Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Century Landscape - Essay Example

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE CRITICAL ESSAY; TWENTIETH AND EARLY TWENTY FIRST CENTURY LANDSCAPE Research Path In this research ill move on directly to evaluate the key things that add value to be of George Hargreaves works that has catapulted him to what he is today the last master of architecture. To do this ill inform the main words of the study which include;introduction,citation,research paradighim,its objectives,strenghths and weaknesses, Its scope, drawn lessons and resolutions. Biography of George Hargreves He is the director in design of George Hagreaves Associates a consulting firm in Architectural landscapes and planning whose offices are found in major cities in the USA and England. Under his stewardship his company has received 34 awards in recognition of his fabulous skills in architectural design. (Steenbergen1986) As a result all his designs attract not only local but international publications as well in order to satisfy an ever enthusiastic public demand. This man who has taught at the Harvard University for Designers for two decades doesn’t just have the practical experience but even academic credentials to go with. He has co authored a book ‘Large Parks’ which sets out to fact find the complex issues surrounding large urban parks ion relation top historical and ecological upheavals that define their place in the modern setting. He has a doctorate from Harvard University graduate school of design and holds very high academic papers having been a visiting professor at four US State universities. He sits on fifteen national juries’ apart form being a fellow at the society of American Landscape Architects. Some of his tantalizing exhibitions include the large Parks new perspective of 2003 and the Olympics 2000 among an assortment of over 20 top notch exhibitions in this field world wide. With over six publications on his head this is a man whose shoes no one can wear thus being referred to us the last master of architectural design. He has won individually six awards and given over fifty public lectures on this complex subject matter. Purpose of the Research Study While the world is averse with unrelenting architectural prowess in the areas of developing parks and other constructions. It’s prudent that we get the insight on what goes on behind the deigns and how it can be done better to avert a crisis that would have been prevented by providing a forum to critic this incredible development in the world today. Architectural designs are some of the most sophisticated advancement sin the techno world that is changing at a rate we can not control. Unless something is done in time to seal the loopholes that are not closed even with this development we are sitting on a ticking time bomb that is about to explode. Scope My research study will dwell on Parks as the latest phenomena of the architectural landscapes designed by George Hagreaves.Since the role played by parks continue to evolve with time its prudent that in his design of parks Mr.Hagreaves should not restrict the use of the park to the traditional roles they have been known to have. Its obvious that greenness can not be removed from parks but with the latest inroads being leveled at Parks its important that the design of parks should encompass a protective boundary to avoid the cropping up of buildings here nad there and the development of other sorts of amenities around them. It would be a mistake for the designers to come up with Parks for the sole intention of having a rural environment in the heart of the city. This setting is unwarranted in this time and age. The park should be seen as a place of resourceful recollection away from the busy work place where you can sit down and think not necessarily for pleasure and leasure.Many Parks today are more than 1000 kms wide this does not put in the question of sustainability and control. Knowing too well that human beings are subject to forgetfulness it would be improper to put up a park and end up making it a safe heaven for criminals due to mismanagement and being unable to control what goes out and comes in. This should be food for thought for George Hagreaves a major designer of Parks and other landscapes whose prowess has made him receive various accolades in this subject matter. He has designed over seven parks in the world today and this study will focus on the Byxbee Park that he built in the city of Palo Alto. As much as he has reservations for small parks he contents that large parks are difficult to maintain because they keep on resisting any control measures administered on them. Research Paradigm Because of the fact that this study will entail reading other people’s manuscript in order to fact find and come up with the right criticism for George Hagreaves design work on the Byxbee Park I will choose to use the qualitative analysis of research methodology rather than the quantitative one. Introduction In criticizing George Hargreaves works this research paper will borrow to focus on his Large Park works that have been made the epitome of architectural designs in the world today. (Fleming, 1991) While his design of large parks is unquestionably the best ever his undoing or weakness is that as he develops the park questions of ecological; balance in relation to expansion of the city and its environs emerge. The design of the Park in itself doesn’t in any way pre empty the influx of upcoming buildings and as a result this may lead to congestion if not premeditated in future plans. Prelude As much as Large Parks in his opinion presents free environments that are wide on the outskirts of the city and can be use for future expansion the impact of this on the ecological zones of a city are tragic and henceforth have to be curbed before hand to avoid a catastrophy.The water cycle should not be interfered with and in any case it should be reinforced by planting more trees and so these beautiful scenery shouldn’t present man with an opportunity to reign in more money at the expense of future generations. This is an after thought that Mr. George Hargreaves didn’t put to mind. The strengths of his designs albeit with a little bit of carefulness here and there help to reinforce what man has always desired sweet outdoor activities in a serene environment away from the hassle and Basle of polluted and noisy surroundings. Its in this beauty of nature that one can release their stress nad feel relaxed as they embrace what mother nature has to give them. Advantages of Large Parks Their ecological uses are not to be debated for they are the engine of life on planet earth. Helping the universe to not only store water in their rich ,leafy environs but to channel fresh air into the stuffy urban areas which goes along way in refreshing minds of people who are ever busy not to understand this ecological phenomena albeit undeterred by the various climatically changes due to the expansion of cities and infrastructure in the world. Their unrivalled demand and virtues which are second to none in this age and time will guarantee their continues formation in order to enhance a sweet life on planet earth. The Critique Since Large Parks are continuously being demanded and don’t take a specific form Landscape designers like George Hargreaves have the ultimate challenge of coming up with a design that wont be a detriment to urban expansion plans as well as to development of infrastructure like roads and sewage lines. The fact that juxtaposition and building on current and former ideas may take long to realize a final park is in itself a weakness since this could lead to the project stalling midway before completion when you realize that some direction you want to take may meet an upcoming infrastructure. Placing the final shape and form of a Park over the dictatorship of time is in itself a weakness since this would result to lots of changes due to different managements of the Park who would come up with their own desired shapes thus resulting to conflict of ideas that may kill a once good project. The strengths of George Hagreaves designs The strengths that George Hargreaves derives in these critiques is the fact that large parks are complex systems brought up by mother nature and thus require the benefit of timeliness to complete a circuit of reshaping and refilling open gaps in the whole design. From their point of view reinventing for Mother Nature could prove disastrous in the sense that man has no oversight control over what natural phenomena has to offer. As much as this study agrees with this but on the other hand it offers that its man who can control what nature brings to the table so that it doesn’t end up destructing man’s plans in the long run. Since some of the Parks that George Hagreaves is coming up with are a form of land reclamation for instance a land hill was reclaimed when he designed Byxbee Park thus creating not just an artistic impression but this is a strengths in itself because some of these lands would have been made use of weren’t it for his genius designs. Despite various criticism leveled against the way Hagreaves designed the Byxbee Park which is the subject of this research study he went on to win a USA coveted award for land scape architects in 1993 due to his outstanding works on this park. His Weaknesses George Hagreaves Byxbee Park design is amongst those that are always not populist with environmental activists as well as a number of politicians and watch dog organizations who have the impetus of protecting wild life and conserving them not only for future generations but because the tourism sector as is the case with many countries is one of the topnotch earners of foreign exchange and as a result lots efforts are put in place to ensure that no one interferes with this “black gold” of many nations in the world today. Mr.Hagreaves doesn’t state in his designs particularly the Byxbee Park design how he is going to ensure the conservation efforts of many wildlife enthusiasts do not melt into thin air and as a result his efforts are likely to hit the wall as far as wild life conservation is concerned. This challenge should make him to readdress this issue so that this noble idea doesn’t stop before it begins in this age and time where population is increasing at an all time high and demand on public land far much outweighs its supply. By him drawing the size of Byxbee Park to be more than 500 archers as an antidote to the stuffy city not only goes against the push for making industrialized towns greener in the face of pollution emitted from various wastes from the factories but also destructs the efforts made so far by environmentalists to curb carbon emissions in the efface of global warming a ticking time bomb that is about to explode. The largeness of this park borders and infringes on the expansion of not just Palo Alto city where it’s located but also its other border towns. Critics have justified the warrant use of large trucks of land foe Byxbee Park for its own development and ecological solutions so that it can be able to address its own natural systems that will see it adapt to its own self sustenance. But this will see new measures being drawn to ensure it’s protected and man kind is also protected thus digging deeper into the states money coffers to sustain something that would have been lefty to naturally evolve and take care of itself. A large Park does not need a city this is because you cant control and monitor what goes on inside it and this defeats the logic of having large parks in the first place when state organs cant control them. Drawn Lessons and Resolutions Since its agreeable that for Byxbee Park to sustain its ecological balancing factors for a long time its all about give and take on both the side of the designers and users of the park themselves. All have to demonstrate temperance in embracing not only the historical background but the physical nature of the site as it is. This is because if they fight it then the tension that results due to the pull and push would be catastrophic. It is in this regard that all stakeholders and not just the designer should ensure they observe all the necessary factors that will not only maintain the Byxbee Park but conserve its rich history as well. Since many parks are open to the public its thus agreeable that only large parks will be able to accommodate multiple groups of people from diverse cultures with various objectives. This is because small parks will require lots of planning and won’t allow free movement and engagement of activities since the place could be crowded. The only factor to observe here is to ensure serenity and upholding of the nature and value of the Byxbee Park control measures by policy makers should be put in place to ensure that it’s not misused. REFERENCES Steenbergen, C. & Reh, W 1986.Architecture and Landscape: the design of the great European gardens and Landscapes Pestle, Munich, pp.8-16 as found at: library.wur.nl/desktop/acquisitions/archive/forum-2009-07.htmlon 17th May 2011 Fleming, J., Honor, H. & Pevsner, N. 1991, The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture, 4th ed., Penguin, London. UNSW Library As found at; www.topia.fr/.../m_van_der_toorn_biblio_th_matique_topia_septembre2009.pdf On May 17th 2011 Read More