Five top student-designed landscape architecture projects across the United States have received Awards of Excellence in The American Society of Landscape Architects’ 2013 Student Awards this month. In the same categories set forth in the society’s Professional Awards, including additional Student Collaboration and Community Service groups, the competition chooses winning entrants based on demonstration of comprehensive planning, environmentally sensitive thinking, and effective presentation, among quality of design and concept. This year, no entrant in the Research category nor the Community Service category received an Award of Excellence; although Honors Awards were granted to a few projects.
The ASLA believes that these Student Awards give “a glimpse into the future of the profession.” Recipients and their projects are featured in Landscape Architecture Magazine and will be honored at a ceremony during the ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO in November.
General Design Category
Drudge City: Sediment Catalysis
Matthew D. Moffitt, Undergraduate Student at Pennsylvania State University
ASLA Project Statement:
Unprecedented levels of nutrients currently trigger toxic algae blooms and elicit Lake Erie as a restoration success story. The remediation and re-use of nutrient-laden dredge material are essential strategies within future restoration efforts. Dredge City: sediment catalysis proposes the use of Edison Park in Toledo, Ohio as the site for both the processing of and exposure to sediment gouged from the Toledo Shipping Channel, the greatest producer of material within the Great Lakes system.
Residential Design Category
Paths of Life – Rethink the Relationship Between Different Agriculture Landscapes and Community Life
Yitian Zhao and Siyu Tian, Graduate Students at University of Pennsylvania
ASLA Project Statement:
Because of the very unique climate and landform in New Mexico, the traditional pueblo life style is deeply relying on the understanding and exploiting of local landscape. However, contemporary residential development in this area is somehow ignored such kind of relationship. This project rethought and applied the traditional understanding of agriculture landscape into the contemporary residential development design.
Analysis and Planning Category
Natural Water as Cultural Water / A 30 Year Plan for Wabash River Corridor in Lafayette
Daniel (Zhicheng) Xu, Undergraduate Student at Perdue Univeristy
ASLA Project Statement:
The project seeks to find the balancing point between culture and nature along the Wabash River in Lafayette, Indiana, which is currently underappreciated because of flooding, vacancy and disconnection. The design solution is an embodiment of cultural representation and technology of stormwater management in order to achieve ecological and social resilience. With potential for spontaneous use and dynamic programing, the site can transform into a sustainable infrastructure with a cultural identity that provides active waterfront experience.
Communications Category
Above Below Beyond
Diana Fernandez, Susan Kolber, and Amy Syverson, Undergraduate Students at Temple University and University of Pennsylvania
ASLA Project Statement:
Through a six-week open exhibit and the distribution of an “Exhibit Catalog,” Above Below Beyond has helped to spread the word about the potential of Philadelphia’s Reading Railroad as a public, regenerative space. Landscape architecture and architecture student work provided site context, graphic imaging, and programmatic scenarios. By sharing the often-untapped resource of student work with the public, we helped to start conversations about the future of this amazing railroad.
Student Collaboration Category
Oktibbeha County Heritage Museum
Brad Allison, Jennifer Coogler, Kyle Cooper, Kaitlyn Hackney, Owen Harris, Jerry Hill, David Loyd, Simon Adam Martin, Austin Moore, Jacqueline Pionan, and Oliver Preus, Undergraduate Students at Mississippi State University
ASLA Project Statement:
The submitted project is a 4-year, collaborative, design-build effort focused on the Oktibbeha County Heritage Museum. The site was re-envisioned as an enhancement to the museum to expand its programs and redefine its mission, which has allowed it to solidify itself as a cultural amenity within the community. With the concept of “Celebrating the Past while Embracing the Future” the site now displays the most diverse collection of integrated green infrastructure technologies within the region.
