PORTFOLIO ///
landscape architecture elyna grapstein
elynagrapstein.wordpress.com
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY I believe that landscape architecture is a powerful facilitator of ecological restoration. Serving as the critical link between the natural and built environments, landscape architecture enhances environmental wellbeing through a detailed process of adaptive management, systems thinking, and synthesized planning. My design process is influenced by landscape ecology, regional connectivity, and engaging users through citizen science initiatives. I aim to create spaces that are multifunctional, providing services for people as well as refuge for the greater diversity of life. At the intersection of management and design, I strive to design systems that bring joy to stakeholders while addressing the environmental issues which so urgently require design solutions. I was drawn to landscape architecture for its unique strength as both an art and an applied science. With a background in ecology, I can serve as an interdisciplinary translator, communicating invaluable findings made by resource specialists so they can be integrated into physical spaces. This bridging of barriers between ecological and design fields allows landscape architects to address environmental problems while inspiring a dialogue through shared spatial experiences. As a professional designer, I hope to heal environmental wounds while fostering both empathy and curiosity for the natural world. Current research: microbial diversity of Carolina Bay water columns; design methods for karstic landscapes. Research interests: microrefugia; decay and aesthetics; design innovation in the public sector.
ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 2
EDUCATION
AFFILIATIONS
Master of Landscape Architecture University of Georgia, 2022 Athens, GA
Society for Ecological Restoration | Member September 2014 - Present
B.S., Conservation Biology SUNY ESF, 2016 Syracuse, NY
American Society of Landscape Architects | Member September 2019 - Present
A.A.S., Resource Conservation SUNY ESF Ranger School, 2014 Wanakena, NY
HONORS Darrell Morrison Scholar
New Directions in the American Landscape, 2022
Olmsted Scholar
Landscape Architecture Foundation, 2021
Rado Family Scholar
University of Georgia, 2020
Member of the ASLA Ecology & Restoration PPN Leadership Team.
PROFICIENCIES ArcGIS
Maya
AutoCAD
Photoshop
InDesign
Premiere Rush
Illustrator
SketchUp
Lumion
Twinmotion
New savannahs. AE1, 35mm. 2014. Part of a photographic series exploring southeastern ecotones. The intention of the series was to observe ecologies that have replaced the fire-dependent longleaf pine ecosystem.
CONTENTS
date: location: scale: pages:
01 [out of town]
02 [comer ecologies]
03 [along the water trail]
fall 2020 watkinsville, ga site plan 6 - 13
spring 2021 comer, ga master plan 14 - 19
fall 2020 athens, ga site /// watershed plan 20 - 25
ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 4
04 [to brooklyn]
05 [tangents]
fall 2021 athens, ga site plan 26 - 31
2012 - ongoing n/a n/a 32 - 41
ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 5
01
[out of town: sustainable septic in rural georgia] 09/2020 - 12/2020 2020 EPA Rainworks Competition Submission
Location: University of Georgia - JPC Campus /// Watkinsville, GA, USA Collaborators: Marsha Bomar, PhD; Gleicy Cavalcante, M.s. Civil Engineering; Joyell Smith, PhD. Studio Prompt: design a facility that demonstrates best management practices for septic maintenance and riparian protection on a University of Georgia property. Skills demonstrated: plant ID and botanical surveying; water quality testing; land surveying; detailed programming.
Site visit. Looking to protect ~50’ beyond the dripline of existing oak trees from the construction of concrete flumes.
ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 6
Partial site survey. Helping our stakeholder establish control points from which to stake out proposed design items.
This design transforms an underutilized pasture into a stateof-the-art training facility for on-site wastewater treatment, erosion control, and best stormwater management practices. It is intended to serve industry professionals, health inspectors, students, and homeowners throughout the State of Georgia, educating visitors about preventing
non-point source pollution. All stormwater in the study area is captured and treated before draining into Lampkin Branch with features sized to treat up to a 1.8” storm event (95% of the state’s rainstorms). Water is directed to bioretention cells and then ultimately to a stormwater wetland to mitigate the risk of fecal contamination from the cow pasture uphill. ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 7
EXISTING RIPARIAN AREA DOMINANT UNDERSTORY SPECIES ARE INVASIVE (Setaria pumila; Microstegium vimineum; Ilex cornuta; Rosa multiflora) OVERSTORY GENERALLY LOOKS HEALTHY (Liriodendron tulipifera; Quercus phellos; Liquidambar styraciflua)
DESIGN AREA
MINIMUM PROGRAM:
- SEPTIC DRAINAGE FIELD - OUTDOOR CLASSROOM - SUSTAINABLE SEPTIC DEMONSTRATION - H-FLUME FOR SILT FENCE TESTING - PROTECT DRIPLINE OF EXISTING WATER OAKS
Prairie re
LAMPKIN BRANCH
RO UT E
44 1
765.4’
CALLS CREEK 677.5’
757.8’
MARS HI LL
ROAD 680.1’
Watershed relationships to site.
Programming elements.
STEEPEST GRADE; BEST LOCATION FOR CONCRETE FLUMES TO MINIMIZE GRADING
estoration
DROP INLET; CULVERT DAYLIGHTS NEAR RIPARIAN EDGE
COW PASTURE
POSES QUALITY RISK TO LAMPKIN BRANCH
TO UGA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION FACILITY AND USDA OFFICE
IMPERMEABLE DRIVEWAY - RE-SURFACE FOR PARKING - MAINTAIN EXISTING SUB-GRADE
Flumes w/ sediment capture
Protect drip line of existing oaks
Circulation should follow topography
Buffer Lampkin Branch
Water quality sampling.pH, conductivity, fecal coliform contamination, ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 9 indicator species survey.
10
1 9 16 14 21 2 12
4 5
11
18
3
8
19
17 7
12 19
20
13
0’
60’
120’
240’
Wastewater
Green infrastructure
Erosion
1
Biodigesters
8
Storm drain gallery
15
Cistern
2
Tank demo gallery
9
Flume & H-Flume (20% slope)
16
Rain garden
3
Above-ground trenches
10
Flume (10% slope)
17
Permeable pavement paths
4
Drip system
11
Flume & H-Flume (5% slope)
18
Rock cascade
5
Serial trench
12
Sediment capture ponds
19
Bioretention
6
Scaled septic system
13
Erosion control test plots
20
Stormwater wetland
7
Septic mound
14
Sediment pond
21
Flume observation area
15
8
6
9
ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 11
An outdoor classroom with a green roof serves as an open-air gathering space for students and working professionals.
An observation deck allows visitors to observe erosion prevention and sediment capture interventions in real time.
3,000 gallon water tank holds water for demonstrational purposes. Water flows down H-flume, providing a demonstrational area to observe the benefits of erosion prevention technologies.
Water is captured in a
H-flume water route and water infrastructure sizing methodology as run through HydroCad.
sediment pond.
Hands-on demonstrational areas allow professionals to become familiar with equipment and keep certifications current.
A demonstrational septic mound functions dually as a drainage field and pollinator refuge.
All on-site sheet flow is captured and treated before entering Lampkin Branch.
Water is piped into a bioretention before draining into a stormwater wetland (not shown).
02
[comer ecologies] 04/2021 - 05/2021
Location: City of Comer /// Comer, GA, USA Studio Prompt: design a master plan for the city of Comer that addresses the need for family-friendly areas, gathering spaces, and accomodates the region’s growing work-from-home culture. Skills demonstrated: graphic experimentation; long-term planning.
Master plan concept. Boxed areas from left to right: pollinator walk; Wishing Tree Plaza.
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Exaggerated elevation of Cliff Yarbrough Memorial Park. Design suggestions include planting oak trees to frame the facades of historic buildings, restoring the city drainage ditch to better resemble a riparian area, and installing a paved walking path that mimics a reach of the South Fork Broad River.
This design draws inspiration from the rural charm of Comer and its Piedmont context while maximizing opportunities for pedestrians, business growth, and ecological health. Limited water and sewer infrastructure, a constrained budget, and the presence of a tributary to the South Fork Broad River in the city park motivate the argument to keep many presently open spaces vacant. These public spaces are designed to serve as outdoor gathering areas within the city center while
functioning as localized ecological restoration projects. A riparian buffer is proposed in Cliff Yarbrough Memorial Park, along with interpretive kiosks and a walking path that resembles the texture of water and the shape of a Broad River reach to magnify the relationship of Comer with this major waterway. A pollinator walk is nestled in a vacant lot within the quieter streets of downtown Comer, creating refuge for the insects and wildlife on which we all depend. ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 15
Pollinator Walk. SketchUp/Illustrator/Photoshop. Nestled in a quieter corner of town, a vacant lot is transformed into a pollinator refuge. Non-functioning telephone poles become repurposed sculptures meant to symbolize standing dead trees that are characteristic of early-successional forest ecosystems. On them, depictions of native pollinators are etched and painted, providing environmental education opportunities for passers-by.
ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 17
Wishing Tree Plaza. SketchUp/Illustrator/Photoshop. A combination of infill and tree plantings create pedestrian refuge in Comer’s business district. Public seating areas and outdoor work spaces were incorporated into the master plan to accomodate the city’s work-from-home population. Public seating is adjacent to an outdoor patio for the city’s new distillery. The presence of nearby eateries establishes this public plaza as an activated space without individuals feeling the need to be a patron in order to enjoy outdoor enclosures.
ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 18
03
[along the water trail] 09/2020 - 12/2020
Location: Ben Burton Park /// Athens, GA, USA Collaborators: Chris Robey, MLA Studio Prompt: design for a systems-based intervention of your choice. Skills demonstrated: outdoor recreation planning; systems thinking; minimalist interventions.
Shoals along the Ben Burton Park riverfront. Location is <200’ upstream of boat ramp.
ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 20
Site visit. Trail to the Middle Oconee River in Ben Burton Park.
The Upper Oconee Water Trail situates Ben Burton Park as the northern-most gateway to the Middle Oconee River. Few campgrounds are available along the water trail, creating a unique opportunity to establish a campground within Ben Burton Park limits and for thru-paddlers to experience urban wilderness prior to launching downstream. This proposal sheds light on the available opportunities to implement pilot programs for urban wilderness experiences and restoration
projects. Looking to Ben Burton as a testing ground, a Piedmont prairie restoration is detailed in the powerline right-of-way that bisects the park. Primitive shelters inspired by native wildlife dens are placed along hiking trails to allow visitors a chance to perceive the perspectives of the park from the viewpoint of a great blue heron, white-tailed deer, or the invasive joro spider. ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 21
Proposed ecological restorations in Ben Burton Park. Ecosystem selections were informed by the potential for successful establishment based on soil type, remediation needed, and the habitat needs for wildlife in and around the park. GIS/Illustrator/Photoshop.
Existing Forest Canopy Floodplain Restoration Piedmont Prairie Cane Break Turf M. Oconee River
Shelters inspired by native wildlife offer opportunities for play, camping, and cohabitation
Sinuous edge creates smoother ecotonal transition and greater capacity for biodiversity
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Boat Launch Campground Wildlife Inspired Camping Shelters
Existing systems.
Formal Neighborhood Entrance & Right-of-Way Single Track Trailhead
Main Entrance Formalized Upper Oconee Water Trailhead
Proposed access & circulation.
Upper Oconee watershed and trail route.
Right of Way aspect analysis.
Middle Oconee - city park connectivity.
Right of Way slope analysis.
Ben Burton Campground Concept. Existing green space within the park could be repurposed for seasonal use by thru-paddlers or others looking to experience urban wildnerness. A tiny house with compost toilet provides housing for seasonal camp hosts, providing shelter and an hourly wage in exchange for managing the grounds. Hand sketch/Photoshop.
ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 24
Along the Water Trail. Paddlers exit the Upper Oconee Water Trail at the boat ramp in Oconee National Forest’s riverside campground. The campground, though managed by a federal agency, could easily adopt the same campground management program used in Ben Burton just upstream. Hand sketch/Photoshop. ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 25
04
[to brooklyn] 09/2021 - 12/2021
Location: Brooklyn Cemetery /// Athens, GA, USA Collaborators: David Evans, MLA; Chris Robey, MLA Studio Prompt: craft an implementation plan that develops a memorial concept to depict the oppression of African Americans. Develop a plan for road, trail and stormwater conveyance systems in Brooklyn Cemetery, a historic African American burial ground. Skills demonstrated: land management; active listening.
Brooklyn Cemetery burial densities.
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Early Section G memorial concept. Brainstorming in my sketchbook about selecting a location for the memorial, dreaming up concepts for gravestones to mark sunken graves, and imagining the the materiality of a memorial so that it strikes visitors as somber yet hopeful.
While constructing a new building for the University of Georgia’s anthropology department, the bodies of fifty-three individuals were discovered within the footprint boundary. These individuals were soon identified as former slaves, calling the location of their reinterment into question. The Friends of Brooklyn Cemetery requested to relocate them in Brooklyn Cemetery, a historic African American burial ground. This design includes a memorial to those resting in the cemetery and a customized columbarium sized to hold
the remains of all the uncovered persons from the Baldwin Hall footprint. The memorial’s bronze statues are placed on a raised platform with a coin sculpture at the platform’s entrance. Activated by their body language, the statues symbolize the breaking free from a confining economic system. Visitors to the cemetery are encouraged to interact with the coin, walking up its stairs and moving through the human-shaped void. ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 27
Design Process. Based on existing datasets, including contours derived from LiDAR and GPR surveys that mapped the cemetery’s unmarked graves, the concept for a stormwater conveyance system was developed through an iterative process of reading landforms, calculating stormwater runoff, and hand sketching. Concepts for a memorial honoring enslaved African Americans and its placement in the cemetery were informed by existing topography, excavation constraints, and densities of existing burials. Material selections were based on the premise of repeating iron throughout the cemetery and stakeholder connections with an iron artist.
Drainage patterns. ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 28
Drainage/circulation/known burials.
Memorial and columbarium drainage system. Thinking through the role of the concrete footer in relation to two separate structures that will need to support significant loads.
Final rendered plan with highlighted memorial location.
Proposed stormwater conveyance. ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 29
Free together. A memorial to the interred African Americans buried in Brooklyn Cemetery and the fifty-three recovered bodies found below Baldwin Hall. The coin sculpture symbolizes the economic system that confined those living in slavery. The human-shaped void in the coin symbolizes the freedom from the inhumane system that worked so hard to keep African Americans from prospering.
ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 30
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION
(3) CORNUS FLORIDA
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION
Detail exploration. Planting and materials plan for the memorial and accompanying stage.
(7) ILEX VOMITORIA ‘NANA’
2 FIELDSTONE BOULDER STEPS IRON COIN MEMORIAL 3 BRONZE HUMAN SCULPTURES RAISED FIELDSTONE PLATFORM COLUMBARIUM AGGREGATE DRAINAGE TRENCH CORTEN STEEL TRENCH DRAIN
05
[tangents] Categories: digital rendering; animation; film photography.
Of Earth and Sky. AE1, 35mm/Photoshop. 2015.
ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 32
Fall in the City. Renderings inspired by New York City in October. Mural artwork by Charlie Parisi. SketchUp/Twinmotion/Photoshop.2021.
This chapter includes a range of creative projects that are not attached to any particular design prompt. My interest in design is deeply rooted in communicating the inherent spirit of place by specifically looking to native ecologies. I believe this philosophy is visible across all of my graphic
visualization work. Be it an attempt to illustrate the color pallette and vibe of a New York City autumn or the coming to life of a snowman, seasonality and local adaptations are something I intentionally ponder and conscientiously bring into my work. ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 33
“arctic summer” 02/2021 - 04/2021
Renders inspired by Icelandic summers and midnight sun. SketchUp/Lumion/Photoshop. Top: the endless sunset. Surrounded by wild lupine and grazing sheep, this render captures the feel of an un-setting sun along the Icelandic coastline. Left: road to the continental shelf. A dead end can bring unsuspecting tourists to the westernmost edge of Europe, and to the summer’s last remaining snowfall. Right: late lunch. The rugged terrain of the Icelandic countryside makes for limited access to the remote corners of the country. ELYNA GRAPSTEIN | 34
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Arctic Summer | SketchUp/Lumion/Photoshop.
animations
01/2021 - 05/2021
Left: on the roof. An animation inspired by New York City rooftops and northeastern autumns. SketchUp/Twinmotion/Photoshop. Right: in the park. An animation inspired by New York City pocket parks and northeastern autumns. SketchUp/Twinmotion/Photoshop.
Below: waking up. An animation of a snowman coming to life as a tophat blows in the wind and lands on its head. Maya/AfterEffects.
film photography 2012 - ongoing
Encroachment | AE1, 35mm. 2012.
Pleasant clutters | AE1, 35mm. 2012.
thank you. elyna grapstein
elynagrapstein.wordpress.com