Hedgerow Design Beyond The Landscape

Draft

Summary Each element windows, paths, parking lots etc. is both attractive and functional.

Use simple designs.

Build with local materials Can repair using local materials

Easy to maintain, adjust & repair.

Can repair with homemade materials. Contrast with complex mass-produced:

Hard to maintain, impossible to adjust and repair.

Use Hedgerow Design everywhere

Every place becomes unique If objects are made locally, repairable locally, then they impart a sense of place

Benefits of using natural materials

By using natural materials, they age and weather well, becoming attractive as they age weathered old wooden barns 200 years old vs. streaky grubby concrete 10 years old.

Example: A Parking Lot The Hedgerow parking lot is practical, cheap and attractive. It is built of dry-laid cobblestones, bricks, tiles etc. set with hardy native trees. This needs little or no heavy machinery to install and maintain. Drainage is often superior as water seeps into the ground where it falls. Grass and moss and small flowers may grow in the cracks between stones and the trees provide shade. Birds, bees and butterflies are attracted to the greenery and the flowers. Contrast this to normal asphalt parking lots, which are ugly, cause drainage problems and need heavy noisy equipment to install and maintain.

Example: A 30-Acre Housing Development Clustered houses in the traditional local style, using local materials, with a village square, a caf, a shop, covered walks. Surrounded by fields, woods, gardens, orchards, hedges, ponds. Local farmers produce honey, vegetables, fruits, herbs, milk, eggs, cheese, wine, etc. Winding tree-lined streets and paths. Residents own their view.

Contrast this to 30 1-acre manicured lots with cookie cutter houses.

Example: A Simple Clinic in Botswana

Buildings will be welcoming, natural warm materials, with indirect lighting.

Interiors will be clean, attractive, tidy, as per A Pattern Language.

Outside will be shady trees, flowers, vegetable garden. Contrast this to conventional stark buildings, glaring overhead lights, ugly grounds, exteriors and interiors.

Example: A School

Attractive buildings, natural materials. Interiors with indirect lighting, casement windows, welcoming feel. Grounds include gardens, orchards. Play areas of grass, stone, tile etc, planted with trees. Small farm for healthy food and education. Contrast with industrial designs, glaring lights, asphalt playgrounds, harsh interiors.

Example: Design of Door Latch

Simple hook or sliding bolt Easy to maintain, adjust & repair. Can repair with homemade materials. Contrast with complex doorknob with built-in lock. Hard to maintain, impossible to adjust and repair.

Example: Design of Window Fastener

Certain old-fashioned French windows closed with a single wooden bar fastened at the center with a large bolt. This was simple, sturdy, looked nice, and was easy to repair. The new window fastenings have sixteen tiny screws, and are made of machined metal. They are hard to install, comparatively fragile, go out of alignment easily, and expensive to repair.

Example: Bathrooms Misc.

Bath drains: simple plug vs complex machined built-in plug. Bath faucets: separate taps vs. unified faucet. Bath/shower rail & fasteners: hooks vs. built-in rails or closed fasteners

Example: Design of Simple Restaurant Interior

A simple caf can have plain tile floors, whitewashed walls, locally made wooden tables and chairs, indirect lighting, casement windows. Very cheap and simple to install and maintain. Much more attractive than most frou-frou restaurants with plastic table cloths, glaring lights, fake-quaint walls, etc.