GARDENLAB STUDIO: MEMORIAL LAWN

Art Center College of Design, Department of Environmental Design, Fall 2003

visit the gardenlab memorial lawn page here / funded by the lef foundation

students: vlad martinez, tina pezeshkpour, shawn littrell, tiffany wang, rick crane, jeff hastings, jonathan zabala, eric lindeman

guests lecturers & critics: nancy goslee power - landscape designer / william mcdonough - architect

brief:

> to create gardens and outdoor gathering areas for students, faculty and staff on the art center campus

> to design and create spaces for experimentation with plant material, landscape and ecological cycles in individual plots of the art center community gardens (established in 2001 by the gardenlab)

design proposal:

this is an outline of the proposed design plans developed by the current students of the gardenlab studio. the site is the general area around the lawn to the west of the main art center building, adjacent to the main drive after it passes under the building. this is a part of campus that will not be affected by the current architecture/master plans for art center, and one of the sites identified by patricia oliver in the accd planning office as an appropriate place for a gardenlab project.

the proposed design is by intention modest and low-impact. it will not affect the current use of this space by photo, film and illustration students. it utilizes subtle gestures to transform this space into a place for more student activities and a place to communicate and recognize the history of art center. this project will be paid for by a grant from the lef foundation in support of campus design initiatives by the gardenlab.

the 4 points of this design proposal include:

1. clear dead plant material and thin out dense shrubbery on the slopes on either side of the lawn. this will both provide views up to the surrounding wild landscape (that are currently obscured) and help with fire abatement.

2. disperse a variety of native wildflower seeds (mostly california poppies) on these slopes that will sprout and flower every season after the rains.

3. plant approximately 10 memorial trees bordering the lawn, supplementing those that currently exist on the site. these will be flowering specimen trees that change throughout the seasons. plans will also be made for the addition of future trees, creating a ‘memorial tree park’ that will remain intact during the future campus construction.

4. create a flat area of decomposed granite approximately 25’ x 25’ at the terminus of the lawn (in the valley in front of the existing retaining wall and drainage ditch) through the addition of soil. this area currently is mostly uneven loose dirt with a loose circle of large rocks. this flat graded area will be used both as:
a. a gathering space for seminar classes, student meetings, informal discussions and gatherings. gardenlab students are developing prototypes of movable outdoor furniture to be located here for this purpose.
b. a stage for performances, music and video screenings. the students and the art center community at large will be able to gather on the lawn facing up to the valley & landscape beyond to enjoy outdoor events. these gatherings will be shielded by the building from the surrounding neighbors (which have had past problems with noise from events on the east side of the building) and also be highly visible from the main drive to encourage greater participation and awareness of campus activities.

specimen tree list:

acacia (acacia decurrens)

weeping acacia (acacia pendula)

japanese maple (acer palmatum)

silk tree / mimosa (albizia julibrissin)

western hackberry (celtis douglasii)

western redbud (cercis occidentalis)

gingko biloba ‘maidenhair tree’ (ginkgoaceae)

magnolia ‘butterflies’ (magnoliaceae)

magnolia ‘veitch’ (magnoliaceae veitchii)

saucer magnolia / tulip tree (magnoliaceae soulangeana)

melaleuca ‘cajeput tree’ / ‘paperbark tree’ (myrtaceae quiquenerva)

melaleuca ‘flaxleaf paperbark tree’ (myrtaceae linariifolia)

olive ‘majestic beauty’ (olea europea)

brazilian pepper tree (schinus terebinthefolius)

persimmon tree ‘hachiya’

bibliography:

biography:
rybczynski, witold / a clearing in the distance, frederick law olmstead / 1999

design:
bradley-hole, christopoher / the minimalist garden / 1999
church, thomas d. / gardens are for people / 1995
cooper, guy / paradise transformed: the private garden for the 21st century / 1996
cooper, guy / gardens for the future: gestures against the wild / 2000
moore, charles / the poetics of gardens / 1993

essay:
page, russell / the education of a gardener / 1962
pollan, michael / second nature / 1991
pollan, michael / botany of desire / 2001
walker, peter / invisible gardens

guide:
brenzel, kathleen norris, editor / sunset western garden book / 2001
mathias, mildred / flowering plants in the landscape / 1992
perry, bob / landscape plants for western regions / 1992
tenenbaum, frances, editor / taylor's master guide to gardening / 1994
welsh, pat / southern california gardening / 2000

history:
adams, william howard / gardens through history: nature perfected / 1991
conan, michel, editor / perspectives on garden history / 1999
hunt, john dixon / gardens and the picturesque / 1994
hunt, john dixon / the italian garden: art design & culture / 1996
hunt, john dixon / greater perfections: the practice of garden theory / 2000
shepherd, john chiene / italian gardens of the renaisance / 1986
solomon, barbara stauffacher / green architecture & the agrarian garden / 1988
steenbergen, clemens / architecture and landscape: great european gardens / 1996
teyssot, georges / the history of garden design / 1991

landscape:
birksted, jan / relating architecture to landscape / 1999
spirn, anne whiston / the language of landscape / 1998
monographs:
eggener, keith l. / luis barragan, gardens of el pedregal / 2001
saunders, william / daniel urban kiley: the early gardens the gardens of russell page / 1996

native:
francis, mark / the california landscape garden / 1999
lenz, lee / california native trees and shrubs / 1981
lowry, judith larner / gardening with a wild heart / 1999

regional:
streatfield, david c. / california gardens: creating a new eden / 1994
burton, pamela / private landscapes: modernist gardens in southern california / 2002
inaji, toshiro / the garden as architecture: japan, china & korea / 1998
listri, massimo / italian parks and gardens / 1996
slauson, david / secret teachings in the art of japanese gardens / 1991

periodicals:
california agriculture
the gardener's companion
garden design magazine