Landscape Architecture Portfolio

KATIE DAVIS

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO

The design on my cover page is my interpretation of the landscape at Arches National Park. I wanted to incorporate the design along with this background photo to emphasize where my journey as a landscape architect began.

Traveling to the National Parks out west greatly influenced my passion and values for landscape architecture. I became very interested in how the parks’ surrounding environments shaped the design of the developed landscape. This sparked a passion within me to create designs that reinforce a location’s natural features and history.

Our world is composed of such remarkable landscapes, and it is selfish to take away what makes them so special while designing.

Permanent Address: 3102 Brownsboro Vista Drive Louisville, KY 40242

Personal Email: katiemd242@gmail.com

Phone Number: 502-939-5729

EDUCATION

Bachelor’s Of Science In Landscape Architecture, University Of Kentucky

» Graduation Date: May 2023

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

2019-2023

Student member of the American Society of Landscape Architects

2019-2023

Student member of the American Planning Association

REFERENCES

Ned Crankshaw

» Professor and Acting Dean of the UK College of Design

» ned.crankshaw@uky.edu

Cindi Sullivan

» Executive Director of TreesLouisville

» cindi@treeslouisville.org

Kristin Booker

» Principal of Booker Design Collaborative

» kbooker@booker-design.com

PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENTS

» 2018 Participant in the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts architecture program

» 2021 Received Honorable Mention in the Oswald Research And Creativity Competition

» 2022 Received nomination and became member of the International Honor Society of Landscape Architecture Students, UK Alpha Mu chapter of Sigma Lambda Alpha

» 2022 Landscape Architecture representative for the College of Design Student Council

» 2022 Nominated as student representative to participate in the UKLA Advisory Board

EXPERIENCE

Waterfront Botanical Gardens

May 2020 – August 2020

Summer Horticulture Intern

» Maintained gardens on main site by planting, weeding, watering, pruning, and removing pests.

» Provided some input on designs/layout of planting features.

Trees Louisville

June 2020 – August 2020

Summer Intern

» Used GIS to record tree inventories for various sites.

» Designed tree planting guides.

The Kentucky Arboretum

June 2021 – August 2021

Walk Across Kentucky Summer Intern

» Maintained the Walk Across Kentucky Trail by planting, weeding, mowing, watering, pruning, and removing pests.

» Designed and proposed a plan of a rain garden to aid in flooding problems on site.

» Learned the importance of natural and native planting methods.

Booker Design Collaborative

May 2022 –August 2022

Landscape Architect Summer Intern

» Rendered site plans using AutoCAD and Photoshop.

» Created perspective renderings and 3D models using Sketchup, AutoCAD, and Enscape.

» Put together InDesign packages for client meetings.

» Used AutoCAD and InDesign to create planting plans and palettes.

» Made changes to construction documents from mark-ups.

University of Kentucky

August 2021- Current

UKLA Undergraduate Teacher Assistant

» LA11-Living On the Right Side of the Brain with Dr. Ryan Hargrove

» LA105- Intro to Landscape Architecture with Jordan Phemister

» LA161- Graphics 1 with Carolina Segura-Bell

» Student Intern for Dr. Jayoung Koo

CULTIVATING CARROLTON

Located halfway between Louisville and Cincinnati, Carrollton is a small Kentucky river town of 3,895 people. Like many small towns in America, Carrollton is faced with environmental, social, and economical challenges. What was once a recreational hot-spot, is now a declining city defined by neglected green space, lack of community, and vacant storefronts.

Unlike other struggling small towns, Carrollton has a prime location adjacent to many unique features such as General Butler State Resort Park and the confluence of the Ohio and Kentucky Rivers. This studio project explored various data collection techniques to ultimately discover that the lack of connection to these unique features plays a vital role in Carrollton’s decline. Instead of viewing the city’s lack of connection as a restraint, improvement upon this was seen as an opportunity for the future growth of Carrollton. The proposed design improves upon these connections while also creating new nodes of activity, education, and income.

Learning Outcomes:

» Understanding design process for urban design scale

» Collaborating and dividing work

» Utilizing community input for the proposed design

» Improving skills in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and GIS

PEDESTRIAN AND BIKE TRAIL

WILDLIFE OBSERVATION DECK

CONNECTING COOLAVIN

Coolavin park is located within an urban neighborhood in Lexington, Kentucky. Although the park is adjacent to apartments, restaurants, and a community college’s athletic facilities, it is barely utilized by the public. The park appears to be hidden within the neighborhood as it does not have a defined, welcoming entrance. In addition to the site’s lack of connection to its surrounding community, the park lacks connection within itself as well. The absence of paved pathways makes it difficult for potential visitors to navigate to the site features.

I wanted to create a space that provides guests with a sense of community and unison. Implementing defined paved pathways and entrances will help connect the design elements and bring visitors from surrounding areas into the site. The memorial gardens located at the entrance will draw in and encourage guests to discover more about the park’s natural elements and history. The bio-swale and bio-retention wetlands will help with drainage, create educational opportunities, and provide biodiversity.

Learning Outcomes:

» Becoming familiar with key standards relating to site protection and demolition, erosion and sediment control, and utilities and lighting

» Understanding and applying standards for developing a schematic design into a construction package

BASEBALL FIELD

BIKE POLO COURTS

TENNIS COURTS

PAVILION

COMMUNITY GARDENS PLAYGROUND

PARKING

MEMORIAL GARDENS

WETLAND BOARDWALK

OUTDOOR EXERCISE TRAIL

BASKETBALL COURTS

Hand rendered concept plan.

Boardwalk section.

LIMESTONE COMMONS

The site is currently a McDonald’s parking lot and has a poor amount of shade, drainage, and connections to its surrounding areas. It is located along a very busy road and is across the street from UK’s campus dorms and adjacent to many popular shops, restaurants, and bars.

Surrounding the site, there are very few green spaces for shoppers and residents to take a break. The goal for this project was to create a space for the surrounding community members to sit and hang out. It was important to include green spaces and lots of trees within our design to provide an “oasis” for residents living in such a harsh, hard scape environment to escape to.

This project received an honorable mention in the University of Kentucky’s annual Oswald Research and Creativity Competition. The photo-shopped site plan was created by me. The Lumion model perspectives were a collaboration between me and my partner.

Learning Outcomes:

» Collaborating and dividing work with a partner

» Understanding and designing a space for surrounding community

» Improving skills in small scale urban design

BIO-RETENTION SWALE

NATURAL LAWN

TRELLIS WALKWAY

View A: View of the transition from the stairs to the wetland from the sidewalk.

View C: Transition from eating area to rock garden.

View D: Comfortable seating area from micro

View B: Entry near natural lawn.

micro climate created from the canopy’s shade.

COLORBLIND PLANTING DESIGN

For this project I was tasked with creating a backstory for my clients to influence the direction of the proposed design. In effort to challenge my understanding of planting design, I decided that one of the clients would be colorblind. Specifically the client has Protanopia, causing difficulty in distinguishing the difference between reds and greens. Because of this, it was important to design the landscape in a way that will be enjoyable for both clients.

Since the color of planting materials will be altered for the client, I thought about other qualities that he will be able to experience. For example, feeling the textures, smelling different scents, and hearing the wildlife the plants will attract. Another method used for this project was using a lot of contrast within the planting plan. Placing plants that are contrasting in texture, height, and color next to one another creates an interesting display that does not just rely on having aesthetically pleasing colors. This contrast also makes it easier for the client to understand what he is looking at.

Learning Outcomes:

» Using new plants outside of Kentucky’s hardy zone

» Analyzing ecological and horticultural considerations to inform plant selection and design decisions

» Thoughtfully select and arrange appropriate plant species that best align with desired functions and characteristics

SPRING EPHEMERAL TRAIL

SPRING

Before colorblind effect.

After colorblind effect.

BOOKER DESIGN COLLABORATIVE WORK

Photo-shopped site plan for the Ochoa residence (Summer 2022).

Rendering of the Ochoa residence using Sketchup and Enscape (Summer 2022).

Color coded planting plan for the Howard residence (Summer 2022).

Rendering of the Bennett residence using AutoCAD, Sketchup and Enscape (Summer 2022).

PERSONAL WORK

Perspective drawing of proposed cafe using the drawing app procreate (Fall 2020).

Ink pen sketch of abandoned house near my neighborhood (Fall 2018).

An oil painting from my high school senior art portfolio concentration (Spring 2019).

Pen ink sketch of Arches National Park before it was rendered an altered for the cover page of my portfolio (Fall 2018).

“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself.”

Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire