Landscape Architecture Portfolio
Jack R. Jensen
South Boulder Creek Flood Mitigation
Location | Boulder, Colorado
Year | 2023
Team | Individual
A renvisioning of the tenuous CU-South development plan, balancing the University’s desire for growth with wildlife conservation, recreation, and flood mitigation along historically floodprone South Boulder Creek.
Demolish Existing Structures
Restore Native Grassland
600 Acre feet of Flood Detention
2.06 Miles of New Trail 8.93 Acres of New Wetland
South Boulder Creek Watershed
The 447 square mile watershed begins at the continental divide and flows eastward, draining into Boulder Creek and eventually reaching the South Platte River. The close proximity to Boulder’s other watersheds leaves the city prone to infrequent but significant flood events.
Boulder Creek Watershed
Alternative Campus
South Boulder Creek Watershed
Alternative location for the CU Boulder Annex Development within the City’s Planned Development Area
Floodplain Buyback
Utilize FEMA funding for voluntary land buyback along floodplain totaling 200 acres
CU South Alternative Plan
Produce flood mitigation infrastructure while preserving floodplain ecosystem for conservation, recreation, and education
Wetland Basin Section
Mitigation and Grading
Basin I
Basin II
Basin III
Water Capacity: 422 acre feet
New Wetland Habitat: 2.78 acres
Wetland Boardwalk Construction Details
A series of boardwalks allow public access to wetlands without interfering with vegetation growth. Braided cable crossbars facilitate direct connection for those seeking a closer exploration of their surroundings.
Front Side
Wetland Restoration Ecology Research Facility
The facility is intended as a field site for restoration ecology courses, providing ecology students at the University with hands-on experience in wetland restoration and monitoring. Constructed out of existing shipping containers on-site with modifications for solar power and thin insulation allow for both a research station and observation deck high above the floodplain.
Research Facility Axonometric
Solar Panel Array
8x9x40 Shipping Containers
Storage Space
Shaded Porch
Observation Deck
Computer Workstation
Shaded Front Patio
Equipment Storage
Angalaneq Journey
Location | Siorpaluk, Greenland
Year | 2024
Team | Rachel Thody
Produced for the Museum of Outdoor Art’s Celestial Land Art Competition, 2024
Rising above the snowy horizon lie a series of stone effigies, observers of the seasons and celestial movements, inviting the adventurous to observe alongside them. The Seals, the Wolves, and the Caribou Hoofprint mark points of refuge and introspection along a journey through the arctic desert.
78.040478°, -69.451549°
Star Forest | Ulloriaq Orpippassuit
77.848754° , -68.347520°
The Seals | Natsiq
Northwest
Greenland
Amidst this freezing demanding landscape, an enduring beauty captivates the observer. Vast swaths of tundra ripple gracefully in the wind from the contours of the snow, and deep ravines cut through the ice offering a glimpse into the subglacial world. Bare, ancient cliffs and mountains resemble the skeletal remains of a colossal creature upon which the body of ice has decomposed.
The Wolves | Amaruq
The Wolves | Amaruq
The wolves align with the path of the Caribou constellation, as it circles Polaris, aligned as a group of three allowing a visitor to temporarily join before continuing on their journey.
Star Forest | Ulloriaq Orpippassuit
The star forest takes the shape of a caribou hoofprint, dotted with basalt columns representing the constellations, breathes with the seasons. Melting to form pools of water in the summer, freezing and pooling back up in the winter. The path down the center of the hoofprint aligns with the spring and fall equinoxes.
The Seals | Natsiq
The seals align with the North Star, signifying both the alignment near the top of the earth’s axis and a maternal respite from the wind in her outstretched arms.
The Carbon Loop
Location | Boulder, Colorado
Year | 2022
Team | Max Faust, Ella Lapello
A place to explore, to reflect, to contemplate, and to enjoy nature. The Carbon Loop is an educational trail through 200 acres of Boulder’s open space property on and around former coal mining sites, whose effects on the landscape have left visible scars. The land knew fire again in 2021 when the Marshall Fire tore across 6,000 acres of town and grassland.
The Context and Trails
These properties have seen coal mining and cattle grazing, but more recently they’ve been purchased by Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks and included in Boulder’s mixed recreational and agricultural lands. Existing informal trails that wind through the property have been formalized with a few snaking additions to highlight views.
The little bluestem trail tells the story of a landscape healing and regrowing from a scar of its past, while the big bluestem trail tells the story of human impact on the environment in the present, bringing the visitor on a journey of self-reflection and hope for a better future.
Form and Material
To bring this sooty history to the forefront, site-sourced materials became the basis of design choice. Storytelling interventions stand almost as ruins on the landscape, while other features blend into their surroundings, evoking existing landforms.
Trails and Design Interventions
Little Bluestem Trail
Regrowth
Footprints of old mine buildings scattered across the grassland are planted with warm-toned native flowers, reflecting symbolic messages of regrowth while reminiscing on the ecosystem’s fiery past.
Minimal interventions aid visitors in percieving the world around them, and draw attention to the life beneath their feet.
Ruin Gardens
Nesting Tower Construction Model
Chimney Swift
Nesting Tower
Its outer facade constructed out of mudbrick, the nesting tower evokes the site’s industrial history and surroundings while suggesting a sustainable and ecologically sensitive future. Replacing a billowing cloud of smoke with a flock of Chimney Swifts, and providing interactive day lessons in ecology for surrounding schools.
Big Bluestem Ditch Crossing
A playful ditch crossings to create variable moments of excitement throughout the trail network, calling visitors to hop, jump, and climb across an otherwise flat landscape.
Steamboat Mountain School
Location | Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Year | 2021
Team | Max Faust, Ella Lapello
A unification and reinvigoration of the Steamboat Mountain School Campus through its landscape. This redesign includes new learning environments, gardens, space to relax, and space to recreate. It provides unique opportunities to challenge both the mind and body.
Understanding The School
A part day school and part boarding school, SMS is home to competetive skiirs, global studies students, and the
Unifying the Campus
Constructed slowly since it first opened, the campus’s architecture was in need of unification through its landscape. Updates to the campuses circulation, recreation spaces, learning environment, and aesthetic mix were all put forth in this design, broken up along three rings of existing use:
Inner Ring - Education
Middle Ring - Enrichment
Outer Ring - Housing
The Amphitheater
A place to hold outdoor classes, relax, socialize, and study. The Amphitheater converts a shady nook at an awkward north-facing corner of the school into a vibrant and functional outdoor space.
Amphitheater
Detention Basin
Covered Patio
Outdoor Fireplace
NATIVE GRASSES
CB.
CV.
PE.
PP.
DETENTION BASIN
CB.
CV.
AC.
PV.
A.
Carex bicknelli Copper Shouldered Oval Sedge
Carex vulpinoidea Brown Fox Sedge
Panicum vergatum Switchgrass
Prunus pumila Sand Willow
Carex bicknelli Copper Shouldered Oval Sedge
Carex vulpinoidea Brown Fox Sedge
Anenome canadensis Canada Anenome
Physostegia virginiana Obedient Plant
Angelica atropurpurea Angelica
Greenhouse and Patio
Detention Basin Garden
Pollinator Garden
High Alpine Garden
Cliff Garden
Pond Patio
The Learning Garden
A space to learn about your environment, to cultivate food, to hold classes, and to spend tranquil time alone.
DETENTION BASIN
CB. Carex Bicknelli Copper Shouldered Oval Sedge
AC. Anenome canadensis Canada Anenome
PV. Physostegia virginiana Obedient Plant
SP. Salix planifolia Tealeaf Willow
POLLINATOR
SC. Sphaeralcea coccinea Scarlet Globemallow
RH. Rudbeckia hirta Black Eyed Susan
PP. Pulsatilla patens Eastern Pasqueflower
AM. Achellia millefolium Yarrow
HIGH ALPINE
KH. Kniphofia hirsuta Torch Lily
LP. Liatris punctata Dotted Blazing Star
PP. Pulsatilla patens Eastern Pasqueflower
FP. Fallugia paradoxa Apache Plume
CLIFF GARDEN
SA. Sedum Autumn Joy
SS. Sedum spurium Voodoo Stonecrop
DA. Delosperma ashtonii Ice Plant
Climbing Wall
Green Roof
Ground Pad
Sunken Patio
Green Roof
Soil
Geotextile
Drainage
Waterproofing
The Rock Wall
A place to exercize, explore your limitations, and to unwind.
Barrington Playspot CD Set
Location | New Orleans, Louisiana
Year | 2024
Team | Emily Hamilton, Rachel Thody, Katie Fillenwarth
Headed by Lois Brink following previous studio’s design proposals, an 8 week studio was held to dive in on construction documentation and deliver completed CD sets to the City of New Orleans for a set of three parks in the Lower 9th Ward. Barrington Playspot has been slated for construction once the City generates neccesary funding.
0.5" DIAMETER BRANCHES 1.HOLES DRILLED BETWEEN 3 32" AND 3 8 "
4X4 BRACKET
4X4 UNTREATED CEDAR POST CONCRETE FOOTER NURSERY LOGS AND REEDS
0.75" THICK UNTREATED CEDAR PANELS USED FOR BOX CONSTRUCTION, CAULK ROOF AND WALL SEAMS WHERE NECESSARY, APPLY NONTOXIC EXTERIOR WOOD FINISH WHEN COMPLETE.
DISPENSER
1. 12" X 2.
3. 10 GAL
5. 80 PET
6. 50 WASTE
BOARDWALK
HARROW ROAD GATEWAY
PLAYGROUND AGES 2-12
MAINTENANCE
STORAGE CONTAINER
STORAGE CONTAINER
ROGER DRIVE ALLEY GATEWAY
Lowland Lodge
Location | Boulder, Colorado
Year | 2020
Team | Individual
An experiment in producing secular, yet sacred space. This quaint lodge enshrines the sanctity of self-exploration, care, and individual growth by inviting the visitor to focus inward. Windows follow the sun’s path, providing dynamic interior lighting that energizes the morning with a blue hue and relaxes the evening in an orange glow.
Modelling Color Modelling Form
Night
