This week we are not traveling and site seeing. Instead we are working with the Technical University of Berlin students. It was so exciting to see how different they teach a studio class.
My majors are Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning and it is about designing the outdoors factoring in environmental and social issues. Our project of the week is to re-design the front area of a radio station, including a parking lot. One of the issues with this location was stormwater management. In our re-design we must make sure that when it rains, the water is going somewhere and not staying on the impervious parking lot. An impervious surface is something that water cannot travel through. On the other hand, an example of a pervious surface would be soil. When water goes on the surface of soil, it will travel downward into the ground.
My group, including myself, was 4 students. Two of the students were from the TUD school. They were awesome! Their talents and skills really surprised me so much, and I was so happy to work with them. Now I will give you a little background to our idea for our design.
The basis of our stormwater design revolves around hard edged forms that house a series of rain gardens. In this design we focused on how people can enjoy and experience a space that is shaped and changed by stormwater. As rain fades away or progresses, the spaces changes relative to the amount of stormwater that accrues seasonally. With this concept we are able to provide a unique atmosphere that allows for people to interact with stormwater directly. Within each form lies stone platforms that rise at different heights. As water rises, platforms can disappear and return as water dissipates. We hope that this concept can help bridge the gaps between stormwater, nature, and people.
Here are some photos of our projects:
The students in my group included:
Giovanni Caputo, Axel Gonzalez, Flora Madacsi, Kai Scherz
And all of this work had to be done in 4 days! It was very tough but working in groups made it a lot easier. After all of this, we had to also present it to the class and some guest critiques, including one of the directors of the landscape architecture department at TUB.
Also, I posted another video on youtube of my travels! Check it out here:
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