Cierra Hargrove Landscape Architecture Portfolio

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE 2024 PORTFOLIO

CIERRA HARGROVE

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

University Hills Duck Pond Park (6)

BACKGROUND

I am a fourth year undergraduate at the University of Maryland pursuing a degree in Landscape Architecture. I am from Annapolis, MD and living close by the water has given me an appreciation for diverse ecosystems and inspired a passion for sustainability and storm water management. I plan to graduate with minors in Sustainability and Project Management.

CONTACT

443.875.4315

cierrah@umd.edu

EXPERIENCE

TECHNICAL SKILLS

AutoCAD

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe InDesign

SketchUp

Lumion

Vectorworks

Revit

Hand Rendering

FEB 2024- CURRENT

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

I am a teaching assistant for the LARC120 Digital Fundamentals course where incoming landscape architecture students learn the Adobe Cloud, SketchUp, and Lumion programs. I assist teaching a second class, LARC321 Structures and Materials, where third year students learn how to detail structures and materials in AutoCAD.

SUMMER 2023

CAMPION HRUBY LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

During an internship at this high-end residential design firm, I learned countless skills including the Vectorworks drafting program, new digital rendering methods, planting design, and construction administration. I assisted the office with site visits, drafting, rendering, organization, and design work.

SUMMER 2021 & 2022

INTREEGUE DESIGN

I held a paid internship with a boutique landscape architecture design firm in Elkridge, MD where I worked under Colleen Vacelet. I assisted in projects by taking notes on site visits, creating base maps in AutoCAD, creating visuals in InDesign, making 3D renderings in Sketchup and Lumion, and assisting in overall office organization.

NMAAHC DESIGN PROJECT 01

National Museum of African American History and Culture

“The Landscape is a Living Tapestry

Where the soil hums with the song of a rich history, Where the shadows dance like graphite on paper,

Where the plants and trees are vibrant brush strokes of art,

Where the paths are winding stories like pages in literature,

It is a canvas,

And woven deeper within each stitch of fabric you feel resilience, community, and celebration”

- Cierra Hargrove

NMAAHC DESIGN PROJECT

Concept Presentation Program Elements

PATTERNED SHADE STRUCTURE

SCULPTURE

NMAAHC DESIGN PROJECT

NMAAHC DESIGN PROJECT

Case Studies and Design Examples

CONCERT CASE STUDY

ANNAPOLIS MARITIME MUSEUM WEDNESDAY CONCERT SERIES

• Small venue concerts, hosted weekly in the summer

• High attendance

• Controlled crowd

• Features local artists

METALWORK EXAMPLES

• Cut metal pattern mimics the building shell pattern

• Tree pattern represents the live oak and its history in African American culture

• Thin design minimizes visual impact blocking the monument views

NMAAHC Building Shell Pattern Designed Pergola Shade Pattern (Live Oak)

HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE DESIGN PROJECT 02

Team Project Overview

This Highway to Nowhere in Baltimore, MD will no longer be a cavernous hole in the city dividing the neighborhood from each other. It will be transformed into an urban park, bringing back businesses, nature, and reconnecting the community.

SITE PLAN

Our Goal for this park is to be...

ACTIVE INVOLVED INSPIRED

COMMUNITY GARDEN

MARKET SPACE

NATURALISTIC WALK

MURAL BASKETBALL COURT

HILLSIDE PLAY SPACE

PARK ADMINISTRATION AND CONCESSIONS BUILDING

RECREATION SPACE AND SOCCER FIELD

• The two perspectives to the left are group renderings but our collective design concepts were used.

• The athletic courts give local youth a place to play.

• Artists will be brought in for court and mural art.

• Daylighted stream and plantings will bring sustainability and a sense of peace.

Rendered by Abby Erwin

Rendered by Abby Erwin

Rendered by Me

HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE DESIGN PROJECT

Interpretations and Communication

MARKET SPACE PERSPECTIVE

• To foster community involvement, we proposed a community marketplace. This space would boost local businesses, while also improving access to healthful foods in the surrounding neighborhoods.

• This perspective shows a proposed permanent structure, as well as a more flexible space, accessible by walking path and access road, for emergency vehicles.

• I helped to develop the west end of the park containing the community garden and market shown in the section below.

My main contributions to the project was in the form of the graphic concept master plan and the perspective of the community market space.

I also sketched out section concepts for the community garden to be rendered.

We each contributed to the overall concept, inspiration, and themes behind the design.

WILMER’S PARK 03

Large Scale Park Design

OVERVIEW

I worked with the M-NCPPC and historic planning offices to redesign this abandoned 80-acre park in southern Prince George’s county that has a rich history of music, sports, and African American culture throughout the 1950-1990s. It was a major stop on the Chitlin’ Circuit and featured many well-known African American artists over the years. Our studio created a master plan with small groups and individual site plans for a smaller area. I worked on designing a museum entry space, an amphitheater, and a dining plaza.

SITE PLAN

CONCEPT PLAN

ESD Calculation

Not only did I further my design skills, but I learned more about specific grading and stormwater management requirements needed for my site. I had to regrade the land around my amphitheater to incorporate a terraced lawn structure.

I calculated the Maryland ESD requirements for the required runoff capture based on my impervious surface percentages. Because my site was located on three subwatersheds, it required even more extensive calculations. I designed a roof capture water feature and rain gardens to accommodate this calculation. AMPHITHEATER

WILMER’S PARK

FOOD STALLS AND DINING PLAZA

I further developed my skills in hand rendering, SketchUp, Lumion, and Adobe Photoshop. I pushed my creative abilities further in this project because I had a larger space to work with and an engaged community that gave productive direction and feedback throughout the process.

ENTRY PLAZA

BROADWAY EAST VACANT LOT

Pocket Park Design

DESIGN PROCESS

OVERVIEW AMENITIES

This project was located in the Broadway East neighborhood of Baltimore on a small rundown lot behind occupied row houses. We worked with the local residents and community organizations to meet their needs and gather input for the features they would like to see on the site.

SHADE SEATING

On my site, I included a community garden, a platform space for markets or local performances, a nature play space, and a workspace platform with charging stations and wifi.

SECTION ELEVATION

MARKET

BROADWAY EAST VACANT LOT

LEARNING PLAZA

AERIAL VIEW

NATURE PLAY

GRASS MOUNDS

This project helped me to get more comfortable with designing a space with the intentions of the community in mind. Many of the projects up to this point had less community input and more freedom with the site aspects. This was the first project that I had to calculate and consider stormwater capture and dealing with the poor soil quality of the city added a challenge. I loved seeing the engagement of the community throughout the project and their excitement over our designs when we presented them at the end.

TAKOMA-LANGLEY CROSSROADS

Hand Rendered Design

DINING TERRACE

OVERVIEW

This site was an abandoned grass lot in the back of a strip mall parking lot that we worked to redesign to have a function for the customers and local residents. Site challenges included a very steep grade on the northern side and very poor soil quality from what was likely a construction fill site. We talked with the local shop owners and customers to hear their input. I focused on only hand rendering for this project.

AMENITIES

I chose to design a food truck plaza with a dining terrace to provide a space to eat the local business cuisine as well as adding opportunities for small business food trucks. I added a garden path and a white cube art/ seating installation on the hillside.

CONCEPT SKETCH

GARDEN PATH

UNIVERSITY HILLS DUCK POND PARK 06

ADA Accessibility Design

SITE ANALYSIS

OVERVIEW

SITE PLAN

This site began as an open, underutilized grass field with an old pavilion adjacent to a small pond. We redesigned a park that would bring together the community and incorporate the nature of the nearby pond while addressing the storm water runoff. We focused on ADA accessibility during this project.

BOARDWALK RAMP

GARDEN WALK

AMENITIES

I designed a covered picnic area with roof openings that drained the water into a planting bed below. I added a more secluded shady nature path meandering through the trees. Lastly, I created a raised boardwalk with swinging benches to overlook the pond.

PICNIC TABLES

CAD FINAL PROJECT 07

OVERVIEW

I drafted the line work for this project (designed by others) in Vectorworks and rendered the plan in Photoshop. I wanted the feeling to be peaceful, elegant, and coastal, while also expressing the program elements clearly.

AXONOMETRIC