User:Sean Leogreen
From CollabLandWiki
Sean Leogreen
Victoria University of Wellington
Clear statement of design intent
Main Concept Position
Google Earth Image, 01/08/06, [www.earth.google.com/images/earth2.jpg]
- My design intent is to reclaim the wetland ecology which the car parking area has taken over, to create a new, exciting and eco-friendly place for tourist and locals to come and enjoy the space, while providing a sustainable natural waste cleansing environment for Oneroa.
- There is a tension which is between the car park and the wetland in the Matiatia site. In the past wetland estuaries are general seen as negative landscapes, which is evident on this site. The reduction of the wetland area to make room for a car park area and neglected open spaces has resulted in the loss of wetland.
- The wetland system is a natural way to replenishing contaminants from the car park and also from the Oneroa (i.e. storm water runoff and grey water) This seem like a logical way to solve the waste water problems of Waiheke, while doing it on site.
- Dealing with the waste in this fashion articulates how an island must be efficient with dealing the waste in order to sustainable and support the community inhabiting the island Also by creating a wetland that can only cope with a certain number of homes it then can limit the development of the island in order to remain sustainable.
- Using the wetland as a cleansing infrastructure has the potential to have an education role for not just visitors but local alike. Also, one distinct landscape identity of Waiheke Island is the extensive wetland areas, so in reclaiming this wetland estuarine people can start to associate themselves with this different characteristic of the island rather than just for its well known features like its wineries, farmland and beaches.
Secondary Position
- Waiheke is in need of a tourist framework because at the moment tourists just get off the ferry and they are faced with nothing. There is prime opportunity to provide a designated area where tourists can learn and experience the island, also a place for tourists to link up to other areas of the Island. In doing this it will set up a frame work to organise the tourists wishing to see more of the island, while the commuters are able to go from A to B.
- One of the major problems with the Matiatia site is the organisational structure. There is no clear destination or focal point in the layout of Matiatia, i.e. the car parking is all sporadic and has no clear structure, the rental shops are placed in different locations all over the site, and the Harbour Master café is on no distinct route.
Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner Ltd.
Matiatia Bay, Waiheke Island proposed wharf and terminal : environmental impact assessment : prepared for Auckland City Council (1991) Auckland, N.Z.: Beca Carter Hollings and Ferner Ltd.
Position back-up Quotes
To do tomorrow: Find the storm water drain from Oneroa and how it runs through the site. Waste water : Just dealing with the immediate area waste water, taking pressure off the Onewaiwe.
Stormwater
- “stormwater discharge from the wharf/terminal area (987m2 )
- “An existing 675mm diameter culvert draining the road from Oneroa runs under the sealed car park and discharges onto Matiatia Beach. In addition, a 225 mm diameter culvert draining the car park area also discharges onto Matiatia Beach.”
- “Any increase in stormwater runoff as a result of enlarge carpark could be accommodated by temporarily storing the excess runoff on the carpark.”
- “Water rights will be required for the discharge of stormwater from the enlarged carpark area and the wharf and terminal area. Considerations for right application are flooding, erosion and water quality.”
- “The installation of stormwater quality devices such as sand filters for the carpark area will improve quality and may be required…”
Waste Water
Dealing with the on site waste
On Site Treatment
- Sceptic tanks
- Package Plant
- Spray irrigation
-overland flow to a wetland or soakage trenches.
- Soakage trenches
- Deep soakage bores
- In the report the Auckland City Council (Engineering Design Services, August 1990) have considered wetland treatment as a disposal option.
“Wetland treatment is being increasingly promoted as a method for treatment disposal of sewage. It is an efficient and cheap biological process, which is extremely versatile, stable and capable of copying with large load fluctuations and produces a high quality effluent.”
There are two principal types of wetlands:
- Surface flow
- Sub-surface flow type (or root zone method)
Both methods use wetland plants or plant root zones, this helps to reduce the BOD, suspended solids, and bacteria and viruses (as well as heavy metals). The report states the wetland topic needs more research but the information gathered so far is wetland area requirements are minimal. The reports suggests the wetland at Ocean View Road immediately prior to Matiatia, and this method of effluent disposal appears most appropriate.
Disadvantages of on site treatment of waste water at Matiatia is:
- Possible reduction in land availability in the carpark, or the purchase of or agreement to discharge on private land.
Higher initial capital outlay for treatment units.
- Further hydrogeological investigations to ascertain soakage capability of the area and to establish influence of discharges effluent on existing water supply bores, which may necessitate possibly require another water supply bore to a greater depth than the present 25m.
- Will require a water right application to discharge wastewater to natural water.
Off Site Treatment and Disposal
- Gulf Ferries Ltd transporting the waste to a Auckland reticulated system.
Advantages in using a Offsite treatment disposal method:
- Complete removal from the site; thereby eliminating visual, noise and odour impacts.
- With no effluent discharge occurring there will be no impact on the local water quality. There would be no overflow from the holding tank. Therefore should a breakdown in the normal service occur then an emergency service is available through the local sceptic tank disposal operators.
- Lower initial capital outlay than on site treatment and disposal options.
- No impact on local water supply bores. The existing shallow bore, could be used for the extended wharf/ terminal facilities.
- Ability to connect into centralised community sewage treatment plant in the future, if available.
Disadvantages in using a Offsite treatment disposal method:
- Susceptible to leakages if absolute watertight connections are not provided.
- Proper operation is susceptible to change in operator, craft type, strikes or temporary port closure.
- A contractual arrangement will be required between Auckland City Council and the Operator with respect to freight carrying costs. These ongoing costs could be greater than the self contained on-site treatment and disposal option in the long term
- Pumping facilities will be required at both Waiheke Island and Auckland (not presently available)
- It is understood that similar disposal proposed in the past for other islands have not been approved .
In the report the Auckland City Council had advised that they preferred the package treatment plant and with combination of engineered wetland.
The process would follow this flow diagram:
1.Sewage
2.Flow Equalisation Tank - Sludge to land disposal
3.Package Treatment Plant -Possible ultra violet disinfection
4.Wetland
5.Effluent Discharge to Natural Environment
Plant backup system consist of :
- Storage capacity of 24 hours
- If effluent does discharge the wetland or soakage trenches provide effective backup.
Preliminary analysis of site issues
Matiatia as a Transport Hub
- Road infrastructure, vehicle circulation and parking solution
- Buses, taxis, passenger drop-off
- Boat ramp
- Cyclist and motorcyclists
Matiatia as the main gateway to Waiheke Island
- Site needs a strong sense of welcome, arrival to and departure from.
- Connection between the existing wharf
- The different needs of visitors and local island residents
Matiatia as a destination
- Loss of identity
- Area lacks programme
- No venue space for festival activities
Matiatia as a significant coastal landscape and ecology
- Protecting and enhancing the environment from adverse effects
- Protecting and enhancing the marine environment from adverse effects
- Lacking pedestrian walkways
Matiatia as a place of special value to Tangata Whenua
- Significant Maori heritage and cultural interests, values and rights, including such things as:
*Kaianga (village) which was once located on the site
*Fenced grave site on the foreshore reserve area
Matiatia as a sustainable development
- Environmental sustainability
- Social sustainability
- Cultural sustainability
- Economic sustainability
Literature review
Harmsworth Coordinated Monitoring of New Zealand Wetlands. Maori Environment Performance Indicates for Wetland Conditions and trend. A Ministry for the Environment SMF Project – 5105
- “In the last 150 years more than 90% of New Zealand’s wetlands have been destroyed or significantly modified through draining and other anthropogenic activities.”
- “Wetlands are regarded by Maori as a Taonga (of significant value, a treasure), are especially important as a source of food and traditional materials.”
For example:
- Food gathering
- Marae
- Hapu
“Significant plants for cultural weaving,” are as follows:
- Harakeke
- Raupo
- Toetoe
- Kuta
- NZ Flax
“… high level of awareness in the importance of wetlands for the breeding and migration of fish and birds species.”
Indicators that give a positive measure of wetland conditions and align with Maori cultural values (Taonga of wetlands):
Indicator examples:
- Harakeke
- Kutu
- Raupo
- Tikouka
- Rahikatea
- Maire – Tawatei
- Toetoe
Birds:
- Tui
- Pukeko
- Shag
Fish:
- Tuna
- Eels
- Koaro
- Kokopu
- Kuakahi
Negative indicators: Plants
- Willow
- Grey willow
- Crack willow
- Gorse
- Blackberry
- Pinus radiata
- Honeysuckle
Fish:
- Koi carp
- Catfish
Viani, Lisa Owens
A Question of Mitigation Landscape Architecture, August 2006, v96, n 8, p24-34
The article is initially posing the question of weather wetlands matter or weather it should be converted into another subdivision? Small wetlands are important because they are generally seen as small areas just tucked away and no one will notice that they are gone. These small areas all add up to cumulated losses. The article discusses that developers now have to avoid, minimise, or mitigate damages to wetlands; the article elaborates ways in which developers can mitigate impacts on the wetlands:
- 1.On-site
- 2.Off-site
- Buying credits “banks.”
- Restoring degraded and historic
- Or expanding existing wetlands (either in a bank or another site)
On-site tends to be more ‘flexible appoarch’ than an off-site. Off site can also mean that a developer can buy credits at a bank when they fill in a wetland else where.
The environmentalists in America are worried about the affect of mitigation banks and this may soon replace restoration. Another problem with mitigation banks, in urban areas, while the wetlands are destroyed, this has ‘meant that functions like stormwater retention and water quality disappear from urban areas – not to mention the aesthetic, educational, and inherent values of those wetlands to urban residents, values that aren’t usually taken into account when wetlands are filled.’ Urban wetlands are under valued because they don’t look pretty, but they are providing stormwater treatment and flood control. Banks do create large contiguous stretches of high quality habitat, so developers only has to pay a nonprofits or land trust to preserve or acquire some land instead of performing actual mitigation.
“Wetlands are where they are because nature and topography have said this is a good place. Whole ecosystems have evolved around them hundreds and thousands of years.”
The due to mitigation banks this means wetlands are just placed where convenient.
Carl Jensen, a landscape architect, disagrees. He says his firm, (California’s largest wetland mitigation banking firm), they have created “highly functioning ecosystems that are good mitigation areas and part of a good solution. The bank buys land which is next to wildlife reserves where there are already endangered species.
The two arguments are Jensen who states it is worthwhile replacing something which has low ecological values, i.e. in an urban area-with a higher functioning wetland.
Ruhl argues that if it wasn’t for development or urban sprawl which has encroaches upon urban wetlands in the first place, those wetlands would still be valuable ecologically.
Wild life lands are competing with the developers. The irony is trying to recreate something somewhere else. Is there another way? Helping developers come up with better site designs that don’t wipe out wetlands.
Landscape Architect George Salvaggio, ASLA, he has been recently hired to advise a prospective developer on the impacts his project had on the site’s wetlands. George came up with an alternative plan for avoiding wetlands, retaining stormwater runoff on sit, and enhancing existing drainages to feed into wetlands as a permanent water source. From his years of experience he says it is important to be involved in the early stages of the project planning.
The article further discusses the problem of mitigation wetland solution not working or failing, also the invasive species tend to overrun the wetland and cause more problems. So the question is, are mitigation banks functioning ecologically? The problem is with the mitigated wetland is they are surrounded by non-native grasses and weeds, even though it is thriving with fauna. Therefore the surround context of the site is ignored i.e. surrounding uplands; they are concentrating on the wetland rather than the ecological processes.
Mitigation According to Salvaggio
The real world is shaped by natural forces and amazing diversity. Wetlands are usually sited in the lowest point in a watershed, at a slope of less than 3%. There is too much focus on in kind mitigation instead of exploiting the site for its natural opportunities. There is always going to be competition for wetlands because they lie on flat ground which is easier to build. If we can’t put a wetland in the same position it needs to be, how can we expect it to truly be in-kind mitigation? Engineers like a slope to be 3:1 ratio, they are stable but artificial and steep. You start competition for land when you design 8:1 and 20:1 slopes.
Brooke Ryan
Stormwater Infrastructure, Mesh book, RMIT University Press, Melbourne, p220 -230
Like Melbourne, New Zealand has started to embrace the concept of wetlands. There are four traditional wetland types:
- Habitat wetlands
- Restoration of natural wetlands
- Ornamental wetlands
- Water quality improved wetlands
These wetland types provide limited opportunity to passive recreation, including:
- Spaces for walking
- Bird watching
- Picnicking
Wetland have become accepted for the treatment of stormwater and runoff and “provide greater cultural connection between these spaces and the public.”
“The sheer size that these traditional types of wetlands seem to have and their inherent unruly aesthetic have excluded them from application in dense urban sites, thereby distancing people from dealing with the problem of water conservation and quality.”
What this statement means to me is that people need to face the facts the way we are living as a society is unsustainable and wetlands as ugly as they may be can start to deal with water quality issues. The fact that these wetland are large, this means people have to face these facts and makes people think about what they put down the drain, or the water which is wasted.
“People need to develop an understanding of the complexity of cultural perceptions towards wetlands and water …public will resent miss the opportunity of their ecological benefits.”
An important part of a wetland system is the eco-tones which have the unique qualities, can only be understood in the spatial and temporary context of adjacent ecological units, and are dynamic, changing over time.
In this chapter the author discusses how the eco-tone is the richest in biodiversity, and sees these spaces as prime opportunity to test ecological the theories, dealing with these eco tones in a new and meaningful way.
“In order to effectively crossprogram infrastructure one must engage fully with the technology and language of engineering and design.”
Engineering practise: is about applying a set of rules and principles previously tested without re-invention or site specificity; taking what was once an innovated idea and reapplying it without innovation.
Design practise (based on engineering practise): By developing one’s own professional principles and specifications to which engineering traditionally adheres, landscape architects can pre-empt their next design move, and question ‘why not’ and plan a strategy as a team for re-invention.
“In public space, form does not simply follow function, but form and function are both meaning creating devices, each not necessary linked to the other in rigid ways.”
Wetlands do not have to be completely flat, but can be tiered through the design of the siphon outlet that controls fluctuations in water level.
Terkenli, Theano S.
Human Activity in Landscape Seasonality: The Case of Tourism in Crete Landscape Research, No. 2, 221-239, April 2005 This article initial starts discussing the relationship between tourism and the landscape. ‘The goal is to explore and discuss the multiple facets and impacts of seasonality produced and inscribed by tourism on the landscape, and specifically on the landscape of Greece.’
The tourism industry has been repeatedly denounced as an expoiter, a defiler of landscapes, and as a quintessentially modern medium of globalisation or homogenizing standards of identity and development for contemporary landscapes.
The Greece island of Crete is marketed through the desire and seduction of its rich coastal landscape through the selling of goods and services and imagery. ‘Several years ago, Greece was promoted as a tourist destination by Hellenic Organisation of Tourism, through images of Aegean landscapes, as the land ‘chosen by the Gods.’ The Aegean, and desire, may serve to illustrate some of these possibilities, contractions and tensions.’
Then the article starts to discuss visitors to Crete and how this can affect the locals and how they respond. The article notes two ways in which the local respond to tourist: Warm and friendly people, eager to welcome tourist to their home place, this is due to the economic benefits which they bring with them. Other who are concerned with the loss of the sense of home, and the construction of unauthenticity.
The article then discusses what attracts tourist to a place. ‘Seasonality generally informs landscapes identity by structuring its basic parameters: time, space, and ways of life, human sense and psychosomatic cycles. This can more simply defined by the distinction between natural rhythms of landscape seasonality and human rhythms of seasonality, ie the relationship between the physical and the cultural.
- ‘Landscapes of tourism are only one of a series of symbolic images of the contemporary Aegean landscape.’ This starts to talk about the creation of these ‘symbolic images’ are used to attract tourist, we as New Zealanders can relate to this through the idyllic images of the 100% clean, green New Zealand campaign which has been used to market tourism.
- ‘Aegean landscape is imagined as an essential uninhabited landscape during the best part of the year, which, during holidays and especially summer, becomes mainland, the playground of both Greek and international tourism.’
The Aegean landscape has been romanticized through tourist interest such as idyllic paradise, far and free from the demands of modern life, and the blessed with perfect climate and small-scale intimate settings ideal for romantic adventures.
The next part of the article starts to discuss the adverse effects of tourism on the landscape, cultural and other economic sectors of Crete Island. ‘… the structural problem of the Greek economy diminish tourism’s positive impacts: lack of vertical integration among the productive sectors of the economy, strong reliance on imports, lack of adequate promotion of Greek products,’ with a large dependency on tour operators. Some of the cultural and social costs included: higher crime rate, loss of traditions, creation of paratic groups of tourist entrepreneurs and newly built structures clashed or were totally in congruous with local place identity and ways of life.
The article discusses the three different zones of tourism, which are:
- The first stage is discovery and exploration
- The second stage of tourism development is geographical zone adjacent to the coastal zone.
- The third stage of tourism destination developments the catering for the tourist needs.
Issues of development control, economic or urban and regional planning, social policy, environment sustainability, cultural change and quality of life become increasingly acute for the local communities.
One of the final point which this article raises which is indeed quite important to my Waiheke research, is,’… increased revenue from tourism are positive, but not the expense of disrupting local the local way of life.’ This is an interesting point raised, in terms of Waiheke, because tourism has always been apart of the Island’s identity, even in the past. The issue may be more to contain the tourism in order to preserve this identity, perhaps having sperate areas for the locals and the tourist?
The article continues to state: ‘Rather, the most acceptable alternative to parties, is the development of alternative forms of tourism, such as agro tourism and eco tourism. Such forms of tourism would engrave new and different cycles of seasonality on the landscape of the larger region, would restrict the prevailing type of seasonal tourism to segments of the coastal landscape, and would diminish tourism’s negative impacts on all aspects of local life.’
Waiheke is a seasonal place like is mention in this article, this is evident with our assessment of the area. The tourism of the island tends to dominated by coastal zones, as well as a strong winery trails. Tourism has a huge potential with the rising popularity of the Waiheke, the significant issues which was raised by the article; is to spread the tourism around so not just one sector is just affected by the positive impact of tourism. An example of this would be the Matiatia site which is so close to Oneroa shops and cafes, since the Matiatia site is the arrival destination it would be unjustly to put in shopping and café complexes which would compete which the close proximity of the Oneroa shops. However it may be more appropriate to have this an area more to do with eco-tourism so people can start to understand the identity of the island as they arrive.
Helen Armstrong
The Culture of Landscape Architecture, Inventing Landscape: New Collaborative Design, pg117-134
This article was not as relevant as I would have liked it to be but it did raise some interesting points to do with using the local community opinions, views and perspectives as a means to generate design. The designers from the Arts Council of NSW collaborated with the Canowinda community in Sydney; this was achieved through a number of workshops which were deemed successful. In the workshops the community was allowed to freely express their aspirations for their community to the designers. The community suggested what they wanted for the site which was such programmes as town walks, cycle ways and festival areas. Waiheke Island has a strong community and has formed the group CAPOW which is a group focused on protecting and enhancing the quality of the environment, lifestyle and values. Therefore the community input is vital to the design process to “grant a sense of place” for the community to inhabit. The Waiheke community has definite aspirations for the Matiatia some which include:
- Car parks for commuters
- Transport linkages
- Public spaces
*for Jazz festival
*Wharf to wharf
- Programme
Cultural Studies in Aotearoa, Identity, Space and Place edited by Claudia Bell and Steve Matthewman
Nigel Clark
Cultural Studies for Shaky Island
The chapter starts by briefly introducing cultural studies and how this is relevant to New Zealand and the people in habituating the space. Nigel refers to a book ‘White Teeth’ which raises the issues that no matter where people live on the globe there is a relationship to the physical differences in the earth, ie mountains, islands, volcanoes, earthquakes… this determines how we experience the land. In New Zealand we tend to identify nature to be our distinguishing feature of our physical environment in which we inhabit. This identity is a crucial part in the way we think about Aotearoa, New Zealand. “New Zealand nature helps New Zealand people define who we are, what makes us similar to each other and distinct from other people” The author raises a critical question: ‘So just what aspects do we choose to identify with?’ This question follows into heading called ‘Clean, green, and 100% pure New Zealand?’ where Nigel uses a reference from Geoff Park who reminds us that the most characteristics feature of Aotearoa before Europeans arrived was the extensive lowland ecosystem. “Today, most of what we call ‘native forest’ clings to hill country or mountain slopes.” With the swamps and low-lying wetlands which blanketed the coastal plains and host the richest bird life in the country made way for farm and agriculture. This past lowland ecosystem which was a huge part of the Maori culture has all but disappeared with only fragments remaining. This is relevant to Waiheke where this has happened all over the island to make way for vineyards and farmland, and the fact that the island contains fragments of ancient lowland ecosystem, a design proposal or scheme should do its utmost to preserve, protecte and enhance.
‘Nature and Nation’ is the next subheading in the article and discusses the European and Maori ties and connection to the land. Maori having connection to the land through common roots, language and customs, it is also evident through the storytelling and naming of places. “… what Europeans introduced to Aotearoa, along with sheep and gorse, muskets and measles, was the concept of the ‘nation.’
Inventing New Zealand nature This chapter discusses the need for a new generation, born and bred in the country that could experience the land in an unbiased way, ‘this allows the land to speak for itself.’ This new generation was local painters, poets and composers who revealed the truth of the rocks and creeks, forest and coasts, which endeavor to make a ‘virtue of New Zealand’s isolation.’ Artists were not the only ones to promote this unique identity; the artists counterparts, the scientists who also make a special feature of New Zealand’s special characteristics of local biology, geology, and even physics. “They joined with our poets and artists to celebrate the isolation of these islands, proclaiming the achievements of a ‘nature that evolved without man… a rare and separate evolution.” The identity which is portrayed in this chapter makes New Zealand appear as a remote, isolated, exciting and unique island, making it appealing country in which to ‘get away from it all.’ This is essentially the same for Waiheke Island which has been used as a means to escape the city, in order to ‘get away from it all.’ Waiheke has its own special unique ecological environment which has also been reflected in the local artists who inhabit the island, even though Waiheke Island is a part of the New Zealand sovereignty, it has it own identity and characteristics which deserve preserving and protecting.
Steve Matthewman
More Than: Theorizing the Beach
This chapter discusses a beach as, “The beach is a littoral zone, a sandy shore between sea and land. The beach is also a liminal zone, a coast between nature and culture, located at the threshold of space and place.” The beach is a site of escape, leisure and new identity formation. The chapter explores the beach’s meaning in the context of English, Australia, and Aotearoa New Zealand experience. The chapter further discusses the beach topics, by using examples as Brighton, Bondi from a New Zealand perspective, in terms of Brighton is ‘too commercialized, too ugly, and too cold as the real thing. Similarly Bondi is too metropolitan, and like British beaches, too polluted and over crowding.’ When the author compares these two beaches to our own Piha, it is evident that the identity is totally different, it has this simplistic beauty of a nature at its most wild and awe inspiring. Steve makes the point of ‘Humans can’t improve it.’ This chapter is relevant to Waiheke appose of what not to do in the cases of Bondi and Brighton beaches, and just merely following the simplistic example of Piha. After experiencing the Waiheke beaches first hand it is truly a case of ‘humans can’t improve it.’
Chris Prentice
On the beach? The question of the Local in Aotearoa/ New Zealand Cultural Studies
The initial part of this article is to do with a nation trying to finds its own identity, and ‘thematise the instabilities of place, the relationship of literary culture more generally to landscape.’ Chris demonstrates by taking extracts from famous New Zealand poets and novelist like David McKee Wright, Bill Manhire and Ian Wedde. In Ian Wedde’s ‘Symmes Hole’, the novelist alludes to the contemporary culture of Aotearoa/New Zealand at intersections of past and present, the local and global. The article then discusses the significance of beaches as a part of national life and psyche and how it is a source of freedom. The beach is also known as a significant site for arrival and departure in the Maori world, “its liminal status as a ’corridor between the known and occupied world, and the uncertainly of the ocean.” Along with this, the authors start talk about a beach as a free zone in which to witness the ‘oceans events.’ The next point the article raises is using the landscape as a means for tourism which is economically done by two way ‘knowledge’, and the other service and symbolic ‘goods.’ In New Zealand the culture tends to be identified with the land and the Maori culture.=
Berg, Pamille
Sustainability, Identity and the Redefinition of Self-Transition, 1997, n56, p 32-33
The author in summary states that to understand the words of sustainability, culture and cultural identity we must first get a few people’s wisdom about this fundamental concepts. “In saying anything about the cultural aspect or implications of the design of our physical environment in more sustainable ways, we must first understand our use of the world ‘culture’.”
The author then uses several professional views of cultural and what it means to them:
- From a archeologically tradition, Barry Cuncliff of Oxford University notes that ‘ culture’ is “… that aspect of social behaviour which can be recognised in the archaeological record” this meaning relates to the material fact of culture, but in regards to sustainable design Barry further expresses the following statement.
“More precisely, culture has been defined as the consistent recurrence of an assemblage is a culture limited in time and space. Here again, the assumption is that a culture, thus defined, reflects contemporary social distinctions.”
- British sociological tradition, Ronald Fletcher defines culture as:
“… the social ’heritage’ of a community: the total body of material artefact (tools, weapons, houses, places, places of work, worship, government and recreation, works of art, etc); of collective mental and spiritual artefacts (system of symbols, ideas, beliefs, aesthetic perceptions, values, etc) and of distinctive forms of behaviour (institutions, groupings, rituals, modes of organisations, etc) created by people (sometimes deliberately, sometimes through unforseen interconnections and consequences) in their ongoing activities within a particular life-conditions and (through under going degrees of change) transmitted from generation.”
The article goes on to talk about how the culture has change and how we view the world through culture. The article states that over the past century or two has become more devoted to meaning and meaninglessness. Johann Fiche states “spiritual self and rejection of the modern world; modernist society’s inability to find anything which forms linkages between self and the rest of the world.”
The article then starts to talk about how technology has change our form of communication, which makes older forms of communication seem awkward and in antiquate by comparison. We as a society are now dependant on bits or bytes, on access numbers and passwords.
This has made for a culture which the “individual does not conceive of itself as inherently connected to his surrounding environment.” This is quite a critical statement, not just for my design statement but for the contemporary culture we live into day, we tend to be drawn more and more to cities to live and work. This is why I believe that Waiheke and other places like it are deemed so popular, it is because these places are a means of escaping the hectic city life. This is just a desperate attempt to re-establish this lost connection with his/her surrounding environment.
The article then asks the question; In cultural terms, where does that identification of self with the ecosystem come from, and what can generate it? The author refers to example which involves indigenous races like the Aboriginals and the Polynesian culture who have been working in harmony with the environment for thousands and thousands of years. The sums up with this point “The are societies in which, unlike those engender a sense of futility, nothingness and estrangement for the individual, every person has a place and a role in a past, present and future that is inseparable from the physical and spiritual environment.”
Michael Hough
Out of Place: Restoring identity to the Regional Landscape, New Haven
This chapter Michael discusses the very different and sperate identity of Hong Kong, Toronto, Istanbul.
- Hong Kong - the grandeur of its setting- mountain, sea, and enclosing harbour, also the tropical climate and vegetation are clearly expressions of place.
- Istanbul - identity lies in its skyline where topography and architectural form create a seeming less expression of nature and cultural.
- This is two example of the identity of city the chapter further discusses identifies of Toronto and Edinburgh, start to discuss the use of materials. In Edinburgh case, the city used foreign material to build the city, this was to display its vast wealth and power.
The chapter then articulates the symbols, markers and boundaries which gives a local a sense of place where to an outsider would seem folly or unrecognisable. Naming a place creates ’a mental image that has special significance for local people,’ these names create a romantic images of places that ’beliereality.’ The chapter concludes with the final idea of the identity of any region is not due to it influences of cultural tradition however it is primary determined by the native landscape.
The Native Landscape and Human Perceptions
P20-33
In this chapter the author examines the nonhuman landscape as a basis for regional identity. He further discusses few landscapes are isolated or under influence from human kind. Nature’s scenery is natural habitat, while our landscape is habitat manipulated by man.’
The Cultural Landscape
Regional Identity by Necessity P34-58
This chapter explores what lies behind the distinctiveness, sense of place, and beauty of these vernacular landscapes which provide the construction of regional identity.
‘The vernacular landscape has traditionally been described as forms that grow out of the practical needs of the inhabitants of a place and the constraints of the site and climate.’ The natural landscape has been formed by cultural processes by human activity over many generations ie agriculture.
A section of the chapter worth noting is where the author explains how different environments shape the towns and their identity. Most towns differ from place to place, this is due to the connection to the environment to create a sense of place.
The Urban Region and the Loss of Identity
“The railway, the automobile, and the airplane all structure the experience of the environment and sperate us physically and in time from the world through which we pass,” all for the sake of connivenance and speed. The author discusses claims it is evident the limitations of getting around the world have fundamentally changed. “The understanding of places increasingly becomes a matter of specific experiences - the airport one leaves and the airport where one arrives- with no link between experiences. The author explains how this is also relevant to travelling across the united states in a automobile, where you are going slow enough to engage with the surrounding environment, instead what the state highways do is ignore the topography and natural features in order be more efficient.
The next segiment which was quite interesting in terms of Waiheke and is what people coming to the island was trying to get away from, “People are more willing to live near the office than a dirty, noisy, and visually unattractive factory. Another reason relates to changes in transportation patterns that favour trucking over rail for the shipment of goods, and automobile commuting over mass transit.”
Tourism
Searching for the Differences
This chapter begin with the statement: ‘Tourism has the potential to be a major force in the protection and maintenance of regional character. But like any other economic development, when the environmental and social values on which it depends are absent, the rich diversity of the natural and cultural landscape is degraded and somewhere becomes anywhere.’
The author delves into what tourist are drawn using an example from the south coast of France, things like, dramatic landscape of sea, sun, and brilliant colour. He elaborates further by saying how he visited in the 1979 and what was once rural landscape and small villages by the sea, now, is an endless vista of hill side vacation homes and apartments buildings. The village by the sea is now a road full of non-stop traffic jam of cars honking overheated cars and sweating drivers.
The author discusses the old rural setting has been ‘edged’ out both by tourist development and has evidently eliminated the regional character which drew all the people to the area in the first place.
This situation is very similar to not only Waiheke but many other places around the world, this is echo at the beginning of the chapter, where tourism does have the ability to maintain and enhances but more often than not landscapes tends to become developed for financial benefits rather than for the environment benefit. Waiheke is quite possibly endanger of doing exactly this, with its increasing popularity it may one day become just another commercial landscape, just like the in the South Coast of France, so it crucial to have the Matiatia site be about the regional character.
The author discusses the environmental values and sustainable futures of tourism and several issues which need to be considered.
- Consumption versus preservation
Tourism is based on consumption rather than the preservation of nature, i.e. hunting and fishing.
- Free Resources
With travelling at your leisure there is no commitment to the ecological environment, the human behaviour patterns are self-centred, exploitive and uninvolving.
- The special versus the ordinary
Tourism looks for the special and unusual, and pays little attention to the natural forces working behind the scenes. The problem with this scenario is it attracts large amount of people to the site and this can cause more harm than good i.e. destroy habitats.
- Conservation ethics and spiritual values
This is when the environmental values are applied and not economic, becoming more about spirituality.
- Control
The accepted tools of the landscape planning involve controls that limit numbers of people and that manage access and human contact with special places. Tourists can best contribute to the identity and health of a place when the tourists start to learn about the places one visits. Such things as:
- Ecology
- Commercial timber
- Historical land use
- Codes of behaviour
- Land ethics
- Research
The following principles for site planning and interpretive methods formed the basis for implementation:
- Exploiting the site :
The purpose of this is to give meaning and significance to largely unnoticed landscapes.
- Scale :
Provide contrasting scenery so it keeps the spectators interest and understanding.
- Involvement :
The more a person does for his self the more that person will learn.
- Appropriate materials :
Materials should provide a sense of place.
Precedent study
Alicia Roderiguez
Preserving Paradise, Landscape Architecture, March 2000, v90, no3,p50-53.
This planning proposal is located in an island in Barbados; the scheme deals with the issue of attracting tourism to a different area of the island, while having a coexistence with landscape conservation. This section of the island is known for its rugged hills, ravines, and gorges. The area is primarily rural and sparsely populated, the main tourist attraction of the plan hopes to promote Barbados National Park. The design promotes the under visited area through a series of developments of ecological and cultural sensitive aspects which complement the region’s unique natural character. The planning scheme was awarded ASLA Honor award, for its consideration for the sensitivity of place and people. The scheme was an approximate 7,300ha, which takes up to 17% of the island area, which is inhabited by 17,000 people. George Dark from ASLA commented on the plan “It’s very much a living landscape… landscape in which people live and run all sorts of business.” The plans success was due to the collaborated meeting with locals, which gains the support and foundation which was required for this scheme. This precedent is important for the Waiheke project because there is a strong community already connected with the Matiatia site, which have invested interest and opinions. It is important that any design of this site has incorporated the community’s needs and wants in order for the design be of any success.
Heather Hammatt
Avoiding Suburbia Landscape Architecture, May 2001, v91, n5, p50-55
This planning scheme was for Daniel Island, which was a development in the city of Charleston, South Carolina. The island was inaccessible until the early 1990s construction of Highway 526 which put Daniel Island on the map. Plans were made in early 1991 for the development of 1,000 residential homes on the island. The development scheme proposed a strong public access to the waterfront, and an extensive system of public parks, green spaces, and pedestrian routes. The township is shaped around the natural and historical features of the island. The New Urbanism approach to the design made sure that a broad range of people with different incomes, ages and family types, also providing civic building as government offices, churches and libraries. This precedent study is very similar to the Waiheke community in the way that both have this sense of getting away from the city, making their own community in order to escape.
Marieke Timmermans
Flirting with the Landscape Topos, December 21, 1997, p34-45.
This precedent study is in The Netherlands, the design proposal deals with the issue of creating high density homes for the rising population. The issue was there was nowhere for the construction of high density houses because the designers did not want to take over historic centre or the diminishing green spaces in the city. The urban planners and landscape architect decided to create new landscapes by reclaiming land to form five strip islands, to generate 450 new housing units and creating new public green spaces. This precedent which is working outside the box, is asking the question ‘why destroy something which is valuable and historic, when you can just create new landscapes to accommodate the pressing issue of rising population.’ This proposes an intriguing design possibility of creating separate artificial islands for living and then using Waiheke Island as a place for escape and enjoyment, to create a new type of liminal threshold between the two spaces.
Clair Enlow
Leaving History Where it lies Landscape Arcitecture, December 2005, v95, n12, p44-51
A dense, new suburban community in Richmond, just south of Vancouver, was built around the remains of an old fishing process centre at the mouth of the Fraser River. Most of the old industrial complex has been cleared away to make room for new walkways and green spaces. The relics of the past have not been completely taken away, inside a 40 acre park there is hundreds years of history etched into the ground. The design contains a half-mile-long boardwalk which supports strollers, fitness seekers, and picnickers. People using the boardwalk can experience such artifacts as a huge nineteenth century cylindrical steam retort, new timber frame, galvanized fish bins… The article critiques this work by saying “The strong concept of layering past and present, inherent in Perry’s design, is further undermined by the cloying historicism-no doubt intended for mass appeal and quick turnover.” The article is relevant to the design process by the incorporation of historical elements to reflect local character and historical significant of the site like for example Matiatia.
Other precedents which are of interest would be the competition entry for the Matiatia competition, which are readily available online. I would use these entries as a form of critiquing my own position and directing my own design.
Kim Sorvig
Competing fo Santa Fe's Identity Landscape Architecture 2003 Jan, v.93, n.1, p132, 130-131
Santa Fe, New Mexico, held a design competition for the neglected landscape Santa Fe Railway, which included fifty acres of warehouses, seldom-used tracks, and scruffy open space. In general the space is seen as industrial and decrepit, it is a local hangout and a broken link to the wider world.
The competition was to design a railway park which could demonstrate:
- Arid-region sustainability
- Serve locals in this tourist mecca, and
- Respect regional identity
The competition raised a number of questions, such as:
- How can a strong regional places link to globalizing culture?
- What happens to regional identity when it becomes famous like Santa Fe style?
The competition received 56 entries, where four finalists were chosen and received $20,000 to further develop the design. The competition was won by a New York based Landscape Architect firm Smith, Schwartz, & Miss (SSM). SSM’s design harvests water both from land surfaces and roofs, pumping into a historicist water tower and distributing it into plantings via rail tankers. A deciding factor for the finalist was the incorporation of local event activities such as snow sculpting, apricot orchards and curandera gardens (medicinal plants).
Program for working throughout the semester
Week 1:
- Course Introduction
- Individual Instruction
- Wiki presentations
Week 2:
- Stage 1 Defining Your Position (A4 report)
Due Date 10.30am Monday July 17
- Individual instruction
- Feedback stage 1
Week 3:
- Individual instruction
- Presentation of board scale agendas
Week 4:
- Individual instruction
- Seminar Presenting Stage 2
Week 5:
- Individual instruction
- Stage 2 Interim Presentation (external critics)
Presentation 9am Thursday August 17 Due date 5pm Wednesday August 16
Week 6:
- Individual instruction
- Feedback Stage 2
Week 7-8:
- Mid trimester study break
Week 9:
- Individual instruction
Week 10:
- Individual instruction
Week 11:
- Stage 3 Design Development
Due date 10.30am 18th September
Week 12:
- Individual instruction
- Specialist Construction input
Week 13:
- Individual instruction
- Specialist Construction input
Week 14
- Stage 4 Technical Hand in
Due date 10am Monday Oct 9 Format A4 report
Week 15
- Mid Year Break
- Freak out!!!!!!
Week 16:
- Stage 5 Final presentation (external critics)
!!!!!!PARTY!!!!!!
Contacts and Mentors
Jillian and Mark VUW Tutor
Katrina Simon AUT Tutor
- Senior Lecturer
- Landscape Architecture
- email: ksimon@unitec.ac.nz
- phone: +64-9-815 4321 ext 7277
- fax: +64-9-815 4346
- location: Building 001, Room 1033
Sarah Coady Urban Designer
- Direct dial: (09) 307 4549
- Email: sarah.coady@aucklandcity.govt.nz
- Website: www.aucklandcity.govt.nz
kool sites
www.fba.fh-darmstadt.de/lehrinhalte/Allgemein/Fachgruppen/Darstellung/Geometrie/Plakate/images/A14017%2520Bernard%2520Tschumi%2520-%2520Parc%2520de%2520la%2520Villette.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fba.fh-darmstadt.de/lehrinhalte/Allgemein/Fachgruppen/Darstellung/Geometrie/Plakate/pages/A14017%2520Bernard%2520Tschumi%2520-%2520Parc%2520de%2520la%2520Villette.htm&h=572&w=444&sz=91&hl=en&sig2=xiC83TqymdTJm5osg2yz1A&start=2&tbnid=R5NBMsCmF4jSjM:&tbnh=134&tbnw=104&ei=Qv3WRIfYM86QJNbXzcYG&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dparc%2Bde%2Bla%2Bvillette%2B%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26rls%3DGGGL,GGGL:2006-25,GGGL:en%26sa%3DG
