Carolina English

GSD Design Discovery

is a six-week, graduate level Landscape Architecture program with intensive studio work, lectures, and critiques.

For: Harvard Design Discovery
Date: July 2019

GSD Design Discovery
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Extract: Spatial Organization

Extract: Vegetation

Extract: Materiality/Insulated Space

Extract: Water Depth/Topography

Extract: Circulation of Water

Extract: Circulation of People

Extract: Concentration of People

Extract: Concentration of Energy

Synthesize: Concentration of People/Energy and Spatial Organization (Physicality of Energies)

Synthesize: Concentration of Energy/Materiality (Insulated Energy Frequencies)

Deploy: GSD Backyard Spatial Organization Study

Deploy: GSD Backyard Physicality of Energies/ Center of Gravity Study

Deploy: GSD New Design Spatial Organization/Vegetation Plan

Deploy: GSD New Design Energy Concentration (Evidence Study)

Deploy: GSD New Design Concentration of People (Evidence Study)

Deploy: GSD New Design Physicality of Energies/Center of Gravity (Proof Study)

The Charles River Basin. Each member of my group studied the ground & materiality of one of these sites. I was responsible for site seven.

A detailed plan of my designated site (I also did a detailed section of 7C).

The ground & materiality study of my site. The design language was developed as a group (Diona Vakili, Eric Schwartz, Christine Spindler, Geli Zhou, Olga Nikolaeva, Alejandra Cortez Paz, Hannah Hardenbergh). The space between the circles designated the level of ground permeability (blank spaces were buildings). The amount of fill within the circles represented the steepness of the slope and the fill’s direction mirrored the slope’s direction.

A section of my site (7C).

Median Site Study: Urban Scale (1:13,000)

Median Site Study: Site Scale (1":1,300")

Median Site Study: Interaction Scale (1":171")

Median Site Study: Encounter Scale (1:10)

Median Site Study: Material Scale (1:1)

Median Site Study: Field Assemblage

Site Scale Plan (1":600"). Outlining each median’s wetland system. The first is a parking lot wetland. Keeping to this space’s original function as a parking lot, I introduced new plant life and a way to filter storm and surrounding building’s runoff water.

The second is a woodland sanctuary swamp. I chose the woodland in this median because it was the most isolated. I thought this would be a perfect location to bring back some of the lost bird habitats and populations. Additionally, I thought the woodland’s barrier of trees rhymed with its previous isolating/invisible perception. It still seems secluded, even empty, but when you walk within the grove, it feels boundless, almost like a sanctuary.

The third is the most human-centric of the four medians. Both because it is the largest and because it is right in front of MIT’s campus. The wet meadow lawn acts as an extension of MIT’s lawn and is primarily a meeting place for groups of people. In this median, the ecological function is in the background, but still present. The lawn’s mowed path is boarded by subtle mounds of overgrown grass and bee/butterfly loving wildflowers. While there wouldn’t be much animal diversity/population, there would be a large concentration and diversity of plant and insect life.

Lastly, the fourth median mirrors the first. It is also an emergent wetland (that connects to yet another offsite), but with greater opportunity for animal diversity. This median limits human interaction the most. Its main human-centric function is to get from point A to point B, allowing only for small moments of visual interaction. This space is primarily built for wetland plant and animal life as well as to filter and transfer storm water to an offsite wetland.