ASLA Competition

[ B e n W. Tu r p i n / l a n d s c a p e a r c h i t e c t u r e / 2 0 0 8 - 2 0 1 3 ]

Landscape architecture is an except ional ly broad profession, one where you can engage in most any type and scale of project. In the previous f ive years I have tr ied to exper ience as wide a range of the profession as possible, f rom working in natural resource management in the wi lderness of the Sierra Nevada to engaging in a competi t ion in envis ion the global metropol is of Shanghai in 2040. As I have explored the breadth of th is profession there have been certain elements that have especial ly resonated with me; e lements that I hope to base my future pract ice upon. These are in large part what my work is about, and what I am about:

These are by no means exclusive - rather, there is great over lap between al l of these. The transect of my work presented here is broken down into di fferent typlologies which transcend a wide spectrum of landscape scales:

memory + narrat ive

placemaking

cultural expression

col laborat ion

(re)generat ion

intersection of architecture + landscape

metropol is

vi l lage

wilderness

park

garden

node

stage

Shanghai 2040 design competition / study abroad fall 2011

Price’s Fork Village / VT studio spring 2011

internship / Forest Service summer 2009, Park Service summer 2012

Belle Isle, senior project / fall 2012 + spring 2013

Norris Garden / VT studio spring 2012

internship / Fallingwater summer 2011

collaborative workshop / KEMstudio spring 2011

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“The designed landscape is among the most perpetual and convincing forms of cultural expression...” - H.M. White, FASLA

“Landscape doesn’t have to honor history - landscape architects play the role of critical historian...artists of the

built environment should always study history. If they are good, they can invent their own.” - John Dixon Hunt

“Culture is us.” - Walter Hood

“Landscapes refuse to be disciplined. They make a mockery of the oppositions that we create between time [history] and space [geography], or between nature [science] and culture

[social anthroplogy].” - Barbara Bender

This project reinvisioned Shanghai for the year 2040 and beyond as a landscape reshaped by rising seas. As a coastal city Shanghai is at severe risk, though a reshaped landscape could provide an opportunity for a changing and dynamic urban form. A concept of “Linked Density” led to a city with connections high above the ground, with a wilderness-inspired ground plane that would have areas that shift to a more naturalistic state. This project placed as a finalist in the international Shanghai 2040 competition. This was an interdisciplinary project completed with urbanism and architecture students from China, Korea, and Germany.

Reshaped landscape with rising sea levels (in meters)

Density transformation: from existing to 5m sea level rise (above plan graphics completed with Sandra May)

1 m

2 m

3 m

4 m

5 m

6 m

7 m

8 mElevation Shanghai(in Meter above Sealevel)

1 m ... 2 m ... 3 m ... 4 m ... 5 m Sealevel Rise

Solid Ground

Wetland

Seawall

Dense Residential Area

Leisure Area

Industrie Area

Traditional Agriculture Area

Artificial Connection Islands

Maglev

Highway

High Effecient AgricultureIsland

Building Connections

New Town (normal density)

Downtown (high density)

Construction Sensitive Area

Agriculture Land (low density)

Agriculture Land (Low Density)

Downtown (High Density)

Industry Town (normal density)

High Efficiency Agriculture Island (High Density)









This project reinvisioned Shanghai for the year 2040 and beyond as a landscape reshaped by rising seas. As a coastal city Shanghai is at severe risk, though a reshaped landscape could provide an opportunity for a changing and dynamic urban form. A concept of “Linked Density” led to a city with connections high above the ground, with a wilderness-inspired ground plane that would have areas that shift to a more naturalistic state.

reshaped landscape with rising sea levels (in meters)

density transformation: from existing to 5m sea level rise (above plan graphics completed with Sandra May)

Left:An elevated landscape strip surrounding protected zones integrates an ecological green-belt and recreation space with a solution to protect important areas from rising seas. Other areas would be allowed to shift to marsh and wetlands.

master planShanghai 2040: reimagining the city of the future

















1m 2m 3m 4m 5m

1 m

2 m

3 m

4 m

5 m

6 m

7 m



Solid Ground

Wetland

Seawall


Leisure Area

Industrie Area



Maglev

Highway








































1m 2m 3m 4m 5m

1 m

2 m

3 m

4 m

5 m

6 m

7 m



Solid Ground

Wetland

Seawall


Leisure Area

Industrie Area



Maglev

Highway








































1m 2m 3m 4m 5m

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4 m

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6 m

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Solid Ground

Wetland

Seawall


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Industrie Area



Maglev

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1m 2m 3m 4m 5m

Transit Connections:

Connecting the central city with outer zones are bridges designed for transportation, living and energy production - these provide infrastructural, urban, and social connections amongst the many different zones of Shanghai, creating another aspect of the concept of Linked Density.

Linked density provides connections above the ground plane, with the building structure modeled after the traditional Shikumen community form

housing pods

connections to ground plane

high-speed rail connection

road system

solar + wind power

public green space

Density transformation of central city Shanghai: ultra-high, mixed use buildings (including the buildings mentioned above) begin construction in Shanghai, eventually becoming interconnected with multiple layers connecting the buildings above the ground plane (density transformation illustrations below completed with Kyusuk Byun and Florian Seitzer)

metropolis

Development time line:

villageThis project investigated the redevelopment of a historic farm in Blacksburg, Virginia. This farm was part of Price’s Fork Village, a once-thriving crossroads that has since declined to a mix of suburban neighborhoods and fallow agriculture. This project aimed to provide a strategy for smart growth and the revitalization of the agricultural heritage of Price’s Fork Village.

Price’s Fork Village is in an ideal location as Southwest Virginia grows; it is central to Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Radford University, Virginia Tech’s Corporate Research Center, Christiansburg, and Roanoke. Through smart growth and planning Price’s Fork Village can provide a sustainable development solution for this growing region while maintaining its rural and agrarian roots.

Corporate Research Center(possible expansion)

Je�erson National Forest

I-81

Radford

Christiansburg

Blacksburg/Virginia Tech

Regional Connectivity Map

Regional Connectivity Map

New River

Railroad(possible future

regional connection)

Radford Arsenal(possible future brown�eld

redevelopment site)

District Site

Rt. 460

1 mi. 20 minwalking

2 mi. 40 minwalking

3 mi. 1 hourwalking

4 mi. 90 minwalking

6 mi. 2 hourwalking

16 min. drive time

15 min. drive time

9 min. drive time

Roanoke (45 mi)50 min drive time

north

Evolution of the Appalachian farmstead: cultural + developmental conditions

[ public, for surrounding block ] [ semi-private ] [ private ] [ semi-public ] [ public ]

neighborhood commons

parking, with above apartments

Village Green

permeable parking

detail:

district (drawn with Greg Mascola) neighborhood

drainage direction

bioswales

retention pondirrigation

neighborhood hydrology

semi-private back-lawn space

semi-pulic street-frontage space

The district plan calls for dense housing and mixed use development, creating a new center for the previously declining Price’s Fork Village. A concept of the Village Green was implemented, creating public space for surrounding residents and allowing for small scale agriculture at the Village center.

The neighborhood scale was designed to foster community, with houses (single and multi-family) backing onto a common lawn. Houses face toward walkable streets, and there is a clear hierarchy of public, semi-public, semi-private, and private space.

The detailed scale design provides for additional community space, with a neighborhood commons providing communal space for people living on the surrounding block. However, there are also semi-private small yards at the rear of each house, allowing for distinctive spaces for each house adjoining the neighborhood commons.

Sustainability was a central aspect of the project, with food production and the thoughtful integration of the site’s hydrology being main components of the design. Bioswales, bioretention, and water harvesting/recycling were all strategies used in the plan.

I have had the opportunity to work for two summers in the Sierra Nevada, first with the United States Forest Service as a Wilderness Ranger in the Hoover Wilderness and afterwards as a Landscape Architecture Intern with Yosemite National Park.

As a Wilderness Ranger, I lived and worked within the backcountry of the Sierras, primarily monitoring landscape conditions within the Hoover Wilderness. I maintained patrolled and maintained trails, educated visitors on the unique landscape within the Sierra Nevada, naturalized illegal campsites, and generally acted as the eyes and ears of the US Forest Service as one of four Wilderness Rangers within the 120,000 acre wilderness. As a Landscape Architecture Intern for Yosemite National Park I primarily worked on a comprehensive inventory and analysis of park campgrounds, and the drafting of design guidelines for the gradual redevelopment of these campgrounds. I also worked on cultural landscape studies, project and contract administration, and utility management and planning. Through this internship I grew to realize the extremely wide range of tasks that go into managing a National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

It has been interesting to work with two very different land management agencies with contrasting management ethics—conservation (Forest Service) and preservation (Park Service). It seems they both have the goal of balance—the Forest Service attempts to balance water conservation, grazing, recreation, timbering, etc, while the Park attempts to balance preserving the “wild” nature of parks with the pressures of tourism. Each category is delicate, and with so many differing stakeholders such an attempt at balance is incredibly difficult.

wilderness

South Entrance Station Wetland:

Size: 0.6 acres

Vegetation: Palustrine-forested, dominated by incense cedar, creeping snowberry, trail plant, common scouring rush, and sweet scented bedstraw

Soils: Saturated to the surface, with standing water at 8” depth. Hydric sandy loams with black A-horizon and deep, very dark gray B-horizon.

PFO Wetlands, approximate location

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* sample point

Design guidelines for Yosemite (Note: I did not design the book; I contributed to the guidelines)

Visitor entrace station design + wetland remediation project that I participated in.

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Senior Project:

[re]constructing memory: narrative + constructivism as framework for a dynamic urban river park

This project investigates how memory, history, narrative, and culture can inform the design of a contemporary urban park. Belle Isle, an island in the James River in Richmond, Virginia has been many things through many periods – a Native American fishing village, a Civil War POW camp, a steel mill, an abandoned island, a park, a stage for the city. This project integrates elements of those memories and narratives using a constructivist framework while providing an urban public space for active and adventure recreation (climbing, rafting, mountain biking, and hiking).

Instead of taking a more dydactic and earnest approach to historic interpretation this park relies on ideas based in constructivism, where clues to the past histories allow park visitors to discover and create their own history through an active sense of exploration. Careful use of materiality and color, the integration of tactile learning, the manipulation of depth, the act of naming, the use of a transect, and spatial referencing through groves and thesholds are all constructivist methods that were used within the design to speak to the many invisible layers of Belle Isle.

park

old dominion iron + nailworksold dominion iron + steel

[ history + memory ]

granite quarry

pow camp

broad rock island

civil war

native american fishing village

constructivism

ruins

interpretation

james river

personal memory

[ culture + identity ]

urban wilderness

art

river city

heart of the civil war

city’s center stage

james river

ruins

interpretation

fall zone threshold

public space

[ ecology ]

native species

constructivism

wildlife habitat

wilderness

urban forest

riparian zone

james river

river restoration

flood plain

food production

[ exploration + recreation ]

urban wilderness

climbing

kayaking

hiking

james river

rafting

ruins

urban exploration

constructivism

biking

Belle Isle - Old Dominion Iron + Steel building, groves

groves - carpinus caroliniana

sheet metal threshold speak to industrial form + sense of enclosure

fall color connects to industrial past

betula nigra reflects spatial form of earlier Old Dominion Iron + Steel (1870s/80s - 1940)

mixed meadow/wildflowers

trees separate interior to provide human scale spaces

slag paving reflects steel-mill past steel seating - reflects on pipes + tanks produced at ODIS

island interior - hiking + mountain biking

quarry pond - climbing + fishing

education space + facilities for climbing/rafting training

interpretive corridor

observation tower

ruins

The threshold speaks to the former entrance of the building, while the grove and material (slag pavement, steel benches and entrance) speak to the structure and processes of the former industry

The north bank becomes a place of activity, with rafting, kayaking, photography, sunbathing, and many other activities taking place. The river is a defining element of the city of Richmond, and in turn is a defining element of the park at Belle Isle.

groves in site of former steel mill

mountain biking skills/training area

groves speak to spatial structureof former buildings

the point - view to downtown

former industrial building - park facilities + classrooms

hydro plant - climbing education centermill race trail

north bank - raftin

g, swimming, su

nbathing

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Norris Garden Final Design

Virginia TechBlacksburg, Virginia

Benjamin W. Turpin Landscape Architecture

Blacksburg, VirginiaNorris Garden: a place of reflection and prospection

Concept:

Norris Garden is meant to be a space for multiple types of contemplation, ranging from individual introspection in a quiet and secluded garden room to prospection from an open vista. These spaces provide the Virginia Tech com-munity with multiple options for an escape from the stresses of campus life, whether for a few minutes of rest between classes, a leisurely stroll through the garden, or for an afternoon of quiet relaxation.

Seating along the stone walls provides places for visitors to rest. A curve in the wall pro-vides an open, social gathering space with views down towards the Drillfield. This open, sunny area is comfortable for warm spring days, while other areas along the wall under the shade of the Streetwise Trident Maples are perfect for hotter days where shade is desir-able.

Contemplative Zone:

This space occupies the lowest area of the garden. These spaces are more enclosed in na-ture, and provide a sense of security and comfort through their human scale. Multiple spaces offer opportunities for individual contemplation or for a small group to sit together. An inti-mate connection to the waterfall running throughout this area of the garden provides soothing sounds and the opportunity to interact with the falling water.

Intermediate Zone:

This area runs between the contemplative and prospective zones. It contains elements of both, but belongs to neither. Views over the reflective water offer glimpses down into the sunken contemplative spaces while still maintaining the privacy below. The intermediate walk loops upward into the open and bright prospective zone.

Prospective Zone:Openness and long views toward the Drillfield characterize this zone. This is meant to be more of an open and social space, with opportunities for small to medium sized group gathering. It provides an alternative to the introspective contemplation of the sunken garden, with its distant views and opportunities for observing the bustle of activity outside of the garden.

Small spaces under the tree canopy provide a sense of enclosure and privacy, with views looking outward towards the waterfall.

A perennial flower garden surrounds benches looking toward and across the Drillfield. The planting provides color throughout the seasons, with special emphasis on spring and fall, when campus is most active. Visitors are encouraged to take a flower with them, spreading the beauty and comfort of the garden beyond its physical boundaries.

Unobstructed views towards the Drillfield, the Memorial, and to the opposite side of campus provide an opportunity for distant observation and prospect.

A small garden room surrounded by the waterfall provides a place of solitude and relaxation, with the sound of falling water filling the space. This is a place ideal for one or two people.

A bench along a planter allows visitors to look overtop of the waterfall, while not disturbing people sitting in the garden room below.

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[1] waterfall/reflectionpool[2] groupsittingarea(alongwall)[3] perennialflowerbed[4] outdoorsmallgroupgathering/dining[5] raingarden[6] canopybenches[7] proposedgardenkiosklocation[8] drystonecreekbed[9] openlawninformalgatheringspace[10] entrancesittingwalls[11] drillfieldpromontory[12] waterfallgardenroom[13] NorrisHall

Norris Garden is located outside of Norris Hall, the site of the Virginia Tech shootings on April 16, 2007. The garden is meant to be a space for multiple types of contemplation, ranging from individual introspection in a quiet and secluded garden room to prospection from an open vista. These spaces provide the Virginia Tech community with multiple options for an escape from the stresses of campus life, whether for a few minutes of rest between classes, a leisurely stroll through the garden, or an afternoon of quiet relaxation. The garden is adjacent to the Virginia Tech Center for Peace Studies, providing a pleasant and calming view for the offices and rooms indoors.

A perennial flower garden surrounds benches looking across the Drillfield. The planting provides color throughout the seasons, with special emphasis on spring and fall, when campus is most active. Visitors are encouraged to take a flower with them, spreading the beauty and comfort of the garden beyond its physical boundaries. Plants used include lanceleaf coreopsis, autumn monkshood, white iris, lavender, false chamomile, heartleaf bergenia, stonecrop, autumn joy sedum, wood sage, culver’s root, blue phlox, and cutleaf coneflower.

Norris Garden model

Norris Garden plan

Wall details:

integrated wall bench detail:

Grading plan:

Norris Hallperennial flower bed

bioretentionwaterwall

garden rooms

prospective point

wildflower meadow0 2010

Benjamin W. TurpinLandscape Architecture

Blacksburg, VA(434) 238 0692

[email protected]

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[100% construction drawings][2012-05-02]

CMU Hokie Stone Veneer Wall Type C01L5

CMU Hokie Stone Veneer Wall Freestanding02L5

integrated wall bench03L5

Bench Wall Mount04L5

pavement intersection05L5

pavement pattern A06L5

pavement pattern B07L5 1/2" = 1' - 0"

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3/4" = 1' - 0" 3/4" = 1' - 0"

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Plan


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Notes:

1. Hold the finished grade 1" below adjacentpavements, except where shown otherwise withspotelevations.

2. A maximum slope on paved walks shall be 5%. .

3. A minimum slope on large paved areas shall be1% .

4. Any discrepancies in grade elevations betweenthe plans and existing conditions shall be brought tothe attention of the Landscape Architectimmediately.

5. All area drain locations shall be coordinated withand approved in the field by the LandscapeArchitect. Contractor shall provide positivedrainage and insure that no ponding of wateroccurs.

6. All proposed finish grades and paving surfacesshall meet existing grades and surfaces with smoothand continuous transitions, and be flush along entireinterface.

7. Where fill is placed along the walls of Norris Hall,the stone veneer shall be properly sealed toprevent water damage on the sub-grade stone.


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Landscape Architecture


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Tgarden

node

[master plan completed with Laura Reyes Romero]

Below: Fallingwater during a severe storm event. The approach path to the house washes out in severe rain--we redesigned the to include swales and native stone edging that effectively managed the flow of water and prevented the gravel from washing into Bear Run. Native plants (including rhododendron, multiple fern varieties, mountain laurel and witchhazel) were installed alongside the stone edge. The design was intended to blend in with the landscape and to not visually detract from the strong sightlines to the house.

This project was completed during my internship for the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy at Fallingwater. In addition to working on the design of this bus shelter I worked on maintaining historic cutting gardens on the grounds of Fallingwater, trail maintenance, surveying, native stone wall design, native planting design, storm water management projects, swale design, bench design, and invasive plant removal. This internship provided an incredible opportunity to explore the interconnected nature of architecture and landscape, as the two in many ways are unseparable.

The bus stop was designed due to a need for transportation for people unable to complete the steep and lenghty walk from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater back to the Visitor’s Center. The bus stop was sited above the Guesthouse, at the end of the Fallingwater tour. The design was based on typical Western Pennsylvania vernacular architecture, and was placed across the road based on vehicular circulation patterns. The backup generator adjacent to the site was screened in an organic and natural manner. To block the view from the Guesthouse Terrace a planting plan was completed as well, using species that are native to the Laurel Highlands of Western Pennsylvania.

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stageThis project was based upon designing a mobile guerilla performance venue for Quixotic Fusion, a Kansas City based music and aerial performance group. The “stage” was designed to be deployed at a moment’s notice, easily transportable, and beacon-like in structure to attract people from throughout the city, with the process of set-up as an integral aspect of the performance. This was a project involving students from multiple design disciplines, including landscape architecture, architecture, industrial design, and interior design. The design, graphics, and models were completed through collaboration with Oscar Salguero, Zack Saunders, and Kala Letts.

Modeling and material exploration was a central element of this project. We made multiple models throughout the process, which were integral to our design development.

Zones of influence with multiple performances happening throughout the city

Delivery methods:Model of the balloon, stage, and netting

Above: process of deployment

ASLA Competition

Documents

Transcript of ASLA Competition