Answers to pre-site-visit questions...

1. The key to this lies in a relationship between nature and the person in the landscape; this is what Brown manipulated, and the same can be done today - perhaps using similar techniques - but the relationship and experience of viewing need not be the same now as it was then.

2. Perhaps we learn most from Brown in his careful manipulation of the conscious and subconscious visual interpretation of the landscape - he makes us see what he wants us to see.

3. I don't think anyone would be excluded from this experience of connecting to and seeing the place, provided the design were both subtle and powerful enough.

4. I don't know yet.

5. If I use general principles extracted from Brown's work and related to the positioning of the person within nature, these ideas could be applied anywhere. The design statements would need to be bold.

6. The layers of history on the site are fascinating and important but perhaps the priority is to observe and conserve them whilst adding a new layer, rather than trying to decode them in some way or form them in to a coherent narrative. The site isn't like that.

Site Photos 15.01.2015

Apologies for the quality of these photos, conditions were difficult and eventually the lens was speckled with snow.

approach to site from Woodbury entrance

some of the dead wood which is a vital part of Moccas Park's habitat

rich ground layer has many foxgloves and bluebells

first clear view of southern part of site, from Moccas park

view east along the park pale

regenerated ground layer after felling circa 2 yrs ago

view east from top of ridge, pool visible beyond beeches

view southwest from ridge, snowy Welsh mountains visible

view from top, east across recently felled plantation

natural spring-fed pool and view northeast

lumber track running east towards site boundary

tree nursery, seedlings from Moccas growing in air pots

view east from barrow, expert archaeological pointing!

These pictures don't fully give a sense of the extreme cold and exposure of the site on a January day. In places it was hard to walk in a straight line and a change of clothes was needed by the end of the visit. What they do, perhaps, show is the sheltered and 'designed' nature of the parkland itself, in contrast to the wilder experience of the competition site.

The Brief - first reading

I've just read the brief properly for the first time. By this I mean I diagrammed it and wrote a list of questions as I went along. I can't truly read something and take it all in without a pen in my hand.
So, here are the key questions that emerge;

What kind of landscape would Brown have created today?
What 'valuable lessons' does Brown have to offer contemporary practitioners?
How could a broad range of audiences be engaged with his landscapes?
How to combine the practical with the imaginative?
How could this be a model for work to other sites?
How do I deal with the complexities of the site's design history, such as the probable involvement of Humphrey Repton and the industrious Mr Webster?

The first of these questions is explicitly posed in the brief but I'm not going to let it guide my thought process because I find it impossible to imagine that he would do anything other than he did for the approx. 170 landscapes he designed in his lifetime. Better to think about the second question because it leads us to interrogate Brown's approach and the reasons for his great success.
The last question is the one I think I will find most tricky - there appears to be a good deal of doubt over what was planted and built when and by whom, at Moccas. Is the best approach to this to treat each historical element with respect but not attempt to rationalise it as a coherent whole?

I am visiting the site next week and have worked out how to get there (four hours drive from Manchester) and made a checklist of things to find out whilst there - the most important being 'what can you see from where?
The brief has evoked an exciting and mysterious place and after reading all about it, I can't wait to go and see for myself, and to meet Saul Herbert whom I plan to bother with many questions.

Welcome to my competition blog!

The aim of this blog is to track the progress of my work for entry in to the Landscape Institute's Moccas Park/Capability Brown design ideas competition. The competition is part of the celebrations to mark 300 years since Brown's birth and you can find out more about it here.

As I am working on my own I would like to use the blog to share ideas with anyone who might be interested and will welcome any comments. I will be using the blog as a journal to help me reflect on the process and as a record of ideas. The intention is to share working drawings, photos and diagrams as they are produced.