Miraposa Woodlands, Eugene, OR

Out of the Woods: 

A seminar on Sustainable Forestry

In the cumulative project I looked at a 600 foot section of a Eugene, OR woodland. Analyzing present conditions, deducing the past and projecting into the future. The resulting eight foot long poster is more of a method than a product, the evidence of a way of thinking about the natural habitat.

Freshkills Flock

For more information visit the LAGI site at: http://landartgenerator.org/LAGI-2012/23025028/#

Late Winter Plants: The Barberry Family

Berberidaceae 

This wonderful family of plants has lots of winter interest and many interesting uses. I've been focusing on the genus of Berberis (Barberry) and Mahonia (Oregon Grape) due to their color this time of year.

Berberis sp.

What makes them stand out this time of year?

Berberis darwinii

- Evergreen (mostly all)

- Beautiful small flowers      

- Plethora of foliage colors

Cultural Uses:

Mahonia aquifolium

- High Vitamin C content kept Scury at bay for many native people
- Acne Cure made by the Slaishan native from the bark and root
- Eyedrops use berberine a chemical found in the plant in some brands
- Ailments such as Gout, Fever, Cancer, Hypertention and more are treated sometimes with barberry
- Барбарис is a candy made from Barberries

A Proposal of Land Art: Uncovering the Strata of the City

Uncovering the Strata of the City

When installed, this land art will bring a different awareness to the known environment of the city. It will bring together very different minds and connect them through a technological platform. It will change peoples’ perspective on the ground plane they are walking on in their daily lives forever and educating about the inner workings of the city.

This project will take a series of slabs from sidewalks around a given city and excavate them in an archeological fashion. The process is the most important part, test pits will be made in the sidewalk. I will remove all filler materials and leave exposed the pipes, wires, roots and structure underneath. Then using a material such as plexiglass I will cap off these pit so people can walk across them. For a person coming upon a piece of this art this empty space will be enough of a difference to cause them to asses what’s there.

Layered onto the tactile experience of this art installation is an added informational piece. An interactive identification of what was uncovered can deepen understanding of what runs underneath their feet everyday. There would be an online site created where people could post their own pictures and experiences, as well as discuss these art pieces.

Construction Document: Final Planting Pages

Final Plant Drawing Set
This is the pre-final drawing set for the planting part of my construction documents. I created plantings that supported the goal of creating the feeling of a meadow leading into a forest floor. Through careful plant choice and dense planting the spaces created will be a good balance of hardscape and soft scape. The lighting plan I'm creating will support the drama of the space by up lighting the sculptural Japanese Maple trees.


Planting Master Page

This is the planting master page, it serves as a master list of all the plants and specific details on how the plants should be planted. Since we are planting a roof garden I will need to adjust the sub layer to concrete.

Western Planting Plan

Finished! This is the main courtyard, the plants are all sun loving meadow plants. 

Southern Planting Plan

In the Southern Courtyard the transition from sun to shade is blended together. In the furthest south part of the courtyard deep shade plants provide bright foliage and blooms to light up the space.

Northern Planting Plan

The North Courtyard is similar to the Southern, it has more japanese maples bringing the space out to the North-South axis.  This courtyard exemplifies my planting design program of creating an Urban Forest Floor.

AutoCAD: The Process

Process Work: Planting Layout

This is a screen shot of what the model space drawing looks like. This is what I've been staring at for 8 weeks straight. There are three different line weights for the dense planting and a much darker one for the trees.

In paper space (the area where you set up how thing print) I have started to add the labels as place holders before going in and specifying which plant is which.

The Results

This is the West Court Planting, as you may notice AutoCAD isn't printing the line weights right because some layer options aren't working. Other than that it's about 70% done!

South Court

North Court

Now to get back in there and label all the plants and count them up. That's what the excel sheet's for, so I don't have to do all the math myself.

Plants: Designing for Winter

Hellebore (Helleborus sp.) 

       
         The beauty of these plants is often overlooked; because their flowers hang facing the ground. The simple beauty is in the leaves, flowers and stems and how the plant grows. Varieties of foliage, and flower composition are endless, to the point where experts can't identify some of them as hellebores. I suggest if you spot one, take a moment to bend over and look at the flowers.

What Makes Hellebores Unique:

• They’ve been used over history for weight loss and conquering enemies
• There are over 20 species and so diverse that experts can’t identify all of them
• As long as their soil is well drained they will be long lived  (2 years and up)

 

        This plant is easy to find in nurseries, the other day I found them in a home improvement store. Growing them means you only need to kick back and enjoy them. 

Generally, stopping to look closer will always be rewarding!