Penn has recently had a fascinating display of topic specific yet quiet memorialization. I don’t recall seeing quite as much of this last year. As it is nearing the end of the semester and time is short I have not had the time to truly research these memorials and their significance or link to campus.

Memorials and monuments are fascinating design challenges that bring up so many questions. Who is the author? Why is this space the best space to place a memorial or monument? Is the temporary nature key to its success? Does it migrate gathering a following as it goes? Is the material or design striking enough to make its point? Does it need to make a point? What is its role? Does it shape conversations, allow for grief, stir people to protest?

A few readings in the theory/critcal analysis landscape architecture course I am taking this semester have hinted at this idea of the role of memorials, monuments, and landscape as a narrative of those who occupy it. Studying landscapes through their drivers, the people/economics/cultural value has changed the way I appreciate landscape architecture. There is much more than an environmental benefit to these spaces which seems to be forgotten in favor of ecology and climate crisis analysis. Memorials and monuments, often situated within landscapes, bring this role to the forefront and help drive designs beyond a naturalized non-human habitat.

Perhaps a study of monuments and memorials in landscape and architecture could be the best bridge to connecting the two and informing how I design both harmoniously. If any of my readers have thoughts, suggestions on readings, or general pointers I would love to hear them!

Swathmore: https://www.scottarboretum.org/

Swathmore campus is a beautiful college campus which doubles as an arboretum. The class toured the campus taking in the tagging system, the variety of species and the overall organization of the campus.

During our tour we also saw one of the first greenroofs to be placed on a residential building and a variety of water management tactics integrated into the landscaping across campus. Soil treatments could also be seen throughout campus. The highly compacted soils were cored to help aerate them. The cored area would later be retilled to help loosen the soils and create a better environment for the trees.

Between the tour stops and photographing a few of us looked around to find a tree that matched our birth year. I was lucky to find such a beautiful flowering tree!

This tree and the adorable botanical center and greenhouse were possibly two of my favorite surprises of the trip. This space is where volunteers gather to prepare for a day at Swathmore. While there we met with a small group of volunteers assisting with basic garden maintenance in one of the smaller spaces on campus.

Swathmore seems like a lovely place to learn about plants and gardening in the Philadelphia area. I certainly hope to volunteer, if not intern, there in future to learn more.

Symposium Link: https://www.design.upenn.edu/architecture/graduate/events/architectural-theory-now-0

I am eager to attend this event as it pertains to the way we as students and upcoming professionals view our work.

From todays sneak peek I noted the interesting format. Somehow when I think of a symposium I think of lectures followed by Q&A or guided conversations. Oddly this symposium was structured more as a roundtable discussion of experts overlooked by symposium attendants. As I wasn’t able to attend today I am not sure how involved the onlookers are with the expert table.

Updates to come from tomorrows roundtable.

ULI Hines: https://americas.uli.org/programs/awards-competitions/hines-student-design-competition/2019-hines-winner-and-finalists/

This is by far one of the most challenging and rewarding competitions I have done. This competition occurs annually with the location changing each year. The competition encourages interdisciplinary teams, at least 3 of the 5 team members must come from different fields. Having multiple disciplines is extremely helpful when one looks at the scope of the design challenge.

Each year the challenge is roughly the same. A large portion of the city, something equivalent to a city district, approximately 5-10 blocks, are bundled together for redevelopment. The aim is to reinvigorate that portion of the city as each team sees best. There tends to be an additional requirement, in this year’s case to resolve the serious issue of flooding on site.

The team anitcipated that this competition would be a challenge. We had met soon after being accepted as a team and set a calendar anticipating roughly the kinds of deadlines and work we might need prior to the release of the brief. The last day of my externship the brief was released and from then on the calendar and all planning was challenged.

Only two days later class started and whatever time wasn’t spent in class was spent in competition team meetings or designing. What I really appreciated was having multiple perspectives on this extremely large site. The process itself was iterative. We started with a general meeting for ideas followed by several passes at rhino models and hand drawn plans. From these we jumped to longer work meetings during which critique was immediately translated into models and drawings worked on simultanteously.

My only concern was that the team became indecisive towards the end. There were a few impromptu design revisions, which had impact on the financial spreadsheet, that I deemed untimely. The design decision itself was smart, useful to the story and overall goals but took up time which would have been better spent refining drawings sooner. Overall I found the teams design decision intuitive but pressed for time.

Certainly I look forward to next year having a better sense for the scale of project, timeline, and the skills that various team members will bring to the project.

Interestingly in reviewing the selected finalists I found that many of the proposals looked very similar. Similar parks pulling through the center of the site and connecting on either side along the river. The same array of general building shapes with roof terraces painting a lively extended downtown. The graphics are sharp, clean, and easily read. It’s fascinating how different people can come to similar designs for a place, a place many may not have visited.

Below is our design entry board for comparision in scope and graphics to the selected finalists: