SKOGSKYRKOGARDEN - The Woodland Cemetery_ Stockholm study trip

For me, the culture of cemetery parks is very unique and unfamiliar. Because, in Korea, there are just few cemetery parks and the monumental landscape is rare yet. Therefore, visiting Skogskyrkogården was very meaningful experience and impressive to me. I have been fascinated by the solemn and tranquil atmosphere of big scale nature landscape. The harmony of architecture and huge peaceful nature landscape makes mysterious but beautiful atmosphere. I suppose the architectural design of Skogskyrkogården has reasonable limit to respect nature landscape. Skogskyrkogården is designated as a UNESCO's World Heritage site in 1989.

Conceptual Landscape : Paris as a laboratory for the park of the 21st century

For my final landscape studio project, my main concern was making strong concept. I have found strong and successful landscape projects has strong concept and it gives strong meanings to the site.

Landscape journal Topos deals with some conceptual landscape design in their 33rd issue: Intention and Reality. In particular, chapter: 'France: from theory to practice' introduces two French conceptual and theoretical park design. Parc André Citroën and Parc de la Villette demonstrate that a theoretical basis fundamentally influences design.

I was hugely inspired by Bernard Tschumi's cinematographic themes for Parc de la Villette. In 1983 Tschumi won the international competition for the planning of the Parc de la Villette, He designed 'spatial and programmatic sequences' for the park.



Tschumi was in charge of planning, in addition to the design of the follies, and superimposed three ordering systems: the points of the follies, the lines of the paths, and the planes of the sport areas. This network questions the order that is inherent to architecture with a superimposition that attempts to bring together three non-related systems. The process and arbitrary result ignore the basic tenets of architecture throughout history-composition, hierarchy and order. Each follie is based on a cube and deconstructed, according to rules of transformation (repetition, distortion, superimposition, interruption and fragmentation), without any functional considerations.


My final design for mile end park redevelopment has storyline which has five different programmes and sequences depend on the surrounding conditions. Although I was inspired by Tschumi's concpetual approach, however, I added some functions to my desgin. Because I believe 'functions' of urban park landscape are also important for visitors. It was my first try for conceptual approach for park design and was so interesting.

Emotional design

Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain is my favourite landscape design in London becuase this brilliant water feature successfully communicates with visitors.

Diana was the best loved princess in Britain and the fountain is a monument in Hyde Park for her.

I believe good design is offering great experience to user(visitors). Gustafson Poter succeed in evocating Diana's soft character and her ethical activities through using water. The most impressive fact is that the physical elements of fountain design such as smooth shape of the fountain, or materials enable people to move emotionally! I believe it is the power of good design.

Particulary, I suppose the design for peaceful sound from flowing water was best idea to reflect Diana's character. In order to make various kind of water flowing sound, they designed different depth and different width depends on the part of the fountain.




Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain

Location: Hyde Park, London, UK
Completion Year: 2004
Designer: Gustafson Porter

Picasso to Julie Mehretu modern drawings, the British Museum collection

Picasso to Julie Mehretu modern drawings, the British Museum collection
7 October 2010 –25 April 2011


Currently, the British Museum exhibits many of the great artists' drawings of the 20th century collected over the past 35 years.
The collection starts with Picasso’s study for his masterpiece Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and concludes with Julie Mehretu, the Ethiopian-born artist who is one of the stars of the international contemporary art scene with acclaimed solo exhibitions at the Guggenheim in New York and across the world.

The collected drawings are not selected artists' famous major works. But, I believe it is rare opportunity to enjoy their practice pieces and early studies. (unfortunately, taking photos was exhibited.)

Cradle to Grave by Pharmacopoeia

The theme of British Museum's Room 24 is Living and Dying and when I visited Brisith Museum 'Cradle to Grave by Pharmacopoeia' was attracting people's attention.

a 13m long 0.4m wide fabric incoperates over 14,000 drugs. According to the description of the piece, It is the estimated average prescribed to every person in Britain in their lifetime.

Cradle to Grave by Pharmacopoeia explores the approach to health in Britian today.
It contains a lifetime supply of prescribed drugs knitted into two lengths of fabric, and illustrates the medical stories of one woman and one man.

Through this object, Susie Freeman, Dr Liz Lee and David Critchley wanted to say that maintaining a sense of well-being is more complex than just treating episodes of illness.

Ecobuild 2011

Ecobuild is the world’s largest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment. This year Ecobuild was held at the Excel Centre in east London with more than 600 speakers and 1300 exhibitors, all held over 3 days from Tuesday 1st March.

I attended two days and interestingly in this year Kingston University launch a library of 1200 samples of sustainable materials that use fewer virgin resources and that are easily renewed.

To be honest, comparing with last year, I felt Ecobuild have become a giant commercial event. There were a lot of material and product companies and some parts lost point for sustainability and future environment.

For me, the most interesting session of Ecobuild was seminars and lectures for sustainable design and landscape. In particular, Grant Associates’s presentation for their winning design ‘Garden by the bay’ in Singapore was really impressive. (Even it was not entirely focused sustainable design..) They described their strong narrative planting scheme with different story and environmental concept. Moreover, I could realise their design consideration for relationship between building and garden. But I still want to know more about their scheme for ecosystem of the garden.

[Stockholm Trip 2011] Hammarby Sjöstad

When I visited Hammarby Sjöstad, it was entirely covered by snow so that it was hard to look. But, the winter night sight view was also offering unique and enjoynable atmosphere of Stockholm's new morden cityscape.This new urban development in residential area is designed environmentally friendly and enough to attract an urban population. The public space is designed to take advantage of the proximity to the water and street life is developing along the quays. Most uses at ground floor level create public interest.

My small aim of visiting Hammarby Sjöstad was exploring details of landscape design. I focused on how designers considered for materials, delicate shape and elements for designing morden residential landscape.