Adventures in Landscape Architecture

Goats, bunnies and ADVENTURE!

2013-05-31T18:00:00.000-07:00

As I told the clerk at the store tonight, "today was a pretty great day." I started put the day by getting up early to get Cait off to her field trip to the coast. I used the extra time to make home fries for the older two kids. There was so much happiness. Then, before heading out for the day, I packed up all the Salmon Watch gear that's been living in my garage and shed for far too long.

Shortly after arriving at work I submitted the grant application I've been working on for the last week. We're requesting just under $5,000 for things like a new dry suit, waders/boots, pruners and loppers but the thing I'm most excited about is the possibility of a new waterproof GPS capable digital camera.

After submitting the grant, my co-worker J. and contractor M. loaded up all the tarps and headed out to the work site. While J. and M. made a few stops on their way, so I took a few moments to meet the demonstration farm's newest residents.

They have about a dozen baby billy goats which will be used to remove invasive vegetation. This little guy was soooo friendly. He was definitely ready for his close-up.

Then I checked in on the bunnies. Poor sad earless bunnies. They were their mamas first little, and she cleaned their ears right off shortly after birth. They kind of look like guinea pigs. No cute pictures of them though, their hutch is too dark. After fun with the farm animals, J. and M. arrived and we got to work.

J. decided to take the ATV down to the work site, and rode off down the hill. I drove his truck down to the lower stream crossing and found that M. had already driven across and neither he nor the ATV were in sight, so I drove the truck across. I went for a short walk to find the boys and met up with them after 10-15 minutes. I was greeted by J. calling out, "you're braver than I am!" Apparently he had never driven his truck across to the other side of the channel, as I had just done. Whoops!

We spent the next few hours getting stuff set-up for Monday's "Riparian Restoration Olympics" with all of the middle school teams from Springfield. (more on that soon!) Having the truck on the other side allowed us to empty the tarps right where we needed them without having to haul them piece by piece across the channel.

After we were done, we decided to cross the channel at the upper crossing, where we thought it would be an easier go. He drove through the 6' tall reed canary-grass, and I followed in his truck. He had to stand up on the ATV to be able to see where the "road" went. At one point I drove over a willow, not kidding.

As we approached the upper crossing, J. stopped the ATV and walked back to let me know that there was a bit of a drop into the channel, indicating that it was about 6" or so. I watched as he hit the drop and proceeded through the channel. Then I slowly approached the drop. Unfortunately, one side of the drop was steeper than the other and as I went over it the truck shifted sideways and one of the wheels was up off the ground. Yikes.

So I did what any girl would do, I continued forward, allowing the momentum to carry the truck over the drop, and then let out the clutch a bit to gain momentum to make it up the other side of the channel. At two points, I had three wheels in contact with the ground. It was a bit scary.

When I made it up the other side of the channel, and stopped behind J., he came around to the passenger door and said, "That wasn't too bad." I replied, enthusiastically, "THAT WAS AWESOME." And it was.

We finished up putting away gear, and I apologized again for driving to the other side. It could have ended badly, but lucky for me, it actually worked out well. All in all, a pretty good day.

Walking in the river

2013-05-28T11:50:00.000-07:00

I have a pair of waders.

I have had this set of chest waders since October. As part of my job, I work with high school students surveying riparian and in-stream habitat.

These students are AH-MAZ-ING. They have to apply to participate in the program, and only a few new students are added to each team. They learn the protocol, and go out to do this work in ALL weather. It has snowed and rained on us. One time we had to send one student in the lead to break up the ice on the side channel we were surveying before the rest of the team could go through. Ice breaking students?! They had so much fun that day, even though we were all super cold.

We follow the Aquatic Inventories Project: Methods for Stream Habitat Surveys developed by Oregon State and ODFW. In simple terms, it means that we teach the students to assess the quality/quantity of the in-stream and riparian habitat based on an established protocol resulting in usable data for the council.

It also means that I get to walk in the river, climb up, around and over log structures, and really do my best not to fall on my butt in front of kids who are 22+ years younger than me. The first few times I went out with them, I felt like I was a million years old. I was so slow and clumsy. I'm a lot better now. Although, chasing after 15-18 year old students through the woods, streams, backwaters on a regular basis certainly hasn't hurt my physical abilities. I believe that it is more because I trust my own body to do the things I need it to do - stand against fast flowing water, stumble instead of falling, walk along a log covered with slick moss, jumping down onto uneven ground without hurting myself.

The school year is coming to an end, and although I'll have 2-3 more trips out with these kids this summer, I'm already looking forward to the next school year.

Wordless Wednesday

2013-05-08T22:52:00.001-07:00

Another hard day at "the office" means getting kids into waders, and having them experience nature.

One Year Past or A Year in Pictures

2013-05-07T14:14:00.001-07:00

Yep, that's my guy. He's awesome.

So much has happened in the last year, and I've obviously been ~~a huge slacker~~ too busy to spend a lot of time posting. I've been incredibly busy living life.

In my last post, I talked a bit about my internship with the Friends of Buford Park at the Native Plant Nursery. I completed my internship and was asked if I would continue to volunteer, leading the new interns in nursery operations so that the Stewardship Coordinator could go and do other work in the park. So, I continued to volunteer through the first week of August, harvesting and cleaning seed in the nursery.

The garden was so overgrown you couldn't see the beds.

YAY Graduation!! Crystal and I were both so happy to be done.

In June, Stephen and I got married at a historic hazelnut orchard called Dorris Ranch. The arching habit of the hazelnut trees provided a cathedral like setting for our ceremony, and then our reception was outdoors next to the barn. It was a gorgeous day, and we were so happy to be able to share the beautiful day with our friends and family.

Two days later, I graduated from the University of Oregon with my Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree. It was an amazing few days, and it was also absolutely exhausting. But, I'm so glad that we were surrounded by people that love and support us.

Wading in the McKenzie, chasing after HS students.

In July, we moved into a new house, further from campus. Great house, with a great garden space that needed a LOT of work. YAY! It was a giant weed pit, but we quickly went to work, clearing beds, removing weeds, adding to and amending the soil.

Another "hard" day at the office.

I continued to work at the UO part-time, and volunteer at the nursery. I was applying for pretty much any job that fit the bill. That bill being that it needed to pay, be located in Eugene and use my degree. I applied, interviewed and accepted an additional part-time position with the McKenzie Watershed Council, as their Salmon Watch and Education Coordinator. If you don't know what a watershed council is, this blog post provides a great overview.At first, I was hesitant to take the job because I had just spent 4 grueling years and thousands of dollars on a degree in landscape architecture. Dang it... I wanted to use my degree. But, I also needed a job. After a bit of soul searching, I decided that this position fit my current requirements. It provided experience in a related field, got me in contact with people in my field, paid real money instead of just volunteer experience, and had the potential to become full-time later on.

A job with views like this is just intolerably hard.

My first trip out with students was students from Thurston High School. We all put on waders, and surveyed a side channel of the McKenzie River, recording usable data in areas that wood placement projects had occurred. Next, I tackled Salmon Watch, which is a story for another time.

Over time, my job has morphed into restoration design, planning and implementation as well as education. So, the big fear that I had about not using my degree, well, it ended up being needless worrying on my part. I love the work I do! I get to spend time designing in the office, implementing projects in the field, and teaching kids about the importance of healthy of our watersheds (Hello riparian zone!) while working side-by-side them in the field. I keep finding myself outside, in beautiful landscapes thinking, "Can you believe they PAY me to do this?" I have so much fun with the students, working, teaching, even just talking with them. AND, I get to "scratch" my design itch.

I'm still working part-time at the UO as well as working part-time for the watershed council, but we're busily applying for my grant funding to make my position full-time, with benefits. I'm seriously hoping that works out. I love the work, I love the people I work with and I want this job to be what I do.

The good news of all of this, is that I'll likely be able to update more regularly with more about my current adventure, and probably less about my personal life.

First day of my first internship

2012-04-03T14:54:00.002-07:00

I started my internship with the Friends of Buford Park/Mt. Pisgah here in Eugene today. I am officially a Habitat Restoration Intern at an amazing park located about 15 minutes away (by car) from my home. I have previously visited this park for field trips with various classes, as well as for the Mushroom Festival that is held at the Arboretum. Buford Park occupies 2,300 acres of land situated between the Middle Fork and Coastal Forks for the Willamette River. It contains riparian forests, dense fir forests and some absolutely AMAZING oak savannas and prairies.

I'm so excited about getting my hands dirty again! I'll be spending 2 days a week for the next 10 weeks helping in the native plant nursery learning (and best of all, DOING) seasonal propagation and maintenance operations including planting, irrigation, weeding, harvesting, sales, and record keeping. I'll also have the opportunity to learn to identifying characteristics for dozens of native plants in different stages of development. I'm particularly interested in the planning that goes into this sort of restoration and nursery operation and plan to ask about it after I get enough info about the basics of my tasks.

It was raining this morning when I arrived. There were about half a dozen other students there and so I began introducing myself around to everyone. In addition to the students, I met Jessica, the volunteer coordinator, and Hal, the man who makes all the magic happen.

Jessica and Hal gave us a brief overview of the mission and operations of the Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah. Most importantly, they explained that while Lane County owns the park, that the Friends complete most of the habit restoration and maintenance for the property. Further, I learned that the Mt. Pisgah Arboretum only holds a lease on a small parcel of the land from the county.

We took a tour of the greenhouse and talked about the seed starting operations and then moved out into the field/lot areas of the nursery. We talked about the non-native invasive plants that are starting to release seed and what was most important to remove from the gardens. Then, we got to work.

We weeded a large plant bed this morning that was FULL of weeds (plants that didn't belong there). It was supposed to be a bed of Grindelia integrifolia, Willamette Valley Gumweed. But it was full of just about everything else instead. There were six of us weeding for more than an hour and we only finished up about half of it! I'm looking forward to seeing a bed full of these:

After that, we split up into different tasks. I helped with dividing large pots of Juncus petans, Common Spreading Rush. We planted small sprigs of the divided plant into one gallon pots and then moved all of them to the shade lot area for rushes.

Before I knew it, I was dirty and time was up. This morning was a rainy start to what will hopefully be a fantastic internship.

I'm looking forward to being out there on days like this:

Losing an amazing mentor and landscape architect

2012-03-28T21:41:00.001-07:00

It's come to pass that my mentor (a landscape architect), my peer and friend is dying from cancer. It just had to be breast cancer. Interductal carcinoma, diagnosed too late.

She is the parent to a 14 year old girl who excels at school, has a fierceness about her that is ALL her mother and a tenderness of heart that is unbelievable for someone dealt such a bum hand. She is the wife to an Englishman who's heart is bigger than his body. She is my friend, my mentor and supporter. She is/was such an inspiration and light in this world.

It hurts so much and makes me incredibly sad. If you want to read about it, go here. If you want to help... tell me.

I've been working my drawing muscles

2012-03-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

My hands hurt. No, really. My right hand and wrist hurt (and I love it!)

I completed all of my required courses last term and am simply taking a drawing workshop and a class on wetland design this term. The drawing workshop is an intensive week-long course. THIS week. I've spent the three days, 8-9 hours per day sketching. Woah! My hand hurts!

During the last two terms, my drawing work was almost exclusively digital and I wanted to get a bit of a refresher. Some of the in-class drawings/sketches have come out so well that I'm going to add them to my portfolio as soon as I get them back. Yay for portfolio addition.

Look for awesome sketches in the next few days.

The final final final

2012-03-20T17:47:00.000-07:00

Last Friday afternoon, I presented my final studio presentation for my comprehensive project. My family and friends attended my presentation to the panel of reviewers. It went surprisingly well and except for the fact that I was so nervous and anxious that my mouth dried out and I could barely form words, I'd call it a success. So, let me tell you about the project that has totally consumed my life for the last year.

"The talk"
I started off my talk by discussing the history of the site. Ecologically, the site is a second growth redwood forest with steep topography and suffers from seasonal flooding in the winter and dryness in the summer. Historically, it was an old growth forest that was harvested for timber, burned over for conversion to farm land and then identified as sub-marginal farm land prior to its development as a Recreation Demonstration Area (RDA). Built by the WPA and CCC as part of the new deal, it provided a low cost way for families and groups to experience nature. This is a picture of one of the community buildings during construction:

Next, I talked about how the site has fared since its construction. Largely unchanged since construction, it is a unique example of CCC/WPA construction. As one of only two RDAs constructed west of the Rockies it is historically signficance. Due to its high level of historic integrity it was recommended and approved for designation as a National Historical Landmark.

What you really need to know is that today, the park is owned by California State Parks and managed by a non-profit organization founded by campers. The park contains three distinct camps within it.

Ok, here's where I got all "mission statement and goals" blah blah blah...
My project sought to provide a plan for the park to be able to successfully navigate the next 100 years. I even had a mission statement. Yes, a mission statement, supporting goals, objective and strategies. Basically my overarching idea was to plan for the current and future needs of the park created by changing populations, values and landscapes while still respecting its historic and ecological characteristics.

Basically, I created a set of interventions that were applied at a specified scale over the 720 acre park. Some of these scales, were applied at the Park-wide scale, some at all of the camps and then others were only applied in specific camps. My goals included the following areas: Forest Management, Circulation, Accessibility, Wayfinding and Interpretive Design.

I know, I know, you're sitting there thinking, "why are you still talking instead of showing me pretty pictures?" I think it's because I've spent so much of the last several months trying to organize my project into a 20 minute spoken explanation and it feels like all I can do now... so instead of my talking more and more, here are some cool perspectives, plans and sections for you to make your eyes and mind happy with. All of them were digitally produced and rendered using a combination of AutoCAD, Illustrator, Photoshop and SketchUp.

The plans:

Camp 1

Camp 2:

Camp 3:

Section perspective of Camp 3 (sorry that the plan view above doesn't have a section cut line... I did that after producing the drawings):

Dining hall New pedestrian bridge over directed stream New nature center

Perspective view of proposed Nature Center in Camp 3:

I've been a busy girl. Here's what the final poster ended up looking like. It was so, so, so pretty. I'm rather proud of it actually (it's 11' long, so I had to shrink it dramatically to be able to post it here):

How many rendered versions of a plan can I possibly have?

2012-03-07T10:29:00.000-08:00

The saga continues. I've been working on a rendering style for my the plan view for the camps. I started with Camp 1. It's difficult because the entire park is completely covered by a dense canopy of second growth redwoods. I mean, in a real plan view you wouldn't see ANYTHING on the ground plane. So I've been working to develop a rendering that both shows that there's a dense canopy throughout, but also shows what's happening on the ground plane.

Here's my first attempt:

This first attempt is ugly, ugly and ugly. It doesn't really show the new plan well and it looks like something you might see on a fail blog. So I kept at it... tried multiple things and it just sucked. So I took the aerial into Illustrator, drew a tree shape using the pencil tool, used a clipping mask to clip a tree shape from the aerial photo. I then brought that into Photoshop and copied and pasted different sized/rotated versions of that about a billion times to get to this point of coverage. I also used color adjustment layers after bringing in the "vector smart object" line work for the plan from Illustrator. So here's the second attempt:

I showed it to a friend who is not in Landscape Architecture and she said that the ground plane within the camp looked like it was scrub/shrub. Having that insight was helpful.. because I didn't see it that way. So I took her comments and have not come to this point (it's actually version 6 or 7):

I'm a lot happier with it now, but I think I need to add some texture or detail to the water to give it some depth. Now, on to camps 2 and 3.

Working, working working

2012-03-05T10:56:00.000-08:00

I've been busily working on my comprehensive project. I know... I know, I've been so busy working on my comp project that I have posted anything about it here. Here's the summary of the project:

"My project is both a historic preservation and comprehensive master plan. The project is called: Evolve and Preserve: Planning our future history in the Mendocino Woodlands. The project site is the Mendocino Woodlands State Park, a 720-acre family and group camp in Mendocino, California.

It was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps as a a recreation demonstration area and is a National Historic Landmark.

Located within a second-growth redwood forest, the Woodland’s structures are suffering from deterioration due to the evolution of the forest over the last 75 years. The closed canopy forest has reduced sunlight and air circulation, and seasonal erosion has damaged structures, roads and paths.

A cultural landscape inventory was completed in the spring of this year and the cultural landscape report is near completion.

My goal is to work with the various stakeholders to develop a comprehensive master plan that will address preservation needs for the landscape and the structures as well as plan for future needs that will be effected by changing populations, climate and values."

So yeah, it's big, it's complex and it's amazing. It's in the California redwoods and all the buildings and features were built by the CCC/WPA crews. But, now, almost 80 years later, it needs some love to keep it awesome for the next 80 years. I've been spending nearly all my time on it. This past weekend I worked on a sketchup/photoshop perspective for making one of the cabins accessible:

Before:

After:

Of course, I'm not done with this yet... I need to add in people to the image. While I was looking for an image of a happy active kid in a wheelchair to Photoshop into this image, I came across this and just simply had to share: Ramp fail and this ramp fail.

Here's another perspective I worked on the other day involves a new pedestrian bridge across a river that runs through one of the camps.
Before:

After:

I have 11 more days til my final presentation. I expect to be posting items as I complete them, so I might just actually update this poorly neglected blog more frequently.

Summer in Kyoto Part 2

2011-09-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

Summer in Kyoto - Part 1

2011-09-23T15:51:00.000-07:00

I promised some photos from my summer abroad in Japan. The course was structured such that the first two weeks we were there, we primarily visited and watercolored gardens. We learned about Japanese garden design through direct observation and studies in watercolor. It's really interesting to me, how when you paint a place you learn so much more about it's structure and layers, not just it's colors, but it's textures and weight as well.

Entrance walk to Tenryu-ji temple

The first garden that we visited was Tenryu-ji, we visited the gardens and then settled down to paint. After about 20-30 minutes a monk came over and asked us to leave. Whoops... officially kicked out of my first zen buddhist temple. Is there some sort of achievement or level up that goes along with that?

Tenryu-ji temple entrance

This is the garden we were painting when the quiet monk came over and asked us to leave, because we were a distraction to their visitors.


Tenryuji Gardens

So we all packed up our paints and went on a tour of the gardens instead. It was sprinkling a bit that day and the water droplets were clinging to all of the hydrangea blossoms. It was very beautiful.

Hydrangea with rain drops at Tenryu-ji

Then we walked behind the temple gardens into the bamboo forest. It was absolutely incredible. Also, completely full of mosquitoes who wanted some exotic A+ American blood.


Bamboo forest behind Tenryu-ji

The cloudy skies and light rain created the effect of a fog or mist through bamboo. Every now and then you'd see a Camphor tree trying to compete with the bamboo. The forest is maintained by the monks -- as this bamboo only had a life span of about 20-30 years. Dead and felled bamboo is removed, allowing for new growth.
Bamboo forest behind Tenryu-ji

The experience of walking through this forest is very surreal, almost otherworldly when you realize that the bamboo is really just overgrown grass.

Oh hello blog, sorry I was busy.

2011-09-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

Oh wait!! Who's been a total and complete slacker about posting here? Oh, yeah, that would be me.

I have good excuses though, really!! Spring term was super busy and I didn't really have much to post until after the end of the term. But then I only had 10 days between the end of the term and leaving for the Kyoto study abroad program. I've spent two months in Japan which was fantastic.

I'll share some photos and paintings from my travels soon.

In the meantime, enjoy a watercolor plan view painting that I did of Jiko-in garden in Nara, Japan prior to going there. I may do a new one soon that is more accurate. YAY for accuracy!

Another one done

2011-02-02T21:26:00.000-08:00

The mid-term review at SAIF went well today. We received some good feedback--some of it rather insightful and some of it to be taken with a grain a salt. So yeah, just like any review, right?

Here are some of the sexeh images I keep promising from midterm:

Illustrative Schematic Plan

Yes, it looks remarkably similar to the last version. But there are several refinements: "plaza" stairs have been reshaped, a new connection from the building at the north to the garden, reshaping of the paths and sculpture area, etc. Also, its hella darker. I look at it and think it's too dark. But, (like a good sailor) I was following orders.

"Section 4" aka Zen Rock Garden:
The sections don't show how fantastically peaceful and secluded this space actually could be. I will simply excuse by the fact that I was required to show sections of the above and not a perspective... but I might just go ahead and do a quickie just to show how awesome it is. This design was well received by reviewers. It provides a very big bang for very little input financially. It requires some reinforced concrete formwork, fill and planting.. plus a bit of planting reorganization, but it provides an optimal use of a currently wasted space.

"Section 5" aka Outdoor Cafe

I'm seriously interested in the materiality desired on this site. Or rather, really curious. Here's why: I designed a core-ten steel and glass covered pergola. During my review, I was asked about construction costs and maintenance costs regarding this structure -- in way that was somewhat questioning the value of the materiality. But, on the poster requesting user/employee input on the type of structure desired.. this was the type of structure materiality with the most interest... so yeah. I find it interesting. I keep thinking that they (the group within the company making decisions) need to have an honest discussion with their employees about what they want vs. what they can/should provide. I just keep thinking there's something there, intrinsically perhaps culturally, that they're missing, that would help with the resolution of the design program.

I felt like the criticism that we hadn't fully integrated as team was spot on. (Dear Quad Squad members... should you read this, know that I mean it for myself as much as I do for you) I feel like we haven't all sought out each other's advice and comments on our designs. Its frustrating because I feel like the reason for this is more a result of the studio structure than part of our group structure... we've been talking and getting each other's input. However, we've been so pressured and pushed by arbitrary deadlines that we have had little time to truly collaborate.. and that very idea of collaboration hasn't been emphasized. Also, there have been several key design ideas/materiality decisions that have been made without consensus (because of the above) and that bothers me. So yeah... I guess the bottom line is that I'd like enough time to be able to actually talk as a group without having HUGE massive deadlines looming preventing effective discussion.

In the end, it was another review. Another check on the list of reviews/finals, etc.

Next up, construction details sometime around Saturday/Sunday (because really, who needs a weekend off other than maybe my kids and me)

Soooo.. close... must continue can't stop.. weasels.. something

2011-02-01T01:32:00.000-08:00

My midterm review is on Wednesday. This of course means that we're in crazy busy, woah, no sleep mode. I finished three sections and two plan view drawings, rendered the same and declared them done. Things that still need to happen:

-materials collage
-labeling/adding items back on to plan
-scanning, composing and printing DD sheets
-planning presentation and story to tell
-perspectives (?) I don't think these are happening this time around... I'd love to... but feh, I also love sleep.

I keep promising images and not delivering... but soon, I promise, really.

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do want to be a Landscape Architect

2011-01-30T22:21:00.000-08:00

Shadow Mentor Day was completely amazing. I had the opportunity to meet and talk to so many creative and influential people in just a few hours. The day completely flew by.

I spent the day following a local landscape architect -- David Dougherty, from Dougherty Landscape Architects. I have to say this was the best SMD opportunity I have had so far. David did what a lot of other firms fail to do, he actually let me "shadow" him for the entire day. I went with him to meetings with clients, visiting recent projects and performing site visits on a range of sites (from prospective to completed). I met so many interesting people and was allowed and encouraged to provide my thoughts throughout the day. I don't think I could have asked for a better mentor to shadow and I don't think I could possible thank him or his staff enough.

I fully intend to stay in touch with him, perhaps asking (as graciously and politely as possible) if he would be willing to spare 1o minutes with me to review my portfolio.

Speaking of portfolio... I really need to finish that beast. I've got a few pages roughed up in one format. I'm not particularly in love with it, but it's clean and clear. Perhaps I'll post a couple tomorrow and see what the internets think about them.

News from the Quad Squad aka Studio
I spent the weekend in studio working on items for midterm. No, really. Pretty much the whole weekend except for sleeping. But, our schematic plan is rendered and ready... now to finish all the sections and perspectives for presentation on Wednesday. Of course, there will also be a plant material collage and a lighting plan... maybe a model? Or perhaps a conceptual grading plan instead. Who knows at this point...

Courthouse Garden

2011-01-25T14:45:00.000-08:00

I came across this video today and wanted to share it here. It's about a garden that I helped "build" next to the Eugene Federal Courthouse during the Spring term 2010. You may have heard me talking about it before because this project really meant a lot to me. Heck, anyone visiting me during Spring or Summer last year got to see it whether they wanted to or not.

The green roof I built is on the "green box" drop container that holds the tools for the Courthouse Garden (CHG). So I've spent a lot of time and effort at this site.

It was a truly inspiring endeavor and I'm so grateful to have been a part of it. Working side by side guys who were coming out of the federal corrections system really opened my eyes to how a landscape or garden can heal a person and how as landscape architects it is our honor and obligation to work for the greater good of humanity and society.

I was lucky enough to be in the inaugural class. The garden itself is located on the old Agri-pac site in Eugene, Oregon. The site sat empty for years after the packing plant closed, leaving an empty, derelict lot next to the brand new Federal Courthouse.

It was a lot of hard and dirty work. We literally built the garden beds up from a compacted gravel and/or concrete base. We laid out the locations of the planting beds, carried in several tons of soil, compost and leave mold by hand, in wheelbarrows. We installed irrigation, trellises, bean "tunnels" and even a stacked "stone" wall made out of the concrete debris on the site. We, the UO students designed, planted, weeded along side 10 guys from Judge Aiken's re-entry court. These are the people in the video above.

On weekends, Stephen and I would frequently volunteer at the CHG. I frequently brought my kids to the garden to work also. I wanted them to know about the importance of what we were doing. I wanted them to understand certain very subtle things about how we as a society treat people who have been in the correctional system, and, why the standard is just plain wrong.

After watching it again, I'm positively aching to get back out there and see how all the guys are doing.

Old news already

2011-01-24T21:59:00.000-08:00

I worked all weekend, yet again. I'm now going into the 4th week of the term; it's been 3 1/2 weeks since I had a single day "off". It's funny, I keep thinking that my ability to complete work on time/early by scheduling and working ahead in previous terms will help me to keep up this term. But I keep being wrong. The game has changed and I need to shift my tactics.

Bad things: Working solely in CAD is a whole other ballgame. I feel like I'm on a treadmill that I can't get off of. It makes me sad that I am missing time with my kids and Stephen (and sister and nieces too.) Seriously sad. I keep reminding myself of two things: I will graduate in a year and this is showing them how important education is to me.

Good things: I can definitely say that by the end of this term I'm going to be a whole lot more proficient in AutoCAD and SketchUp. I'm also going to need some serious massage therapy for my neck and shoulders.

This week, I am excited about Shadow Mentor Day coming up on Friday. I get to go to a local firm and shadow the principal landscape architect at the firm and pick his brain about the profession, what I can/should do to make myself a competitive candidate for employment, his firm's work, opportunities in Eugene, etc. I'm hoping it will be a most excellent opportunity to start wiggling my way into the local LA network of professionals. So look forward to more happy, happy and less cranky, tired, overworked and overwrought LA student complaints. In the meantime, I'll be working on portfolio pages so there will likely be some posts with drawings/images from the last year or two showing up.

Other than Shadow Mentor Day, I have very little upbeat awesomeness to share today -- perhaps tomorrow I'll feel more optimistic after getting more than the 3 hours I got this morning.

In the meantime, here's a pretty watercolor rendering of a cool playground from a year ago:

Studio!

2011-01-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

Holy cow this term is going to be the death of me!!

The first week of class went by in a blur and then so did week two. Now we're halfway through week three and I have yet to have a single day "off". I'm really starting to feel fried. But enough about me...

BRING ON THE PROJECT!!

(Photo by Amanda Loomis, 2011)

Our studio project site for Tech Studio is located at a commercial office building in Salem. The SAIF Corporation in Salem wants to redevelop/redesign their "backyard." On a side note, it was interesting to hear the CEO refer to the courtyard area between the building and the creek in residential ownership terms. I kept thinking about the connotations of backyard - gardens, swing sets, barbecues, parties. The only thing that happens out there is an annual event and infrequent ice cream socials in the summer time.

It's an interesting project for many reasons, the first and foremost is that it's a real site that will actually be built. There are many constraints on the project and design, including some soil issues (a buried oil tank from prior to the buildings construction 30 years ago), the adjacent creek flooded the property in 1996 and new flood control measures including a 6-foot berm and flood gate installed on site, a three-year phased budget and TONS of existing and degraded concrete that we are not allowed to remove.

(Photo by Amanda Loomis, 2011)

The established goals of SAIF Corp.'s committee for the project are to create a more usable (increase use) and sustainable landscape. The existing landscape was installed after construction of the building 30 years ago. It's a relatively standard commercial landscape for the era -- concrete plaza like area, benches that are located in ways that make them unattractive to passersby (in full view of the conference room/viewable from the CEO's office, etc.)

(Photo by Amanda Loomis, 2011)

Another interesting aspect of this project is that last year's Tech Studio worked on the same project. They established a basic design for the site, but there is a lot of refinement needed for it to work for the site. So, for the last week and half we've been working on designs for the project -- primarily making the suggested plan from last year actually work with the existing topography and site constraints.

QUAD SQUAD 4 EVAH!
My studio team this term is AWESOME!! Logan, Mike, Amanda and I formed a group or in studio design firm. Mike came up with the name Quad Squad, which I love. Then we developed our design firm logo for all of our work:

Top left: Amanda
Top right: Logan
Bottom left: Mike
Bottom right: me!

All three of them are great to work with -- I could have named them the dream team. They all have pretty much the same attitude towards the work as I do. Do the work well, but get the work done. Late nights are not our preferred work time, but so far have been a bit too frequent for our taste due to the pacing of the studio so far.

We've worked hard creating a new CAD file with design, survey, etc. for the site. This past weekend we rendered a new illustrative plan for the project (the colors/rendering style was chosen by the instructor):

Last night we cut out and assembled model pieces for the revised plan. It got too late and the existing model was being used last night, so I haven't taken any pictures of that yet, but I hope to later today.

On design angst

2011-01-13T16:40:00.000-08:00

Classes just started last week and I've already had one of those moments of uh... I guess you could call it growth?

Really, it was just frustration. Sheer and utter frustration. I could go into all the details but it's really something that is somewhat endemic in this field. I often joke that design development is somewhat like being pregnant and giving birth. See, you formulate this little bitty idea and nurture it. You take care of it, making sure that when it's time to present it that everyone will LOVE it and see the brilliance of your plan. So when you actually "give birth" or present a design and it isn't received the way you expect it to be, it can be upsetting.

In this situation, it wasn't so much that the design wasn't loved, but more that I was interrupted and not allowed to share the extreme awesomeness of my idea before being told that it wasn't loved and that it was a grotesquely ugly freak. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit.

All hyperbole aside, I did spend the next three and half hours trying to revise and resolve the issues in the way I had been instructed to and ending up crumpling up all my work into a ball. Yes, there was a large quantity of angst. I felt like I made zero progress and was back at square one. The upside is that I can take away the knowledge that, like Edison was fond of saying, I now know at least a dozen ways that it doesn't work.

So yeah, quite literally, back to the drawing board.

Next post, I should have some drawings, pictures and images to share with 100% less angst.

The end of the hiatus is nearing...

2010-12-27T16:54:00.000-08:00

I started this blog last summer while I was taking a design-build studio. We built an absolutely AMAZING ceramic tile roof. Then, I spent a few weeks building a greenhouse.

Fall term started and I had decided to not take studio last term. So I had very little to share and post about. Most of my classes were heavy in reading and writing. Remarkably, after having spent the last two years expressing my thoughts in pictures, I found that I had a hard time finding my words.

I'm glad that I took studio off last term. First, I really needed a break. Next, I had the opportunity to focus myself on Ecology which was really quite time intensive due to the volume of reading and written assignments. Finally, from what everyone said about the Fall studio, I would have been very frustrated by the process.

One of the classes I took Fall term, Theory of National Parks gave me the opportunity to spend a weekend at Crater Lake National Park, listening to the park historian, touring the park and meeting with the superintendent. The weather was AMAZING. Just perfect.

On our last day, I had the opportunity to hike and chose to hike up Garfield Peak. It was a good hike, the trail has been well maintained and the view from the top was fantastic. There was a breeze that day so the lake wasn't as reflective, but it was still a great view.

During the term, I only had the opportunity to draw once or twice for projects for Ecology, but I enjoyed it immensely. This diagram was part of my "species project" on dragonflies. I know so much more about dragonflies then I ever wanted to know.
I missed creating, designing and drawing. I'm really looking forward to jumping back in this term. Next week, classes start up again and I'll have more than a full load of coursework.

So look forward to more adventures.

Greenhouse at the Urban Farm

2010-08-24T16:58:00.000-07:00

After spending weeks creating, designing and fabricating the "green roof" ceramic tiles, I was a bit worn out. I spent two more weeks learning about how to build a pre-fabricated greenhouse at the Urban Farm here in Eugene.

We dug the foundation and created form work using dimensional lumber for the footer. I learned how to cut, bend and tie together rebar.

We poured concrete into the form work footer. Then attached additional form work and rebar for the stem wall.

We also did a little bit of irrigation pipework to extend the irrigation line into the greenhouse. Although I had done a bit of drip irrigation line work earlier in the spring, it had been at least 3 years since I'd done any work with pipes (yes, please bring on the pipe laying/handling/joining jokes). So it was good to get a little bit of practice in.

It was supposed to only take 2 weeks to build and put together the green house. Unfortunately, there were some issues with the plans and permitting, as well as in getting the proper fasteners so we were delayed a bit in finishing.

In the end, we started to put up the frame and then had to stop when we found out that the city was actually going to do something with the permit application; other than put it under a stack of other applications. So work stopped for several weeks. The photos I had taken, with measurements were helpful for the inspections and ultimate approval. Yay for pictures!

I need to get over there and take a few photos of the finished project. But I figured I'd wait until it was spring and the garden was in bloom again.

Roof Final: We Built a Roof

2010-08-10T16:28:00.000-07:00

This morning, Crystal and I went over to Gray's Garden Center in Eugene and bought about half of the plants that went on the roof. The other half came from "sedum walks" where we went and foraged for planting material. Yes, I called it foraging instead of stealing. It's kind of like taking a cutting, but less invasive. *shrug* We're propagating here!We selected a variety of thymes, sage, sempervivums and a few others. All of these are ideal in hot and dry conditions, using the ecological template of a rock wall or rock garden.
We went back to the Courthouse Garden and started to plants.The plants going in really changed how the roof looked.OH EM GEE. I'm so in love with our little roof. I want to publish every single picture I took, but that's a bit silly. So I'll just post a few of the really pretty details.

Now, if only I could put a seat under the roof. But instead, we'll have to live with a straw bale. Here's Team Ceramic, celebrating our accomplishment:

WE BUILT A ROOF!

2010-08-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks we've been jokingly saying, full of twang, "We're buildin' a roof." At the end of 8 weeks, we've done it. We built a roof. Oh, and not just any stinkin' roof. We built a beautiful handmade ceramic tile roof.
Here's lovely Amanda, very Vanna White-like, showing what the roof framing looked like:

It was a pretty simple, yet elegant construction plan. The roof was added on to the "green box" roll-off storage container. The roof is at a 4/12 ratio, and the supports were cut to fit the space exactly. All four 2x6 supports are lag screwed into the 2x4 studs which are in turn, bolted through the metal ribs of the storage container. Prior to installing the tiles, we all hung off of the roof to verify that it would hold the weight of the tiles/soil/plants or approximately 150 lbs. Our instructor even took a turn then said, "Well, it holds 220 lbs, you should be fine."
Next, we installed roofing felt and lathe nailing strips. We then started to install the roof tiles.

The actual tile installation was ridiculously tricky. It took approximately 15 hours to properly and neatly fit all 40 tiles on the roof. In between, we took a "team building" break and went to Sweet Cheeks Winery for a wine tasting and picnic. Here's the official Team Ceramic:

Each tile had a slightly different shape and curve, making the interlocking of each tile and row uh, interesting. But we did it and when we were done we thought it looked beautiful

2010-08-04T15:07:00.000-07:00

Another FANTASTIC day at the Ceramics Lab. We had planned to meet at 8am, but Amanda and Crystal both overslept and arrived a bit late. Happily, the delay gave Theresa and me the time to sit, chat and leisurely enjoy our coffee and toast.

Amanda arrived and it was time for our moment of truth. All of the work we'd put in over the last month would either be worth it or not, in a matter of seconds.

We opened the kiln and this is what we saw:
Six levels of perfectly fired, unbroken roof tiles!!! YAY YAY YAY!! *happy dance* *high fives* WOOT! Here are two VERY happy girls:

We unloaded the tiles, packed them with copious amounts of newspaper and then ran off to the home improvement store to buy the last few items.

Tomorrow: ROOF BUILDING

Adventures in Landscape Architecture

Goats, bunnies and ADVENTURE!

Walking in the river

Wordless Wednesday

One Year Past or A Year in Pictures

First day of my first internship

Losing an amazing mentor and landscape architect

I've been working my drawing muscles

The final final final

How many rendered versions of a plan can I possibly have?

Working, working working

Summer in Kyoto Part 2

Summer in Kyoto - Part 1

Oh hello blog, sorry I was busy.

Another one done

Soooo.. close... must continue can't stop.. weasels.. something

Yes, as a matter of fact, I *do* want to be a Landscape Architect

Courthouse Garden

Old news already

Studio!

On design angst

The end of the hiatus is nearing...

Greenhouse at the Urban Farm

Roof Final: We Built a Roof

WE BUILT A ROOF!

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do want to be a Landscape Architect