DISCIPLINE KNOWLEDGE
Design
Evaluate all elements of property asset design and documentation both in their component parts and as an integrated project to establish their alignment with market need, cost, efficiency, utility, performance, and compliance with regulatory agency requirements
The importance of design has been a part of my education since undergrad with my degree in Landscape Architecture and Development has helped to teach me the business side of design. It is important to take into consideration the quadruple net value of a site and the design behind it. This is the social/cultural, environmental, economical, and sensory aspects to the design. These aspects are important in creating a sense of place that will be able to last for future generations. A concept I didn’t fully grasp until later in my undergraduate degree and in my graduate degree was creating a design that is financially feasible. A design can still be aesthetically pleasing and effective while also being affordable for the project. There is no reason to “break the bank” to create an impactful and lasting design.
I have two assignments below that help with my understanding of design. The first assignment is from my LDEV 667 (Design and Development Economy) course where I completed an academic review for the book Urban Design the Bottom Line. This book introduces the reader to the concept of Quadruple Net Value and the impact that ‘good design’ can have on the built environment. The book covers the concept of design in fields like architecture, green infrastructure, transportation and urban connectivity, and sources of water.
My second project is from my time I spent abroad in Bonn, Germany. My classmates and I were assigned to analyze a space in Cologne, Germany (larger city nearby) and come up with an appropriate design to fit it. My partner(Elliot Williams) and I came up with a unique design that utilized lines of sight and the timber industry. We used trees to create lines of sight and sharp lines throughout our design. The trees were also selected in a way that the project would only have trees commonly used for timber (Oak, Ash, and Beech). These trees grow at different speeds and would be chopped down on offsetting years to create different looks with the heights of the trees. From here we were told to do individual projects where each partner would select a part of the project to design in more detail. I selected the ramp we had going to the boardwalk. We created a ramp that would go under the existing road and connect to the existing boardwalk on the other side. Since this area was known to flood sometimes, I designed accordingly. I wanted my ramp design to work with the flooding heights to look different at each level the water got to. This was one of my favorite projects to work on during undergrad and I appreciate my German professors for pushing my ideas as much as possible (even if I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time).