Plants and Corridors

Plants and Corridors/Pathways

Acknowledgment of Traditional Owners

  • QUT acknowledges the Turrbal and Yugara as the First Nations owners of the lands.

  • Respects to elders, lords, customs, and creation spirits.

  • Recognizes these places have always been lands of teaching, research, and learning.

Plants: Essential for Human Life

  • Plants are essential for human life.

  • Plants are a necessity of life, playing a role in society.

  • Used in design for landscape architecture, architecture, and interior design.
    *Applications is a category of your material, so think about how many different applications your material has.

Applications of Plants

  • Erosion control.

  • Aesthetics.

  • Recreation.

  • Oxygen.

  • Clothing.

  • Shelter.

  • Water quality (ecological restoration).

  • Shelter (creating a building).

Ecosystem Services

  • Benefits provided to humans through transformation of resources.

  • Human-centric concept to quantify value in an economic-based society.

  • Includes water, vegetation, land, and atmosphere.

  • Flow of essential goods and services from ecosystem.

Ecosystem Services Examples

  • Leaves: Trap sediment for erosion control (positively correlated with leaf area).

  • Roots and Leaves: Water quality.

  • Flowers: Pollinators.

  • Habitat: Fuel and manufacturing (timber).

  • Aesthetics: Sense of place.

  • Food.

  • Plants: Absorb pollutants and support air quality.

  • Physical and Mental Health: Stress relief.

Biological Classification System

  • Kingdom -> Species.

  • Plants usually classified within genus and species.

  • Common names vary, scientific names are crucial for specification.

  • Scientific names change as research evolves.

Scientific Names

  • Genus + Species.

  • Scientific names are reliable but not always consistent.

Plant Classification: Lemon Scented Myrtle (Backhousia citriodora)

  • Genus: Backhousia.

  • Species: citriodora.

  • Family: Myrtle family.

Nomenclature

  • Naming system needs accuracy for design.

  • Scientific names: Genus (capitalized, italics) and species (lowercase, italics).

  • Common name capitalization is less important.

  • Example: Ficus (genus), Faupphicus (weeping fig - genus and species).

Typical Plant Forms in Design

  • Trees: Woody trunk, taller.

  • Shrubs: Woody, shorter than trees.

  • Vines and Climbers: Climb via suckers or winding.

  • Herbs and Ground Covers: Flowering, annuals (replanted yearly), perennials (return on their own).

  • Grasses and Sedges.

Types of Trees: Gymnosperms vs. Angiosperms

  • Gymnosperms (Conifers):

    • Often called evergreens.

    • Needle-like leaves.

    • Cone-bearing (softwoods - not about density of wood).

    • Pines, firs, spruce, yews, cycads.

    • Grow faster.

  • Angiosperms:

    • Deciduous or broadleaf.

    • Leaves rather than needles.

    • Flowers and fruits (hardwoods).

    • Eucalyptus, fig, acacia, oak.

    • Typically grow slower.

Plant Species Categorization

  • Enormous amount of species in various categories.

Origin Category

  • Important for growth, climate needs and sense of place.

  • Origin has climate implications.

  • Origin creates a sense of place.

Native Species

  • Occurs naturally in specific ecosystem or region.

  • Examples: Gum trees, banksia, grevillea.

Exotic Species

  • Not native, introduced from different location.

  • Jacaranda (native to South America, not Queensland) is overused.

  • Some exotics can become invasive.

  • Philodendron xanadu is a common overused plant from similar climate to Queensland.

  • Pros and cons to using native versus exotic species.

  • Roses; Philodendron.

Campus to Country Positioning Strategy (QUT)

  • Flora (natural and cultural narrative).

  • Use native flora as inspiration for design.

Campus Palette and Material Section

  • Inspiration from native plants.

  • Colors for paint, building materials, and outdoor plants.

  • Knowing local plants critical for capturing environment and sense of place.

Uses of Plants in Design

  • Overhead structure (without buildings).

  • Shade.

  • Color and texture (Fish Lane, West End).

  • Define edges and spaces.

  • Habitat for other species.

  • Direct views and movement (corridors).

  • Green walls and green roofs (softening hardscape, cooling).

  • Sculptural characteristics (Queensland bottle trees).

  • Southbank Arbor Walk (bougainvillea).

  • Indoor plants (air quality, aesthetics).

  • Education building (eBlock, Kelvin Grove).

  • Planter box house (Indonesia) for growing food in containers.

Plants and Climate Change

  • Extreme weather events and heat increase.

  • Significant climate changes occurring, warming temperatures due to carbon.

Carbon Sequestration

  • Capturing, securing, and storing carbon from atmosphere.

  • Plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

  • Carbon is stored in solid or dissolved forms.

  • Need to plant trees, keep existing plants, and replant what trees are cut down.

Photosynthesis

  • Plants absorb carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight.

  • Create sugars and release excess oxygen.

  • Used for air quality improvement.

Carbon Sinks

  • Forests and grasslands remove and store carbon.

  • Value is in plants, roots, and soil (dead plant matter).

Plants and Cooling

  • Need plants to help combat warming temperatures. Plants can help with the heat island effect.

Urban Heat Island Effect (UHI)

  • Gradual warming of urban areas due to densification.

  • Impervious surfaces (concrete, roads) and dark colors absorb heat.

  • Air conditioning waste heat.

  • Discovered in the 1800s.

Green Spaces as Park Cool Islands

  • Lower air and surface temperatures in urban areas with plants.

  • Green roofs and walls decrease temperatures via evapotranspiration and shade.

  • Vegetation will help cool spaces.
    *Air temperature and surface temperature above green roofs has generally been shown to be lower than concrete roofs or other material surfaces.
    *The air is getting moisture through the evapotranspiration process by the plants giving off moisture into the air.

Green Walls vs. Green Facades

  • Green Wall: Designed to support vegetation growth across surface, soil and water delivery system.

  • Green Facade: Uses trellis or support structure, plants grow from base up (vines and shrubs).

Trees in Urban Areas

  • Reduce temperature by shading and moisture transpiration.

  • Evapotranspiration from leaves has cooling effect exceeding the shade.

  • Roughly 95% of water in tree is recycled into the atmosphere through evapotranspiration.
    *Trees release 95% of water in the form of evapotranspiration to cool the environment.

Plant Identification

  • Plant identification is hard and intimidating.

  • Some iconic plants are recognizable even if names are unknown.

Iconic Plants

  • Banksia: Good for bees, unique seed pods, distinct leaf structure.

  • Pandanus: Fruit can be eaten, good for habitat.

  • Grass Tree (Xanthorrhoea): Not a grass or tree, related to aloe plant.

  • Bunya Pine: Significant for indigenous cultures, large cones, dome-shaped top.

  • Ficus (Fig Tree): (Ficus macrophylla native, large with buttressing roots, sculptural quality.)

  • Queensland Kauri Pine: Straight trunk, tall, not in pine family.

  • Paperbark (Melaleuca): Distinctive bark and flowers, grows in wet areas.

  • White Gum (Eucalyptus): Tall tree, designed around in existing plantations.

  • Piccabeen Palm: Native, but can overtake other species.

Growing Plants

  • Soil structure must support plant.

  • Provide stability and health for plant.

  • Ensure there is enough soil to support the stability of the plant.

  • Need enough room for roots to grow.

Root Systems

  • Protect existing trees during construction.

  • Support roots stabilize, feeder roots absorb water and oxygen.

  • Drip line extends to canopy.

  • Construction fencing protects trees.

  • Soil compaction is a huge issue, so reduce the amount of heavy trucks and other machinery.

  • Oxygen is needed in the soil.

Plant Needs

  • Understand climate, temperature needs.

  • Exotic plants thrive in similar climates.

Corridors

*Originated in Europe where someone conveyed messages between two locations by running; later on, the word corridor meant a pathway outside of a city wall.

Types of Corridors

  • Transportation.

  • Ecological: Migration routes, habitat corridors, green belts.

  • Social and Cultural: Songlines, promenades.

  • Economic: Silk Road.

  • Architectural Circulation: Hallways, passageways, courtyards, cloisters.

Corridors for Circulation and Movement: Historical Examples

  • 7500 BCE - Turkish settlement of Karahoyuk: No streets or roads between dwellings; roofs became streets.

  • 100 AD - Roman settlement (Pthumer Gadi): Grid system with straight roads intersecting at right angles (Cardo - North/South routes; Decumanas - East/West routes).

  • Rome (Pope Sixtus the fifth): Links between the seven major and pilgrim churches were connected. This created the need for clear corridors to get between different churches.
    *Gnoli map gives a famous look at Rome as it contains the Piazza Del Popolo with 3 major corridors coming out of it (trident).

  • Ebenezer Howard (English Urban Planner): Radial design and green belt around urban area. There are transportation corridors that radiate out from the city itself.

Churches and Religious Buildings

  • Westminster Abbey: Cloister (covered walkway around courtyard) for meditation, study, exercise, connections between buildings.

  • Salisbury Cathedral England: Has covered walkways.

  • Le Corbusier's Convent Saint Maria de la Tourette in France (Religious Building): Concrete.

  • Seoul South Korea (Palace): Covered walkway around outdoor courtyards.

  • Pompeii Italy: House of Silver Wedding: Central atrium with walkway around it.

Villa Rotunda in Italy

*1571 is when it's completed (rennaisance villa).
*Enfilade are suites of rooms with doorways that are lined up to create the impression that it's a corridor.

The Royal Pavillion in Brighton England was built as a pleasure place for King George 4.
The Vasari Corridor is an enclosed passage way (elevated).
The Churry Hill Prison and the Easter State were penitentiary.
The Kirkbride Model is located at the Northampton Psychiatric Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in Massachusetts for the more ill people.

Corridor Design Considerations

  • Scale and Proportions.

  • Safety, Accessibility, Code Compliance.

  • Use and Purpose.

  • Users.

  • Capacity.

  • Aesthetics.

The High Line in NYC

*It's a public park/railroad corridor.
*Railway trains were active until the 1960's until the use declined.
*The landscape architects were James Corner Field operations.
*The railroad bed was abandoned.
*There was a contest to convert the highline into a contest.
*The designers want the highline to look like something that was naturalized.