"Anything you do with your hands, is art"

The Quest for Soil in the City

a garden forming in the neighbourhood

There is a community garden in the back field.  But I am unsure how it got there. Or how you would get to participate, perhaps a simple sign could indicate the makers and growers.  Contact info.  Where do they get their water from?  And do they share tools and seeds.  I can tell, with my designers eye, that there is room for more boxes.

But where do you get the soil from?  I know there are people responsible for dirt, somewhere.  And if you can haul the dirt yourself, it's far less money.

Then there is the question of wood for the raised beds.  They shouldn't be made of pressure treated wood.  New wood could suffice, but salvaged wood would be best.

Note:  as I side note, you can't see very clearly in this photo, but there is a row of trees just behind the sidewalk.  Last fall, I watched as they were mysteriously planted by a group of people.  Later, when I got closer I noticed that they all had tags on them, indicating that they were apple trees.   Amazing!  Then on the fence even further back, I have noticed that grapes have been planted every few feet for the length of the alley.  Who is up to such delight?

On Our Way, West Broadway

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gathering feet

urban feather

Choi Ho led a lovely and entertaining Jane’s Walk through the dense urban neighbourhood of West Broadway, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, this past weekend, complete with a zine hinting at the various sites throughout the one block route.   

We were escorted through quips and sites so well, that through our big smiles, we hardly knew that we were learning.  It was incredible taking a walk with friends and new friends, engaging, and discussing neighbourhood issues.  I even learned where to fire the pottery I was making at home, half a block away.

History and scale, and those who live around me, are all just a little more understood. 

Urban Green Space: Travels in Korea, China and Japan

Tokyo, Japan

Seoul, South Korea

Yokohama, Japan

Beijing, China

Exercise parks of Seoul and Shanghai

wide bike lanes in Beijing

hillside vegetable garden; Seoul, South Korea

halfway down a mountain; Busan

mountains above Seoul

. Introduction
Mega-cites have often not taken green space to be one of their many virtues, but after entering the 21st century, many Asian cities are seeing an opportunity for increasing the health of their cities and encouraging foreign investment.1 Greenspace is becoming a sign of progress all over this ever-shrinking world, and cities like Seoul, South Korea, Tokyo, Japan, and Beijing and Shanghai, China are not being left behind. After visiting these places. and analyzing their green spaces, I have found a number of similarities between these cities, as well as some major differences. 

One prevalent theme, is that these spaces tend to be quite anthrocentric. Obviously this appears to varying degrees, but even in the most unlikely places, human intervention in the landscape is present. What kind of consequences this may have for an urban dweller’s appreciation of nature may only be guessed at, such as a lack of understanding of nature, and a manifest destiny to control it. 

The following is a classification and critical study of the urban green space phenomenons discovered on our journey throughout parts of Asia.


. Bridges and Canals: Reclaimed Space

What I found to be the most characteristic aspect of Asian Green Space is how miniature spaces of value consistently appear in the left-over spaces that, typically, would go un—or under—used. 

. Bridges and Canals: Cheonggyecheon
At the Seoul International Urban Architecture Forum (SIAUF) in September 2005, Yim Chang Bok’s presentation entitled “Towards a Humanized Urban Core Area in Seoul: Visions and Tasks” discusses Seoul’s desire to be reborn as an attractive 21st Century city and how it can achieve this by increasing open space. 

Cheonggyecheon has always held particular significance to the Seoulites. Historically, this stream was used by the city for its day to day life such as bathing, laundry and transportation of goods. Covering of the stream began in 1937 to 1942 in urbanizing efforts. Later, construction of elevated roads further compounded the loss of the stream’s existence. 

Cheonggyecheon’s October 1st re- opening marks “a new Cheonggyecheon, flowing plethora of clean water, both conceptutally and visually, bringing ‘the New Era of Cheonggyecheon’ to people of Seoul.”3. 

Cheonggyecheon  does, at the very least, provide a pause space within the dirty and busy urban fabric. It is a safe space for people to walk from various important commercial zones in the city, throughout the centre, such as the giant Dongdeamun Market, where one can purchase affordable clothing at all hours of the day and night, and the extensive Sewoon-Sanga District with its metal processing and lighting shops. 

It is popular with the Seoulites and frequented both during the day for the greenery, and the night for its expressive light features.


. Fragmented Landscape: Trying to Capture Chaos

The first fragmented landscape I witnessed was in Yokohoma, Japan. Perched atop the Yokohoma port, this green-roof and public park undulates and folds in unexpected and uneasy ways. The unbalancing of proprioception feels both an like attempt to recreate the sensation of being at sea and to capture the chaos and unpredictability of nature. 

An aspect of this phenomenon is that the style is neither solely contemporary nor traditional. 

Beijing. Could this seemingly sporadic path be based on the a-priori landscape, or a calculated gesture? A path such as this may aid in the meditative aspect of these temple gardens, imitating the complexity of life.  

. Exercise in the City

Whether located atop a forested mountain, or deep within a dense community, these free public services are a great encouragement to a healthy lifestyle. The apparatuses found in Seoul are similar to those found within any weight room at a gym, although built to withstand the elements and frequent use. 

The uses are prescribed, as detailed by the diagrams printed on the machines. Unfortunately, if your body type does not fit the machine to an acceptable degree, it is essentially useless. You can cycle through the machines while enjoying the beautiful cityscapes down the mountain. In Shanghai, the apparatus is much simpler and lends itself to a variety of uses. It necessitates a greater input of creativity on the user’s part, but has the potential to provide a more holistic workout for any body type. 
 
Although exercise parks were not spotted in Beijing, there was another type of infrastructure to create healthy lifestyles, the bike paths and lanes. Of high priority and importance, these densely used corridors are an essential part of the Beijing lifestyle, offering affordable and healthy commuting options for its citizens.

. Personal Gestures
In the older, more historical neighbourhoods of Seoul, spaces are dense. Often blanketing hilltops, these communities are composed of residential units tightly compacted with a complex network of paths and staircases. Green space at a public level is unheard of within these spaces, which exaggerates the existence of small personal gestures by the residents. 

On rooftops, staircases and along narrow pathways, people’s dependence and connection to nature is clearly displayed in movable planters. Growing a variety of edibles such as the ubiquitous red peppers and herbs, as well as plants with medicinal properties, these planters give the added benefit of creating a more livable atmosphere within the concrete labyrinth. The working-class merchants who populate areas such as these often do not have the leisure time to attend public parks, and these gestures represent a considerable surrogate.

. Temples

In South Korea, China and Japan’s cities, the most consistent sources of green space are the temples. Often a reflection of an older, more sustainable, way of life, these areas owe their creation and existence to the maintenance of old religions. Upon passing through the gates, you emerge in a completely different setting; the constant drone of the cars is replaced by the silent reflection offered by wooden buildings and trees.

 

. Seoul From a Mountain Top
The most awe inspiring taxonomy of green space in South Korea are the mountains looming, yet hidden, throughout the mega city. While people flock to and fro from work, home, the market, the noraeban, possibly making time for a quick walk down the linear Cheonggyecheon, they do not often look up at the mountains, let alone mount the behemoths and connect with what existed before them. The streets rarely take advantage of the mountainous vistas, choosing rather to aim towards edifices of government and religion.

When first flying over Seoul, the immediate impression was the stark juxtaposition of built form within endless low and green mountains. “The most overwhelming urban aspect, very visible from the sky, are the dense apartment buildings. They stand out as clusters of identical form, islands of density within a relatively low urban landscape.”

An entry from my journal: 

“What has happened here? It is Oct 31 and I am alone on a mountain in the middle of Seoul. This path is underused for a city of 9 million. The South Koreans going to Canada told us to stay away from these mountains, “nothing to see there.” But I went to the mountain they suggested, Namsan. Generous stairs flanked by fence all the way up. Here I can sit on the earth and have the leaves fall around me. Here the wind in the branches sounds safe and comforting. Cheonggychong, a cement and granite eye-sore is thronged with people while this place, Ansan, remains pristine. The earthy smell of the organic life-cycle is startling after so much time in a mega-city.”

1) In this Time article about Seoul’s advent into green space mindfulness, Seoul’s Mayor, Lee Myung Bak is quoted saying, “If we don’t place an emphasis on environmental friendliness, not only will citizens leave the city, but foreign investors won’t choose Seoul”
Walsh, Bryan. “Saving Seoul”, TIME Magazine. MAY 15, 2006. Date modified: May 8, 2006. http://www.time.com/time/asia/covers/501060515/story.html 

2) Pg. 16. Yim, Chang Bok. “Towards a Humanized Urban Core Area in Seoul: Visions and Tasks” Seoul International Urban Architecture Forum (SIAUF). Sept. 2005
3) Pg. 17. Ibid
4) personal travel journal 2006, Seoul

The Education of an Amateur Builder: Michael Pollan's Writing Hut

This is a fascinating and sensitive novel about learning how to design, and then build, your own shelter.   The unique approach visited by Michael Pollan includes in depth consultation with an architect, and the process he uses to create the design of the building.  Also, Pollan, being the writer that he is, refers to and reviews in context a long list of time honoured books on design and architecture.  Included in this list is Vitruvius' 10 Books on Architecture, Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language,  as well as books on landscape painting and feng shui for how to perfectly site and situate your structure.  

"To trade a chain saw for a chisel is to trade one way of knowing a piece of wood for another.  Though the chain saw acquaints you with certain general properties--a wood's hardness and uniformity, its aroma--the chisel discloses much finer information.  Something as subtle as the variation in the relative density of two growth rings--the sort of data any machine would overwhelm--the beveled tip of the chisel's steel blade will accurately transmit to its ash handle and through that to your hand." 

wodumedia.com

Shower

Have you ever had the honour of showering outdoors?  Especially at night.  The cool air on your skin.  The hot vapour rising up towards a starry sky.  Maybe coyotes, howling in the distance.

 Stoney Creek Sk, Canada.  

Winnipeg Passive House Retrofit

the back of the house, not the large roof trusses for added insulation

Yesterday I rode all the way up Henderson Highway to investigate a Passive House retrofit.  I have been hearing more and more about the technology lately.  The system used has been in development for the last 40 years, perhaps since the R-2000 homes, but still hasn't hit the market with much strength.  

In the attached photos, you can see the roof trusses, window bucks, and Larson trusses adding 2 feet of cellulose insulation everywhere around the house in what is called a "Chainsaw Retrofit".  Except on the sides, where the width of the house is limited by property lines.  Here they used polystyrene.  It's incredible the levels of insulation Passive House calls for.  The idea is to reduce heating loads, as the heat has nowhere to escape.  No thermal bridges, or gaps allowing air in/exfiltration.  The taped plywood also acts as the vapour barrier, residing safely somewhere in the centre of the insulation.  This retrofit is being conducted by Sun Certified Builders Coop Ltd., located in Winnipeg, MB.  I hope to revisit this project as it progresses into the Spring.