“Music is liquid architecture; Architecture is frozen music.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
My experience of the landscape is found deep in my senses and transcends into the far facets of my life. From the taste to the sound, the landscape is able to exist not only in the present reality, but deep in our memories. My approach to design is to use that dimension of time to create landscapes that will not only evolve over time, but also through memories, stories, and art that we create. I am deeply inspired by the built environment and I hope to design landscapes that are able to inspire others in the same way.
Table Of Contents
Farmstead Pg. 14
Residential + Community Design 2024
The Gulch Pg. 20 Design Competition 2024
Studio Work
A showcase of the designs and processes I have come to learn, live, and know at the University of Georgia.
Give/Rest Pg. 02
Detail Design 2024
Lost Sites Pg. 08
Design Competition 2024
Personal Work
A collection of personal work and passions that influence, develop, and inspire the work I do and the designer I am.
Stone Mountain Park is an ecologically sensitive landscape marked by the exploitation of natural resources and human life. “Give / Rest”, an installation at the former quarry, aims to provide a space to recognize this history, giving visitors a place to reconcile the park’s violent past with its future potential to heal.
Give/Rest sits on the east side of Stone Mountain. Entering the site brings one through a threshold and onto a path of corten steel grates formed to the rocky contours. Atop the site highpoint, a bench perches over jagged granite. The bench faces the mountain, prompting reflection, exchanging a visitor’s typical view of the infamous carving with an ensemble of Stone Mountain’s native plants. The corten steel and pine bench seat echoes the rust of the steel wire feebly clinging to the loblolly pine on the site. These materials’ presence against their natural forms calls to mind the granite quarrying and refining processes.
These interventions are carefully laid across the site to inspire reclamation and healing in the wake of trauma to land and people. In contrast to the park, this man-made place seeks to enhance the land it inhabits, creating space for reflection and peace.
FROM SITE
TOP TO BOTTOM, LEFT TO RIGHT:
Confederate Monument, New Orleans Stone Mountain Fulton County Courthouse
U.S. Postal Office, Atlanta Granite blocks
U.S. Penitentiary, Atlanta
VIEW
LEGEND
A. Steel Threshold
B. Steel Grate Walkway
C. Bench
D. Existing Granite Cut
E. Existing Pine Tree
SITE PRE-INTERVENTION
A very common and recognizable igneous rock which is very strong and resistant to heat and frost. Granite quarrying began at Stone Mountain in 1845, continuing until 1978. “Plug and feather” wedge tools are used to separate blocks of granite from a slab, leaving marks on remaining pieces.
Steel Wire
A human artifact left from a lights display. Steel is created from processing mined iron, 85% of which from the U.S. is mined in Minnesota.
Pine
A Southern Yellow Pine. Dried weight of ~35 lbs/sq.ft., reddish Brown or yellowish white. Moderate to low rot resistance, treated for outdoor.
Loblolly pines are the dominant species used for pinestraw. A very effective and regenerative, mulching material unlike bark mulch. Bales pried ~ $6-$10.
Native ornamental grass which requires very little water and is resilient to many soil types. Priced around $40 for a 1 gallon plant.
Lost: Something that has been taken away or cannot be recovered.
When selecting a “lost” site, we focused on locations within Athens, Georgia, a small city in the Southeastern United States. Despite hosting the growing University of Georgia, Athens faces persistent poverty. Our team explored various overlooked locations, such as buried streams, neglected alleys, and vacant fields. Many of these sites were either inaccessible or lacked a clear historical narrative. Ultimately, we chose the West Broad School lot. This site has a history of abandonment and has struggled to reclaim its legacy as a community asset. Recently, Georgia has faced scrutiny for segregation and mistreatment within its educational system, and West Broad School plays a significant role in that narrative.
Our goal is to leverage the District’s plans and the school’s history to address a social wound in Athens and beyond. By acknowledging both the positive and negative aspects of its past, we aim to restore the site’s relevance to the community, addressing both social and environmental needs.
EXISTING CONDITIONS
A majority of the windows on site are broken and boarded up.
The garden shed previously owned by Athens Land Trust.
Barbed wire fence and dense vegetation wall off any visitors.
Weeds and grasses grow through the cracks in the concrete.
MASTER PLAN
LEGEND
A. Site Entry
B. Bus Lane
C. Community Garden
D. Play Space
E. Mountain
H. Outdoor Classroom
I. Simple Machines
K.
F. Monkey Bars
G. Tight Walk
J. Cave
Sensory Garden
L. Orchard
INVESTIGATIVE PLAY
PULLEY PARTICIPATION
WATER + SAND PLAY
LEVER MECHANICS
THE MOUNTAIN
SWINGS
OPEN PLAY
TIGHT WALK
MONKEY BARS
ORCHARD PLANTING PALETTE
Peach ‘Julyprince’ Prunus persica ‘Julyprince’
PERSIMMON
MULBERRY
PEACH
APPLE Apple ‘Rome Beauty’ Malus domestica ‘Rome Beauty’
Common persimmon
Diospyros virginiana
PAWPAW
Mulberry
Morus rubra
American pawpaw
Asimina triloba
PLANTING LIST
Food Forest
Celtis tenuifolia
Asimina triloba
Diospyros virginiana
Malus domestica
Prunus persica
Morus rubra
Learning Garden
Acer sacharum
Taxodium distichum
Carpinus betulus ‘ fastigiata’
Ilex glabra
Hydrangea quercifolia
Itea virginica
Aronia melanocarpa
Heuchera
Eryngium yuccifolia
Gaura lindheimeri
Aster ericoides
Adiantum capillus-veneris
Echinacea pallida ‘Hula Dancer’
Muhlenbergia capillaris ‘white cloud’
Streetscape / Stormwater Buffer
Acer rubra
Illicium floridanum
Leuchothoe fontanesiana
Sensory Garden
Aesculus parviflora
Calycanthus floridus
Clethra alnifolia
Hibiscus moscheutos
Illicium parviflorum
Philadelphus lewisii
Rhododendron austrinum ‘Kelsey’s glow’
Sambucus canadensis
Vaccinium corymbosum
Rhus aromatica ‘grow low’
Perennials:
Achillea millefolium
Agastache ‘Kudos Mandarin’
Asclepias incarnata
Aster oblongifolius ‘October Skies’
Berlandiera lyrata
Echinacea purpurea
Eutrochium purpureum
Matricaria discoidea
Monarda bradburiana
Monarda clinopodia
Muhlenbergia capillaris ‘White
Cloud’
Salvia leucantha
Solidago odora
Echinacea purpurea
Matricaria discoidea
Monarda clinopodia
Aster oblongifolius ‘October Skies’
Asclepias incarnata
Aonarda clinopodia
Berlandiera lyrata
SENSORY
Farmstead
Chattahoochee Hills, GA
The proposed development for the Farmstead project aims to inject the form of human residency into the natural environment, while maintaining and preserving the unique, rural characteristics of the landscape. Upon entering the site, you are met with a rustic grass and dirt road which winds through blueberry shrubs, rows of vegetable crops, and an apple orchard. Of the five houses on the property, three are poised along the main hill, having ample views of the surrounding meadow and distant pond. The other two houses are in more private areas of the site, with one being far in the wooded southwestern side, and the other being tucked into the orchard, by the horse pasture. Views are designed to be preserved through maintaining the existing meadow and using only sparse tree placement to give the houses on the hill a bit more privacy. To encourage community usage of the site, hiking trails have been designed to meander through the hills and down by the pond. Additionally, the two barns by the pasture have been designed to accommodate community events or weddings, with parking areas being added to allow for larger events or apple picking. Overall, the design of the site aims to reconnect the people who live there to the land, and maintain the tremendous natural character of the Chattahoochee Hills Country.
What does rural mean? What are rural roads and how do they serve the landscape?
How to utilize the existing rural structures to tell a story and find new purpose?
What role can agriculture play in this interpretation of the rural lifestyle?
LEGEND
A. Neighborhood Entry
B. Parking
C. Amenity Area
D. Trail E. Forest F. Meadow
G. 1 Acre Lots H. Orchard
Agricultural Area J. Pond
DENSE TREE CANOPY
HOUSE ROAD
SITE VIEWS SECTION ELEVATION
HOUSE THIN TREE CANOPY ORCHARD
ORCHARD HOUSE ENTRY
ORCHARD HOUSE BACKYARD
The Gulch Atlanta, GA
Collaborators: Brock Corbin
Immense swaths of parking, blazing in the sun. Decrepit railroad tracks, overgrown and forgotten. Mountainous bridges of roads that dwarf you, and insist a feeling of tininess and separation from all of the many important Atlanta destinations across this blanket of asphalt. These were the first impressions from our visit to the Atlanta Gulch.
Atlanta, once a key railroad center, blossomed into the capital city of Georgia and a major economic hub of the country. However, as cars became the prominent form of transportation, downtown Atlanta transformed. To connect cars and people above the railroads, viaducts were created in the mid-1900s, which slowly led to Atlanta converting 26% of its land use to parking. These parking lots are not only an eyesore, but a significant underutilization of prime real estate in a growing city.
We decided to approach this need for connectivity in a way that would celebrate Atlanta’s story and future. We worked with Central Atlanta Progress, the current lead of designers and planners working on tackling these exact problems, to create a development plan around bringing back Atlanta’s urban ecology. We used plants and the countless benefits that come with them to address these problems plaguing the Gulch. Three project goals emerged while developing this project, all of which are centered around revitalizing what was once existing. These goals are: Reestablishing Ecology, Reconnecting Food Systems, and Restoring Community.
The amphitheater functions simultaneously as a new AMTRAK hub.
The park is designed with pedestrians as the forefront of movement through the site.
The main focal point of the park is the flood-able wetland installed where the major creeks of Atlanta once stood.
LEGEND
A. Mixed-Use Buildings
B. Land Bridge
C. Amphitheater
D. Railroad Museum
E. Fields
F. Schools
G. Lower Roads
H. Elevated Roads
I. Permeable Parking
Atlanta Gulch
Mercedes-Benz Stadium and State Farm Arena host around 60,000 and 23,000 fans per event, respectively. Though the Atlanta Journal Constitution building has sat vacant here since 1972, there has been interest among residents in revitalizing the building.
In 2023, MARTA had a total ridership of 31,110,300. This Five Points station is one of the busiest, as it is the only station where the North-South and East-West lines meet.
REGIONAL CONTEXT
1837
Abbott Hall Brisbane drives stake marking the southeastern terminus of the Western & Atlantic Railroad. The town grew from this spot as a key railroad center.
1868
Shortly after the Civil War Atlanta is made the state capital (previously Milledgeville). The population at this time is roughly 20,000.
The viaducts of Atlanta, which tower over the Gulch, were created in the 1930s in order to separate rail and vehicular traffic.
Georgia State University, located right outside of the Gulch, is the largest university in Georgia. The college has around 50,000 students.
The Georgia State capital, built in 1889, houses the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, and secretary of state. The building is one of the oldest in downtown Atlanta.
POPULATION
MAPPING
1956 1996 Present
The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, also known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, was passed. I-85 was built shortly after, and 89% of the people displaced through the building of this highway were people of color.
Atlanta hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics. Though the Gulch was mostly unaffected, the event contributed to a growing recognition of the area’s potential for mixeduse development, leading to more comprehensive plans in subsequent years.
The Gulch serves as parking for employees working downtown and Atlanta sports fans.
URBAN PLANTS
PINE FOREST
GRANITE OUTCROP
HARDWOOD FOREST WETLAND
Wetlands act as natural water filters, reducing pollution and mitigating flood impacts, while also providing essential breeding grounds for a variety of fish and amphibians.
Pine forests, particularly those dominated by loblolly and longleaf pines, are crucial for supporting Georgia’s timber industry, enhancing soil stabilization, and serving as fire-dependent ecosystems that support unique plant and animal species.
Granite outcrops host specialized plant communities adapted to harsh conditions. These plants’ resilience to extreme temperatures and low soil moisture can be replicated on green roofs to enhance urban biodiversity, manage stormwater, and reduce building energy costs.
MEADOW
Meadows support essential pollinators like bees and butterflies, enhance soil health through nitrogen-fixing plants, and serve as important areas for bird nesting and wildlife foraging.
This part of Atlanta was once rich in density, which also made it rich in community. By designing places for communities to exist, like parks, green space, market space, and housing, people would be able to inhabit the space, replacing cars with human beings. To accommodate this addition of people, transit via train and bus was central to the design. Community could function here, and people could come in and out to be a part of it through a system that connects, not splits.
Personal Work Photography
Photography is an often under-represented and under-appreciated way to explore design and the built environment. I had grown up taking photos, but once I took a class on landscape photography, my perspective on how I could utilize this medium changed. Observing the light, forms, and dynamics of the world is photography’s greatest power.
These photos are compiled from my project “Sensing Place: Homer, Georgia”, where I documented the changing dynamics of rural Georgia. Using pictures to showcase the new developments that buy up and clear cut land that has been either untouched or owned by family farms for over 100 years. There is a distinct feeling and sense of place in this area, and Homer, Georgia can teach us a lot as designers and planners on the implications of our designs and trends of development.
1.
2.
4.
5.
3.
1. “You Are Not Welcome”
A photo of a shed from the 1800’s just across the street from a modern-style development.
2. “Waste Away”
Downtown Homer, Georgia. A house and the dumpster that tells a story.
3. “The American Dream”
A classic and stereotypical image of the American South.
4. “4 Walls and a Door”
A house being put up. The bare bones that go into building someone’s home.
5. “You Are Not Welcome Pt. 2”
The people across the street seem to be against the development and the business that comes with it.
6. “The Other Side”
The views of development in suburban America
7. “Mangled Pine”
An image representative of what happens when people get left behind in the rapid suburban development.
CALEB BUTCHER
I am a fourth - year BLA at the University of Georgia’s College of Environment and Design. Before I joined the program, I was a biology student with pre-med intent. I decided to switch my degree after being introduced to landscape architecture through my friend who was taking an introductory class in the college. I was instantly enamored by the width of concepts touched by landscape architecture, and found my own passions in garden design, native plants, edible landscapes, soundscape design, and stormwater management.
Outside of school, I have worked at the historic Founders Memorial Garden on campus and I also write and record music. These passions have deep influence on my design knowledge and interests of how the relationship between personal stake in a landscape and the sensory qualities of space such as sound can be considered and designed for.
cjbutcher4@gmail.com 404-860-3791
EDUCATION
EXPERIENCE
University of Georgia | College of Environment + Design Bachelor of Landscape Architecture
Founders Memorial Garden |University of Georgia
Assistant Garden Curator ( Maintained over 300 plant species on 2 - acres of a nearly 100 year old garden, Contributed to the design and implementation of perennial and annual beds, Managed the restructuring of the garden after former curator stepped down)
James Doyle Design Associates
Intern ( Developed construction ready documents and details, Contributed to planting design and the design of a courtyard, Contributed to construction administration and on - site plant layout, Researched light in the landscape as a part of a summer research initiative)
ACTIVITIES
Experience UGA |College of Environment and Design Group Leader (Engaged local 10th grade students in hand graphics and the design process)
ASLA
Student Member, Attendee
West Coast Field Study
Field sketching, built work, and firm visits throughout Oregon and Washington State GSLA General Member
SEED | Minorities in Landscape Architecture
General Member
HONORS + AWARDS
University of Georgia Honors Program
Matthew Hoffman Memorial Scholarship College of Environment and Design + HGOR
President’s Scholar
University of Georgia
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Hand rendering, Sketching, AutoCAD, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Lightroom, Sketchup, Rhino, Lumion, Land F/X
