Erika Birnbaum Landscape Architecture
Education Iowa State University of Science & Technology | Ames, IA
BLA, Secondary Major in Environmental Studies, Minor in Horticulture | May 2016 Horticulture Study Aboard | Ireland Study of Horticulture, Culture, and History in Ireland | Summer 2016 Memorial University of Newfoundland, Grenfell Campus | Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada Focus of study on culture, recreation management and tourism | Winter 2015 Laval University | Quebec City, Quebec, Canada Language Policy and Practice | Summer 2014 Savanna Traveling Studio | ISU Landscape Architecture Program Semester traveling the United States, following the Mississippi River | Fall 2012 School for Field Studies | Atenas, Costa Rica Applied Research Techniques and Strategies Toward Sustainability | Summer 2012
Employment Iowa’s Living Roadways, Community Visioning
ISU Research Park Ames, IA 50010 | 515-294-3721 Fifth Year Intern | January 2016-Present | 10-20 hrs/week Map Making | Community Focus Group | Data Collection & Analysis
College of Design Print Lab
Iowa State College of Design Ames, IA 50010 | 515-294-1774 Student Worker | August 2015-December 2015 | 20 hrs/week Customer Service | Wide-Format Printing | Laser Cutter Basic Maintenance | Troubleshooting
A+ Lawn & Landscaping
6084 NE 22nd St, Des Moines, IA 50313 | 515-289-2020 Summer Intern | May 2015-August 2015 | 40 hrs/week Installation | Foreman for Crews | Garden Center Set-Up
Country Landscapes
56985 Lincoln Highway Ames, IA 50010 | 515-232-6864 Nursery Worker | April 2014-October 2014 | 25-35 hrs/week in summer, 18 hrs/week during school Advise Clients on Plant Selection | Care and Design | Assisting Other Workers | General Nursery Upkeep
Contents Urban Design Site Design Savanna Studio Construction Watercolor Sketchbook
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Urban Design
Using analysis to spark rehabilitative designs in struggling urban spaces.
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The streets of New Orleans are part of the soul of the city. It is here that there are second lines, parades, musicians, dancers, and artists. This vibrant culture of the streets has not faltered from the recent hurricanes, it has been resilient. Other aspects of the city, however, have not. After Hurricane Katrina many people did not return to New Orleans leaving tens of thousands of vacant lots. The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, NORA, owns 2,500 of these lots, allowing for the formation of Soul Nodes. Twenty lots along the London Avenue Canal have been selected for their relationship with the canal and each other. The Arts-Literary, Performing and Visual are all represented along the canal. Each lot is a node designed with one of the arts in mind, or for the convergence of all three. SOUL-(noun) [psyche, inspiration, energy]
(1) the principle of life, feeling, thought, and action humans, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body, and commonly held to be separable in existence from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical. (2) the spiritual part of humans regarded in its moral aspect, or as believed to survive death and be subject to happiness or misery in a life to come. (8) the inspirer or moving spirit of some action, movement, etc. (9) the embodiment of some quality (12) deeply felt emotion, as conveyed or expressed by a performer or artist.
NODE (noun) [Latin-nodus: knot]
(1) A point in a network or diagram at which lines or pathways intersect or branch (1b) a knot, protuberance, or knob (2) a centering point of component parts K. Lynch, The Image of the City: Strategic Foci | Observer/User can enter | Junctions of PATHS | Concentration of some characteristic | Small points in the city image A CORE: Focus/Symbol of a region
Central Business District
- Concentration of Arts Amenities + Lots of Police Stations - Few Vacant Lots - No Linking Corridor + Lots of Schools
Ninth Ward
+ Few arts amenities - Police station across bridge + Has majority of the vacant lots + Roads as linking corridor - Low density of schools near lots
East New Orleans
+ Few arts amenities - No police stations + Large groups of the vacant lots + Roads as linking corridor - Low density of schools near lots
Soul Nodes: Analysis and Concept
Gentilly, London Ave Canal
+ Very few arts amenities + Police station within a 5 mile radius + Has clumps of vacant lots + Decommissioned canal as a corridor + Schools in close proximity + Festival grounds four blocks away
Giving the lots back to the streets
Performing Arts
K-12 Schools
Literary Arts
Corridor
Visual Arts
Police
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London Avenue Canal Corridor of the Arts Sal Dans
Liv Jwe
Galeri Fasad
Existing Public Recreation
Performance Art Entry
Blending of the Arts
Visual Art Entry
Literary Art Entry
Soul Nodes: Corridor Design
Acting Comedy Dance Music Voice
Performance Arts
Sal Dans
Patchwork of hardscapes for both small and large groups of dancers; also accommodating for other performers.
Ceramics Drawing Design Crafts Film-making Painting Photography Printmaking Sculpture
Visual Arts
Galeri Fasad
Facades of New Orleans are arranged in the style of a traditional art gallery. Creating canvases for artists and interesting spaces for everybody.
Biographies Novels Plays Poetry Short Stories
Literary Arts
Liv Jwe
Anthropocentric design using mounds of playground rubber to provide dry spots to sit and read.
Imprinting the arts on the London Ave. Canal | NOLA in one lot
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Site Design
Designing by looking at the site’s characteristics, context and history.
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Synthesis
Synthesis
Synthesis
Ryoan-ji Temple Rock Garden Kyoto, Japan
Historical Site Analysis
Horizontal/Vertical
Islands
Materials
Odd Numbers
Heart
Islands
Boundaries
Levels
Materials
As an introduction to site design each student was given an influential design to study in depth.
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Savanna Studio
Studio traveling along the Mississippi River from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico.
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A Childhood of Gentle Waves and Leaves of Fire Almost Forgotten
Video on YouTube: Savanna Studio 2012 “Trapping Childhood”
Translating the Landscape
I am a Graveyard Sand Wind and Dying Trees Make My Eerie Beauty
Taking apart the complexities of the surrounding wilderness and revealing the simple beauty.
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Plant Identification
Build up a vocabulary of plants to use and avoid through study, walks and drawings.
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Construction
Small scale projects to understand built elements and their materials.
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HOUSE
The couple living at the residence set out their requirements for a small outdoor space. The design needed to have a patio space for small gatherings, a fire pit area that accessed the rest of the yard, a pathway leading to the basement access, and another pathway leading to the front yard. Considerations while designing was the second floor porch and sandbox underneath. After looking through material options light colored stone was favored; final decision resting on Iowa limestone, sand colored concrete pavers, and crushed granite. The pattern for the patio was picked for its varying sizes and clean lines.
3'-11"
Paving Pattern
Basement Stairs
Future Patio Area
Birnbaum Residence
Steps to 2nd Level
1
Patio Layers
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1: 2” Concrete Pavers 2: Sand Setting Bed 3: 4” Concrete Base 4: 6” Aggregate Base 5: Prepared Sub-grade
3 4 5 1
Walkway Layers
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1: 4” Limestone Edgers 2: 3” Crushed Granite 3: 6” Aggregate Base 4: Prepared Sub-grade
3 4
1
2 3
Fire Pit & Seat Wall Layers 4
1: 18” Wide Iowa Limestone Seat Wall 2: 3’8” Wide Iowa Limestone Fire Pit 3: 3” Crushed Granite Walkway 4: 6” Aggregate Base 5: Prepared Sub-grade
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3’8” 1’ 6”
6”
7”
9” 4” 2”
1’ 6” Seat Wall Elevation
Outdoor living space for family of four
6”
1’
Fire Pit Elevation
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Watercolor
Watercolor paintings from elective studio.
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Flower Collage Paintings
Collages were made using color harmonies and served as the guide for the final painting.
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Sketchbook
Small collection of field sketches.
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Savanna Sketchbook
Sketchbook was used to teach different techniques through small exercises.
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Quebec Sketchbook
Quick drawings done while traveling around Vieux Quebec and Ile d’Orleans
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“Having a place means that you know what a place means... what it means in a storied sense of myth, character and presence but also in an ecological sense...Integrating native consciousness with mythic consciousness� -Gary Snyder