Come join us next week, 10 a.m. 3105 NE Siskiyou Street
Working Notes, February 27, 2010 meeting
Report on Village Building Convergence (VBC) meeting.
Cob requires a good roof and good foundation (hats & boots) to keep the structure dry. Anyone can build a cob building. The material is useful, resilient and long-lasting - if the hats & boots are well built and when it is coated periodically with linseed oil. VBC will provide a master cob builder to assist us for $1,500 plus materials.
Roseway Heights PTA.
The PTA has heard about our project and is interested in learning more. They meet at the school beginning at 6:30 PM on the 2nd Tuesday of each month and would welcome a presentation from us.
City Bureau information.
The Bureau of Transportation report for the traffic counter study produced these results: The intersection of 77th & Siskiyou does not warrant a stop sign because of low speed volumes (85th percentile) and lack of reported traffic accidents (1) since 2002. City staff also reported that the city has no money for street maintenance, other than to fix big pot holes and thus placed a moratorium on all future residential street improvement.
Design Concepts.
The gathered multitude reviewed the basic design concepts discussed the prior week (see meeting notes from February 20th below), went outside to look over the construction site, and then each person took 20 minutes to sketch an original design concept on larger flip-chart paper. Afterward each designer presented their idea(s) to the group as follows:
1. The rain garden would contain six stepping stones, representing the six cailloux. A trail marker with weather vane atop catches the wind...and the attention of people. Trees, a bench, a simple bulletin board and shelf are included in this design.
2. The structure on the rain garden should be asymmetrical; it can incorporate see-thru boxes and squares and could convey a sense of movement. If built out of cob, the structure could use recycled tree limbs as roof braces and could include windows, a book or poetry depository, a community information feature, and alcoves but no bench. Artistic motifs could include organic forms, such as leaves, the Six Stones, and vines (kiwi) growing up the utility pole guy wire.
6. Genevieve submitted these comments earlier: “I wanted to say that I think it is important to think about weather when creating a design for the wall, especially if we go with cob. The more protected from wind and rain the less maintenance we will have to do in the future. I liked the idea of doing a wavy design starting small and growing, I think this would work well with incorporating good weather resistance. Sean likes small to big as well and he likes the idea of having upland plants around the structure.”
3. The Siskiyou Passage trail would be represented as a low concrete wall snaking throughout the garden. Rock cairns could represent trail markers along Siskiyou Street. There would be a central mound over the utility lines on top of which we could place one cairn or a conceptual sculpture of trees, the imagery being trees on a mountain. We could do a street painting that reflects the passage; motifs could be a compass or footprints of humans and animals.
4. Within the rain garden there could be low shrubs and boulders, perhaps six low stones reflecting the six stones concept. Rising out of the rain garden on 6 foot poles are three fish each 3-4 feet long (perhaps made out of cob). The scales of the fish could be bottle caps collected by school children. The fish represent a passage or journey. Over the fish would be a blue corrugated metal roof representing water over the fish.
5. A wall made of concrete that runs along one side of the garden represents the elevation changes of the trail.
6. Generalized themes could be: a berm rising above the utility lines that conjures imagery of a mountain or wall; a bottle cap river, a sculpted structure, bird houses, and rock with depressions for birds to drink from.
Group Consensus Design Motifs and Guidance.
A. Central theme. The central artistic theme is ‘passage’.
B. Scale. The scale of the project in the rain garden must be accessible to children.
C. Elevation. The center of the parking strip, over the utility lines should have elevation, if the utility companies allow this, whether it is from piled soil, rocks/boulders or sculpture.
D. Movement. The design should represent movement consistent with the idea of a passage.
E. Context. The design of the rain garden must relate to the street and beyond. Painting the street and/or rock cairns could convey the message that the passage is more than just the rain garden.
F. Structure. Benches or elements that might allow undesirable activity to occur are not allowed. The structure could include a cob structure with niches for community information, bird feeding and watering, or fish sculptures rising out of the rain garden.
G. Materials. The materials could be: stone/rock, cob, metal (someone knows a metal worker), concrete, paint, plants and recycled materials, such as bottle caps, wood, and building parts.) The use of recycled materials or even trash was a point of considerable discussion. If the Siskiyou trail was a route of commerce and if the traveler and the trail are impacted by one another, perhaps the use of recycled materials or trash reflects the theme of the impact of commerce upon the landscape.
H. Words. The project design, in the street or rain garden, should incorporate words; for example, “The end is nothing, the road is all.”
I. Maintenance. The project design and materials should allow for ease of cleaning and long term maintenance.
Next Steps.
A small group will meet this week to draw up plans for review at the group meeting next Saturday.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
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