Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

A geographical position and its social, cultural and political context as well as climate
and specific physical characteristics define the scope for a landscape design project.
This has become clearer for us in our master project where we have made a Design
Program for the outdoor environment of Wollo University in Dessie, Ethiopia and
analysed and reflected on the work and process. The aim for the project has been
to design an attractive and functional outdoor environment for the Campus, based
on the inventories and the needs and wishes of clients and users. But, the aim has
also been for us as landscape architect students to gain a greater knowledge about
landscape architecture and the design process by position ourselves outside our usual
context. The method has been open and seeking where the site, literature studies,
dialogues with people and our own experiences from the field study in Ethiopia has
influenced the work.
Wollo University is situated 400 kilometers north of Addis Ababa, in a
mountainous landscape. It faces problems of heavy rainfall during the summer,
soil erosion, a lack of essential facilities, and is still a construction site with empty
spaces in-between buildings and infrastructure. Our Design Program for future
development of the Campus is based on visions from the University, dialogues
with site users and inventories of the site and brings up an overall proposal, where
problems and opportunities are dealt with. The large empty spaces between the
buildings are transformed to places in different scales for various situations and a new
system of pathways. Vegetation is used to make today's large-scale of the Campus
to a more human-scale. We emphasize the use of a various kinds of vegetation to
increase biodiversity and to become a role model in the country. Also the Design
Program gives solution of how to deal with storm water, where it is essential to
lead away water with swales and confronting the steep slopes next to buildings by
vegetated slopes and terraces. Areas identified to lead the way for future change
were chosen to be dealt with more into detail and as inspiration for the rest of the
site.
Making a design project in Ethiopia has raised many questions and traces
to follow and we have gained both general and specific knowledge when reflecting
upon our work.