“Using ideas, influence, communication, service, and leadership to advance sustainable design and foster human and societal benefits.” These are the qualities of students recognized through the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s Olmsted Scholars Program, considered one of the most prestigious national awards for students of landscape architecture. The College of Built Environments is proud to recognize two graduating students as Olmsted scholar nominees: Fatema Maswood (MLA) and Nick Zurlini (BLA). Fatema, in particular, deserves special recognition as one of six National Olmsted Scholar…
Category: Student Experience
Students draw from Canadian context
For one week in mid-June, students explored the similarities and differences between US and Canadian urban environments as they visited three Canadian cities: Montreal, Quebec City, and Ottawa. The field study was led by Fritz Wagner, Professor Emeritus in the departments of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design & Planning and Dr. Regent Cabana, an Affiliate Professor (from New Orleans). They led a group of students from academic disciplines including urban planning, architecture, landscape architecture, and real estate. The experience helped students to…
Gambling on Green: A Playground Renovation in Las Vegas, Nevada
The following article was written by MLA student Lauren Iversen for The Field, the ASLA Professional Practice Networks’ Blog. Under my wide brimmed hat, with sweat dripping, I added paint, stroke by stroke, to the long wall. My legs burned sitting on the decomposed granite roasting in the hot sun. I sipped Cool Blue Frost Gatorade, hunger dissipated by 110° heat. A giant cottonwood shaded the playground in the afternoon, but at midday there was nowhere to hide. I looked behind…
Red Square: re-imagining an iconic UW landmark (UW Daily)
Landscape architecture students (both undergraduate and graduate) have teamed up with students from across the College of the Built Environment and around the University to compete in the Re-Imagining Red Square Design Competition. The competition, which wraps up in early April, has six interdisciplinary teams working for nine weeks to design alternative ideas for UW’s iconic Red Square. The winning team will receive a $5000 scholarship. You can read more about the competition in this UW Daily article. Also check…
What Seattle Can Learn from Denmark about Community-Owned Housing (The Urbanist)
MLA student Roxanne Glick went to Copenhagen, Denmark to study their community-owned housing model. She brought what she learned from her time living in Denmark and studying their housing system back to Seattle. Roxanne shared some of her discoveries with The Urbanist. Below is an excerpt from her article. Inspired by the community ownership movement, I travelled to Denmark last fall to learn from a country known as one of the most cooperative in the world. A third of housing…
ASLA Advocacy Week 2018
UWASLA Co-President Sophie Krause (MLA ’19) and ASLA Student Representative Darin Rosellini (BLA ’18) traveled to Washington D.C. for Advocacy Week in May 2018. This year’s ASLA Advocacy Week was “Landscape Architects Creating Resilient Solutions for Every Community.”
Diversifying the Profession through K-12 Outreach
2018 MLA graduate Allison Ong shares her experience introducing students from around the Seattle area to landscape architecture as part of a project with her ASLA mentor.
Reading the Elwha 2018:BLA Course Perspective
For the last four years, Associate Professor and Department Chair Ken Yocom has brought an interdisciplinary group of students out to the Olympic Peninsula for a summer course titled “Reading the Elwha.” During a week of hiking, observing the landscape and field meetings with local scientists, land managers, and tribal members, students explore concepts of Nature and the evolving human relationship with the environment in a watershed marked by the largest dam removal project in US history. Monica Taylor, a student in the course and recent BLA graduate, shared some of her experience in this reflection.
Auburn Alleyway Activation: MLA Project
What happens when you turn an uninviting alleyway lined with dumpsters over to UW Landscape Architecture students? The city of Auburn, Washington discovered these possibilities for such a space when three 2018 MLA graduates (Allison Ong, Sylvia Janicki, and Jack Alderman) developed a proposal for an alleyway in historic downtown on an independent study project through UW Livable City Year.
Pollinator Network: MLA Capstone
Yuchia Jan received his Master of Landscape Architecture in 2018. For his capstone project, he created a concept design to explore networks of pollinators including Monarch butterflies and Rufous hummingbirds in South Seattle and along Chief Sealth Trail.