JIANING ZHOU
PORTFOLIO
Selected Works
2019-2024
ABOUT ME
JIANING ZHOU
E-mail: jzhou@gsd.harvard.edu | jz827@cornell.edu
Phone: +1 8576390553 | +86 18868112695
Jianing Zhou is a second-year Master of Landscape Architecture candidate at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture with “Summa Cum Laude” and a minor in Archaeology from Cornell University, and a Bachelor in Agricultural Science in Landscape Gardening from Zhejiang University.
Jianing's past practice in landscape architecture, urban design, and planning has afforded her experience in streetscapes, waterfronts, rooftop decks, and multi-use parks. Interdisciplinary academic and working experiences in the United States and China have enriched her vision of creating vibrant, resilient, and sustainable spaces in both urban and suburban contexts.
Jianing has been collaborating with multidisciplinary teams of different experts and is always ready to integrate diverse perspectives into my design process. Collaborating within multidisciplinary teams, she actively integrates diverse perspectives into her design process. Proficient in digital tools, including geospatial analysis, conceptual design, 3D and physical modeling, and rendering, she consistently contribute across various project phases. She shows her meticulosity and enthusiasm for design and is always excited to share, learn, and discover through group work.
In her free time, she spends time practicing pottery and Chinese calligraphy, and exploring secret places in Boston.
This portfolio exhibits her recent academic and professional works, and her belief that landscape architecture can contribute to a more resilient, sustainable, and just future for humans and non-humans.
Reference 1
Name: Kyle Zick
Position: Principal
Company: Kyle Zick Landsscape Architecture, lnc.
Phone Number: +1 6179134663
Email Address: kzick@kylezick.com
Kyle supervised me as my mentor and the principal of the firm on the project
Southwest Corridor Park Master Plan and Rowes Wharf Terrace when I worked as a landscape designer intern at KZLA.
Reference 2
Name: Lorena Bello Gómez
Position: Design Critic in Landscape Architecture
Institution: Harvard Graduate School of Design
Phone Number: +1 6179454106
Email Address: lbellogo@gsd.harvard.edu
Lorena is my instructor of Fall 2023 Studio “Aqua Incognita” at Harvard GSD.
INCOGNITO DAMS
Decentralizing Flood Risk in Parque Cumbres National Park ........................................................
FIRE-RESISTANT POLLENSCAPE
Insect Pollinator-Aided Design for Firebreaks in Serra do Açor .....................................................
ROTATIONAL AGRICULTURAL BIRDSCAPE AS CARBON SINK
Climate Adaptive Design for Grassland Bird Habitat and Resilient Agricultural System ...............
RECONNECT THE DISCONNECT
Designing for Risk and Resiliency in Binghamton's Urban Floodplain ..........................................
PROFESSIONAL WORKS Internship works at Agence Ter & KZLA .............................................................................
01 INCOGNITO DAMS
Decentralizing Flood Risk in Parque Cumbres National Park
Individual Work
Advised by Lorena Bello Gómez
2023 Harvard GSD Fall Studio Monterrey, MX
This proposal intends to investigate aquifer-recharging and flood-risk-spreading strategies in Cumbres National Park, the main mountain watershed in Monterrey, to restore the aquifer water level, mitigate flood risk of vulnerable lowland rural communities, and in the long term encourage a change of perception regarding the function and role of water in Cumbres National Park, forge a communal vision towards water management, inspire a collective commitment to appreciate, celebrate, and preserve water.
Taking the northwest transect in front of the Rompepico Dam, located at the second canyon after entering the National Park as the site, the design framework follows the watercourse from the headwater zone to the hillslope zone and down into the lowland floodplain, turning the mountainous watershed into an invisible decentralized dam system with 3 zones:
- Zone 1: Headwater Zone as Reforested Reservoir
- Zone 2: Hillslope Zone as Topographic Intervention Belts
- Zone 3: Lowland Floodplain as Hydraulic Buffer
These less visible water management strategies make the water in the valley more visible, more controllable, and more sustainable, providing an alternative water management model that complements Monterrey’s highly engineered water infrastructure.
Regional Map of Water Infrastructure, Monterrey
Design Framework
Zone 1
Lowland Floodplain as Buffer
Phase 1
Build water retentions at riverbed’s concave bend (Cut)
Build berms at concave bend(Fill)
Phase 2
Establish hiking trail systems and connect it to flood retreat routes
Connect settlements at high risk to the hillslope retreat space
Phase 3
Introduce educational programs to campgrounds and trails
Lowland Canyon during Flood
Phase 1
Tracing out seasonal tributaries on hillslope
Phase 2
Construct cascading water speed bump at confluences
Construct keyline berms along water pathway
Keyline contour farming
Keyline Contour Agriculture with Capillary Water Harvesting and Irrigation System
Zone 3 Headwater Zone as Reforested Reservoir
Phase 1
Tracing concavities (slope breaks) and prepare them for reforestation nuclei
Phase 2
Drone fleet dispersing mixed seeds at nuclei
Phase 3
Plants self-dispersing downhills and form green mosaics as plant reservoirs
02 FIRE-RESISTANT POLLENSCAPE
Insect Pollinator-Aided Design for Firebreaks in Serra do Açor
Individual Work
Advised by Silvia Benedito
2022 Harvard GSD Spring Studio Serra do Açor, Portugal
This project intends to create a fire-resistant infrastructure landscape featured by insect pollinators and their pollenscape habitat based on current firebreaks, which intends to provide essential ecological value to Serra do Açor and catalyzes potential social and economic value for human and non-human.
By redesigning the current highly artificial, monofunctional firebreaks with the pollen landscape through the pollinator-aided approaches of renaturalization of the firebreaks’ edge and activating pollinators’ habitat and the reintroduction of wild pollinators, this project intends to create a fire-resistant rural infrastructure landscape featured by pollenscape, which provides essential ecological value to Serra do Açor and catalyze potential social, economic and historical value for current villagers, potential villagers, and tourists.
Network of Protected Landscape in Portugal
Existing Proposed
Distant View of Relva Velha from Mata da Magaraça
BIRDSCAPE AS CARBON SINK
Climate Adaptive Design for Grassland Bird Habitat and Resilient Agricultural System
Individual Work|2020 Cornell Spring Studio|Ithaca, NY, USA
Advised by Jamie Vanucchi
It has become clear that, on current trends, reducing emissions will not be enough to stop climate change. We need more efficient climate positive design to actively remove carbon from the atmosphere to stable carbon sink, such as forest, grassland, wetland, etc.
The agricultural land in Ithaca is highly exploited due to agriculture expansion, overgrazing, and overharvesting, which have led to issues including soil degradation, and grassland degradation, and that has led to a shrinking grassland bird habitat and population, and low carbon sequestration.
The project imagines a new framework for improving soil carbon sequestration, increasing agricultural stainability, and grassland rehabilitation over the long term.
Thus the project imagines a new framework for improving soil carbon sequestration, increasing agricultural sustainability, and grassland rehabilitation for birds over a long term. The proposed landscape system will sequester significant carbon in the soil while creating a number of other environmental, aesthetic, and social benefits for land managers, local communities, and visitors.
The proposal contains 3 strategies:
- The Agricultural Land Management
- The Grassland Rehabilitation
- The Carbon Incentive System
Design Concept Diagram
Rotational Units
Strategy 2 Bird Habitat Laboratory: Observation & Experience & Education
Module1 Grounded Lab in Grassland - Observation Platform
Strategy 2 Bird Habitat Laboratory: Observation & Experience & Education
Module2: Elevated Lab in Forest - Canopy Walk
Seasonal Scenarios
04 RECONNECT THE DISCONNECT
Designing for Risk and Resiliency in Binghamton's Urban Floodplain
Individual Work
Advised by Anne Weber 2019 Cornell Fall Studio Binghamton, NY, USA
Context Map: Binghamton's Floodplain
Sited at the confluence of these two rivers is the city of Binghamton, whose downtown has been surrounded by a system of levees and floodwalls constructed by the Army Corps. of Engineers in response to a devastating flood in 1935. Climate change has begun to increase both the frequency and ferocity of rain events in the Northeast, making the defensive hydrological borders common to cities like Binghamton at constant risk. The levees and floodwalls designed almost 80 years ago are sized inadequately to handle recent storms, and their inflexibility as forms can cause as much damage as they prevent.
My design proposes that the armored edge of the Susquehanna Rivers in Binghamton be thickened as a layered, multi-use green/blue infrastructure that reconnects water with land and builds social, ecological and hydrological resiliency.
Timeline: Binghamton's Flourish & Decline with Water
Barrier Study through Section
Physical & Visual Inaccessibility
Repurpose Existing Grey Infrastructure
Existing Condition
Proposed Condition
Turn Grey to Green
Renaturalize the Edge with Plants
Construction Phasing Diagram
The Songjiang Green Ring encompasses a ring area encircling the central part of Songjiang New Town, spanning approximately 82 km2 with a circumference of about 43 km. The master plan envisages the revitalization of the Songjiang Green Ring across four integral layers: the Ecological Ring, Cultural Ring, Productional Ring, and Development Ring. Together, these layers form a cohesive vitality ring that nurtures both the city center and its suburban environs.
Ecological Ring: Aimed at restoring forest, wetland, and water corridors and fostering wildlife habitats.
Cultural Ring: Focuses on reconnecting historical and cultural points of interest through existing road systems and restored historical water channels, creating a dynamic cultural experience.
Productional Ring: Endeavors to establish high-value farmland with enhanced ecological practices, bolstered by recreational and educational initiatives, to increase sustainability and productivity.
Development Ring: Promotes the integration of once isolated industrial complexes and high-tech headquarters at the urban periphery, transforming them into extensions of surrounding neighborhoods and ecological corridors, thereby fostering a desirable living environment to attract talent.
Agence TER | 2022 | Shanghai, China
As the primary water transportation hub in Songjiang, Yudun Canal plays a crucial role in tide blocking, flood drainage, water resource management, and navigation, while also embodying significant cultural narratives associated with shipping and irrigation. In this project, our team aims to achieve the following design objectives through landscape interventions:
1. Soften, naturalize, and thicken the bank lines to create a more resilient waterfront.
2. Minimize environmental disruption caused by earthmoving activities through thoughtful land terrain shaping.
3. Encourage public engagement with the waterfront by introducing diverse landscape facilities and programs.
4. Enhance the aesthetic appeal of the canal, with particular emphasis on the design and integration of bridges and the space underneath.
07 INTERNSHIP WORK SAMPLE - Southwest Corridor Park Master Plan
08 INTERSHIP WORK SAMPLE - Rowes Wharf Roof Terraces Concept
