Recently we had a lecture by the well known landscape and architecture photographer Erieta Attali. She presented us how her profession evolved and took its shape throughout the years as well as a wide variety of places in the world that she has worked until now.
During the workshop we had a Pecha Kucha Night among us. This one was a little MAS style of Pecha Kucha (means chitchat in Japanese). Everybody or team presented his/her own unfinished thesis projects within the restricted time flow of the Pecha Kucha format.
Susanne and Corina put a great award for the winner that was selected with a voting for the best presentation: 2 editions of Landscript and one of the earlier landscape video collection Blicklandschaften, all published by the chair.
Modul 5 has started with the 3 days workshop that started in Erstfeld where we have been working for the thesis project since the last semester, and ended in Zurich. Corina Rüegg who is an artist and also a former graduate of MAS LA, and Susanne our tutor of landscape film and sound are conducting this module together that will be over by the end of this month.
During the workshop Corina gave us some inputs and a couple of exercises on photography. We also shot videos to be processed in Media Lab with the support of Susanne.
Towards the end of MAS LA everybody is quite busy with final synthesis. Last week we presentedour works in progress to Professor Girot third time. Currently all the projects have already clear statements and directions. From now on we will be working on elaboration of these design ideas and testing various contemporary design tools within our own concepts and interests. We have been trying many of them since the beginning and so far everybody has developed considerable skills on particular options.
Here are some sample images that presented last week
We just returned from the 3 day workshop took place in Riein. Having stayed in a chalet we have not only enjoyed the captivating scenery of Alps and Swiss cuisine but also worked and produced ideas. In every workshop of MAS LA there is a specific theme and this time differently than others we did not deal with a direct aspect of design but seek how design would meet programming. 3th and 4th Modules were a kind of introduction to programming for us where we tried to benefit and test new tools for our design solutions whereas the most recent workshop was an overarching event of the accumulated information.
As soon as the Easter Break ended MAS LA came back to Modul 4 where the landscape visualization is under the scope. While design ideas are still being developed we get to think the plantation decisions too. Georg has developed a software for exactly this phase of design. Tree Dispenser, as he named, is a script that runs in Processing and works together with Grasshopper and Rhino. Developed in Processing it provides applying a variety of species and scattering them on a certain surface. Since the processing file is easily modifiable it is possible to create different plantation strategies.
Processing file enables the definition and modification of the types and representations of the trees on the 2D ground -as seen above- while Grasshopper provides them to project in 3D environment to a certain surface in Rhino. This was one tool we tested while thinking the vegetation within our design projects.
Right now we are on the Easter Break, i assume everybody is having a rest while recharging batteries for the last quarter of MAS LA. The second workshop tutored by James and Louis Fraguada was apparently great that I am extremely regretful for not being participated.
As we are back on 8th we will continue with Module 4 consolidating all the previous and currently experiencing tools. I wish a nice break to everyone.
Today at the workshop with Martina Voser we modeled a part of our intervention areas in a more structural scale ranging from 1:200 to 1:1000. From now on all the final synthesis projects have a clear design questions that will be tested and detailed until July when the program ends. Here are samples of the works done for and during the workshop.
The first workshop as a length of Modul 4 has begun today under the guidance of Martina Voser who is a practicing landscape architect and also a former member of the chair. She gave a lecture regarding to her own approach to landscape architecture by showing several projects done by her practice. Among the topics she referred to while discussing the projects, topography, flood, public space, strategies and politics, rule based design, infrastructure were distinguishable. In addition to these contemporary dimensions of landscape architecture today she emphasized one aspect which presents a powerful underpinning approach of the profession that is succession theory. In wiki we trust so here is some information. 
Claudia presenting her video skecth
M4 has taken off last week with an introduction to VRAY as well as supporting plugins. The module comprises 2 additional workshops focusing on different aspects of landscape design as well.
James Melsom presenting Vray examples