Emily Szabo - Landscape Architecture Student Portfolio

Emily Szabo

DESIGN PORTFOLIO LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE STUDENT

EXTRA-CURRICULAR

FIKA VILLAGE

SITE CONTEXT

SITE IMAGE

Fika Village is a community that brings together all individuals through a sustainable and educational environment. Fika is a Swedish word that describes appreciating the good things in our lives. I created an environment in the village where everyone can learn something new about the sustainable design practices implemented throughout the site. We all have one opportunity to live the best life we can. I believe that if we all learn to become more aware of how we treat the Earth and make better sustainable decisions, we can help minimize climate change.

"This project addresses the proposed expansion of McFarland Park currently being considered (this is an actual project). The Deppe family formerly owned the property and sold it to the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation to protect and conserve with Iowa’s natural heritage, native plants, and ecosystems in mind. Plans are being developed for the property’s 127 acres of upland grassland, woodland, and riparian areas. Read this article (http://www.storycountyiowa.gov/1557/Deppe -Property--coming -soon)for important information about these plans. "

ArcGIS Pro SOIL SUITABILITY

In the beginning stages of my design process, I knew that I should design around the existing land on the site already. From my ArcGIS maps, I was able to find erodible soils throughout the site, south facing slopes, and suitable farmland areas.

As I started zoning out my different programs throughout my master plan, I had to keep in mind where the areas with high erosion were at. Areas with erodible soils cannot have hard infrastructure on it. Instead, I made the areas with high erodible soils to be native rain gardens.

My ecovillage intentions were to find an area on my aspect map with a south facing slope. The reason I made that decision was because all of my ecovillage homes have solar panels on the rooftops and that is necessary to get a maximum amount of sunlight.

On the west side of the site, I designed an Iowa State Extension / Research facility where students can come to the site and learn more about the practices that go on throughout the ecovillage, the silvopasture, prairie strips in the agriculture field, and through the trails at the north side of the site.

location from ames, iowa from des moines, iowa

single-style homes

duplex-style homes

central gathering house

SECTIONS

greenhouses

public market with inverted roof

URBAN NEXUS

EMILY SZABO

As a class, we traveled to Des Moines where this project was located. We got together with our group members and evaluated the surrounding demographics of the area of the site.

From my first impression of this block, I could see that there were not a lot of people coming to this specific block unless it is nighttime when people come to the Gas Lamp The Jefferson Apartments building is best known for providing low-income housing. After diving deeper into the demographics and history of the area, we were able to make conscious design decisions that would be best for the location.

When we split up from our group to design individually, I knew that I wanted to create a new atmosphere where individuals can come together and enjoy nature. Residents from various areas of Des Moines can find their way into Stillness Alley and can enjoy different programs within the new site. This design will promote togetherness and can educate the community about sustainable solutions while having a functional design.

SITE IMAGES

JEFFERSON APARTMENTS

BACK OF GAS LAMP

SHERWIN WILLIAMS

GAS LAMP

I BELIEVE THAT nature/green spaces play a big role in happiness and that Des Moines is an inviting city where people of all demographics can come together and enjoy being outside in a city setting.

BUBBLE DIAGRAMS

CONNECTIONS TO GREEN SPACES

PROGRAMMING

food and drinks

water runoff transportation/parking public park

10 SCALE

sustainable solutions

multimodal paths

seating entertainment

10 SCALE

DYERSVILLE, IOWA

As a class, we traveled to Dyersville to visit the three sites that were a part of this project. We were able to take notes on-site and talk to local business owners and residents, and we also gained a perspective on what it was like to be a visitor in Dyersville.

When collaborating as a team, we decided that Dyersville needed an area that would specifically bring people and nature together in a way accessible by all modes of transportation. The city is located right off Highway 20, which could potentially help bring in more visitors Our concept for this design is to make the visitors want to spend 10 to 30 minutes here or even an hour We want people to come to our site and decide that they want to explore all the different areas of nature in our design.

Our design decisions needed to appeal to the residents of Dyersville, give visitors a reason to stay at our park, and integrate nature back into Dyersville. Our site is in a large floodplain, so considering wetlands and potential nature design ideas was essential in our thinking process. We designed this park to be able to withstand heavy flooding.

MASTER PLAN

INSPIRATION BOARD

EMILY SZABO, NONA GELOW, HAGEN CARTER, BROOKE LOMBARDI, SHANE MORRISSEY

COMMERCIAL AREA

Out of the five different areas of our site, I wanted to work on the area that would essentially have the most traffic from travelers on i-20 When designing the commercial area, I knew that the area needed a hotel and a gas station, and whatever else that worked with the entire site design.

The hotel area has much parking for the guests who stay there, and they have access to the walking paths that lead all throughout the site. The gas station would have a 60-70s retro feeling to go along with the aesthetic of the movie, Field of Dreams.

HOTEL MASTER PLAN

SECTION B

hotel

walking paths

gas station

walking paths

baseball sculpture dream lake

designatedwetland

GAS STATION MASTER PLAN

THE FASHION SHOW

In 2021, I had the opportunity to be one of four set design directors for The Fashion Show. The Fashion Show is one of the largest student-run fashion shows in the nation. The show is usually held at Stephens Auditorium in Ames, but due to Covid-19, it was held at Reiman Gardens in Ames.

My set directors and I led ten students to create a functional set for the runway around the gardens. During the semester, we scheduled multiple assignments which were a part of our collaboration process As time got closer to The Fashion Show, we help direct "build times" where we would build the set

EMILY SZABO, HANNAH HOGAN, MADDIE UHL, JACOB GASPER

TAPE PREP FOR PAINTING

CUTTING WOOD PRIMER PURCHASING WOOD