Kasian Gallery, Room 2145
Professional Faculties building, University of Calgary
2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4

For the other talk we are very pleased to welcome Kevin Robert Perry from Urban Rain|Design for his first public presentation in Calgary. We first came across his work in a post in Pruned. Kevin will present his approach to green infrastructure visioning and planning developed through experience at the City of Portland’s Sustainable Stormwater Program. His innovative techniques to retrofit the urban fabric with sustainable stormwater management uses the landscape to not only manage stormwater, but to also create highly successful urban spaces.
RSVP to charles.blanc@calgary.ca

Date: Friday 25th October
Time:: Coffee and pastries from 7.30, talk from 8 till 8.45 AM
Location: Bow Room @ the Water Centre
625 25 Ave SE, Calgary, Alberta T2G 4K8

Urban Künste Ruhr

We've been invited by OSA Office for Subversive Architecture and Urban Künste Ruhr to be part of the Urban Lights Rhur Symposium, alongside the nice company of Marco Canevacci (Plastique Fantastique), Jan ehlen (RaumZeitPiraten), Alexander Stublic, and Mona El Khafif (CCA URBANlab).

A very nice series of presentations and discussions, looking forward to the rest of the day.

And whilst we're in Scotland we've also been invited by the exciting Velocity to do a presentation at the Lighthouse on our recent projects and our current work in Calgary, Watershed+, about the innovative integration of artists and creative practice in the City's departments.


VELOCITY presents a series of regular talks and conversations inviting international, UK and Scottish speakers to address issues arising from the VELOCITY programme. The events also offer networking opportunities for VELOCITY stakeholders: professionals working in city planning and urban regeneration, creative practitioners, artists, architects, designers, producers and arts professionals.

Worcester Orchard developments

As well as the Bristol Promenade, the University Orchard in Worcester is getting near completion.
In this first phase of the works, the hard landscaping is pretty much finished and the seeding is taking place. The orchard terraces are now clearly visible, now just waiting for the tree planting at the next planting season.

Bristol promenade

After a few developments, our project for the end of the Brunel Mile in Britol is near completion!

It started life as an exploration of spaces and planes defining a public space, and later morphed into a design responding more precisely to the particular man-made conditions to create a landscape specific to the space.

The final design is a boardwalk promenade space along a meadowy landscape fed by the runoff rainwater from the adjacent building. In collaboration with Cullinan Studio Architects and Grants Associates the journey of the rainwater is celebrated with the visible drain pipes, collection dishes and open rills distributing the water onto the grassland slope.
The different growing conditions (slope, orientation, rainwater runoff) are highlighted by the use of a variety of biodiversity and habitats (grasses, damp grassland, marginal vegetation and woodland groundcover). Combined with these conditions the experience of the harbour side (ruderal plants and riparian habitat) is drawn up into the Promenade.



This project was commissioned by Crest Nicholson Regeneration as part of the Harbourside development.

Worcester Orchard

Last week we were in Worcester visiting our project for the University which is under construction. Over the last year we worked with BCA Landscape architects to realise this project, a public orchard in the heart of Worcester. The works are well under way and the land is taking shape nicely, exciting!

Here are a few shots from the day.

Strip appeal

Just before we left for the festive season, we went up to Edmonton to be part of the jury for Strip appeal (http://www.strip-appeal.com/).
Strip Appeal is an ideas design competition, and traveling exhibit, intended to stimulate and showcase creative design proposals for the adaptive reuse of small-scale strip-malls.
The jury was really interesting with some great discussions on the short listed entries. You can have a look at them on http://www.strip-appeal.com/, with a public vote active until Jan 9. The winners of the jury vote and the public vote will be announced on Jan. 16.

Charmouth bridge opening

Yesterday we went to Charmouth, for the opening of the footbridge we designed with the Dorset County Council engineers.
In this beautiful location on the World Heritage Site of the Jurassic coast and the South West Coastal Path the intention was from the beginning not to create a bridge that would become a focal point but to create a place that would enhance the experience of crossing the river and become a viewing point for this landscape. The result is in keeping with the scale of the previous bridge but bows towards the sea and widens in its centre, creating an overhanging balcony over the river, almost a public space in the middle of the bridge.

It has been a really productive collaboration with the design team from day one, and yesterday was a great pleasure to see so many people enjoying the bridge.

Margate

We've just finished installing Iconic site, now placed on the historic Fort Road Hotel in Margate.
To coincide with the opening of the Turner Contemporary, Iconic Site was commissioned to question the future of the Fort Road Hotel, now laying derelict, one of the last building in the area that JMW Turner would have recognised if he were to visit Margate today.



and a small video of the switch on.



Commissioned by Margate Arts, Creativity, Heritage

Charmouth Bridge getting closer

We just received a picture from the engineers of the main framework of the bridge being put in place today. it's getting tantalisingly close to completion.

Biennale Internationale Design

Tuesday 29th we will be presenting our practice at a "Study day Conference" in the International Design Biennale in Saint Etienne, France.

Pluri-multi : multidisciplinary and multicultural in the design of public spaces
Organised by: Master Espace public : design, architecture, practices (master in paternship between the Art and Design School of Saint-Étienne, the Architecture School of Saint-Étienne and the Human and Social Sciences department of Jean Monnet University).

Limelight in Kansas City

Tonight Limelight will be in Kansas city, MO, on W 20th st between Main St and W Baltimore Ave,. We're looking forward to see the performances.
Thanks for El dorado Architects for inviting us again to this part of the world

Kansas City lecture

Later on this week, we will be giving a lecture at the University of Kansas School of Architecture as part of 2010 Fall Lecture Series, amongst very nice company.


Friday November 5th : 11.30
Spencer Museum of Art Auditorium

Walking along the curb

Yesterday, early for a meeting, we spent 20 minutes spotting out people walking along the curb instead of in the "designated" walking area.
An unconscious behaviour left over from childhood or a more comfortable surface to walk on, or a combination of both?










Newcastle University Campus

OLD DOORS

Newcastle, Llandovery

Stall construction

Table plank, trestles, fabric held with spring clamps (used as hooks for front and side display), pre-made square timber frame held onto the table with adjustable C clamps


Second pre-made vertical timber frame fixed, horizontal supports (more items on display carried from the van at the same time as horizontal supports)


Secondary horizontal supports for front display and reinforcement, adjustable C clamps


Side grill for side display slotted in horizontal supports,


Additional side grid for wider display, balanced display on top layer


Secondary table display: T shape planks resting on C clamps, inverted plastic cup and front display grids


Back table display resting on lateral secondary table display, additional items on display


Stall ready


Observed in Washington DC last year