PORTFOLIO
AISHA IYENGAR
A COLLECTION OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE + URBAN DESIGN EXPLORATION
Aisha Iyengar Behind the page is Aisha Iyengar, a passionate individual who celebrates the intersection of nature, urban environments, and the human spirit. With an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture and a graduate degree in urban planning, Aisha dedicates herself to understanding the intricate relationship between humans and their surroundings. Her commitment to preserving and enhancing the environment, while accommodating the needs of a growing urban society, reflects her dedication to sustainable development and the creation of spaces that foster a harmonious coexistence between people and nature. Aisha’s quest for balance in life goes beyond her professional pursuits. She believes that understanding and achieving balance is the key to leading a fulfilling and purposeful existence. Her desire to explore the human condition, the motivation behind our yearning for outdoor experiences, and the significance of our connection to the natural world fuels her curiosity. Aisha actively seeks out life experiences that allow her to conduct research and decipher what drives our innate desire to be alive and in sync with the environment.
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The 01
Finding the Flint
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Oasis Landing
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Parkscaping
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GreenMart
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Seaside Splendor
Getting right into it.... and then some
Content
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Finding the
Flint
Ecological Restoration + Downtown Revitalization
Location: Montezuma Georgia Year: Spring 2023, VIII Semester
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Beaver Creek in 1994 which devastated the towns economy and community. With abandoned buildings, vast green-space, and sparse business Montezuma remains a blank canvas waiting rejuvenation. This project aims to build upon the town’s existing strengths
and unlock new opportunities for growth and development. Between the proposed outdoor recreation and abundant commercial opportunities in the area, Montezuma will be able to boost their tourism to fiscally support and retain their existing population. Greetings from the south. We have hospitality, surprisingly good BBQ, and ecologically resilient landscapes.
An exploration of rural planned growth for people + nature
Nestled in the heart of Georgia, the town of Montezuma boasts a distinctive landscape enriched by a robust infrastructure, abundant natural resources, and a passionate community. The town, a once vibrant city with significant train stations that facilitated interstate connectivity, flooded by the adjacent
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Great Future... Rich Past Montezuma: a community here to stay & thrived The vision is to create a vibrant hub that caters to both Montezuma’s residents and visitors alike, offering a range of recreational, cultural, and commercial experiences. With a diverse array of outdoor activities, lively festivals, and bustling businesses, Montezuma is poised to attract visitors from far and wide, providing a vital boost to its economy. The plan focuses on enhancing the quality of life for local residents, revitalizing the downtown area with the focus of reclaiming pedestrian space, and establishing a self-sufficient
business network that benefits the community as a whole. Major implementations in the plan include an art alley, park extensions, bioswales, retention ponds, train watching stations, plaza spaces, a road “diet”, infill buildings, and a food hall. Specifically,
the proposed food hall allows for local entrepreneurs the ability to open a small business within an established community building, which reduces the barriers to entry in opening their own business.
Proposed Art Alley
Proposed Community Food Hall
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Downtown Masterplan
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Legend 1 Train Watching Station 2 Park Buffer 3 Art Alley
4 Bioswale & Pavilon 5 Food Hall 6 Trail
7 Dooley Street Road Diet 8 Infill Buildings
9 Community Hall
10 Transition Park 100’
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11 Bio-Levee Park Focus Area
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The downtown Train watching station allows for visitors and residents alike to enjoy the abundant trains that pass through central Montezuma in a safe and visually appealing environment,With increased greenspace and stormwater infrastructure as a visual and physical buffer. Section A: Train Viewing Station
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The existing park offers immense open greenspace for the community to gather, yet needed evaluation around the park edge to create a safer field from adjacent cars. The green buffer additionally serves as a shaded resting spot for park visitors.
Section B: Park Edge Buffer 30’
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Dooley Street Road Diet
Dooley Street Road Diet
The road diet is one of the major implementations of the downtown masterplan. It offers greater space to pedestrians to gather and circulate the commercial buildings while slowing down cars to aid in the slow, sweet, and southern downtown atmosphere.
Section C: Dooley Street Road Diet 10’
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BioLevee Focus Area 1 5
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Legend 1 Retention Pond 2 Seating Area
3 Outdoor Classroom 4 Creek Entrance
5 Existing Train Tracks
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6 Lookout Point
7 Train Watching Station 8 Elevated Boardwalk 4
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9 Field + Creek Steps
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10 Layout Docks
Within the urban fabric a focus area of a creek side park, coined Bio-Levee Park, was chosen. Bio-Levee Park offers a distinctive landscape that can support the native ecology as well as offer an enchanting and lively human experience. Facilitating an environment that supports the health of beaver creek and allows human interaction is key to increasing Montezuma’s appreciation of the local waterway.
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A place for all A shift in perception of the creek from something residents used to drive over to now a thriving destination in Montezuma will foster
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positive expressions of environmental conservation and stewardship . Residents would be able to have a stronger connection to Beaver Creek, viewing Beaver Creek from the boardwalk, accessing the creek through the designated entrance points, utilizing the lay out docks, resting in the open green space, and floating down the creek. The park also features a train watching station on the North side of the levee which supports the existing train track adjacent to the levee.
Restoring the Stream Edge Seed mixes are used to support various planting zones within the park; together these mixes will create a soft meadow landscape for interesting views along the boardwalk while supporting the health of the local ecosystem. The meadow will restore soil health and provided habitat for small animals. By keeping human interaction controlled on designated elevated paths, the seed mixes and overall ground plane of the landscape will remain predominantly undisturbed.
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Bringing Back the Fish of the Flint A visual guide to the species we hope to see greater populations of in Beaver Creek
Redbreasted Sunfish Native Spotted Bass Introduced Flathead Catfish Introduced Reddear Sunfish Native Crappie Native
Swimming Towards Restoration
Laremouth Bass Native
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Bluegill Native Shoal Bass Native
Floating Wetlands Section
What can we do for the creek? Conservation efforts include floating wetlands and live fascines to improve water quality and create a resilient stream edge. With these implementations Bio-Levee Park should see water quality improvements and subsequently greater populations of native fish, terrestrial animals, and insects.
Floating Wetlands in Creek
The boardwalk section below shows the relationship between the top of the levee down to the creek. The plan focuses primarily on the rehabilitation of the native landscape on the ground plane while keeping human activity on the elevated boardwalk.
Boardwalk Section Over Beaver Creek
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Oasis Landing
Coastal Resilience + Urban Resource Allocation Location: Busan South Korea Year: Fall 2022, VII Semester Dillon White, Alexa Pfeiffer, Patricia Quinonez, Aisha Iyengar Within the greater urban context of Busan, South Korea, there are few accessible greenspaces. The reconnection of humans and nature weaves itself throughout the fabric of the design, all the while it seeks to revitalize a space along the cusp of a major commercial area. The tension between the built and the natural environment has conflated into a severe imbalance as cities pave over and build up an urban jungle. Our design reintroduces an idea of harmony between humans and nature. By showcasing this conflict visually, we seek to disrupt the current unsustainable trajectory of overbuilt cities through impactful placement of native greenery and bio-inspired design. It aims to highlight the resilience of nature within the city as habitats for creatures adapt to the new structures. 16
Visualization made by Aisha Iyengar.
In the chaos of the beast of a city, where will the people find their place?
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A Three Perspective Journey Through Busan The transect follows the journey of a street vendor, a tourist, and a rat in Busan, South Korea. They begin walking from Lotte Mall and continue towards the waterfront promenade. After those two locations, the three user groups find themselves moving through the busy Jagalchi Market and slowly move in the direction of the central business district. Finally, their journey ends at Yongdusan park. These three different perspectives allow us to pinpoint significant objects that each user group recognizes as opportunities, strengths, weaknesses, and threats. Additionally, the perspective of a non-human group is vital in assessing wildlife, waste, and scale. Tourist Market Vendor Rat
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롯데백화점 광복점 Lotte Department Store
롯데백화점 광복점 자갈치시장 Jagalchi Market
부산항 Waterfront Promenade
용두산공원 Yongdusan
남포동 Nampo-Dong
Visualization made by Aisha Iyengar.
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Elevated Walkway to Taejong-Ro Bridge
Floating Planters Waterfront Terrace with Sunken Seating
Waterfront Market Space
Raised Crosswalk
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Bird Habitats
Geometric Play Structures
Oasis Landing - Urban Park Masterplan Visualization made by Aisha Iyengar, Dillon White, & Patricia Quinonez.
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION Looking Man Sculpture
Lotte Mall Cut Through
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION
Seating Area
Naturalistic Forested Area with Elevated Boardwalk
Main Walkway
Market Space
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Bioretention
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At the edge of the park, the seaside enclave beckons with a tranquil dance between humanity and the vast expanse of water. The illustration below depicts the connection between the proposed main park, the existing pedestrian path, and access to the sea. This park also serves as stormwater infrastructure and offers the ability to flood during the high storm season. Floating planters are shown to increase greenery within the park and to serve as a scaling object in the vastness of the open sea.
Terraced Waterfront Seating Area
Visualization made by Aisha Iyengar.
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Parkscaping
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By blending native flora and curated botanicals, the plan crafts a vibrant narrative that celebrates the land’s beauty, inviting visitors into a symphony of colors, textures, and fragrances — a living testament to nature’s embrace in this tranquil rural haven. This planting design crafts a
meadow-like landscape that will grace the heart of Comer. This small town has an unwavering commitment to preserving and showcasing the natural beauty of the region. By filling the park with native plants, the landscape not only exudes a rustic charm
Location: Comer, Georgia Year: Spring 2022, VI Semester but also pays homage to the indigenous botanical heritage, encouraging a deeper connection between residents and their environment.
A landscape to echo the character of the people.
Rural Park Planting Design
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Bring on the Blooms (Native)
Incorporating a profusion of native plant species into the park’s design not only enhances its aesthetic appeal but also bolsters the region’s ecological integrity. The Rosemarinus officinalis native plants, adapted to the local climate and soil conditions, are intrinsically sustainable, requiring less maintenance and water resources
Sambucus canadensis
Buddleia davidii ‘Black Knight’
The result is a park that not only serves as a recreational and communal space but also as a testament to the enduring beauty of Comer’s native flora, inspiring a sense of pride and ownership among the community. 26
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Malus ‘hupehensis’
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Hermerocallis ‘Happy returns’ Scutellaria ‘Ocmulgee’
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GreenMart Urban sprawl around Georgia is stuck in a development pattern of building car centric environments. This causes resources to be located further apart, decreases the accessibility of pedestrians, and increases the need for automobile use.
Where do you want your kids to grow up?
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04 Sustainable Supermarket Blueprint
Location: Forsyth County, Georgia Year: Fall 2022, VII Semester Large-scale stores with their accompanying acreages of parking lots make it easier for an individual to drive to the next store rather the walk. The conditions of these developments are heavily industrial, out of human scale, and ecologically dead, yet they are still the common practice of development throughout suburban America.
With increased pedestrian accessibility , we start to shift how people engage in social landscapes, creating generational transportation habits facilitated by spaces that allow humans to be active without automobile dependence.
Changing the problem we made.
By improving the experience of these shopping centers for the pedestrian, we encourage people to step away from social norms of intense automobile use. Subsequently, we can mitigate the harsh environment that these developments create by redesigning them as pedestrian centered developments that offer optimal foot paths, visually appeasing landscapes, and centralized resources.
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Changing the Condition of Urban Sprawl Parking Lots
The exploration of the conditions of urban sprawl environments catalyzed my conceptual design which focuses on creating lively and enjoyable spaces at the pedestrian scale for people to gather, explore, and shop. This includes a higher density development that is balanced with an open green space for a naturalistic element.
Conceptual Plan Not to Scale
Land Use Plan Existing Supermarket Proposed Retail/Restaurants Proposed Public Green Space Proposed Parking Deck
Existing Site Aerial Imagery
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Proposed Centralized Playground
Proposed Human-Scale Buildings and Vegetative Buffer
At least asphalt is softer than concrete...
Proposed Brewery
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Seaside landscapes are taking a break from the conventional
Splendor
Location: Encinitas, California Year: Summer 2022 Professional Internship
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Capturing the essence of the landscape through a camera lens, my internship at Falling Waters Landscape allowed me to delve into the textures, colors, and intricate details shaping the California built environment. This immersive experience at high-end residential
project sites allowed me to convey the spirit of these meticulously designed landscapes through 2d images. I was able to witness the designs’ evolution in their lived-in, realworld contexts directly from the designers themselves. Falling Waters Landscape
(FWL) prides itself on its distinctive approach, which seamlessly weaves green infrastructure with native plants, which is exhibited across all of their projects. This firsthand exposure to these design implementations proved immensely valuable, as
it provided me with a tangible understanding of how projects materialize from their conceptual stages to a thriving reality. The chapter covers various themes that I uncovered in this photographic exploration.
Making it a place we all want to be.
High-End Residential Landscape Photography
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In + Out Elegant accessways that compliment focal points
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Layering of the Landscape
Fencing to meld the environment with the structure that surrounds it
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Form + Texture
Contrasting elements to create a dynamic environment
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Site Functionality
Last but not least, lets add back the people
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