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March 5th, 2012
Last year I launched WLA quarterly landscape architecture magazine and it has had a humble beginning and sold a few copies in print and digital…mostly in digital. The reason I selected digital is for many reasons, the biggest was the ability to transport in 0′s and 1′s in digital across the world. Media is changing and many print magazines are closing their doors as the old model of publishing rely advertising with the cover price often only covering large print run and pulping costs.
The biggest issue with publishing a print magazine is distribution and getting it into stores and then sold. There is no guarantee that it will sell and the outlay for 5,000 to 10,000 copies is out of reach for most small publishers. Therefore, digital format is easily to deliver and there is no worry that you’ll be pulping copies (not very environmentally-friendly). Digital allows me to easily publish the magazine in pdf format.
Many magazines are shifting to digital or web format as they revenues from advertising increase as more and more advertisers and adsellers are willing to buy space on web and in digital magazines. Also digital allows for interactivity and customisation something that is very immature. I think digital will see an increase when tablets, formats and delivery networks (4G LTE, etc) will make it seamless.
Digital allows someone in Cape Town, London, New York, Shanghai, Sydney, Dubai, or Santiago to download WLA in a couple of minutes and start reading. That to me is the biggest incentive to start and stay digital with WLA. I am looking at ways to build upon WLA in the future and looking to publish more digitally in the future.
March 5th, 2012
Recently, I have watched videos with Bjarke Ingels, Rem Koolhaus, Fabrio Novembre, Marc Newson, Michael Van Valkenburgh, Karl Lagerfeld and many others to gain more of an understanding of idea generation and design in various industries. What struck me during watching these videos is the willingness of society (and some designers) to accept mediocre design as something that will just occur as part of the marketplace and mainstream design realm. So why is it that we accept this mediocrity in the design profession and its not just architecture or industrial design but it seems that mediocrity is more and more prevalent in recent times in all design industries.
Does it necessarily need to be this way? Personally it seems that many have gone down the ‘path of least resistance’ and that the ‘market’ is influencing the way we design as a shift occurs towards developing markets and away from developed economies. Design standards seem to have been calibrated to the market and aiming at the lower level to meet the standards of these immature developing markets with iteration after iteration of the same design to the point where is has become ubiquitous. Where this can be seen more evidently is in the car industry where Porsche, Rolls Royce, BMW, Audi, Lamborghini, Bugatti have produced numerous ‘special editions’ and variations of the same model with very little design development for developing markets such as China.
The same is occurring in landscape architecture where the same design language and style is being used over and over again with little departure from the previous design. Some may see this as a firm/person developing a signature design language, I personally see it as lack of design energy and also a lack respect for the intellect of clients. Landscape architecture should respond to the culture, place, climate, terrain and numerous other elements that influence the design process to develop a unique concept that will create the best design for that site no matter how big or small. I understand that in China there is often little time to analyse, understand and design with the extraordinary short deadlines but I think we owe it the community, client and most of all ourselves as landscape architects to design something to the best of our design ability and to shun mediocrity.
March 4th, 2012
Access to technology and the growing divide between the haves and have nots has reached a turning point with the development of the $100 laptop, the $50 tablet and now the $25 computer. This constant reduction in the cost of technology is allowing governments, schools, charities and businesses to provide access to technology that we all take for granted.
The challenge now is access to information, many of these organisations have to create networks to access the internet, thankfully wireless technology is cheaper as we move from CDMA to 3G to 4G LTE making the previous technology cheaper thus allowing organisations to take advantage of the lowering price of the ‘old’ technology. What is old to us is very new to them and allows for more people to gain access to information (the commodity of the 21st Century).
March 3rd, 2012
Unicef recently published THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN 2012 – Children in an Urban World on scribd in digital format. The report gives us some background on the urban environment and the ever increasing number of children living in urban slums around the world. Usually when we think of poor children without access to water or food we often think of those in African nations in drought and famine ravage areas, but there are more children without water and food in urban environments.
The Unicef report outlines that as many as 1.6 billion people will be living in urban slums by 2020 many of whom will be children. As urban designers and planners we often are unable to come to terms with this problem, but we can try to ensure that when we design new cities or reinvigorate old ones that we understand the consequences of our design decisions.
Migration is a large part of China growth and urbanisaton with many families separated as one or more parents have to move into a city to obtain work to feed and house the family, this is nothing new and has been happening for centuries, but now migration is occurring across the world at an ever increasing rate and many children will be left behind or required to live in less than ideal situations. When designing cities we have to incorporate all types of housing and education facilities that provide access at a reasonable price for new residents to be able to afford.
In China there are many cultural, economic and social issues around the migration of rural residents to the new and existing cities across China. The current migration is the largest population shift and the fastest urbanisation of a nation that we will probably ever see. Children and their future will be a key part of the China as it comes to grips with an ageing population. China’s children their health, education and contribution to society is key to a successful China in the future.
The Unicef report raises many issues including Health, Water, Food, Education, Safety (road deaths of children is high due to the change to an urban environment) and as designers we need to address these issues which are primary issues we need to address but we also realise that we need to provide children with areas to explore, play and dream to become the worlds next artists, designers, scientists and more. I encourage people to read the Unicef report or at least the executive summary to understand the issue of children in our ever urbanising world.
February 27th, 2012
Water is growing daily in importance in China with water featuring more and more in the news and government announcements. Water as a economic and cultural issue is coming to ahead as it starts to impact on the economic growth of China and the health of its citizens. There have been recent announcements about investment in water, water pollution in drought in China.
The Ministry of Water Resources announced that they plan to spend 1.8 trillion yuan (286 billion U.S. dollars) on water conservation projects during the 2011-2015 period(12th 5 year plan). The funds are to be used to relieve droughts and floods, efficiently allocate water usage, protect water resources and establish a mechanism for the scientific development of water conservation. (14 Feb – Source Link) The government plans to invest as total of 4 trillion yuan (US$634.9 billion) in water conservation projects over the next 10 years.
Also Hu Siyi, vice minister of water resources, recently said water shortages, serious river pollution and the deteriorating aquatic ecology are “quite outstanding” and may threaten the country’s sustainable growth. The ministry’s data showed that 40 percent of Chinese rivers were seriously polluted and unfit for drinking after 75 billion tonnes of sewage and waste water were discharged in 2010. Hu also said that about 20 percent of rivers were so polluted their water quality was rated too toxic even to come into contact with.
To address the problem, the State Council, or China’s cabinet, unveiled a guideline on Thursday(16 Feb) to regulate the use of water under “the strictest criteria,” capping the maximum volume of water use at 700 billion cubic meters by the end of 2030. According to the guideline, China will work to keep its total volume of water use below 670 billion cubic meters in 2020. Also, the government will tighten its supervision over exploitation of underground water, further protect sources of drinking water, and restore the aquatic ecological system by introducing water-use licenses and other measures. (16 Feb – Source Link)
The importance of water is also growing due to the drought in South West Yunnan which has been effecting crops and cities. The Vice Premier calling on local governments to increase the speed of irrigation and water conservation projects in Yunnan.
The water economy will grow at an extrodinary rate over the next 10 years as the government invest trillions of yuan, cities urbanise, agriculture increases efficiency, sewerage and pollution of waterways is addressed. Realising that water will become more critical for the growth of China than many other resources is key to understanding the water economy.
Water is reaching critical point for many cities, farmers and industries and is just starting to get the respect it deserves in China. As designers it is our role to assist the government achieving the goals they have set whether on the macro scale of landscape planning or on the micro scale of site design. As designers we have many design tools and technologies(water testing, watershed analysis, SUD, etc.) available to address water issues. Understanding and using these tools is also key to remaining informed about this growing issue in China that will feature more and more in our design process.
February 27th, 2012
The central government has been increasing its focus on the western region of China for some years but in the 12th 5 year plan (2011-2015) it seems as though their is a greater push into the west not only in manufacturing but also in other areas of growth. So what are the western regions of China? They include Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Chongqing, Shaanxi, Guizhou and Yunnan.
In a recent announcement the government outlined goals for western regions in economic growth, infrastructure construction, ecological environment, public service, and people’s living standards. What interested me in the announcement was not the usual numbers for kilometres of roads or railway but the numbers set for ecology and energy use.
Western regions must employ a 15-percent cut in energy use per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) from that of the end of 2010, and they should cut water consumption by 30 percent per unit of industrial output growth, according to the plan.
As a key indicator of ecological conditions, nearly one-fifth of the land in western regions should be covered by forests by the end of 2015, according to the plan.
China plans faster growth in western regions – Gov.cn
What these numbers tell us is that there is a shift towards the conservation of energy, water and forests. Previously the numbers were more about GDP, roads, housing, cities and population numbers. Now its seems the government announcements are focusing more on conservation.
January 27th, 2012
I picked up Screw Business As Usual when I was in Hong Kong returning to Shanghai late last year and had seen a couple of videos online of Richard promoting the book and thought it would be a good read.
Screw Business As Usual is full of Branson’s anecdotes on how he setup Virgin Unite and The Elders. The book has some interesting stories about how Richard has evolved the culture of his companies using capitalism for good. Entrepreneurial philanthropy is gaining favor round the world and this book is brings it into the mainstream. Richard’s main idea throughout the book is “Do good – and the rewards will come” (Pg. 50) and he explains this throughout the book be citing examples of Virgin Group using business for good and also how communities can harness their collective energy for good. The other idea that came across in the book that the “….its not just about doing good. It’s about doing better and having fun on the way.” (Pg. 37).
This book is not a how-to book, there are no definitive summaries of what was learnt, so keep your notepad and pen at hand whilst reading the book. I recommend reading Screw Business As Usual if you’ve ever had an idea to create something for good, what Richard highlights is that you need passionate people who wish to change the world, it also shows that the days of NGO/NPO’s of handing out money to fix problems needs to change and soon.
January 22nd, 2012
The rabbit is bounding away and the dragon is just around the corner as we celebrate the coming of the Year of the Dragon. Chinese New Year in China is always an interesting time of year, lots of people go home, Shanghai turns into somewhat of ghost town(in comparison to the raging Spring/Summer period) taxis are a little easier to get. This year we will be staying in China but many people are heading south to warmer climates to get away from the chilly winds.
On a personal note, I get mixed versions of my fortune from reading on the web and offline, but I will forge on into the Year of Dragon by putting a few different ideas into to action to make this year even better. Wish everyone a happy and prosperous Year of the Dragon.
January 22nd, 2012
There is a growing number of landscape firms in China, some are foreign, some local and many a mix (often referred to as sino-american or sino-australia, etc). The company names are interesting to read some a very simple and aimed at a certain market, others keep their name from abroad or just create a literal translation of their name in Chinese. There is however a disturbing trend of ‘international’ firms in China that are international in name only. These are the chinese firms that register a name in Australia, USA, Canada, UK or another country and state that they are an international company. This is disturbing to me as many do not have any international staff or qualifications but are utilising the simple business registration laws in overseas countries.
Many of these firms are in a ‘rush to the bottom’ by alluding to clients that they are international – they maybe in a legal sense but not culturally or in their design approach. The reason many developers and governments engage international firms is to gain the broad experience and talented staff that many international firms have at their disposal. This is not to say there aren’t good local chinese firms with talented designers – there are many. However, the illusion the ‘international’ companies are creating will in the long run hurt their company, the country they supposedly represent and the landscape design industry in China. I am not disturbed that they are using international names or countries as selling point, I am disturbed that they are harming landscape architecture in China, which is very young although China has a long history of garden and landscape design, the landscape architecture profession is relatively immature.
January 12th, 2012
Currently its leading up to the Chinese New Year holiday period with people heading home for celebrations with family. Building and landscape construction has stopped on many sites, most of the projects I have been working on had a rush until Wednesday (11 January) and now they are ghost sites with not a soul to be seen besides the security guards. Some sites have people still working up until the official holiday but these are often projects on a tight(often behind) schedule.
The workers have head home for a one month break and won’t be back until the first or second week of February to start another year of construction in China. Chinese New Year is early this year falling on the 22 January. The official holiday is 22-28 January but many people take extra days to head home or travel. Millions of China’s construction workers head back home (to homes all across China) for the New Year. Trains and Buses will be full of people happy to be on holiday and heading home to see loved ones they haven’t seen for a year or often more. Many will return to construction in February, but others will use the money saved from year/s of hard work to start something new in their home towns.
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