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landscape/planning portfolio

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Sketchup designs for town revitalizationPlace-making through custom lighting/monumentation

Bringing barren drainages back to lifeBuilding a community sculpture

Story-telling and foundational planning for a historic siteIllustrating a river’s energy through hand graphics

Siting utilities and managing resourcesLandscape and architectural drafting

Photorealistic simulations

My initial role in developing a town revitalization plan for the dilapidated pueblo of Fronteras, MX, was to interview residents (in Spanish) regarding public works and land use, plan a modified utility network, and get community buy-in for pedestrian use of the town’s historic canals. I then built a Sketchup model of the town’s topography and buildings. On this base, I reoriented the town’s commercial center towards pastoral views, designed a riverside equestrian center, and translated these conceptual proposals into Sketchup for presentation graphics. This project was awarded the ASLA-AZ Student Award of Excellence (Group, 2010).

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My primary contribution to a master plan for a new childrens’ hospital was the design of place-making monumentation. Inspired by the graceful form of an outstanding native grass, sideoats grama, these dynamic sculptures move with the wind by day, and change color when a young patient approaches them by night. These fabricated elements introduce a playful, soothing, and regionally-appropriate form to this award-winning master plan (University of Arizona Design Excellence Group Award, 2010). I mocked up this concept in wire and beads, modeled it in Sketchup, and rendered scenes using Illustrator and Photoshop.

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To create municipal guidelines (Pima County, AZ) for the design of semi-arid Low Impact Development/Green Infrastructure BMPs that can also provide recreational use and enhance a community’s visual character, I synthesized concepts of environmental science and design. Using Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, I created an illustrative, methodical manual which was later incorporated into the County’s Drainage Criteria Manual. I applied these principles to the conceptual design of a 17-acre riparian mitigation area, which was constructed in 2011. This research gained the Desert Studies Award (Garden Club of America, 2009), as well as the University of Arizona’s Dept. of L.A.’s Outstanding Thesis Award (2010).

Seeding, 2011

As-Built, 2012Grading, 2011

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While an MLA student, I designed, built, and installed a traffic circle in my neighborhood under the supervision of the City of Tucson DOT. This effort involved: the design of a flamenco-inspired sculpture; Sketchup rendering; community association charette; fabrication oversight of a metal-worker; development of grading, planting, and hardscape plans; and installation.

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As the lead researcher and author of a cultural landscape inventory of Tumacacori National Historical Park, I was responsible for all facets of historic landscape research and document production. Research included: digitization and analysis of historic photos, land records, and site drawings; description of cultural traditions practiced at the site; aerial photo time-series interpretation; interview of previous landowners, NPS employees and stakeholders; delineation of historic, modern-era, and contemporary landscape features; and comparison of historic site evidence to known technological and environmental history. Organized both chronologically and thematically through written explanations, maps, and illustrations, this historical document has been referred to as an “encyclopedia” of the park’s history by the park’s chief of resources. Since its completion, it has opened new opportunities for visitor interpretation, and provided evidence necessary for reclaiming the historic layout of the mission’s associated agricultural landscape.

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inlet

narrows

back-water

basin

apron

flight

snag

air-space

My submittal for a design competition for the Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center was a conceptual master-plan celebrating the survival of the Rio Grande. Re-directed river flows, and a procession of land-art installations interpret the “control” and “flow” of the riverine system. Utilizing on-site materials, including jetty-jacks, these sculptures and earthworks tell a story of both the harnessed and unrestrained power of this life-giving river. In order to keep the design of individual installations open to interpretation, I hand-sketched a master plan and installation vignettes, rendered these with marker, Photoshop, and InDesign to form a consistent visual language, and organized them in the form of a “walking tour” map.

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As an environmental planner at the BLM, Transcon Environmental and EPG, LLC, I analyzed impacts caused by vegetation management, utility, and road proposals to land use; biological and cultural resources; and visual scenery. In this role, I built GIS maps, strategically sited facilities, tracked development permitting progress with spreadsheets, and wrote standard operating procedures/specifications.

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I am proficient drafting with AutoCAD 2012, Civil 3D, Revit, and Solidworks. Using these programs, I have prepared planting and hardscape plans (below, student), sized/laid out drip irrigation lines and laid out sidewalk expansion joints (right, EPG, LLC), and created detailed architectural elevations (above left, student), among others. I have also produced 3D models by importing .dwgs into laser-cutters and Sketchup (above right, Design Collaborations, Ltd).

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At EPG, LLC, I created legally-defensible photorealistic simulations showing “before” and “after” conditions of power-line proposals. In each of these, I began by photographing the viewpoint and measuring features of the scene with a GPS. Using Civil 3D, I draped structure models onto a DEM, connected them with 3D conductors, and graded building pads. I then used 3ds Max to match the perspective of the .dwg to that of the photo, apply materials to the model, accurately light the scene, and render .pngs. I then used Photoshop to stitch in these renderings, and modify vegetation in the right-of-way. Precise rendering of this sort demonstrates both individual and cross-platform software proficiency.

Civil 3D: Draping Project Features

3ds Max: Matching the scene & rendering Photoshop: Stitching & Blending

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