Clare Smith
Bachelor of Landscape Architecture
2025
Clare Smith
e. smithclare107@gmail.com
p.770-688-0540
I spent my childhood in a Montessori school where the natural world often served as my classroom, textbook, and teacher. The landscape taught me math, science, ecology, and community simply through immersion. Instead of a typical playground with swings and slides, we spent our recess in the forest designing and building our very own neighborhood. Stick forts, transportation paths, civic spaces, storefronts (where the only acceptable currency was pine straw!), and community gardens of moss spanned the forest that we called our playground. Little did I know that during my elementary school recess, I was practicing something called landscape architecture.
Today, using the landscape as an educational tool is the heart of my design philosophy. All outdoor spaces have ecosystems, histories, and characteristics that landscape architects can harness to create landscapes that are functional, beautiful, and impactful. I believe that looking holistically at the landscape in this way is crucial to the positive impact achievable through landscape architecture. My playground community taught me about the impact of the landscape, and I strive to create designs that do so for others.
EDUCATION
University of Georgia
• Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, College of Environment and Design
• Minor in Historic Preservation
• GPA: 3.95
West Coast Field Study
Croatia and Slovenia Study Abroad
AWARDS
• 2024 GA ASLA UGA CED Student Award
• 2023-2024 Dean’s Leadership Award
• 2023-2024 Robert D. Nicolls Travel Scholarship
• 2023-2024 Neel Reid Memorial Scholar
• Zell Miller Scholarship
EXPERIENCE
University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (Grading, Drainage, and Storm water)
• Guides class of 60 students for 6 hours per week to complete hands-on storm water management labs
• Develops assignments for incorporation into the class curriculum
EDSA, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, FL
Landscape Architecture Intern
• Collaborated with senior associates and principles on conceptual design, presentation materials, graphic representations, and digital renderings
• Assisted in the development of landscape architecture projects including planting plans, construction documentation, irrigation plans, and site plans
Serenbe, Chattahoochee Hills, GA
Landscape Designer
• Engaged directly with the Serenbe community to design a biophillic artist-in-residence campus for their nonprofit organization “Art Farm”
• Researched and wrote the Chattahoochee Hills city integrated pest management plan
• Mapped community hiking trails and created installable trail head maps
May 2025
July 2023
May 2022
Serenbe’s Art Farm.
Summer Internship 2023
Chattahoochee Hills, Ga
Art Farm will one day be a place for artists to live, work, and grow in their crafts that enrich the world in which we live. This design fosters creativity and collaboration through design studios, housing, contemplative spaces, and a performance venue.
Existing Structures
Existing Vehicular Circulation
Existing Pedestrian Circulation
Concepts.
Existing Structures
Existing Vehicular Circulation
Existing Pedestrian Circulation
Tertiary Paths
Proposed Buildings
Proposed Decking
Green Space
garden
Pollinator
Spaces. NTS
Contemplative Spaces
Wishbone Boardwalk and Pollinator Lung Garden
The Artists’ Deck.
Bird’s Eye View.
Green Parking.
Conventional Parking Lot
• Contributes to Urban Heat Island Effect
• Increases and Pollutes Stormwater Runoff
• Disrupts Habitat
• Generates Large Carbon Footprint
• Impermeable and heat absorbing Asphalt
• Lack of Shade
• Relying on stormwater infrastructure
• Little habitat
Green Parking Lot
• Decreases runoff through rainwater absorption
• Contributes to biodiversity
• Low carbon footprint
• Encourages electric vehicle usage
• Down-lighting
• Permeable pavers where possible
• Light colored concrete
• Stormwater best management practices (BMPs) like rain gardens and bioswales
• Habitat within stormwater BMPs
374 acres of Conventional Parking Lots
70% Asphalt Parking Spots, 30% Asphalt Driving Aisles
Over 505 Million Gallons of Runoff per Year
374 acres of Green Parking Lots
70% Permeably Paved Parking Spots, 30% Asphalt Driving Aisles
As Low as 227,250,000 Gallons of Runoff per Year
Green Parking Planting Options
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Atlanta, Georgia Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo Palo Alto, California
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport: The
busiest airport for all.
The Sugar Hill Bridge.
Fall, 2024
Los Angeles, CA
Submitted for 2024
Street-life Design Competition
Group Members: Adeline Carlton
Jolie Pickren
Sarah Adams Tatum Michael
Sugar Hill’s thriving Black community managed to exist despite systemic efforts to prevent Black people from buying homes in much of Los Angeles.
Because Black people were willing to pay more since there was far less property available to them, many White people in the Sugar Hill community violated the covenants by selling to Black homeowners.
The West Adams Heights Improvement Association sued their Black neighbors for violating racially restrictive covenants in an attempt to have them evicted, even though white sellers violated the covenants.
The “Sugar Hill Case” took place in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Dec. 5, 1945. The court ruled in favor of the Black homeowners, stating that restrictive covenants violated the California Constitution and the 14th Amendment, which mandates equal protection under the law (an argument that had never before been successful).
Following the success of the Sugar Hill Case, the 1950’s brought another threat to the community - freeway construction. California’s 1950’s attempt to modernize often resulted in freeway construction cutting through communities of color.
By 1965, Sugar Hill’s main gathering place, Berkley Square, was replaced by the Santa Monica Freeway, forcing many people of color to surrender their homes. The Sugar Hill community was left divided, broken, and lost.
Rha Nickerson
“I really felt very secure in the community”
“I remember my father being so upset. ...I remember meetings with homeowners in Berkeley Square”
“People like Hattie McDaniel fought these restrictions so that her family was able to live there”
Former Sugar Hill Resident
Van Nickerson
“I watched the tractor bulldoze these homes down”
“ I never quite experienced the same safety and Comfort that Sugar Hill provided”
“We learned how to drive in Berkeley Square because the streets, there was no traffic. It was so comfortable then”
Former Sugar Hill Resident
Loren Miller, Civil Rights Attorney
Represented the Black homeowners In the Sugar Hill Case
Hattie McDaniel, American Actress, Singer/Songwriter, and Comedian
Sugar Hill resident and first African American woman to win an Academy Award
Norman Houston, Entrepreneur
First Black Resident of Sugar Hill and leader in the movement for housing justice for Black Angelenos.
Sugar Hill’s Legacy.
JOY GROWTH EXPRESSION COMMUNITY EQUITY
Through community gatherings such as concerts at the McDaniel House.
Sugar Hill found joy through gathering, performing, and connecting with each other. The Sugar Hill bridge re-fosters this joy through playscapes and gathering spaces for events, art shows, and social connection.
Through advancements in the civil rights movement and the development of Black culture and history in Los Angeles
Through Sugar Hill’s influential actors, performers and Musicians such as Hattie McDaniel , Duke Ellington, and Marvin Gaye
Sugar Hill fostered advancements and growth in Los Angeles’ Civil Rights Movement. With a more literal interpretation of the word, the Sugar Hill bridge pays homage to this historical growth through a community garden and dense vegetation.
Home to Black actors, singers, musicians, and comedians, Sugar Hill was rooted in artistic and cultural expression. In order to foster this legacy, the Sugar Hill Bridge has space for public art, farmers markets, and gathering spaces.
Through the safety and comfort expressed by the Nickerson siblings
Sugar Hill was a safe, comfortable, community for people of color in a world where it was hard to come by.
Having been divided by the Santa Monica Freeway, the Sugar Hill Bridge reconnects the neighborhood in hopes of someday restoring the strong community that once existed.
Through the historic legal battle of the Sugar Hill Case
The Black Homeowners of Sugar Hill fought for their homes in the name of an equitable world. The bisection of Sugar Hill by the Santa Monica Freeway hindered their progress, and the Sugar Hill Bridge provides accessible and equitable amenities to reconnect a lost community.
Inventory and Analysis.
Asparagus aethiopicus Washingtonia filifera
Helminthotheca echioides Sherardia arvensis
Our initial analysis of existing plants in and around the site location prove it to also be a “lost environment.” These invasive plants often form dense, monotonous landscapes that lack the ecological richness and resilience of the native habitat. This has lead to erosion, altered soil composition, and loss of habitat for pollinators, birds, and small mammals.
The temperature outside can significantly influence our mood and sense of joy. Extreme heat or cold can lead to discomfort, reducing our comfort and likeliness to use a site. Pleasant temperatures tend to create a comfortable environment, encouraging outdoor activities and social interactions. Weather plays a crucial role in shaping our emotional well-being. Plants help regulate outdoor temperatures by absorbing sunlight and releasing moisture through transpiration, which cool the surrounding air. Trees provide shade, reducing heat absorbed by surfaces. The Sugar Hill Bridge provides dense planting to foster a comfortable, inviting environment.
[FIELD MADDER] [SKELETON WEED]
Hedera helixbe
Chondrilla juncea Navarretia prostrata Ailanthus altissima
Inventory and Analysis.
Equity Growth Expression
There are several schools within walking distance of the Sugar Hill site. The Sugar Hill bridge connects surrounding students and teachers with resources like tutoring, career guidance, college counselors, and classroom tools, ensuring that no child is left behind.
Surrounding Sugar Hill, there are few open green spaces that are available to the public. The Sugar Hill bridge introduces over 2 Acres of public green space accessible to all.
Sugar Hill is most famous for its legacy of artists, actors, and musicians. Creative pursuits allow people to explore different sides to their aptitude, which is a great way to explore personal identity. Sugar Hill bridge provides a space for artistic exploration, collaboration, and community building.
School within 3 miles of our site
Theatre within 3 miles of our site
Planting Goals
Landcape Zones
Education
Religion
Residential
Commercial
Church
Our Site
The Mcdaniels House
Vehicular Circulation
Shared Vehicular and Pedestrian Circulation
Music within 3 miles of our site Art within 3 miles of our site
Native pollinator plants welcome bees, butterflies, and birds into the site.
Drought - tolerant plants were chosen to require less maintenance and watering in times of drought.
Trees will provide shade for the site to reduce the heat, providing thermal comfort.
Master Plan.
Bridge Entrance
Santa Monica Freeway
Pocket Parks
Meandering
Recreational Path
Direct Linkage
Exhibit Space
Community Center
Playscape
Community Garden
Event Space
Artist Inspired Shaded Walk
Bridge Entrance
Bikers and walkers enjoy the pedestrian linkage provided, as well as the shade under the artistic shade structures.
Children and Adults explore the local art instillation.
Residences sit and listen to a local pianist alongside the community garden.
Firefly Park.
Spring 2022
Athens, Georgia
The Firefly Trail is a proposed 39-mile trail connecting communities across Northeast Georgia. Firefly Park activates The Mark apartment complex trail head, connecting University of Georgia Students with a natural amenity.
Inventory.
Apartment Complex
Oconee River
Preserved Forest Firefly Trail
Betula Nigra Quercus Phellos Rhus michauxii Baptisia arachnifera Verbesina alternifolia
Busy Road Trail Head
Master Plan.
Hand Drawn
Hand Rendered
Firefly Mosaic
Study Lawns
Shade Arbors Grass Meadows
Event Space
Study Lawns
Shade Arbors
Firefly Mosaic
Experience.
The Mark
River Birch
Wingstem
Ruth’s Golden Aster
Shaded Seating
Boardwalk
Programming.
Recreation
• Biking
• Running
• Walking
• Playing
• Roller Blading
• Skateboarding
• Scootering
• Skateboarding
Gathering
• Club Meetings
• Socials
• Run Clubs
• Bike Clubs
• Events
• Celebrations
• Weddings
• Happy Hours
Academics
• Outdoor classes
• Study tables
• Study Lawns
• Educational Native Planting
Myers Quad.
Athens, Georgia
Spring, 2022
Myers Quad is a home and recreational space to students at the University of Georgia. This design incorporates elevation changes, water features, and gathering spaces for students to create, play, gather, and relax.
Goals
1. Improve thermal comfort through denser planting and water features
2. Program the space to incorporate performances and gathering, while maintaining the current active recreational use
3. Increase seating throughout the site
Myers Hall
Rutherford Hall
Mary Lyndon Hall
Master Plan.
Hand Drawn
Hand Rendered
Existing Stage
Recreational Lawn
Sunken Study/Performance Lawn
Noise Reducing and Cooling Water Features
Study Plaza
Sunken Study/Performance Lawn
Noise Reducing and Cooling Water Features
Gathering Plaza
Rutherford Hall
Visualization.
Field Sketching and Watercolor
Portland, Oregon & Seattle, Washington Summer 2023
Visualization has always been a passion of mine. At an early age, I participated in regular art classes and found it to be my passion. Lucky for me, I found landscape architecture where I can use this passion n in the workplace, both
Rocky Mountain Lodge.
Spring 2024
Lumion and Photoshop
Visualization | Summer 2023-Fall 2024
Scan for Rocky Mountain Lodge Video!
Landscape in Motion.
Spring 2024
Sketchup and Photoshop
Landscape in Motion takes the rugged landscape of the Grand Canyon and abstracts it into a visual that emphasizes the dynamic movement of the Colorado plateau that formed it. Although seemingly still, billions of years of movement and change created this national treasure.
Scan for Landscape in Motion Video!
Thank You.
