The cloud covered Du Toit Mountains

Took a drive to Worcester today, located 120Km north-west of Cape Town on the N1 highway to view a pick-up we may buy.  It was a lovely afternoon, the sun shinning so on the way back to Somerset West, chose to take the Du Kloof Pass and admire the fantastic views of the Paarl valley and Hawequas Mountains.

Here are some photo’s I took during the drive to help you appreciate the epic scale and natural beauty of the scenery.

Panorama of the Paarl Valley

Below is a brief history of the pass and its construction taken from an article of the history of the Du Toits Kloof Pass courtesy of Cav. Andre E. Martinaglia

This mountain pass is located roughly 70km to the East of Cape Town and is connecting Paarl and Worcester via a well constructed pass road. Nowadays you can reach Worcester easily via the Huguenot Tunnel on the N1 highway, but you can cross the Du Toit Kloof Pass also via the old R101 road and admire the splendid landscape. Here is some interesting article about the construction of the mountain pass road which was generously provided by Cav. Andre E. Martinaglia. History of the Mountain Pass The construction of the Du Toits Kloof Pass has a long and interesting history that dates back to long before the Italian Prisoners of War, during World War11, built wonderfully constructed road, with its beautiful scenic route, travelled these days by many motorists.

The pass is named after Francois Du Toit, a French Waldesian, who with the Huguenots arrived as refugees in the Western Cape, fleeing religious persecution in their own country. On his arrival he acquired a piece of land for farming by the Dutch Authorities, which he called Kleine Bosch, just below the Hawequa Mountains. He was the first to cross the “Neck” above his farm, and look down into the valley beyond that bears his name. There was a gradual expansion of farming activity in this region, and by 1738, Jacobus van der Berg was grazing his cattle in Du Toits kloof , beyond the top of the pass. Gradually the cattle track – the “Hawequa” as it was called, came into existence. Steep and tricky a route, that only cattle could really make use of it. In 1778 Governor Van Plettenberg made mention of a wagon road that was being constructed, but of that plan, nothing really of note came from it.

Section of the Du Toit Mountain range

The Hawequa cattle path started not very far from the old farm of Kleine Bosch, Blouvlei Valley, between Wellington and the Hawequa neck, taking a zigzag course up the slope, then turning north-east crossing the buttresses, before straightening into the kloof beyond the neck. Forty years past, when then a enterprising German farmer called Detlef Siegfried Schonfeldt, a former lieutenant in the 45th Württemberg Hussars, who had purchased a farm in the Du Toit’s Kloof, approached the farming community areas of Worcester, Paarl, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, suggesting that they should contribute to the building of a road through the Du Toits Kloof , which would benefit them all.

After much debate the farming community agreed, and the money for the construction of the road was raised. Funds were even received from far away towns such as Beaufort West and Cape Town itself. Soon the government of the day became involved in the project and supplied the necessary explosives for the task, as well as the necessary tools. Soon Schonfeldt went to work, concentrating on the Kleigat, the most difficult section of the pass. Within two years he managed to build a wagon road over it. This depleted the funds that were made available to him by the farming community, so he approached the government, offering to donate the kloof to them on completion, should they supply the necessary amount of money required to complete the project. In his opinion 60 laborers would be enough manpower required for this task within 4 months.

Lieutenant Charles Alexander of the Royal Engineers was assigned to investigate the matter. He cast doubt on the project, and to his mind the old path was more than sufficient for the purpose intended. Taking in his advice, the authorities turned down Schonfeldt’s offer, as a result he was financially ruined. The matter was again raised in 1858, this time by George Pilkington, a civil engineer, who surveyed a proposed route through the mountains. Again due to the lack of funds brought this project to its end. In the 1890’s a manganese mine was opened in the mountain above Du Toits Kloof, situated between Miaspoort and the old Kleigat. Transporting the ore was the mine’s main problem. An attempt to overcome this was to use an aerial cableway. The cableway was to carry the ore from the the mine to the top of the neck, then down towards Wellington.

The problem was never solved, and the mine eventually closed down. The next road builder in Du Toit’s Kloof was Jannie le Roux of the farm called Verdun. He started farming in the area at the end of World War I, and built himself a private road in order to have easier access to his various camps. He used a special little donkey-cart only 3 feet wide, and was able to reach his lands. Now the road was only 4 feet wide! Fortunately for his own personal safety he decided to build a second road higher up the slope, which was better constructed, running about 600 feet below the present pass of today. The le Roux road could not be used as a public road and in 1935 a National Road Board meeting was held. Interest in building a pass was revived. In 1940 the Government Engineer Mr. P.A. de Villiers conducted yet another survey and finally it was decided to go ahead with his plan, to build a road through Du Toits Kloof. Not long afterwards South Africa with the outbreak of World War II, was to host a large amount of Italian Prisoners of War, with some 10,000 detained at Worcester.

The Paarl Valley

The government had knowledge of the Italians, whom they considered amongst the best road and pass builders in the world at the time, which would not cost them for their labor except for food. The Italians agreed, and those specializing in civil life back in Italy in this type of work were chosen, and rail coached down to the nearest stopping post to the construction area, from where the necessary machinery and tools were provided. Success with P.A. De Villiers at the helm was to become a reality. The Outeniqua Pass between the towns of Oudtshoorn and George was also receiving the same attention by the same engineer, using Italian Prisoners of War to start building a road through that pass, where they had to cut through the hardest rock to be found in South Africa, making progress slow and tiring.

One thousand and five hundred Prisoners of War were transported from Zonderwater Prisoner of War Camp near Pretoria for the Du Toits Kloof Pass project. By 1945 the passes were near completed after two years of hard work. World War II came to an end, and the Italians had to be repatriated, leaving the work left to be completed by local labor. In 1949 the pass was completed, at a cost of 750,000 English Pounds. A well worthwhile project despite the cost involved to benefit future generations tremendously.

A sad day today – Your music told a story, expressed the feelings and provided some great times.  Peace go with you,  RIP GSH.

The octagonal Garden

Vergelegen was a farm granted to the governor Willlem Adrian van der Stel in 1700.  Situated in the Hottentots Holland it lay far from the reaches of the settlement of Cape Town as its name suggests, meaning ‘situated far away’.  The original grant was for 342.4 ha, which was later extended to 524.7ha, ten times the size of most farms granted at the time.

View of Vergelegen from Willem van der Stel's 'Korte Deductie, 1708, showing the Homestead from the west.

Within four years Willem van der Stel had transformed Vergelegen into a model country estate with extensive plantations and buildings laid out in a baroque style, reflecting the renaissance influence of wealthy estates and palaces in Europe, with their symmetrical plans and ornate gardens.  Vergelegen was laid out with a double-walled octagonal garden radiating avenues and four flanking out buildings – a slave lodge, watermill/stable, wine cellar and pigeon house.

View of Vergelegen from 'Contra Deductie, 1712, showing the Homestead from the east.

His grand vision was largely achieved with the resources and manpower of the Dutch East India Company for which Vergelegen was a former outpost, causing discontent amongst the other settlers (burghers).  Accusations of corruption finally led to Willem Adriaans dismissal.  Having been denied permission to remain at Vergelegen as an ordinary farmer, he reluctantly returned to the Netherlands in 1708.

The directors of the Dutch East India Company confiscated Vergelegen, a grant they had never been authorised and gave orders for the farm to be divided into four parts and sold.  It is doubtful whether the directors instructions to demolish the homestead were carried out as the present homestead was rebuilt on the same site and underwent further changes over the next three centuries.

Camphor trees of the Octagonal garden

Much of the existing buildings and garden elements of Vergelegen are a result of the restoration works carried from 1917 by Florance Philips, the wife of the mining magnate Sir Lionel Philips, who presented the estate to his wife as a gift.  Prior to this point Vergelegen had fallen into a state of disrepair and restoration works were to be inspired by a renewed interest in Cape Dutch architecture, particularly through the books of Dorothea Fairbridge, a friend of Lady Philips.

It was left to a young English architect Percy Walgate, to implement the ideas and he approached the task of enlarging the historic home with great sensitivity, designing the two new wings to be subsidiary to the main house.  The exterior was painted an ochre colour and the terrace (steop) was laid with red quarry tiles and Klompie bricks.

Oval pond in front of library

Before retiring to the cape, the Philipses had lived in a series of grand houses in Johannesburg and England, Lady Philip’s added colonial pieces of furniture to the homestead and a pair of bronze deer (copies of those at Herculaneum), the marble urns and Venetian well-head.

William Hanson, the Philipse’s former gardener at Tylney Hall in England, was brought to the Cape in 1921 to establish the gardens at Vergelegen.  The octagonal garden was reinstated within the inner walls of Van der Stel’s enclosure and was transformed into a beautiful English styled garden.

Existing features within the grounds of Vergelegen as illustrated on map.

1. Information Centre.

2. Wine Tasting Centre.

Courtyard Garden of former stable buildings

3. Interpretive Centre.

Exhibitions on display in the former stables provide insight into the history and developments of Vergelegen in narrative, illustrative and archeological form.

4. Almond and Oak Avenue.

The original chestnut avenues from Van der Stel’s time are being re-established.  The outer rows are formed by Spanish oaks (English oaks being to porous for the Cape climate, the middle rows by Turkish chestnuts and the inner rows by almond trees.

5. Octagonal Garden.

6. Homestead.  Click on the link below to learn about the Homestead’s rich history.

Homestead frontage

Homestead’s architectural history, interior and collections of furniture and paintings

7. Camphor Trees

The Big Five. Camphor trees (Cinnamomum camphora)

Guarding the entrance to the Homestead are five magnificent chinese camphor trees planted Van der Stel between 1700-1706.  They are officially the oldest living trees on the subcontinent and were declared a national monument in 1942.

8. Lady Philips Restaurant

9. White garden/Ancient Oak

A formal hedge garden has been created to enhance the restored north wing of the Homestead.  Using the two existing ponds as a starting point, the design reflects the period of the alterations done in the time of Lady Philips.Alongside the car park stands a hollow Oak tree, the oldest in Africa.

10. Royal Oak

King Alfred's Royal Oak

Here stands an Oak tree planted in 1928 from one of the last acorns of King Alfred’s Oak at Blenheim Palace.  In 1947, HRH King George VI gathered the acorns from this tree for planting in Windsor Great Park.  Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II assented to dedicate a plaque here when she visited Vergelegen in 1995.

11. Yellowwood Walk/Water Mill/Camellia Collection

12. Camellia Garden

The site of botanist Jan van Bergen extensive collection of rare Camellia’s, containing  over 300 species

13. Wetland Garden

Timber boardwalk through Wetland Garden

A woodland boardwalk leads trough groves of tree ferns, arum lilies, gunnera and azaleas.

14. Camphor Forest Picnic

15. Rose Garden

Formal rose garden containing 1000 rose bushes.

16. Rose Terrace

17. Library

Former Winery built-in 1816 converted into library

18. Margaret’s Roberts Herb and Vegetable Garden

Herb and Vegetable Garden

Opened in 1993, the garden supplies ingredients for the restaurants within the grounds.

Copy sourced from literature provided by Vergelegen, member of Anglo American plc.

To view more images of Vergelegen press the link below.

Vergelegan images

Grosfeld Van der Velde Architects wanted to bring the beautiful nature inside this house near the southern parts of the Netherlands, near a town called Breda. Named House KvD, this modern building rests between the trees of Teteringen forest. Its square shape allows you to enjoy the wonderful surrounding environment through the large windows as you move along the corridors. An interior courtyard is formed between the ground floor and the elevated part of the square. The kitchen is located on ground, the living area is located in the tallest part of the building, while the bedrooms are lifted by the pylons for a better view of the forest.

The entrance in the house is made from the interior courtyard. Beautiful large windows create an artistic look – the framed windows offer a cut-out of the forest panorama. The facade is made from vertically placed black stained wood cladding, which gives it a majestic feel observed first by looking at the house`s massive size. Tall ceilings in the living are amplify the majestic feeling and offer incredible framed views of the forest. A beautiful detail, the small patio in front of the kitchen enlarges the living space during sunny days. When the large sliding doors are open, the sunshine and fresh, frisk air of the forest can rush right in.

Post sourced from FRESHOME.COM

Paarman Manor Garden Proposal

I was given the opportunity last week to visit the private residential garden of Paarman Manor in Constantia, South Africa.  The project involved several disciplines, the Landscape Architects being Viridian Consultants based in Somerset West.

Upper Lawn

The 8200m2 property was purchased with the intention of developing a residential property which included a Test Kitchen for the Paarman Foods Company.  The design work for the project started mid 2004, with construction commencing in April 2005 and completing in December 2006.

The design brief would incorporate proposed buildings with access routes that retained the agricultural character of the site, maximising the views towards Table Mountains Eastern and Back Table.

Vineyard and Mountain View

The brief was not fully defined and the design process evolved through the collaberation of the client, landscape architect and architect.

The site is located on the north facing slope of Constantia on sandy clay soils.  The topograghy consisted of grass terraces and stone retaining structures.  The site included numerous distinctive mature trees which imparted a great influence towards the design process.  These included Cork Oaks, Outeniquq Yellowoods , wild Peach trees, ancient fruit Olives and exotic, smaller indigenous trees.

Vegetable/Herb Garden, Werf and Guest House.

There was an existing water feature which created the appearance of a natural spring flowing through the site, which inspired the clients request for water to become one of the main design elements.

The site is bordered by other residential properties on the southern and eastern bounderies and over looks a vineyard in the foreground and Table Mountain in the distance to the west.  This ‘borrowed’ landscape was fully exploited to enhance the aspect and features of the garden layout.

Agapanthus, Lavender Field and Upper Lawn

The placement of the buildings and formal outdoor spaces were determined by the concept of configuring the site to that of the traditional Cape Dutch ‘werf’.  The slope required formal terraces to achieve the rectangular spaces around which the buildings were placed and symmetry around the design axes was also reflected in the landscape design.

The formality was not slavishly followed and the site characteristics of trees and existing building footprints moulded the strict symmetry possible on a level site. The layout became a responsive balance between organic elements and formal geometric elements. This echoed the combination of formality and informality found in many Italian gardens of the Renaissance era; retaining however a scale of the design that remains at a domestic and a human scale.

Copy sourced from Viridian Consulting.

Vegetable/Herb Garden Fountain and Rill

Please press the link below to view images taken during visit.

Paarman Manor Images

Brooklyn Bridge Park from Brooklyn Bridge

During a first time trip to New York City last October, I took the opportunity to visit some of the open public spaces that I had read about in various landscape journals while studying Landscape Architecture.  These included the High Line Park in Chelsea’s Meatpacking District, Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, Tear Drop Park and the Irish Hunger Memorial off Hudson River Park, east of the Financial District, Battery Park south of the Financial District and finally Olmsted’s Central Park.  This entry will concentrate on Brooklyn Bridge Park, but if you are interested in any other sites please search through my blog.

View east towards Pier two of Salt marches, gravel paths and concrete steps..

The prospect of visiting New York had inspired a host of images in my mind, mostly a result of films located in the city watched from a small child.  The film those imagery provided the most vivid vision of the city was Once Upon a Time in New York with the backdrop of Brooklyn Bridge against the local streets where the film was set.  Why this image stood out from the rest who knows, but nonetheless the idea of experiencing Brooklyn Bridge up close, provided a great amount of excitement.  To discover the development of Brooklyn Bridge Park, 65 acres of new waterside parkland along Brooklyn’s East River shoreline, adjacent to the Bridge meant the opportunity of experiencing two distinctive features of New York on one site.  One which has already established it iconicity and one thats definately in the making.

Easterly view of main promenade and grass lawn.

The site of the park was the old termination point of the Fulton Street ferry that linked manhatten to Brooklyn before the bridge was built in 1883.  The construction of the bridge brought the closure of the ferry terminus and in 1990 the New York Dock Company secured the majority of the waterfront land between Fulton Street and Erie basin, which it developed into piers, stores and warehouses for a thriving freight market.  The 1950’s however witness the steady decline of the site due to the advent of containerised shipping and compitition from other east coast cities.  This period also experienced the construction of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, a 20m high highway which detached the waterfront from its community in Brooklyn Heights.

By the 1970’s the local authority were drawing little revenue from the warehouses at piers 1-6 located along Fulton Street and in 1983 the Port authority closed cargo shop operations.  The empty site witness a collection of high rise, high density development proposals, which were strongly opposed by almost two decades community activism and engagement until Mayor Bloomberg and Govenor George Pataki agreed the park’s construction in 2002.  The landscape architect and visionary behind the parks creation was laid out by Michael van Valkenburgh’s in his 2005 masterplan.

The once vacent piers, stores and warehouses are now been transformed to create a collection of richly varied multi-functional green and blue open public spaces of lawns, beaches, coves, restored habitats, playgrounds and beautifully landscaped areas; connecting visitors to the waterfront and New York Harbor via floating pathways, fishing piers, canals, paddling waters and restored wetlands.

View of Lower Manhatten from southern promenade.

When I visited the park only Pier one had been completed, representing only 9.5 acres of the intended sixty five acres of waterside parkland which is to stretch from Manhatten Bridge eastwards to Atlantic Avenue.  Although only in the first phase of the intended development to complete all six piers by 2015,  the resolution of Pier one provided the blueprint of the quality of experience that has yet to come.

Pier one is the largest of the park piers and the only pier that is built on landfill rather than on pile-supported structure. This strong foundation provides the base for a new topography including a hill at the center of the pier which provides dramatic and sweeping views of the New York Harbor and the Brooklyn Bridge.  The Pier includes two large lawns, the Bridge View lawn and the Harbor View lawn, a playground at the northern edge with play equipment for younger children, a waterfront promenade, and a series of tree-lined pathways that provide a varied waterfront experience. The “Granite Prospect” is a dramatic set of steps built from granite stones salvaged from the Roosevelt Island Bridge reconstruction along the western edge of the pier.  Over 500 mature trees will be planted on Pier one including Kentucky Coffees, Catalpas, Magnolias, Lindens, Sweetgums, Serviceberries, London Planes, and various species of Oaks.

View of park from corner of southern and eastern promenade.

A salt marsh at the southern edge of the Pier, planted with native plant life and nestled within a salvaged granite seating area, provides a unique opportunity to experience the tidal river, and a boat ramp at the southern edge of Pier provides access for non-motorized watercraft.  The water gardens create a dramatic display of water-loving plants along the main park promenade, including shrubs like highbush blueberry, spice bush, pussy willow, button bush, serviceberry, swamp rose and swamp azalea, and perennials like rose mallow, mist flower, joe-pye weed, marsh marigolds, milkweed, and a variety of irises, asters, goldenrods, rushes, sedges, and ferns.  Visible from major pathways and crossed by pedestrian bridges, the water gardens start in a small pond near the Old Fulton Street entrance into Brooklyn Bridge Park.  The water cascades through successively lower weirs incorporated into the bridge structures, that create a lush swath of plants that wraps southward along the eastern edge of the Pier mound. In addition to the value they bring to the experience of the park, these gardens are the visible component of the rainwater collection and treatment that is one of many ecologically positive site systems that support Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Westerly view of east promenade old pier piles and Salt marshes.

Throughout this area of the park, excess stormwater will be collected from building roofs, paved areas and lawns.  As the water passes through each segment of the water garden, pollutants and sediment are removed. When the water reaches the lowest section at the southern end of Pier, it is drained back into the underground tank and ultimately used as irrigation for the entire Pier landscape.  This runoff collection system in conjunction with a decrease of impervious surfaces on the site, will represent an improvement over the previous site system which, in large storm events, diverted untreated surface runoff directly into the East River.  Based on the size of the tanks and the annual cycles of wet and dry seasons, it is estimated that the water that has been collected on site will supply 70% of Pier yearly irrigation needs.  A future component of the Pier is the provision of a pedestrian bridge from Squibb Park, located to the north of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. This bridge will allow direct pedestrian access from Brookyn Heights to the Pier one uplands.

For more information on Brooklyn Bridge Park, its design elements, construction and sustainability features, planting schemes and the parks future progress please visit www.brooklynbridgeparknyc.org.

Front page

Back page copy

Digital Drawing for Landscape Architecture: Contempory Techniques and Tools for Digital Representation in Site Design.

By Bradley Cantrell & Wes Michaels.

One of the major adjustments I encountered when studying landscape architecture was the transition from conventional analog representations of concepts to developing the skills required in the contempory landscape practice in creating appealing digital visualisations of proposals from the various software applications available.

Digital media such as Adobe Creative Suite provided an array of tools which enabled the formation of attractive photo-realistic imagery for presentations which added additional legability and understanding to designs and ideas.

The problem I often encountered however was discovering how to manipulate the correct digital tools for the effect or rendering desired.  Over the years I have purchased a host of very good publications which explain and detailed how to achieve the vast array of possibilities on specific applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator, sketchup, Vectorworks etc, but as individual programmes to achieve singular effects.

What I found for the first time in Digital Drawing for Landscape Architecture was a book that provided a step by step manual for producing the engaging imagery required within current presentations such as plans, sections, elevations, perpectives, visualisations and their rendering which incorporated and combined the various digital media used within the landscape architecture profession.

Unfortunately an area weakness within my work was the ability to employ digital media to create the standard of presentational work required within a modern landscape practice that communicates, captivates and excites the viewer.  So it was with great excitement to learn of this title and intend to put its varying elements to significant use in aiding and enhancing my future presentations.

To view a the list of contents and sections of the publication press the link below.

Digital Drawing for Landscape Architecture