Author Archives: Housingresearch.solutions

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About Housingresearch.solutions

Researcher into the Commodified Housing Market (by annoyance), Landscape Architect (by profession), Bricklayer (by trade) and Dyslexic (by accident of birth).

Work, curse of the drinking classes.

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Mines a pint.

Trying to clear my backlog of paid work.


Just thought i would put up what i am doing to show the different requests from clients and the work arounds one has to do. Also the experimenting with rendering and perspective sketches.

Small narrow back garden.

Client request for veg, cottage style, new baby on the way, interest in perennial planting ie has the time to play/enjoy the garden
Basic perspective copied from a photograph on A3, rendered with pro markers until they ran out!. Finished in P/S. lots of little bolt on tricks, in particular using ‘poster edges’ from ‘filter gallery to get some depth and definition to finish. Tree is a bit Naff.


Looking back toward the house. Same again copied photo, straight into P/S and rendered. Struggled a bit with this one, the pergola is to large and heavy and a bit out of perspective. Looking at it it needs more umph on the planting. Very simple design (see earlier plan ‘Darwin or God’).



Front Drive on New Build ( ‘Knot Garden’ plan )

Drive and walls already constructed,so working with what is already there. I would like to take the curved wall down and have the hedge as a barrier, we shall see.
A bit garish on the colour front ,but that is to compensate for the printers printing on the dark side. Graphical. Drawn out of my head, scanned, rendered in P/S. See what i mean about the wall. A twist on the knot garden. Very formal due to the style of the house (mock Georgian) and the position as a semi circle on a two exit drive. Finished off with ‘water colour’ filter.Man in orange tee shirt seems to be a theme

A bolted panoramic picture , traced, scanned and P/S.
Same finish with Water colour.


Lessons.

Still yet to find a routine that i a happy with,though the graphic route seems to be favoured at present. I am just so aware of providing images that communicate, rather than provide atmosphere as limited time and finances means reading the client and fitting the image to their need is important. Plus i still need to ‘practice the atmosphere thing, as well as everything else.

Tomorrow back on ‘Park Life’ 



Who are the ‘Green Engineers’?

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That is the Question.


Two days of green engineering and i thought i would be ready to go back to my Neanderthal ways, being a cynic, unless its proven in my mind (in my few years on the planet i have seen  a lot trends promoted and used for ill gain, so its always good to question and not just accept because ‘billy big bollocks ‘ says so) then its hot air blather which is no use for beast or man.


But i can so see the logic in proceeding down this route, not the sandals and sack cloth,but the high and low tech solutions to everyday needs, in particular, waste.
As in not wasting resources moving products around the planet, saving and reusing local resources first before going further a field. Lastly, efficient buildings whose creation is mainly due to the landscape, not the other way round. 


The idea that LA’s are ‘engineers’ from our lesson on SUDS was an inspiration. I knew a bit about swales and suds (or at least i thought i did) but never joined the dots. A really fantastic lesson. The fact that this was backed up with evidence and the interest from Governments from around the world proved even more that what we are now entering is an age of proactive green policy rather than chest beating ‘i don’t own a car and am a vegan’ macho talk.


So ‘if’ i and the rest of us make it, then we have a duty to not to be shrinking violets, otherwise the holistic big picture of building as part of the landscape will be lost amongst the desire for engineered infrastructure that engineers love so much. Forgetting the impact on the world, rather than the often the simple solutions of using what the landscape has used for millions of years. Very inspired even if we did not make it to China!

Taking green technology to the limit, The new hospital (completion 2014) in Bermuda


A lot of thinking and re-evaluating to be done.

Style: Darwin or God?

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Style


I have been working on paid work this week so that i have the luxury of eating food other that gruel (though as i seem to burn just about everything is there any point in buying nice food)?

I have been experimenting with various styles over the past year and am slowly coming to the conclusion that communication (no, i refuse to use the ‘paramount’ word, my most hated word due to journalists and ‘safty nazis’ using it at any and every opportunity, that includes you John Humphfies of R4 Today programme fame) is the first point to think about on drawings, obvious maybe, but in the past (and still now sometimes) i have fallen into the trap of trying to do a work of art (although not quite Tate Modern more bill posters under  railway arches) and the ‘impression’ overtakes the the design.
Result, confused clients.

So i have tried to do a clear and concise drawing, trying also to avoid the computer look too much, ie repeats.

A small garden, the desire for veg and perennial planting with a space to sit and admire. Hidden the functional area with a ‘dog leg’ in the path.
Veg near the house (as it is at present). 


Drawn on the board, Scanned bolted together in photoshop, Rendered and annotated photoshop.
Plain style to the point, once printed i will add people and slab and brick patterns, probably ruin it!


On to the next……..

D or the big G?

Well i think Darwin wins this round, style is mostly about evolution. Trial and error if you like. We all have eyes to see it just depends how we interpret and crit our own attempts, a never ending process, todays bacon is tomorrows landfill. Which i am being constantly reminded, onwards, forwards, no looking back, bright future, shades, as MJ said ‘Lets Dance, lets shout….. I think i need to eat blood sugar is getting low.
                                                  

Subtractive Modelling, darling. Update

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Model
Well model done, photographed, photoshopped and annotated.
How was it done?


Subtractive


Ingredients


1 Sheet of 100mm selutex
Saw
Dremmel
ipod
Tea
Van
Drawing
Marker
Tea
Hoover

Plan on 600 x500 square of 100mm selutex (evil stuff)
Roughly drawn out ready for attack

then,


Additive


Card
Wire Wool
Tea
Silver foil
Impact Glue

Just after carving four loads of dust from the hoover and half in my lungs


Added the important features. Very neutral colours

Photoshop

Played around a bit to get a lighter feel, as a lot of my work recently has seemed a bit heavy and dull.

Decided to not have a frame on the pictures as the angles and backgrounds would not work, so went for the dreamscape view ( Q, the twilight zone music, it looked like any other display of photoshop fantasy, but he was now entering……. the ‘Twilight Zone’).

Spent a while on the annotation to ‘Sell’ the project.



One particular picture came out well, Daylight rather than electric always seems to work better. Photoshop sky.
So there we have it, another section done (but never completed).

Sunday is annotation day plus some sketches in black and white, then do the 1;50 area for monday, so normal frantic Sunday.

Update on cross sections i think will take a little more time as i have yet to come up with an alternative to the style that i have been using up till now.

Now where is that ink and Karens number……






Can’t see the wood for the Tree’s

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Focussed on the point.


A bizarre saying, never really understood it for years, but at the moment its crystal clear and i am sure for most of us it has a chime of truth. 
Looking at your own work for hours/days/months, doubt creeps in until you have no idea whether its good, inspirational and ground breaking or tired, predictable and safe.
Then the trap of adding more ‘stuff’ and losing the less is more simplicity ,which we all know is so hard to achieve. It comes back to the would i like to spend a day in the Park? As an 8 year old or 70?


This so has to become a ‘place’ again. It must become a point of reference to what a park could and should be the local and wider community. Otherwise leave it as it is and spend the money else were, were it would be beneficial.


Enough rambling,


Drawings 


Sunday Morning, this is were i am at


1:200 plan. Updated and tightened the annotation. Added trees to correspond to planting plan. Lightened the South bank. Cross section markers. Reduced the size of the scale bar. I am sure i have missed stuff

Boy, did i spend some time on this little puppy. There can never be enough information for a contractor. So site visits would still have to happen though the idea of leaving a drawing that the informed contractor could refer to and not be phoning up every five minutes is the challenge.



Flattened the textures for the different materials to reduce any confusion. Though i am sure a specification book could go with each drawing, as i seem to have a lot of questions for the designer, oh shit thats me!
I can easily see how a year of designing as a team with hundreds of drawings and specification documents could easily happen , and then have a major F/Up
because somebody has missed the ‘bleedin obvious’!


Sunday have loads to still do, given up on getting the model done, but you never know!!!



Dark Satanic Mills

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Ozzy the Victorian Man

While i was designing some Victorian/Gothic style fencing, had some music on for a change (tend to work in silence as the old grey matter tends to ‘get in the groove’ alas the wrong groove).
Itunes Genius playlist, What could better than a bit of Black Sabbath playing a delightful tune from their ever popular long player ‘Master of Reality’ called ‘Into the Void’ a real throat slitter, perfect for a Gothic Fence design.
A quick sketch of the front entrance

Gothic Arch theme. The slits and holes for a bit of decoration

A bit more ‘Adams Family’ with diamond shapes.

All out of Oak,it will cost a fortune but last 40+years without any treatment, the beauty of hard wood.
All made at Hever Saw Mills , hopefully.

phew..Pen and Ink!

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Pen and Ink


Well had a go, small brush and ink pen, plus natural sponge for tree effect.


Need to practice more. I see the possibilities of this format. Though old habits die hard.


Big week this week for completion of 1;200 section, plus normal work…

Oops lolly pop trees. Though love a Gas works 

  
Salix and Cypress Oak
Small tree natural sponge.

A tree for all seasons

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Plants


Well first attempt at the tree planting schedule. I have not put sizes as i need some guidance from others on the pot/girth dimensions.


Really tried to visualise the effect the tree’s would have in the surroundings, ie some restricted space other area’s much more open. Also the effect on noise from dampening to echo down the ravine. Thought about enclosure for the visitors as well as seasonal colour and scent . Put some specimens in to cause special visitations when in bloom (in particular the Handkerchief and Foxglove trees)



Materials

Really just a quick template ,a lot more research as i have yet to get excited about anything. I know what i want but can’t seem to find the materials to match the vision….Compromise?