2019
Portfolio
Lauren Shimotsu
Dear Reviewer, Thank you so much for taking the time to review my portfolio. I am a recent landscape architecture graduate from The University of Texas at Austin, and am seeking opportunities which will allow me to continue to learn about plantsand their role in this field. As you can see from my resume, I am familiar with getting my hands dirty, and have had the priviledge to interact and encourage plant growth in all stages. The majority of my work at The University of Texas was performed individually, however I can work with others and believe that it benefits me in multiple ways. What you will see highlighted throughout my work is my love of foundational research and application with my designs. I adamantly perform my site analysis and research in order to layer culture and history back into the design with an ecological edge. Regards, Lauren Shimotsu
P: 1+ 956.245.9100 E: laurenshimotsu@gmail.com W: linkedin.com/in/lauren-shimotsu-94263326/
About me: Cover Letter
Lauren Shimotsu Email: laurenshimotsu@gmail.com Phone: (956)245-9100 Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/lauren-shimotsu-94263326/ Portfolio:issuu.com/laurenshimotsu/docs/september_2019
2019
Masters of Landscape Architecture First Professional The University of Texas at Austin
2013
Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Sciences The University of Texas at Brownsville
Pilates Instructor Employer: Aramat Pilates, Inner Power Pilates Studio, Self (with personal studio) Location: Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas
2013
Permaculture Certification Online Course with Geoff Lawton
Comprehensive certification on all apparatuses, social media promotion, private and group instruction, regimen research, daily progress logs, clientele management, and workshop attendance for CEC’s.
2008
High School Diploma with Honors Science Academy at Mercedes, Texas
2007
Summer Intensive Academy of the Arts University at San Francisco, California
Professional Experience
2014
-
2016 2012
-
2015 2012
-
2012 2010
-
2011
Education
One Tub Soap LLC Employer: Self Location: Harlingen, Texas Market sales, product creation, inventory management, financial management, branding, trend research, social media networking and promotion, attendance at local events.
Organic Farmer Apprentice Employer: Ian Critchell Location: Pontypool, Ontario Skills: Small scale organic farming, apiculture, livestock disease prevention and management, product manufacturing, local vending, customer service.
Greenhouse Manager Employer: The University of Texas at Brownsville Location: Brownsville, Texas Cultivating native species, environmental conditions maintenance, maintaining a daily activity log, corresponding with manager on a weekly basis for progress updates.
About me: Resume
Volunteer Experience • • • •
Wyoming Dachsund and Corgi Rescue Agua Dulce Organic Farms IDEA Elementary School Rio Bravo Wildlife Institute
• Yahweh’s Farm| All Natural Farm and Garden • Yoga Teacher • Harlingen Humane Society
Skills and Programs • • • • • • • • • • •
ArcGIS Pro AutoCAD AutoCAD Civil 3D Revit Rhino Recap Adobe Photoshop Adobe Illustrator Adobe Premiere Adobe InDesign Microsoft Office
• • • •
Disease Prevention Product manufacturing Branding Social Media Promotion
Gullett Park Soundwall Installation Austin, Texas Spanning 25.7 miles, Mopac expressway was inserted into Austin’s urban fabric after communities had been developed for decades, leaving many with a sound wall as the backdrop to their outdoor spaces. Gullet park is located in Allandale, a neighborhood in the Northern region of this corridor. Many factors such as sun exposure, vehicular noise, and lack of watering facilities discourage adequate durations which encourage discovery and interactions with nature. As urban sprawl continues, we must shift our perception, inserting micro-climates which offer reoccurring opportunities to imprint memories with nature. Living walls provide a dynamic opportunity to engage with nature on a plane we have optically adapted to in the city. My proposal is a small intervention to engage visitors with a multi-functional micro-climate, inserting a 15’ live wall with a shade structure and seating area which evokes biophilia, promotes water conservation, and generates a space for the immediate community to experience an introduction to ethnobotany and edible plants.
Fall 2018
Site context: area of intervention
05
07
Memory, Movement, and Ecology along the Mississippi River New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans is filled with unintended consequences of a white imaginary that once was, and our studio required us to consider four assigned confederate monuments in New Orleans. We were asked to choose one in order to position an argument for removal based on the City Ordinance. The monuments themselves represent a degradation of values, which could perpetuate and escalate toxic interactions between people. Because of this toxicity, I explored multiple scales before making any design decisions. Finally understanding the extent and continuous disruption of unintended consequences which runs through the Mississippi, I chose a site in Mid City District. This district in particular was formerly a prosperous upper-middle class black neighborhood before gentrification in the 70s. After Hurricane Katrina, the neighborhood experienced a second wave of gentrification. 70 patients lost their lives in Lindy Boggs Medical center during the hurricane, and it was decommissioned shortly thereafter with no initiative for redesign. It stands at the pivot point of St. John’s Bayou and Lafitte Green way as a remnant of Katrina’s aftermath and continues to deposit lead and other toxins into the soil. I proposed a remediation of Lindy Boggs Memorial Hospital using native African plants of anthropogenic origins as phytoremediators.The land would detoxify compositionally and psychologically, reintegrating culture that has been lost from gentrification and slavery back into the urban fabric.
Fall 2018
09
11
B
A
A
B
Planting Plan: year one plan and sections
13
Research in Landscape Architecture New Orleans, Louisiana This independent study required urban analysis and design, which produced insight from multiple scales and cities in order to identify a boundary and threshold condition in Mid-City District. The demographics of Mid-City provided evidence that elderly residents in nursing homes and the surrounding neighborhood were unable to relocate back to New Orleans after Katrina because of their age, physical health, and/or economic status. Having performed extensive research on remediation in my previous studio, the intent was to explore options for the urban fabric and propose housing strategies for those who were displaced. Using Waggoner and Ball’s Greater New Orleans Water Plan as a foundation, I identified a lapse in defined areas in the neighborhood, and found it crucial to develop edge strategies for design in order to generate a cohesive and safe environment. The design itself establishes framework for a master plan, which should be implemented in phases. The final intent was to generate a profile through urban massing which produced a functional façade that enclosed greenspace for the community and public to enjoy.
Spring 2019
15
Proposed plan
17
Precedent research and exploring design through section
19
Bracken Cave Preserve San Antonio, Texas Bat Conservation International paired with our studio and Ladybird Johnson Wildflower center to propose designs and programs which were applicable to their 250 acres. Considering that this habitat in particular is home to endangered migratory species, such as the black capped vireo and golden cheek warbler, as well as an actively managed preserve for the largest Mexican freetailed bat colony in the United States. After visiting the sites and performing a transect walk on my second visit; my proposal was to deploy no impact camping strategies as well as stationary sites for long term research opportunities. This allowed users to connect with the landscape, discourage habitat fragmentation, and comply to easement legalities as it is on top of a recharge zone. It would additionally give BCI an opportunity to share the space with donors as an event or fundraising activity. As programmed, nomadic camping would take duration and capacity into account, migrating around bird habitats and with the burn plan so that camp sites would be burned after use and replanted with native grasses in order to restore a habitat that is currently over run by juniper.
Spring 2018
Camping Calendar: Seasonal Peaks
Black Capped Vireo
Golden Cheeked Warbler
Bloom Schedule
21
Transect exploration
Inventroy and analysis: indicators vs common species on site
23
Structures: collapsible platform to reduce compaction
25
Proposed campgrounds: plan and section perspectives
Analogue work 2016-2019 The following are analogue sketches and renderings produced during my first and second year.
Hand drawing and photo collage: Zewde memory exercise 27
Hand drawing: Montemayor proposed plan rendering for Brush Square
Hand drawing: Shearer studio campus process portfolio drawing
Models 2016-2019 The following are a selection of models that were completed throughout my duration in graduate school.
Creating a landscape in a point-cloud 29
Model of Shore Promenade Stair Detail in wood, aluminum, rockite (scale at 3/4�=1’)
Spring 2017
Sheraton Hotel Pavillion Austin, Texas
The intent of this course was to gain a basic understanding of Revit as well as applications for a BIM program in a landscape architect profession. Wanting to gain a deeper understanding of architecture, I performed a series of tiling iterations with simple geometry. We learned basic operations and how to generate primitive architecture forms associated with the site location (the Sheraton at Waller Creek). For our final, we were asked to design structures which would fit into the site location, and I chose a shade structure on a bridge. I additionally was able to laser cut a mock up of the tile I designed in order to get a general idea of dimensions.
Example tile in acrylic and wood
Summer 2017
31
Photography Hobbyist 35mm film format shot with a Pentax ME Super.
33
Home is where your art is
Exploration of reflection
P: 1+ 956.245.9100 E: laurenshimotsu@gmail.com W: issuu.com/laurenshimotsu/docs/september_2019
Portrait for a friend: cyanotype collage, water color pencil, and micron sketch