UNIVERSTY PARK, Pa. — Three landscape architecture students in the Stuckeman School at Penn State earned honors for their work through the Pennsylvania-Delaware (PA–DE) American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) 2021 Student Awards Program.
Lauren Taylor, who graduated from the top-ranked bachelor of landscape architecture program in May, and rising fourth-year student Zimeng Chen received Merit Awards for their individual projects. Fahimeh Farhadi, a graduate student in the master of landscape architecture program, also earned a Merit Award.
Taylor’s project, titled “Design Strategies for Erosion Control at Presque Isle State Park,” addresses the issue of erosion along the Lake Erie shoreline at Presque Isle State Park and was recognized in the analysis and planning category. According to the project statement, Taylor’s design “…presents a comprehensive master plan design along the park’s lake shoreline, offering specific design strategies related to the park’s shoreline processes, ecology and human experience in order to preserve and even enhance the park’s current functions for wildlife and visitors alike.”
Chen’s “The Ribbon: Bartram north campus-park” project is based in the Bartram’s Garden area of Philadelphia and was recognized in the general design category. As described in the project statement, “The deserted, post-industrial land is embedded with social and environmental value through the transformation into a vibrant riverfront campus-park.”
Farhadi’s project, titled “Riparian Park System,” was also recognized in the general design category. The project statement explains that the design is a systematic approach to address impaired streams and that “stormwater management tools — like rain gardens, detention ponds, and wetlands — illustrate the water treatment process and visitors can walk through the site using a wooden boardwalk to go over the stream, watching these tools at work.”
Honor and Merit Awards may be presented in seven categories — analysis and planning; communications; general design; research; residential design; student collaboration; and student community service — with the Honor Award being the highest recognition. This year, the ASLA Central States chapter juried this year's awards program.
PA-DE ASLA encompasses four geographic sections — Delaware, Eastern Pennsylvania, Central Pennsylvania and Western Pennsylvania — and is considered the pre-eminent professional association of approximately 600 practicing landscape architects practicing in the region.
The 2021 winning student designs can be found on the PA–DE website.