Gloucester Sculpture Park and Wetland Centre

 “The soul of a landscape, the spirits of the elements, the genius of every place will be revealed to a loving view of nature.” – Karl Jaspers

The image above is my final masterplan for Alney Island, this piece of work was submitted and feedback was given about a week ago. When I first submitted this assignment I was so pleased with what I had created. I thought the lake and wetland centre located in the west of the site was really good and successful. However, now I look at it again, a few months later, I realise that there is so much that could have been improved if I only had the time to leave it and come back with fresh eyes. 

The overall layout of the sheet is good, I am happy that I chose to number sections to label them rather than draw arrows all over the plan. However, the key to decipher areas is confusing, the graphics are too similar, I could have done more to display the different areas around the site. 

The graphics used to create the trees was artistic and unique at the time, however now I feel that they blend into the background too much, becoming lost. The linework of the trees is too similar to the symbol used to display where sculptures would be placed. 

In terms of the design, I think the east of the site is really successful, visitors have a route that leads them along the river, to the theatre, over the eco bridge and into the wetland centre. There is a winding path that leads you around the whole lake. But then it starts to feel lost. The areas that have been reserved for cattle has started to look like empty pieces of land, and the ecological hides that are scattered throughout the wetland are disconnected. The flood resilient housing and hydropower plant and craft centre are not connected to the rest of the site. Nothing draws the visitors from the wetland centre to the power plant or housing. 

I like reviewing work after I have been given feedback, it makes me realise where I need to improve. I need to create stronger graphics that stand out against each other and connect my areas more within a site. However, it also scares me, I feel as though I should know what I'm doing by now, I should be doing these things straight away. I will be going into practice soon and I should be perfect, my designs should be flawless. But then again, everyone makes mistakes and life is all about learning from those mistakes.