LA CLUB goes to New York City

LA CLUB IN THE CITY 

Poster advertising the event

On April 13th several club members joined together to take a tour of several parks in New York City and gain some perspective on public space in such an urban environment. Taking a break from our studio work, it was nice to get out, stretch our legs, and experience spaces that we may design one day!

We started our trip with a pleasant train ride in from New Brunswick where we shared stories and enjoyed the convenience of public transportation. 

The first stop along the tour was Bryant Park, located next to the New York City Public Library and home to the New York Fashion Week. While we were there, the grass was off limits so that the roots could take hold. Even still, the park was bustling with people enjoying the sunshine with friends, pets, and many iced coffees. We took advantage of a group of chairs near the edge of the lawn and observed the activities in the park. 

Of course there were many "selfies" taken, and even these have some beauty in them. This "selfie" within a picture really shows how the towering buildings almost add to the canopy created by the trees framing the space of Bryant Park. 

At the entrance to the park, we stopped to take a group photo with the fountain.

Also at the entrance to the park were two larger-than life horse head statues that were made of metal. These are replicas of much larger sculptures called The Kelpies located in Scotland. The sculptures had a wonderful dappling effect because of the way the small pieces of metal connected, giving them both a heaviness and a sense of light. 

After leaving the park we came along this interesting water feature made of rusted metal of varying heights. We were intrigued by the way the water dripped from one layer to the next.

We also stopped in the Bank of America Building, where there is a large living wall feature, the "Urban Garden Room" designed by WRT landscape architects and Margie Ruddick.

Our next destination was Paley Park, which was designed by the landscape architecture firm Zion and Breen Associates and opened in 1967, has remained a successful pocket park. The site, which is very small, is closed on three sides and city noise is dulled by the water fall at the back of the park. 

This is a view from the entrance of the park, showing its limited size, but profound spacial qualities. 

We quickly found out that the water fall made a FABULOUS place to take pictures!

On our walk, we explored scale- how small we are to the constructed world around us...

And how different texture, tones, and patterns interact to create our environment. The pedestrian environment in New York City is always changing as the materials, sounds, and people transform each moment. 

Finally, we arrived at central park and quickly found one of the many large rocks in the park to take a group photo.

Some of us had never been to Central Park, but all of us were enamored with how many people were enjoying Frederick Law Olmstead's work. Through all of this time, millions of New Yorkers and tourists alike flock to central park to enjoy this open space. 

Who can resist a good selfie?

While exploring the park, we happened upon Belvedere Castle and we took the opportunity to climb to the top to gain some perspective on the park- also to say that we climbed a castle! Belvedere, which translates to "beautiful view" in Italian, really lived up to its promise. The view from the terraces were spectacular. This is the highest point in Central Park and gives viewsheds of both the Great Lawn and the Rambles.

This architecture, built in 1869 by Calvert Vaux, was such a contrast from the city behind it, its easy to see how its charm and allure can draw such a crowd! From the terraces, you can see the great lawn and the people enjoying this "un-programmed space." 

We certainly had a lot of fun together exploring these public parks. It was a nice reminder that the need for landscape architecture and designed space is important and its successes and uses are prevalent in our world today!

This trip definitely made me realize how much of our world we can shape, and how our environments shape us in return.

Sincerely,

Elle Gallagher

Junior

Sources: 

http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/belvedere-castle.html

http://margieruddick.com/work/urban/urban-garden-room/

https://tclf.org/landscapes/paley-park

http://www.thekelpies.co.uk/

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Part 1 Paragraphs 1-3 : Nature By Emerson

It is sometimes good to step away from the research and different programs to view nature in a different way. This article by Emerson shows a more essential connection to nature that over time has been lost. In my writing as a naturalist course I was asked to step away as a designer and become the viewer with no preconceived notions. This article really has stayed with me after I finished the course and would like others to read it as well.

 

"To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society. I am not solitary whilst I read and write, though nobody is with me. But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and what he touches. One might think the atmosphere was made transparent with this design, to give man, in the heavenly bodies, the perpetual presence of the sublime. Seen in the streets of cities, how great they are! If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile.
The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence. Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood.
When we speak of nature in this manner, we have a distinct but most poetical sense in the mind. We mean the integrity of impression made by manifold natural objects. It is this which distinguishes the stick of timber of the wood-cutter, from the tree of the poet. The charming landscape which I saw this morning, is indubitably made up of some twenty or thirty farms. Miller owns this field, Locke that, and Manning the woodland beyond. But none of them owns the landscape. There is a property in the horizon which no man has but he whose eye can integrate all the parts, that is, the poet. This is the best part of these men's farms, yet to this their warranty-deeds give no title.

To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature. Most persons do not see the sun. At least they have a very superficial seeing. The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child. The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. His intercourse with heaven and earth, becomes part of his daily food. In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows. Nature says, -- he is my creature, and maugre all his impertinent griefs, he shall be glad with me. Not the sun or the summer alone, but every hour and season yields its tribute of delight; for every hour and change corresponds to and authorizes a different state of the mind, from breathless noon to grimmest midnight. Nature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or a mourning piece."

Ralph Waldo Emerson Chapter 1: Nature

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Introducing the LA Club Officers... In Game Style!

     Recently, the club held officer elections for the 2014 - 2015 school year.  I decided it would be fun to introduce the new officers in a fun way!  Here is a fun game created by yours truly in the style of the addictive game 2048.

     Here's how you play: Move the tiles around on the board using the arrow keys.  When you combine two of the same tiles, the create a new tile.  In the original game, you must get from the number 2 tiles to the tile number 2048.  In this version, you must get from our incoming Junior Representatives to our Current President.  Enjoy!!    Click here to play the game!

List of officers in "Order of Appearance:"

- Amber Betances (incoming Junior Rep.)

- Shaun Thomson (incoming Junior Rep.)

- Eugene Fernandez (current Junior Rep.)

- Mark Lacey (incoming Treasurer and current Junior Rep.)

- Sara Yildirim (current Treasurer)

- Theodore Aretakis (incoming Secretary)

- Kimberly Richmond (current Secretary)

- Arturo Sangregorio (incoming Vice President and current Junior Rep.)

- Gwen Heerschap (current Vice President)

- Ellen Gallagher (incoming President)

- Alexandra Duro (current President)

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Roosevelt Praxis Studio Work Samples

Class Photo 

Photo by: Kate John-Alder, Professor

Ideograms

Jack Peters, Senior

Sara Yildirim, Senior

Gwen Heerschap, Senior

Miloni Mody, Second Year Grad

Tom Wyllner, Junior

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Portrait-folio - Portraits of Blake Hall

Life can get a bit hectic at Blake Hall, and among all the activities, and school work, and classes, we barely have any time to unwind and get into new hobbies just because we feel like it.

One not so hectic day a long time ago during one of our NJASLA student chapter meetings, we had an activity sort-of like musical chairs with a twist: we would all be sketching, or painting, or drawing, but when the time came to switch seats, we would have to leave our artwork behind for the next person to continue developing it however they pleased.  That was the night I drew two very quick portraits that would later become inspirations for a series of Cray-Pas portraits I am currently working on. That is of course only whenever Blake Hall's unforgiving clocks have a few minutes to spare for me, and one of my new found hobbies.

The developing series had no name until Senior Jack Peters suggested I called it PORTRAIT-FOLIO.

The Portrait-folio series is developing, and some say it is actually getting better portrait after portrait.  Mind you, I am no expert, but I reckon some of these do look very nice.

I decided to start exclusively with our fellow Seniors, since they will be graduating soon, and the time to get these dear friends of ours into the series is running out.  Below are some of the portraits I have finished so far.

PS: Shout-out to our very incredible, and awesome Sara Yildirim for lending me he very nice cray-pas set indefinitely for the duration of the series.

- Arturo Hernandez Sangregorio

Deanna Lu - Senior

Chris Perez - Senior

Jack Peters - Senior

Josh Mieloch - Senior

Michelle Hartman - Senior

Alyssa Viani- Senior

Sara Yildirim - Senior

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Somerville Praxis Discussion: Kim

After the class decided to take a part of the inventory leg work we were asked to discuss our findings. The sight has historic, ecological and social context which makes the analysis part critical as we move into the design phase of the project. With a broad range of information this class hopes to produce some innovative ideas for this brownfield site.

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SHAPE + SPACE

so we've all taken dean cardasis' class

but i'd like to open this post up for discussion by introducing the following

juan grimm paisajismo / jardín papudo, chile

The Tucson Mountain Retreat by DUST Architecture

Gridded garden by Glen’s Landscaping & Garden Maintenance

private garden | oxfordshire ~ dan pearson studio

canal gardens in amsterdam 

Barbican centre, London by Chamberlain Powell and Bon

 Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park

General Maister Memorial Park by Bruto Landscape Architecture

Twisted Valley by Grupo Aranea

Jesse Untracht-Oakner

what's your definition of space? how do you define it? color, texture, material- I think we all know the basics but it's important to revisit them

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