3 Points that define my design approach


The following 3 points are examples of design philosophies, reasoning and principles behind my design approach. Ideas that are at the forefront of my mind when I begin and go through the design process.

Design Context - The context of the surrounding area, historical context, local vernacular, cultural significance etc. Essentially anything related to the design that could be used as the basis or concept for my design approach. Recent projects in and around Gloucester for example have been driven by a strong historical and cultural context. For example the Gloucester Docks, Roman occupation, industrial heritage and religious background are all major parts of the city of Gloucester and therefore, in my mind have to play some part in design of spaces within it. In my opinion it is important that the concepts, are not to literal, designs derived from ideas such as these should be subtle in their approach, too often designs are taken as literal forms which result in poor representation of the message that the designers are trying to convey.

Sustainability - The term sustainability is used too often without knowledge of meaning and reasoning. What is a sustainable landscape? Is it materiality based? Planting lots of trees? Or lots of flowers? In reality a sustainable design encompasses all aspects of a project, including economic, social and environmental issues. In many ways it is a balance, finding ways to improve one part without damaging the other two. A sustainable landscape needs to be constantly critiqued, compared, analysed and changed throughout the design process, it needs to consider the landscape in 4D. To consider every possible point of the design from where sustainability can be increased. For these reasons, a sustainable landscape can be a very difficult objective to achieve, nevertheless it is still an important part of modern day design that each designer should strive for.

Personal Experience - The third and final point that often defines my design approach is personal experience and user experience. Often when I am designing I find myself going back to the site visit or visualising myself in spaces that are similar. Did I enjoy the experience? What are the key characteristics? Would I go back? I think this is an important part of the design process because if you can envisage what the site will look like to many different groups of people then it will give you a better understanding of different peoples needs and preferences. For example when designing our Alney Island project one thing that stood out to me during the site visit was the open nature of the site along the cycle path, I loved that the path gave expansive 360 degree views and that was something I wanted to incorporate into the design.

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