(Reblogged from zodiacchic)

AECOM Lecture Post 3:

This lecture was by Deanna Weber on Sustainability and Designat the AECOM office and was also followed by a bit of urban design and a mix of other topics by Stephen Nieto. These to lectures were extremely interesting because although the other series of lectures are based on factual things, just being at the AECOM office made them seem even more real! It was a rather invigorating experience to be able to be part of hear some of their stories that were based off of their experiences while working abroad on multidisciplinary design projects. When Stephen was talking about his experiences abroad in China it made me realize and appreciate the type of project I was working on during this quarter in lab- I came to the realization that I really like working on large scale projects that require a multidisciplinary group to create a master plan for a site.

AECOM Lecture Post 2


                This Lecture was on Transit Oriented Development and was given by Richard Wilson. Richard went on and gave a lot of useful information about how the relationship of land use plays a major role along with density to create successful TOD’s. It was mentioned how the BART system worked up north in the Bay Area, but yet something that was captivating was that some people were traveling a long distance just to get to BART which was somewhat ironic because the people who seemed to live within the vicinity this public transportation mode were not using it was much as those who were driving long times just to use it.  It’s a funny thing how some people will much rather commute long times just to avoid the delays, and masses of people instead of using some of the public transportation services that are afford to them.

Sojourn Two: To this site visit it was rather an eye opening, I went with two other girls from the class and to say the least we regretted not taking a male student with us. The place we visited was MacArthur Park- it was a roller coaster ride of feelings that were felt from the very moment we stepped out of the car. From being greeted by a group of men drinking beer, to an elder lady throwing pieces of bread in our direction so the birds would come and “scare” us, to walking through a 100% male dominated soccer game filled with an all-male spectator crowd.  Aside from the patrons that partake in the usage of this park, the park is a nice place that is designed relatively well and as seen does provide for its users. View high resolution

Sojourn Two:

To this site visit it was rather an eye opening, I went with two other girls from the class and to say the least we regretted not taking a male student with us. The place we visited was MacArthur Park- it was a roller coaster ride of feelings that were felt from the very moment we stepped out of the car. From being greeted by a group of men drinking beer, to an elder lady throwing pieces of bread in our direction so the birds would come and “scare” us, to walking through a 100% male dominated soccer game filled with an all-male spectator crowd.  Aside from the patrons that partake in the usage of this park, the park is a nice place that is designed relatively well and as seen does provide for its users.

Sojourn One: Griffith Observatory, this was the first time I have been to the observatory, it was a rather neat experience that was truly captivating. Being up there at night made it really easy to see our linear grid that the city has, also be able to differentiate the denseness of the city. Not only was this a location with a great view to the city it also offered a great view to our vast open outer space. They lack enough parking space at the top of hill but the walk up the slope is not bad at all. View high resolution

Sojourn One:

Griffith Observatory, this was the first time I have been to the observatory, it was a rather neat experience that was truly captivating. Being up there at night made it really easy to see our linear grid that the city has, also be able to differentiate the denseness of the city. Not only was this a location with a great view to the city it also offered a great view to our vast open outer space. They lack enough parking space at the top of hill but the walk up the slope is not bad at all.

Week Ten: Post Three                 As for an eighth suggestiong for the New Athens Charter it would be to deal and take into consideration the issues of today while maintaining the issues of the past and how they were resolved to be able to design for a better future. If everything goes as it is forecasted for the future there will be a better movement to improve our earth’s sustainability, also to improve ourselves so we can help improve the environment. View high resolution

Week Ten: Post Three

                As for an eighth suggestiong for the New Athens Charter it would be to deal and take into consideration the issues of today while maintaining the issues of the past and how they were resolved to be able to design for a better future. If everything goes as it is forecasted for the future there will be a better movement to improve our earth’s sustainability, also to improve ourselves so we can help improve the environment.

Week Ten: Post Two

            When people think of design a lot of them want to see immediate change and immediate gratification but like that saying goes “good things come to those that wait” perhaps generating better scaled, and design master plans for cities would create better, stronger and more successful metropolis. That a factor that I seemed to have gravitated towards a lot this quarter after working in the project of San Bernardino because we have to take into consideration the past, the present and design for a better future. Because what is crucial today will totally influence what the response will be tomorrow.

Week Ten: Post One


In response to Branzi’s- Weak Metropolis one thing that stuck out the most was when he said “The quality of the weak metropolis is in the quality of its objects”  I took it that it is very similar like the other saying that goes like “you are as strong as your weakest link” meaning that as long as even the smallest things within a metropolis isn’t functioning to its full potential then everything else wont either.

Week Ten: Lexicon

-          Fordism:

o   Fordism, named after Henry Ford, refers to various social theories about production and related socio-economic phenomena.

-          Megalopolitan:

o   An inhabitant or a resident of a megalopolis; of, or relating to a megalopolis.

-          Derelict:

o   In a very poor condition as a result of disuse and neglect.

(source: Google)

Week Nine: Post Two

Sustainability as landscape architecture is filled with an abundant amount of misconceptions, both are words that are tossed and coined to signify different things to different people. But the thing that isn’t mentioned or taken into consideration is the real significance of both words and it’s relationship to each other. No longer is the landscape architect the one that comes in at the end of the project to ‘shrub it up’, landscape architects of the twentieth century are now partaking in many different ways in the design field. And as ASLA mentions that we’ve been green since 1899 I do believe that we have been green since then, but in a different way. Because things change, ecology, ideals, morals, ethics, and global issues- thus they were green for contemporary issues of that era.