PORTFOLIO - OTAK

Reclaiming the charm of a Sonoran pueblo 2 Community pride through sculptural monumentation 3 Bringing barren drainages back to life through public activation 4 Story-telling and planning at a historic cultural crossroads 5 Framing perspective at a public lands visitor center 6 Envisioning urban design concepts with 3D renderings 7 Researching, analyzing, and illustrating urban planning policy 8 Landscape design / build in the Front Range and beyond 9 Landscape drafting and rendering of corridors 10

landscape portfolio

PLACITAS

My design goal for the dilapidated pueblo of Fronteras, MX, was to break up the wall-like boundaries of the town’s axial main street, and create oases of commerce.

Removal of select run-down buildings opens pedestrianscale, commercial plazas, perpendicular to the street.

Within these, an intimate sense of place is formed by drawing in irrigation canal waters to the urban setting, and views are opened towards the town’s lush fields and rugged mountains. From these plazas, residents and visitors can follow a network of pathways paralleling the historic canals; these, in turn, connect to an equestrian center and eco-lodge along the Rio Fronteras. Utilizing GIS, CAD, Sketchup, PS, and IL, I modeled the terrain of the valley, laid out the town’s existing and proposed form in plan and in 3D, and rendered presentation graphics. This design was awarded the ASLA-AZ Student Group Award of Excellence (2009), and today serves as the pueblo’s master plan.

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My primary contributions to a master plan for a hospital expansion were the design of a children’s garden and site monumentation (above and left; University of Arizona Design Excellence Group Award, 2010). By day, children are delighted by vibrant animal sculptures, and by night, lamps inspired by the graceful sideoats grama grass illuminate and transform this place of healing. These fabricated elements introduce a playful, soothing, and regionallyappropriate form to this award-winning master plan. I mocked up this concept on trace paper and with wire and beads, modeled it in Sketchup, and rendered scenes using Illustrator and Photoshop.

In addition, I created a fly-through video presentation of these concepts using Sketchup, and Windows Movie Maker (https://youtu.be/D_dEWwAxl4A)

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Building upon my professional expertise in open space riverside planning, I focused my master’s thesis on the reclamation of urban stormwater systems as public open spaces. One product of this research was the creation of municipal design guidelines (Pima County, AZ) for multi-use Green Infrastructure detention and conveyance BMPs. Using AutoCAD, Google Earth, Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, I created a methodical manual illustrating multidisciplinary concepts and a recommended design process. I also applied these principles to the conceptual design of a 17-acre open space park, which was constructed in 2011. This research and design gained the Desert Studies Award (Garden Club of America, 2009), University of Arizona’s Dept. of L.A.’s Outstanding Thesis Award (2010), and Tucson/Pima LID Group’s Leadership in LID Award (2015); in 2011, I presented this research to chapters of CO-ASLA, along with Axel Bishop, FASLA.

Planting, 2011

Grading, 2011

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As-Built, 2012

Tumacacori National Historical Park’s 2005 acquisition of an adjacent ranch property necessitated the preparation of a cultural landscape inventory. As lead researcher and author of this historic landscape architecture study, I was responsible for: digitization and analysis of historic photos, land records, and site drawings; description of cultural traditions practiced at the site; aerial photo time-series interpretation; interview of previous landowners, NPS employees and stakeholders; delineation of historic, modern-era, and contemporary landscape features; and comparison of historic site evidence to known technological and environmental history.

Organized both chronologically and thematically through written explanations, maps, and illustrations, this document has been referred to as an “encyclopedia” of the park’s history by the park’s chief of resources. Since its completion, it has opened new opportunities for visitor interpretation, and provided evidence necessary for reclaiming the historic layout of the mission’s associated agricultural landscape.

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In collaboration with architecture student Youngsoo Kim, I designed a visitor center for Madera Canyon in the Coronado National Forest.

Formal plantings along a shaded entry ramp lead to powerfully-framed views from an observation tower, and pensive and private places within a contour-hugging arboretum of locally and regionally native plants.

6 (NOTE: Not to scale)

As a student and professional, I have developed advanced Sketchup modeling skills for the conceptualization and graphic presentation of landscapes. Recently, with Winter and Company, I modeled typologies of positive open spaces and building massing strategies within suburban commercial centers for Goodyear, AZ (right), prototyped LowImpact Development infrastructure designs for office parks in Roswell, GA (furthest below), and conceptually designed, modeled, and rendered a civic plaza incorporating adaptive reuse for Georgetown, TX.

Building articulation

Pedestrian entry plaza

Positive open space basin

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Outdoor cafe seating

Shade corridor

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KS

Reading gardens

Expanded sculpture garden

9th S treet

Children’s play area Large plaza behind library

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Amphitheater

Street

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Stormwater Planter

Bioswale

Rain Garden

I have conducted urban and regional planning research as both a government employee (BLM and Valley Metro Rail), and for three firms (Transcon Environmental; Environmental Planning Group; and Winter and Company).

This work has included illustrating a flow chart of the design review approval process for Roswell, GA (right, Illustrator); illustrating the electric grid in Kingman, AZ (below, Illustrator), proposing amendments to the zoning code of Chandler, AZ, to promote adaptive reuse (next below, Excel); and analysis of visual resource impacts caused by a powerline proposal on Scottsdale, AZ (furthest below, GIS).

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As an MLA student and professional in Denver / Boulder (Refuge Land Design, LLC; Ecoscape Environmental Design), I have designed and built a sculptural traffic circle; drainage and water retention systems; walks, patios, and walls; firepits; rock gardens; irrigation systems; lighting networks; and planting beds. In this work, I have produced construction estimates, selected and purchased materials, overseen work crews, practiced many crafts, and translated plans to construction process. These experiences have given me an excellent foundation of landscape design practices suitable for the Front Range.

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Urban landscape cross-section detail (NTS)

STEEL-REINFORCED CONCRETE SEATWALL WITH 1 " CHAMFERED EDGES 2 6" AGGREGATE SUBBASE 2'-0"

5" AGGREGATE SUBBASE PREPARED SUBGRADE 5" CONCRETE BASE REINF. AS REQUIRED 1/2" MORTAR SETTING BED

1/8" CONTROL JOINT

712"

1" SAND BED

412"

SLOPE 4" THICK CONCRETE CAST IN PLACE (TYP.)

PLANT BED PLANTING SOIL MIX AS SPECIFIED

3"

CAST IRON GRATE & FRAME (SEE DETAIL 1)

2'-918"

3'-93 8"

2'-65 8"

2'-65 8"

4'-412"

3 " 4

1/2" MORTAR JOINTS

CONCRETE FOOTING, REINF. AS REQUIRED, DEPTH VARIES WITH FROSTLINE, 12" MIN.

COMPACTED SUBGRADE

Office cross-section(NTS)

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

Irrigation Zoning/Sidewalk Layout (NTS)

I am skilled at using AutoCAD (and Revit) for the production of CDs. Shown here are an urban landscape cross-section (top; student), public park irrigation and hardscape plan (above left; EPG, LLC), and office cross-section (above right; FRCC). I am particularly proficient using AutoCAD 3D and Civil 3D, in conjunction with 3ds Max and Photoshop, to create photorealistic simulations of transmission tower, power-line, building pad, road, and ROW clearance proposals (below, EPG, LLC; FRCC).

Civil 3D: draping project features

Simulated Conditions

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3ds Max: Matching the scene & rendering

Photoshop: stitching & blending

Roadway Corridor: Plan, Section, Profile

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