Reflections for October 30 Class

The two guest speakers that came to speak in this week's class brought to the table a wide spectrum of knowledge about the design world. Our first speaker was a hard hitting, to-the-point engineering consultant from Stantec Architects. Through a riveting 100+ slides he walked us through various skills like excel and public engagement that is crucial to our future professions, many of these skills not taught in our current schooling. There was also mention about the triple bottom line, and how to mitigate risks when dealing with the uncertainties of the real world. A six step sure fire procedure to maximize success and minimize risk was shown to us, a procedure that can translate into anything you work at in life. 

The second speaker came to our class with a entire different set of information. Dr. David van Vliet provided several case studies of successful planning projects in different Scandinavian countries. These countries seemed to be far ahead of North America in terms of the amount of thought put into the layout of their cities. There are also exhibitions held throughout different cities to promote good design practices in dealing with city growth, something Winnipeg could definitely learn from.

Both speakers had presented very interesting information to the class, but what really stands out in my mind of this week's class is the delivery of information. The contrast between Mr. Carmine Militano's presentation and Dr. David van Vliet was like day and night. Mr. Militano was much more engaging as a speaker and even though I'm not as interested in the business side of architecture (yet), I felt more interested in what he had to say versus Dr. Vliet. Now I'm not sure if Jae co-ordinated that deliberately, but asides from learning about the business side of design and planning, I learned what a difference the delivery of information can make. If we are to really implement our innovative ideas into the real world, we'll have to acquire the ability to convince businesses, developers, government and the public.  

The High Line

Please click High Line for more information

In a city with such stringent limitations on space emerges a slew of outstanding ideas and innovations. With the ecological parameters we are facing with sustainability, designers need to be more creative than ever. Everyone is stepping up their game, creating landscapes filled with ingenuity, beauty, and sense of place. The High Line in New York is just one of the great examples of designing with immense limitations. If you thought Manhattan's west side was already too full, think again.  Landscape architects Field Operations with architects Diller Scofidio+Renfro have created a new park in this densely populated area 30 ft in the air! By using a railway built in the 1930's that ran 22 blocks above ground, the architects of the High Line created a new public green space while keeping historic roots of the city. Along with the benefits of a new green space comes a boom of economic growth for this area. The 1.5 mile above ground park will become the "Central Park" of the 21st century, with High Line branded restaurants, hotels, and retail sure to crop up around it (Sternbergh, 2007).

Winnipeg, also a place with rich historical roots in our railways should draw upon this example as inspiration to transform our down trodden railways into new public spaces be they parks or whatever. Using the land we already have is a practice that Winnipeg has failed to touch upon (note the increasing sprawl outside our city boundaries). Because we don't have such challenging limitations on space such as a city like New York, there is a tendency to become lazy. But that only means we need to be self motivated and take initiative to be aware of our land usage.

The guidelines and parameters we must meet to get our designs to the proper "green code" shouldn't be seen as a hinderance, but instead as an opportunity for designers to push their creativity to the furthest limits.