masterplanning - rough concept diagrams

The task from the last studio session (1st November) was to prepare some rough conceptual master plans of existing sites.

I started with Hackney Downs- my preferred park in which to run. A little larger than Calverley grounds but with a much less dramatic topography.


The park is arranged radially with a central activity node and a perimeter walkway.


It is worth noting that this park possesses relatively few physical barriers- it is therefore impossible to seal at night.

Open 24 hours a day, use fluctuates between families, winos, runners, youths and amateur sports teams (football, basketball and cricket).


Time is the decisive factor in determining which group takes ownership- but with 24 hour access, there are plenty of downs to go around...



SO: Calverley Grounds. My first attempt at a diagram is
illustrated on the right... there's a few more to come. Given that this is our present survey site thought it best to produce a diagram and refine it, so had a few goes.


There was another element to the studio assignment: to find a site of equivalent size (area) as a point of comparison.. with a perimeter of 916m and an area of 4.4 Hectares, the Olympic stadium at Stratford (future West Ham ground!) would just about squeeze in... not yet on google earth but same aerial shots are out there.


The stadium will hold 80,000 spectators (assuming everyone turns up)- worth considering if Calverley Grounds attempt a serious events programme... Tunbridge Wells Festival anyone?


Interesting fact, fact lovers: the Olympic Stadium was designed by Peter Cook (not the dead comedian), formerly of Archigram.


Not interesting? I hope this means that mid way through the tournament giant legs will emerge from beneath the stadium and carry everyone off to another part of the UK so everyone gets a chance to see what's going on in the raw. Y'know, like those archigram mobile city structure. No?
Did you not do Theory of Site and City? Lucky you...

I did a whole series of Calverley master plan sketches (not fresh designs, I hasten to add, just schematics of existing site plan)... this is the most successful I reckon, in that It gives an idea of the topography without going into unnecessary detail.

Please ignore the extraneous images dotted around... I'm reading Anti-Oedipus for some dissertation inspiration and weird stuff keeps creeping into my doodling... I'll post these, too... when I can remember...

The site I was really keen to work on was Jubilee Gardens. Fate decided I'd survey Royal Tunbridge Wells and it might be wise to stick with the Calverley Grounds, given the amount of work that went into it... but Jubilee Gardens is an opportunity to transform a really useless bit of land in one of my favourite parts of London into something really exciting.

Really quick master plan of site below...

Last of all, my impression of the Park de la Villette, which a) forms the exemplar site for my dissertation and b) I am also supposed to be talking about for Tom Turner's history and philosophy of garden design...

I haven't been there (yet) and it's very much bigger than the preceding sites detailed... I've also done a little sketch of a folie for you to enjoy. Was half asleep watching American Dad as I was drawing it- consequently, the word folie now reminds me of the CIA. Weird.

Think everyone else seems to know more about this place than me. I think the plan itself is very exciting, but am inclined to agree with Tom's summation in City as Landscape- the wide patches of empty lawn are a wasted design (and ecological) opportunity, despite the exciting theory behind the overall site plan.

I think this sketch does give a clear impression of the site though. So rah for me.