E-Studio

The 2021 edition of E-Studio taught by professors Todd Johnson and Caroline Lavoie sustained the department’s commitment to the Utah Real Estate Challenge (UREC) with this year’s student entry taking first place and receiving the $20,000 prize. Two LAEP Juniors - Hannah Anderson and Taylor Olson joined senior Jonathan Bowen and two Masters of Real Estate students - Sam McKonkie and Ryan Thomas from the University of Utah formed the winning team. We were once again fortunate to have the mentoring support of Kurt Altvater promoting economic principles and stimulating new ideas for programming and design of the site and buildings. This year the site was in the upand-coming Granary District which has finally “popped”. Urban revitalization of significant areas of Salt Like, like the Granary, is now in full swing. The real estate investor and developer community are embracing increasingly progressive concepts for building product types and design. We are very proud of our students who carry this experience and the accomplishment out into the work force and for Taylor and Hannah, into the senior studio.

Green New Deal (GND) bundles issues of the environment, economics, social status, and culture to make a broad appeal. The value proposition is that the above spheres of civilization and ecosystems must be reconciled...or else! The opportunity of this studio and of landscape architecture is to develop methodologies and undertake projects that respond to “new value propositions” respecting the need to address these compounding problems in a far-sighted way.

Holly Stringham and Danyel Mezzanatto took on GND projects and we were joined in support by alum and Design Workshop employee Skyler Smith. Holly was adventurous in her design approach and driven by the desire to sustain Great Salt Lake as a water-filled basin. Holley based her design and value proposition on turning the orientation of development along the Wasatch Front to face the Lake and Basin. In this way a positive constituency and advocacy is created for sustaining the beauty and integrity of the Lake. Holley reminds us of the courage and creativity of Marjory Stoneman Douglas champion/savior of the Everglades.

Graduate student Danyel Mezzanatto turned her attention to the rural landscape around Mancos, Colorado where she lived for several years. Working with local landowners Danyel applied her thesis topic of “Regenerative Agriculture” to the Green New Deal and her submittal. Danyel was painstaking in her analysis of the site for appropriate soils and microclimate to grow more indigenous/appropriate crops to the sensitivity on habitats and scenery.