Landscape Architecture Portfolio (2013-2016)

Portfolio // Rachel Scudder

Fall 2017

User’s Guide

Table of Contents Project Name // Concept

// Site Context

-

Edge/Ucate

Number of People

3-12

Concept

Site Context

-

Turtle Island Project Name // Process Drawing

15-22

Project Time

-

Process Drawing

Gill Creek Corridor 25-34

Project Name // Design Details // Section

Project Subject

// Detailed Site Plan

Design Details

Detailed Site Plan

Section Project Name // Final Presentation

Final Presentation

Location // Date

-

trashy 37-44 -

Individual

2 Weeks

Sketching

1 Kyoto, Japan // Fall ‘15

Toji Temple was a five minute walk from the small one room apartment I shared with two other girls in Kyoto. I came here to sketch and people watch. Toji became my true home away from home.

EDGE/Ucate // Site Context About // EDGE/ Ucate is an autodidactic site design focused on promoting outdoor education.

The Caroline Elementary site would be divided into distinct plant communities which represent the various ecological conditions that are found in the greater Finger Lakes region.

Students are able to see the contrasts between these communities thanks to the stark division lines that transect the site. The division lines come in different varieties: paths, retaining walls, permeable walls, and seating. The boundaries are laid out along the geometric lines projected from the walls of the school building itself. The design also addresses issues of keeping children safe from very busy traffic along Slaterville Road, stormwater runoff, and redefining what it means to, “play”. Play becomes a hand on learning experience, that teaches the importance of being a steward to the land.

The project was presented to a group of teachers, administration, and students of the Caroline Elementary School.

3 Ithaca, NY // Fall ‘14

Ithaca

City of Ithaca

Sla

ter

vil

le

Rd

.

Caroline Elementary School

Six Mile Creek

Edge/Ucate // Process Drawings

An important part of this project was addressing an overgrowth of Japanese Knotweed in the southeast section of the school. The future planting plan, plans for the direct ecological benefits of specific planting communities.

5 Ithaca, NY // Fall ‘14

Edge/Ucate // Design Layout

N 0

Bog HIGHWAY

25

50

100

Moist Upland Forest

Wetland

Floodplain Forest

79

Group Project

Bo

Each “Edge” uses a combination of native species to build an ecologically constructed, educational space.

Swamp Wetland

g

7 Weeks

Dry Upland Forest

Conceptual Site Design

Successional Farmland

y

Moist Upland Forest

Bog 7 Ithaca, NY // Fall ‘14

Pla Wetland

Floodplain Forest

Floodplain Forest

n

ati

Se

all gW

ay

thw

Pa

The Edge’s fluctuate in function, but divide the space clearly throughout the site.

With Emma Oakes, Jacob Von Mechow and Mark Warfel

Edge/Ucate // Final Board Presentation SITE ANALYSIS

EDGE TYPOLOGIES

E High speed vehicular traffic on Highway 79

P SW AM

!

Open access point between recess area and vehicular circulation

> Plant the vegetable garden in the hopes of holding an annual farmer’s market to contribute to local food sourcing.

Unsupervised Area Tall vegetation prohibits clear supervision

UP DR Y

!

RIC

UR

UL TU

BA

RA

L

N

LA

ND

!

Unsupervised Area Water is an obvious safety concern The property across the water is not owned by the school

N 0

> Add all new site furniture. > Projected seasonal maintenance.

HIGHWAY

79

Pedestrian Path Vehicular Circulation

AG

!

Unofficial Pedestrian Path Safety Concern Access Point

K

Sound

-W OR

Paths facilitate pedestrian circulation along the dividing edge. At or near grade, paths will not be the least impeding of the edge framework.

Seating

OU

ND

W ET

LA ND

L FA RM LA M ND RE OIS T ST UP LA ND

NA

> Begin the composting process with the leftover plant material.

DP LA

IN

FO

GR

CE SS IO SU C G

FL

OO

BO

Path

MA INT EN

W

ET L

!

AN C

AN

D

Movement

Water

> Projected 3-6 year time frame.

> Environmental > Remove the stewardship vegetation to component is make way for the integrated into new site proposal. curriculum. > Grade the site. Can be done in stages.

> Plant the stockpiled vegetation on the site, fostering environmental stewardship.

Seating walls combine the circulation of paths as well as retain some small grade changes. At about 18” off the ground, they do not present a significant impediment but do have some effect as a barrier

E-W

OR

K

Ithaca

Historically

FR

A DESIGN EVOLUTION FOR CAROLINE ELEMENTARY

Edge – Ucate is an auto-didactic site design similar to the methods used by arboretums. The Caroline Elementary site is divided into distinct plant communities which represent the various ecological conditions that are found in the greater Finger lakes region. Students are able to see the contrasts between these communities thanks to the stark division lines that transect the site. The division lines come in several different varieties, paths, retaining walls, permeable walls, and seating, and are laid out along the geometric lines projected from the walls of the school building itself.

South Hill

With each year, students plant seeds in their class room in small pots. They follow the growth of their seeds with each passing year. As they move through grades, the seeds become saplings and then trees. Once the saplings become too large for the classroom they are moved into a greenhouse. Before the students graduate from Caroline Elementary, they have planted their trees in the landscape.

Caroline Elementary

The design interconnects the site by dividing it cleanly. It highlights the diversity of the local ecology by massing, and juxtaposing it on a single site. Children are engaged by plants, topography, and choices rather than pre-built play structures, mowed grass and asphalt. The school loses it’s dull institutional mediocrity and becomes a dynamic outdoor learning environment.

> Construct the greenhouse.

> Begin growing the initial trees, and other plants, for the site. > Projected 2-3 year time frame. > Obtain plant seeds.

L

Ithaca High School Fall Creek Beverly J Martin Lehman Alt Belle Sherman

> Start plant propagating

VA

Enfield

Student start and end their school days passing through swamp and wetland zones around the parking areas. Chevron parking eases the process and new swales create a lush barrier between the building and the road. During recess the kids can play on elevated berms in the successional farmland meadow, a stepped anarchy zone in the urban planting area, or in the shade of the mixed oak forest. Science class takes the children into the floodplain forest zone, where they find aggressive native species overtaking the invasives that once dominated it.

They also find a bog, and a subdivided wetland plant community traversed by boardwalks and divided by weirs.

> This phase involves heavy community investment, with Cornell University, Ithaca High School,and parents, students, and teachers at Caroline Elementary.

> Germinate seeds in the classroom.

PR O

Dewitt Middle North East

Cayuga Heights Boynton Middle School

AP

Cayuga Lake

Permeable

AM

1000 Square Miles

> Start the funding process for the project by applying for grants and getting approval from the district and community.

> Build stockpile of plant materials for site.

Permeable walls are located at points where transversal is desired but a formidable barrier is also called for.

The low points at grade offer perpendicular access while the high points at 36” restrict parallel circulation.

Retain

> Re-orient the summer league soccer fields. > Projected 1-2 year time frame.

EDUCATION REGIONAL PLANT COMMUNITIES NATURAL PROCESSES PLANT PROPOGATION

THE JOURNEY THROUGH PLANT COMMUNITIES EXPLORATION INTERACTION

Emma Oakes • Rachel Scudder • Jacob Von Mechow • Mark Warfel Jr.

9 Ithaca, NY // Fall ‘14

Appalachian Plateau

PLAY

Retaining walls are located at areas of significant grade change. Their height varies based on the surrounding topography, and rise up to become railings where the drop is too significant.

EK

SIX MILE CRE

25

50

100

Edge/Ucate // Final Board Presentation

Caroline Elementary

Educational Wetland

Boardwalk

Edge

Swamp

Section 1 Scale 1:10

Section 2 Scale 1:10

Section 3 Scale 1:30

CTI ON

2

WETLAND PARKING 120 Parking Parking Spaces

SE

SE

CTI ON

1

Dry Successional Meadow

Path

VERSATILE PLAY

Wet Successional Meadow

Edge

Mixed Oak Forest

Bog

Educational Boardwalk

EDUCATIONAL FOREST N

IO

CT

SE

3

Detail Scale 1:30

Detail Scale 1:30

N

N

Detail Scale 1:40

Detail Scale 1:30

Caroline Elementary

11 Ithaca, NY // Fall ‘14

N

Moist Upland Forest

N

Wetland

Floodplane Forest

Group

3 Days

Design // Build

The semester after our trip abroad, each group in the 5th year BLA studio designed and built their own festival of places booth. We modeled our after a Japanes tea house.

With Emma Oakes and Amy Shieferstine

13 Syracuse, NY // Spring ‘16

Turtle Island // Context About // In the Fall of 2015, ESF recognized it’s special place in Native American Territory at the heart of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

What the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry & the Haudenosaunee have in common is a mutual understanding of how our individual lives affect the world around us. Through the stories of the Haudenosaunee, we see reflections of a lot of the same environmental ethics the school stands for. Working with local Native American Scultor,Thomas Huff, and members of the planning board for ESF, I developed a redesign of the quad that draws recognition to the school’s relationship with the Haudenosaunee, as well as our own relationship with the land. In Haudenosaunee folklore, it is said that the earth itself is a multitude of turtles stacked on top of each other.

Re-designing the quad into the shape of a turtle stresses the importance of ESF’s place on Haudnesoshaunee territory and the school’s own relationship with the environment around us.

15 Syracuse, NY // Spring ‘16

Syracuse, NY, the center of the Haudenosaunee Confederation.

Native plantings that reflect the original landscape in the Native Territories of Upstate New York. An emphasised use of White Pine, and Oak trees to signify the relationship between the Haudenosaunee and ESF.

Mohawk

Oneida Onondaga

Seneca

Cayuga Syracuse, NY

Granite, custom sculpted turtle head, at the main entrance of ESF’s quad.

Turtle Island // Process Drawings

As a tribute to the future of ESF and their place on the land, they look to the decisions made in the past by the original inhabitants. These decisions always looked to the earth for guidance.

17 Syracuse, NY // Spring ‘16

Turtle Island // Design Layout

Individual Project

Turtle Head Sculpture

Seating Rocks 3 Weeks

Native Wildflower Meadow with Mowed Pathways Conceptual Site Design

Forested Pathway

Forested Pathway 19 Syracuse, NY // Spring ‘16

Native Wildflower Turtle Back

Sculpture

Turtle Island // Final Board Presentation Turtle Island

F

About // In the Fall of 2015, ESF recognized it’s special place in Native American Territory at the heart of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. What the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry & the Haudenosaunee have in common is a mutual understanding of how our individual lives affect the world around us. Through the stories of the Haudenosaunee, we see reflections of a lot of the same environmental ethics the school stands for. Working with local Native American Scultor,Thomas Huff, and members of the planning board for ESF, I developed a redesign of the quad that draws recognition to the school’s relationship with the Haudenosaunee, as well as our own relationship with the land. In Haudenosaunee folklore, it is said that the earth itself is a multitude of turtles stacked on top of each other. Re-designing the quad into the shape of a turtle stresses the importance of ESF’s place on Haudnesoshaunee territory and the school’s own relationship with the environment around us.

White Pine

Fauna

White Pine

Sugar Maple

Sugar Maple

The creation story of the Haudenosaunee can be told through inscribing the pathway stone in the forested area

Native Meadow

The creation story of the Haudenosaunee can be told through inscribing the pathway stone in the forested area

Main Quad Illick Hall

Sugar Maple

Eastern White Pine

Oyster Mushroom

Highbush Blueberry

Wild Strawberry

New England Aster

Sweet fern

Bracken Fern

Wild Sarsparilla

Corpse Plant

Feather Flat Moss

Sassafras

Moon Library

Sugar Maple

Eastern White Pine

Virginia Oyster Oppossum Mushroom

Highbush Blueberry

Wild Strawberry

Wild Turkey New England Aster

Hummingbird

Sweet fern

Bracken Fern

American Wild Goldfinch Sarsparilla

Pileated Woodpecker

Corpse Plant

Feather Flat Moss

Mourning Sassafras Dove

American Robin

Eastern White Pine

Virginia Oyster Oppossum Mushroom

Raccoon

Forest Texture

ARB

Native Meadow

B

Main Quad

Seating Wall

Illick Hall

Raccoon

Bray Hall

Ruby Throated

Native Meadow

Sugar Maple

Highbush Blueberry

Wild Strawberry

Wild Turkey New England Aster

Ruby Throated

Hummingbird

Pine Winter Texture

Sweet fern

Bracken Fern

American Wild Goldfinch Sarsparilla

Pileated Woodpecker

Forest Paving

Corpse Plant

Feather Flat Moss

Mourning Sassafras Dove

American Robin

Jamesville Quarry Stone

Sugar Maple

Eastern White Pine

Oyster Mushroom

Highbush Blueberry

Wild Strawberry

New England Aster

Sweet fern

Bracken Fern

Wild Sarsparilla

Corpse Plant

Feather Flat Moss

Sassafras

Seating Wall

A

Moon Library Illick Hall ARB

Native Meadow A

Sugar Maple

Eastern White Pine

Virginia Oyster Oppossum Mushroom

Raccoon

Highbush Blueberry

Wild Strawberry

Wild Turkey New England Aster

Ruby Throated

Sweet fern

Bracken Fern

American Wild Goldfinch Sarsparilla

Pileated Woodpecker

Corpse Plant

Feather Flat Moss

Mourning Sassafras Dove

American Robin

Eastern White Pine

Virginia Oyster Oppossum Mushroom

Raccoon

Forest Texture

B Seating Wall

Sculpture B

21 Syracuse, NY // Spring ‘16

Hummingbird

Native Meadow

Sugar Maple

A

S

Individual

House

IG

BA

TC

BS

LAV

LAV

Porch

LAV

LC

OF

HT

AF LAV HP LAV

LAV

AI

LS

PG

RF

SL

AISM

HP

AB

LAV

LAV

Driveway

Design // Install

Unmowed with Pavers

Property Line

4 Weeks

HP AC

PL

AN

CL

ACNO

CR

LAV

Sidewalk IG

IG

IG

IG

IG

IG

GA

GA

LAV

GA

LAV

GA

LAV

Vincent St.

23 Syracuse, NY // Summer ‘16

With a budget a little over $500, I designed and planted a native butterfly garden, for a small front yard in the City of Syracuse.

The client asked for no grass and a lot of purple!

Gill Creek Corridor // Site Context About // As a small estuary that feeds into the Niagara River, only a mile from Niagara Falls, Gill Creek is polluted, channelized sore on the postindustrial City of Niagara Falls.

In conjuncture with the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, The City of Niagara Falls and the Living Shorelines project, we were challenged with designing the corridor for 10 major planting plans to be installed, while also anticipating this initial project to set the foundation for future stewardship of the corridor and surrounding community.

My focus for this project was to attract native wildlife, increase overall connective forest cover, and promote community engagement. My plan was to show, through each planting event, the different services plants provide for the community. These events include educational plantings around aquatic habitat, biomass, stormwater management, forest canopy, living shoreline, pollination, soil remediation, and erosion control.

Lake Ontario

Gill Creek

Niagara Falls

Niagara River

Grand Island 25 Niagara Falls, NY // Spring ‘16

Gill Creek Corridor // Process Drawings

The Gill Creek went through a vacant city owned plot of land, with an old municipal bulding on it. This property and building could be used as en epicenter of ecological education.

27 Niagara Falls, NY // Spring ‘16

Gill Creek Corridor // Design Layout

Individual Project

10 Weeks

Planting Plan // Site Design

Greenway Veteran’s Ave

Flowering Dogwood Wildlife Interest

29 Niagara Falls, NY // Spring ‘16

Pollinator Plantings

Beardtongue

Attracts Hummingbirds

Goldenrod

Wild Columbine

Attracts Hummingbirds

Butterfly Weed

Attracts Butterflies

Gill Creek Corridor // Digital Slide Presentation Gill Creek Corridor // Final Presentation

31 Niagara Falls, NY // Spring ‘16

Gill Creek Corridor // Digital Slide Presentation

Re-Route

Ve te

ra n

sA ve

X

X X

Buffalo Ave

33 Niagara Falls, NY // Spring ‘16

X

Rubber Mat for Emercency Vehicle Access

Grass Can Grow Through

Individual

2 Hours

Sketching

35 Kyoto // Fall ‘15

Gardens in Kyoto Prefecture are limited in planting spaces, so most gardens are mixtures of small planting beds, and potted plants, mixed and matched along residential streets.

trashy // Site Context About // All environmental issues we face are not just our own but issues we face globally as well.

Despite this, local policy and education are the structures we rely on in hopes to shift cultural perceptions of these issues. In the United States, with a growing population, our sprawl is starting to reach its limits and there is pressure to make important environmental changes. Times when we could once toss all of our solid waste into a pit and not see it, or its effects, ever again is reaching an end. trashy is a solid waste management focused collaboration of a research fellowship and a study abroad program. My research was based in Portland Metropolitan area studying the system of solid waste, and a study abroad in Kyoto, Japan that studied the effects of culture and littering on a 1.1 mi stretch of the Kamo River. By scaling issues of solid waste, land management, and design opportunities I did a side by side comparisons of ways to see how the control and design of our built land functions and acts in policy, and how that policy translates into cultural acceptance and environmental stewardship.

Kyoto, and it’s waterways.

Oregon

37 Portland, OR // Kyoto, Japan // Summer ‘15 // Fall ‘15

Japan 日本

The Portland Metropolitan Area’s solid waste management systems.

trashy // Process Drawing

39 Portland, OR // Kyoto, Japan // Summer ‘15 // Fall ‘15

trashy // Design Layout

Individual

Use of Recovered Material

Materials Management

Recycling & Recovery

1 Year

Research

41 Portland, OR // Kyoto, Japan // Summer ‘15 // Fall ‘15

trashy // Final Book Presentation

43 Portland, OR // Kyoto, Japan // Summer ‘15 // Fall ‘15

Individual

2 Months

Art Director

45 Rochester, NY // Continuing

Inspired by our own unemployment, and empty space, Dad Pad was a small DIY art space that brought together local artists, muscians, and film makers in the Rochester, NY area.

Group

4 Weeks

Publication

47 Syracuse, NY // Fall ‘15

One of the greatest issues involved in environmental protection, is that while we can protect our own localized areas via policy, the are no lines in the landscape that protect us from the poor decisions of our neighbors.

“Crossing The Line” examined how fracking, although illegal in New York State , crosses environmental boundaries from our neighboring states that allow fracking.