Last Friday we had our interim review for
the Urban Green Module – our submission was to put together a presentation for
our tutors and peers in order to express what we had done so far, and also
discuss what should be taken into the next stage (detailed design).
So, without further adieu - here is my work and presentation…..
When we first visited the site, I felt
there was no strong sense of place. The space was essentially a used car
parking lot – having said that, there are some good qualities about the area;
notably its riverside setting and art nouveau/art deco buildings.
Some of you may remember from the Survey and Analysis that I have chosen ‘food’ as a guiding theme for my design. This
abstract map shows the potential of Brewery Park to become a real hub in terms
of food connections within the city of Leeds.
As part of my research I read Jason Grimm’s Food Urbanism (2009) in which he proposes Food Boulevards as part of an urban food growing typology. Along the linear theme I also looked at the paradigm of linear parks – the High Line in New York, and a proposed linear park running through Barcelona – Sagrera Park by West 8.
I also looked at urban agriculture in
general. This is one of my favorite projects – Leadenhall Street City Farm by
Mitchell Taylor Workshop. The temporary farm uses the microclimate caused by
the buildings to grow types of vegetables. Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto is
an example of how industrial heritage can be utilised in terms of helping to
create food security.
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| Infographic created using Photoshop. Speaks for itself! |
Another way of putting it is expressed in
the benefits of an urban food system diagram from Jason Grimm’s Food Urbanism.
This slide illustrates my design process –
from the initial analysis of connections with my group partner Simon, in the
Survey and Analysis stage, to concept development (I was inspired by an art
nouveau window in Salem Church, a building on the site) to reworking the design
until I was happy with the spaces and their uses. (There are, invariably, LOTS more overlays between the stages you see on the above slide).
And voila! Here is my masterplan for the
Brewery Park and Tetley Food Hub.
BEFORE
AFTER!
Types of vegetation that could perhaps grow
on site according to conditions.
That's WWF, PETA, Pam Warhurst of Incredible Edible Todmorden and Vertical Farms.
There are a few things I need to tidy up
before final submission in a few weeks time – the amphitheater is the wrong
size (but the section is right), I need to put more trees on the design also –
you can never have enough trees I’ve learnt!
All in all however, I’m excited to be going
in to the detail design phase – deciding which growing solutions are right,
thinking about practicalities – security and harvesting and so on.
For a overview of how I managed to actually
render a masterplan when I’d never done it before click here.
