Nordsee mud ecosystem

I stayed in Nordenham, Germany with my friend Jens for a week, and we visited the North Sea two times. It is a fascinating ecosystem that is extremely important for many reasons. Have a look at this website for a better description. We had a guided tour, where we walked around and looked at the various organisms. It is a place incredibly rich in biodiversity, and is extremely important for migratory birds and seals. Thanks Jens for letting me stay, and for getting to feed the chickens.









The tide is as high as the pole during high tide. We went right at low tide, and observed the tide beginning to come in. This is quite rapid, and many people get lost at sea by wandering too far or swimming out too far during low tide. Especially on foggy days, one has no way of getting oriented in such a place.

go america

Why would anyone do this? Clearly this guy was someone off of the American military base, and was proud of it. The sheer size of this truck (which is normal in America) dwarfed the majority of German cars on the road. It baffles me to think of people who go to foreign countries and do not even attempt to change, rather they do things like this, and ignore the new place and culture they can learn from. Plus this just looks totally idiotic, no matter where in the world you would see this.

Blue Bowl Remark

From a discussion at the cottage in Groningen after breakfast with the coloured bowls:

The way landscape architecture is practiced, particularly when dealing with plants, is extremely troubling. It is not much more than setting a table, arranging elements in a way to be beautiful or after an idea of function. Setting a table can be something quite elegant & beautiful, or something done at the last minute and random. Elements are used and judged based on need or their aesthetic combination, or both. When landscape architects use plants in design, they are not realizing the extended impacts of these organisms. Trees do more than cast shade and change colour, they are also shelters for birds, interact with insects, and are living organisms that produce O2 during the day and CO2 during the night. They are alive, and affect the environment much further than after the 1-year contract period is up. It’s a bit strange that we do not work with ecologists or attempt to understand much of anything of the functionality and interdependence of ecosystems we create, no matter the scale. Landscape architects need to understand the function of nature now on a range of scales, as it exists in places such as the urban friche in order to make places that will work, and not something that follows some sort of idealized view of nature. To keep such romantic visions of nature functioning, it requires some incredibly dominant management procedures, which are deterring landscape architecture's brightest potential, to work with change.

Groningen, NL

I spent a few days in Groningen, working with Yvan and exploring a bit. We were looking at cells of birds in the artic which is part of a project that a team of scientists are going to be working on this summer. They are now in Spitzbergen, doing feild research. Have a look at Yvan's Blog for more information on the continuation of the project. Super nice people, and a nice relaxing time.




Incredibly huge flowers, growing along the bike paths around Groningen. These are fast growing, 'weed' species, yet are quite beautiful and interesting.


My bike for the week, we got along allright, although she was quite noisy.



Where we were staying was a sort of campground, but for cottages. There were several of these gardens around, where they had let plants grow freely, similar to the idea of a jardin en mouvement. Next door, more cultivated plants were in the garden, so this was a smaller scale of the same kind of juxtaposition at Parc André Citroën.




The biggest slugs I've ever seen exist in the Netherlands.


The cottage, no electricity, no water, but a great place, very relaxing. Thanks Yvan for letting me stay, it was really a nice time.




A perfect example of the urban friche. In the city, this space existed without development. Whether it was this way because of underground conditions, or some other reason, it manifested a beautiful range of plants naturally occuring in the city. These are the type of spaces where biodiversity in the city is incredibly rich. I'm still reading 'Manifeste du Tiers Paysage', where Gilles Clément writes about this type of landscape and its function on a larger scale. Places like this are refuges for diversity, and are exciting manifestations of new nature.

Schouwburgplein, Rotterdam

Plaza near the Rotterdam central train station, designed by West 8. I was just in passing in Rotterdam, but spent a few hours having lunch and wandering around Rotterdam. I found this space to be quite stimulating, and very well used. There is currently an installation called "Brandende Stad/Bloeiende Stad" (City on Fire/City in bloom)on display which was also designed by West 8. It is intended to make the flames of the Nazi bombing on May 14th, 1940 symbolically visible, and to remind visitors of the blossoming of Rotterdam following the war. It is quite beautiful, alive, and with imperfections, which I found to make it all the more interesting. Kyle informed me of the Project for Public Space's opinion on this square, see this article which is in fact on their 'hall of shame' list. Personally, I found it to be a fantastic space.









Taking a bath



Sequence of the light fixture's movement (subtle in photograph) after I pressed some buttons on the device. I couldn't read the digital screen, due to the light. I also barely speak a word of Dutch, which is proving to be a bit embarrasing while I am here.

Parc Matisse, Lille

Parc Matisse is just next to Gare Lille Europe, one of two large train stations in Lille.


Anyhow the park was designed by Gilles Clément and others, with intent to follow the principles of a jardin en mouvement. I didn't really enjoy this one, I thought the scale of it was off. In contrast with Parc André Citroën, I felt that too much of this park was this way. It was to the point where it was somewhat banal. Clearly this park has gone in to a state of disrepair, as much of Lille's public spaces have. Lille is definetely worth a go, if you are interested in seeing something different. The architectural composition of the city is incredibly strange, and there is a real mix of cultures in Lille. I think the people here are generally nice, they are willing to give directions and help you. However, I don't want to stay any longer, and tomorrow I'm going to the Netherlands.




A large island, called Derborence island, is intended to be a replica of a remote island, planted with an inaccessible forest. It is more of an experimental site for scientists to see what plants will settle in there in the absense of human activitiy. I recall at the conference in the Pompidou centre M. Clément remarked that if he could, he would like to do this one over. However, he said he does like to go there from time to time, to see what plants have come in and which ones have left.