LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE DESIGN STUDIO 3: MATERIALITY OF LANDSCAPE 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Project Aims In line with the overall module ethos and aims, this project sets out to: Engage you with

the relationship of material, form, construction and space. ● ● The project invites you to: Revalue materials as vibrant matter (Bennet, J. 2010) with entangled temporalities. ● Build essential landscape architectural skills that will assist you in the production of spatial form. Considering norms of production, documentation, material life cycles and performance. ● Explore an experimental and iterative design process of finding, revealing and rearranging in the context of planetary health and wellbeing; 1.2 Context Every year, we extract almost 90 billion tons of raw materials from the Earth. A single smartphone, for example, can carry roughly 80% of the stable elements on the periodic table. The rate of accumulation for anthropogenic mass has now reached 30 gigatons (Gt) equivalent to 30 billion metric tons per year, based on the average for the past five years. This corresponds to each person on the globe producing more than his or her body weight in anthropogenic mass every week. At the top of the list is concrete. Used for buildings, landscapes and infrastructure, concrete is the second most used substance in the world, after water. Bricks and aggregates like gravel and sand also represent a big part of human- made mass. The mass of plastic we have manufactured in the last 100 years is greater than the overall mass of all terrestrial and marine animals combined (Vendetti, 2021). According to one estimate, the use of the above and other carbon-intensive landscape materials can generate an average of 1,100 tons of carbon dioxide year, per practicing landscape architect (ASLA, 2017) per In June 2019, The Landscape Institute declared a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency. They committed to equipping the profession to provide solutions to both entangled issues and to advocating for measures to address the emergencies with governments and industry. In Spring this year (2024), The Landscape Institute will publish its briefing report on Embodied and Operational Carbon. It is expected to highlight the important role that Landscape Architects can play in reducing carbon emissions' climate impacts and in finding opportunities to store carbon. In order that we fulfil our duty, as Landscape Architects, to promote sustainable development and environmentally responsible use of resources (Landscape Institute, 2021), we must embrace embodied and operational Carbon considerations and ensure that we make fully informed material and production choices across all design stages. 1.3 Lectures and Workshops Lectures and workshops provided throughout this module will complement this brief, but you are expected to investigate references for yourself for further information and inspiration. 1.4 Glossary or Key Word + Concepts Embodied Carbon (n): Operational Carbon (n): The emissions associated with energy used to operate the building or in the operation of infrastructure (UKGBC, 2021). Planetary (n): The entire greenhouse gas emissions generated in order to create a project, in including carbon in the materials specified in the design and delivery of landscape schemes (Howard, 2023). Relating to the earth as a planet. "planetary climatic change" Temporalities (plural n): The state of existing within or having some relationship with time. "like spatial position, temporality is an intrinsic property of the object" 1.5 References ASLA. (2017). Climate Change Mitigation: Landscape Materials and Construction. Climate Change Mitigation: Landscape Materials and Construction. https://www.asla.org/mitigationmaterials.aspx Vendetti, B. (2021). Visualizing the Accumulation of Human-Made Mass on Earth. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-the-accumulation-of-human- made- mass-on-earth/ Howard, A. (2023). Counting Embodied Carbon. Landscape, the Journal of the Landscape Institute. Landscape Institute. (2021). The Landscape Institute Code of Practice. UKGBC. (2021, November). Operational & Embodied Carbon Explainer Guide. The Net Zero Whole Life Carbon Roadmap. 2.0 The Brief For this brief you will take forward the design you developed for APL8005(MLA). Taking account of both embodied and operational carbon you will refine your proposals iteratively using the Climate Positive Design Pathfinder tool, to minimise and mitigate the footprint of your design. You will be shown how to use the tool and produce a 'Years to Net O' estimate as part of the module induction. https://climatepositivedesign.com/pathfinder/ You will choose an area within your wider site design to develop to detailed design stage. We suggest you choose an area that provides you with the best opportunity to further explore its potential as a community space, that promotes health and well-being and is resilient, enriching, and inclusive. You will need to consider and incorporate the following: Consider how people will move to and through your space, ensuring opportunities for multi-modal travel including various forms of micro mobility as well as pedestrians. ● Inspired by the heritage of your project site (in its wider sense i.e social, material etc.), design a piece of street furniture that interprets or represents the history of your site, this could be a previous site use or a famous historic figure associated with the site, for example. If your design does not already include sustainable urban drainage measures, you must now integrate a SuDS solution into your drainage strategy and landscape layout. You must try to minimise the amount of material that we remove from site. Try to retain as much materials on-site, reusing/recycling wherever possible. The work required for this brief is as follows: 2.1 Site survey and analysis/Mapping (revisited/refined/enhanced) You will already have carried out a site survey and analysis as part of your work. Using this as a starting point you will now complete the following: Select a 'detailed area': From your wider site, you will choose an area to design in detail. The area should fit on an Al sheet at either 1:200 or 1:100 scale, allowing space for a legend and a title block (see 2.3 below and example layouts on Canvas). Site survey: A simple site survey of your chosen 'detailed area' that includes the following aspects: topography (contours/levels - you may well need to extrapolate to estimate these), existing vegetation, climate/microclimate, history, existing uses, and access. Site analysis: your analysis of issues revealed by the survey and in relation to the brief - these should be captured in a constraints and opportunities plan. 2.2 Strategy/concept The concept is the overarching idea behind your design and can often be encapsulated in a short phrase. Your concept is the ‘golden thread' that underpins your design through each design stage. At the Detailed Design stage, your concept should inform and inspire your choice of materiality and form of spatial elements, street furniture and lighting. Students: ● You will revisit your 'child friendly landscape' concept from your APL8005 work and explore this further in relation to this brief. You will capture these explorations and your final detailed design concept graphically, collated onto 1 x A3 sheet. 2.3 Carbon calculations Before you begin to refine your existing design, you will first produce an initial carbon footprint estimate of your proposed landscape surfaces and elements using the Climate Positive Design Pathfinder tool. You will use this first calculation as a baseline to guide the development of your detailed design, your material, production, and construction choices. Working iteratively to ensure you minimise the carbon footprint of your design, you will continue to utilise the Climate Positive Design Pathfinder tool to test various options/combinations of materials. You must complete at least 3carbon estimates using the Pathfinder tool, there is no upper limit to the number of 'test calculations' your produce. Each time you use the tool you will need to reflect critically on the calculation produced - this will be in the form of short paragraph of text, explaining what the calculation indicated, how you interpreted it, how you might balance carbon considerations with other design drivers (aesthetics, user needs etc.), and how it will inform the next iteration of your detailed design. You will collate all calculations and reflections into a single document for submission, this will include your final carbon calculation based on your completed design.