Sophia Geller Master of Landscape Architecture 2017 Harvard University Graduate School of Design sgeller@gsd.harvard.edu
Sophia Geller Master of Landscape Architecture candidate, Class of 2017 Harvard University Graduate School of Design ad: 221 Winchester St. Brookline, MA 02446 tel: 617-721-8984 email: sgeller@gsd.harvard.edu
Education Smith College BA, Studio Art and Landscape Studies, GPA 3.64
Northampton, MA Class of 2013
University of Groningen Groningen, the Netherlands CIEE summer course: Summer 2012 “Society, Environment, Transportation and Space”
Activities and Awards LE:NOTRE Landscape Forum 2016 prize recipiant 2nd prize, international student design competition “Rural Change” workshop participant
Paphos, Cyprus March 2016
GSD Student Events Coordinator Cambridge, MA Responsible for our Friday evening school-wide gatherings 2015-2016 Entertainment, food, drink, collaboration with student orgs. Center for Creative Solutions 2013 Workshop Londonderry, VT “After the Flood” workshop participant Aug. 2013 Strategies for community building and flood mitigation Fabos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning Paper finalist and conference presenter In collaboration with the Mill River Greenway Initiative
Amherst, MA April 2013
Smith College Landscape Studies Prize recipient For work at the Fabos Conference
Northampton, MA May 2013
MacLeish Field Station, Smith College Designed the main wooded trail of the 240 acre property Orchard planting, maple sugaring, tours Smith College Equestrian Team Captain Team preparation, organization, and strategy
Northampton, MA 2011-2012
Skills Comupter program proficiency:
AutoCAD, Rhino, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign Adobe AfterEffects, Grasshopper, ArcMap 3DS Max
Analog skills: Drawing, painting, photography, installations, and modeling. Foreign language proficiency: French Dutch
Whately, MA 2012-2013
Work Experience Loeb Design Library, Harvard Graduate School of Design Student library assistant Reference: Bob Angilly bangilly@gsd.harvard.edu (617) 495-8940
Cambridge, MA 2014 to present
Reykjavik Art Museum Reykjavik, Iceland Richard Serra “Afangar� exhibition volunteer August 2015 Research, tours, youth programming Reference: Hafthor Yngvason hafthor.yngvason@reykjavik.is Triangle P Cattle Ranch Cattle moving and care, land and property maintenance Reference: Laura Jean Schneider bigcirclepress@gmail.com (406) 425-3411
Ruidoso, NM May-June 2015
Stantec Consulting, Ltd. Boston, MA Marketing Intern Feb. 2013 - Aug.2014 Satements of Qualifacation, project proposals, and promotional material production Reference: Michael Favaloro michael.favaloro@stantec.com (860) 948-1628
Contents Competitions Play You, Play Me
02
LE:NOTRE Landscape Forum 2016
06
12 24
Boston Commons City Studies
20 30
38 46
Declination 34.90
40
Studio Projects Boston Seaport District Franklin Park
Research Quadrant 23 A Hertzian Space
Competitions 02 - 09
Play You, Play Me An interactive acoustic field
Submission for the 2016 Radcliffe Institute Public Art Competition.
A grove of networked copper poles turns the Radcliffe Yard into a sensitive, interactive field; a site-scale musical instrument that responds to human touch. A programmable electronic interface assigns notes, scales, and chords to the range of poles across the site, which need no more than a fingertip to trigger sound. The grove invites one to wander in and amongst the poles, touching, listening and making as you go.
02 | Sophia Geller
Competitions | 03
04 | Sophia Geller
The circuitry Each copper pole acts as a capacitive sensor, detecting the electrical currents of the human body. When contact is made, our bodies send electrical signals through the pole, which an Arduino system converts into code, a digital signal that means “play.� This information is then sent as an audio signal, producing sound from one of eight discreetly placed speakers. Each copper pole thus produces various specifically programmed notes and tones, inviting the visitor to move from pole to pole and back again, creating an improvised and immersive sound experience.
Right: Images from our test studies Competitions | 05
LE:NOTRE Landscape Forum 2016 International Student Competition
Awarded Second Prize
Teammate: Philippe Allignet, Ecole de la Nature et du Paysage, Blois, France
An overarching plan for the village of Arodes
and its greater regional context of the Akamas Peninsula in Cyprus. The project moves through three scales to address economic, ecological and social improvement in this shrinking village. Our final project outlines a revitilization of the rich agricultural heritage of Arodes to promote sustainable co-op farming practices and the production of local food and goods. Our strategies implement reforestation and rotational grazing to reverse the processes of erosion and desertification, and employs a phased growth strategy to merge together the segregated upper and lower village sectors.
Phased growth for village connectivity Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5 Community market space Community park space
Sophia Geller Geller 06 | Sophia
Territorial-scale plan adressing road systems, eco and agro-tourism networks and services, and restorative land-use patterns
Extended land uses Orchard
Field
Local transformation and sales
Local organic production
Vineyard Vineyards
Fields
Pastures
Orchards
Dams and canals
Arodes is on the Cypriot Wine Route. Retore traditional wine economy
Implememt restorative agricultiral practices and grow climatetolerant species
Mimic natural processes, Manage extensive grazing techniques
Extend existing production, Develope local production,
Extend existing network, collect rain water, irrigate
Common laboratory
From field to kitchen, a community space for the production of traditional foodstuffs
Independent markets, restaurants, shops Selling points and public spaces for the sales of locally produced goods
Reforestation
Competitions | 07
A shift in scale At the detail scale the competiton brief asked for the design of a stargazing park. Our response was to create a sequential experience from the main market square through a series of public groves and orchards to the main terrace, where one can walk along or descend down a monumental wall made of local limestone. The orchards act as both transitional space and light buffer, insuring a secluded experience on the main stargazing platforms while reinforcing the agricultural character of Arodes.
Reinterpreting the productive orchard
Transition through shrub plantings between open grove below public plaza into a tightly grided orchard plot
Moment for rest - an open clearing within one of the classically grided orchard plots
Mixed-species plots planted in a staggered arrangement, offset by low planting beds as pathway transitions to main terrace
Fields
08 | Sophia Geller
Existing walls
Orchards
Urban space
Concept sketches Left: Main terrace wall and pathway Right: Seating studies Opposite: Orchard agacencies Competitions | 09
Studio Projects 12 - 35
Boston Seaport District Landscape Architecture I Core Studio Fall 2014
Design strategies for a public plaza that
embraces adjacency to water and the reality of inundation, from daily tidal changes to storm events, flooding, and sea-level rise. The design process began by reconfigurin g both formally and conceptually an assigned precedent,The Edge in Brooklyn, New York, in order to promote connection between civic life and coastal conditions.
Below and right: investigations of the surface qualities of water as influenced by different barriers and edge conditions
Group drawing 60x60 in.
Accumulation studies 12
| Sophia Geller
Sophia Geller Annie Liang Louise Roland
AA
...sea wall ...sloped concrete surface
“La Linea� 1994 Italian cartoon
...steps
...cast concrete bench ...paved/illuminated water channel
...sloped concrete surface ...granite paver
Line as...
Lines - few or many, purposeful or arbitrary, real or percieved - are the very definition of edge conditions, and so they form the structure of the plaza, manifesting as different construction elements as they traverse the site from street
Plan iterations Studio Projects | 13
Central Plaza April 15, 2015 2:58 pm - just before high tide
Central Plaza April 15, 2015 3:07pm - high tide
Central Plaza April 15, 2015 9:42pm - mean tide level
Section cut, north-south Low, mean, and high tides
14 | Sophia Geller
Studio Projects | 15
Serial sections Planting scheme explored Site conditions most pertinent to species selection: Salt spray Wind exposure Indundation Urban stressors
Solidago sempervirens Erioforum angustifolium Spartina patens
Zelkova serrata
Ginkgo biloba
Amalanchier canadensis
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Studio Projects | 17
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Studio Projects | 19
Boston Commons Landscape Architecture II Core Studio Spring 2015
A two-week exercise to examine conditions of
topography and canopy in the historic Boston Commons. Designing in section was emphasized as we explored the task of inserting new design elements into an existing site.
My final design proposed the insertion of two new species, Styphnolobium japonicum and Fagus grandifolia, using the new trees as registers of both topography and old-growth canopy.
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Studio Projects | 21
45
Study model, ridgeline path Existing trees Introduced Styphnolobium japonicum
45
40
A
40
A
A
Study model, planted slope - view uphill Existing trees Introduced Fagus grandifolia grid
A
40 40
Detail Planting Plan Fagus grandifolia grid implementation Boston Commons Detail Planting Plan Fagus grandifolia grid implementation Boston Commons
22 | Sophia Geller
Fagus grandifolia Existing trees Fagus grandifolia Acer platinoides Fraxinus pennsylvanica Existing trees Liquidambar styraciflua Styphnolobium japonicum Acer platinoides Tila Vulgaris Fraxinus pennsylvanica Ulmus parvifolia Liquidambar styraciflua Zelkova serrata Styphnolobium japonicum Tila Vulgaris Ulmus parvifolia Zelkova serrata
Scale 1” = 15’ 0
30
60 ft.
Scale 1” = 15’ 15 0
30
60 ft.
15
Study model, planted slope - aerial view Existing trees Introduced Fagus grandifolia grid
Studio Projects | 23
Franklin Park Landscape Architecture II Core Studio Spring 2015
Upon a close reading of Olmsted’s “Notes on the Plan of Franklin Park”, I set out to investigate how Olmsted’s notion of the “not”, of the park’s lack of any one unique or exceptional quality, is precisely why it is so successful. Working with the northern section of the park’s more extreme topography an aging oak forest, I propose a sequence of platforms, of undefined spaces, to reveal how a series of nothings can become something quite special.
24 | Sophia Geller
Platforms and ledges Locating opportunities for open, undetermined gathering spaces set into the puddingstone ledges and outcroppings of Franklin Park. Viewing platforms, promenades, clearings and sheltered spaces, theses platforms open up new, active ground in a previously overgrown and overlooked section of the park.
Streetside platform
Upland clearing
Streetside platform
Amongst the ledges
The abandoned bear cages
Pathside
upper promenade to provide views out and entice views in.
Alternate view: agacency to and visibility from street.
A relic of the original Olmsted zoo, retrofitted as a gathering space that plays on the notion of interior vs. exterior.
A slight depression in the park’s highest puddingstone outcrop, demarkating a viewpoint to the Boston skyline.
A platform emerging from some of the park’s more dramatic outcroppings, allowing for an elevated yet protected gathering space.
Two adjacent, elevated platforms hovering over one of the primary pathways; as much an invitation off the path as a perch from which to watch.
Studio Projects | 25
The upland clearing: a view from the top.
26 | Sophia Geller
Topography and views Frankin Park currently suffers from a lack of appreciation of the incredible views to the Boston skyline, and at the same time suffers from the dangers of a lack of view into the park itself. I employ elevation, clearing of old-growth canopy and brush, and new planting schemes to alllow for both outward and inward views.
Bristol study model to work out e levation and circulation
Section cut exploring both views out and views in, or two modes of enticement. Studio Projects | 27
Platforms and canopies A planting scheme for Franklin Park emphasizing groves and public orchards, paying particular attention to the strategic replacement of original Olmsted plantings that are reaching the end of their lifespans. Flowering ornamentals are used as both accent to and demarcation of the various platforms scattered in, amongst and above the newly proposed hardwoods and cedars.
Streetside platform
Upland clearing
Streetside platform
Amongst the ledges
The abandoned bear cages
Pathside
A staggered, double-row of Cornus florida agianst a slope of outcroppings and Juniperus virginiana.
Alternate view
Cercis canadensis ‘alba’ is planted around the perimeter of the cage walls, a visual screen between window and road.
28 | Sophia Geller
Plantings of Juniperus virginiana to punctuate the rocky, shallow soil and swaths of Bluestem at the park’s highest elevation.
Cercis canadensis ‘alba’ is planted in and amongst the ledges near groves of Acer saccharum and Cladrastis kentukea.
Stewartia rostrata serves as backdrop to the elevated platforms along the path.
Studio Projects | 29
City Studies Landscape architecture III Core Studio Fall 2015
A series of studies of urban conditions and the built
environment, with a focus on the implications of iterative design decisions. Working in pairs, we explored ideas of density, FAR ratios, and designing for varrying conditions of su nlight, shadow, and slope. We also considered notions of time and use, construction and demolition, looking at how different components of the city can fit together, disrupt, and take each others’ places to promote a more flexible approach to city-building and city living.
30 | Sophia Geller
Studio Projects | 31
The unit
A consideration of construction, demolition, and the ever-changing ground of urban space, this diagram explores a series of selfreferential unit sizes for buildings, open spaces, and a stormwater system, that allow for endless reconfiguration within the given unit bands.
Canal typologies: Water always present
1m
Wetland condition Water present during flood condition Water only present as runoff
Production
Retail
Educational Office
Residential
a b
e
c d
h
f g
Category 1 units: residential and small-scale production i
a 9 x 30 m (greenhouse) b 12 x 20 m (apartment building) j
c 10 x 15 m (single or double family home) d 9 x 15 m (townhouse)
k
25 x 73 m (apartment building 5 unit block)
25 (s 5
l
Category 2 units: open space (shown at half-scale) j 120 x 200 m (park or civic space) k 70 x 115 m (athletic field) l 20 x 160 m. (community garden plots)
25 x 170 m (community garden plots 1 unit block)
Category 3 units: small and large-scae retail, office, educational, and large-scale production e 18 x 50 m (retail) f 18 x 40 m (office units) g 25 x 48 m (university housing) h 45 x 60 m (large-scale production facility) Unit complilation index Allston site
i 70 x 90 m (large-scale retail) 60 x 200 m (retail 10 unit block)
Scale 1:1600 0
25
32 | Sophia Geller
50
100 m
50 x 17 (comm 2 unit
3m
3m
9m
12 m
6m 15 m
25 m
5 x 74 m single/double family home unit block)
70 m munity garden plots block)
25 x 74 m (townhouse 7 unit block)
50 x 170 m (community garden plot, single/double family home, apartment building 13 unit block)
60 x 200 m (office and retail 17 unit block)
45 x 75 m (greenhouse 6 unit block)
45 x 75 m (greenhouse to residential house 10 unit block)
45 x 75 m (greenhouse to apartment row 5 unit block)
120 x 200 m (park or civic space, 1 unit block) 50 x 260 m (community gardenplots, single/doube famly housing, greenhouse 20 unit block)
90x 200 m (large-scale production facility 4 unit block)
45 x 75 m (greenhouse to townhouse 14 unit block)
Scale 1:1600 0
25
50
100 m
240 x 200 m (park space, athletic field, community garden plots 12 unit block)
120 x 200 m (large and small-scale retail 9 unit block)
120 x 200 m (large-scale production, greenhouse, retail and office 26 unit block)
Studio Projects | 33
The layering of time Four stills from an animation showing the growth, decay, and regrowth of our proposed urban swath. Canal and road systems provide the support structure to a host of ever-changing built conditions, from phytoremediating tree plantations, row houses and green houses, to institutional buildings and commercial centers. 34 | Sophia Geller
Right: Serial sections exploring the layering of past, present, and future site conditions. Whether an open construction site or functioning plaza, all space is active, useable and a part of daily life. Studio Projects | 35
Research 38 - 51
Quadrant 23 Representations III Fall 2015
Using Rhino and Grasshopper, I explored conditions of slope, sun angle, vegetative cover, water flow, snowpack, and other such phenomenon of an upland chapperal ecosystem. Using the scripts allowed me to both analyze and hypothesize, while gaining an understanding of the relationship between topography and site conditions.
38 | Sophia Geller
Site vegetated various species occupy the site according to the degree of slope tolerated, resulting in a mosaic of woodland, scrubland, and rocky outcroppings in this dry, rain-dependent ecosystem.
Research | 39
Declination 34.90 Representations III Fall 2015
An exercise in scales and big data, the following
openended research project stemming from Quadrant 23 culminated in a presentation and small book documenting my method and process. Of the 87, 476 stars nearest to our planet, exactly 67 sit directly above the 11 square kilometers of quadrant 23, whose geographic center is located at +35.950000 N, +32.39202 E. Using a series of self-defined operations, I set out to explore the relationship between this piece of ground and its celestial counterparts through drawings, definitions, animations, and modelmaking.
40 | Sophia Geller
Operations:
assign calculate cull define scale
> asg > calc > cul > def > scl
Performed in various order, in various combination, depending on need.
Research | 41
> def
Apparent magnitude (m)//
the measure of a celestial object’s brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere. The brighter an object appears, the lower its magnitude value. > cul apparent magnitude of 67 stars _list results (67)
7.41 8.7 6.74 7.26 8.45 8.8 8.3
3 7.95 8.75 7.81 10.63 8.5 8.48
8.85 7.86 8.62 8.1 8.58 7.68 8.6
8.27 7.26 7.45 8.68 6.76 8.59 5.57
5.73 7.37 7.62 7.76 6.78 7.9 5.98
8.9 10.3 8.77 8.22 8.34 8.96 6.92
8.08 7.17 7.86 8 8.62 8.21 7.93
8 7.22 8.1 8.59 8.51 5.14 6.86
8.12 10.77 8.02 8.31 7.89 7.15 8.1
8.49 6.66 7.11 8.26
> calc lowest value = 3 highest value = 10.7 range: 10.7 - 3.0 = 7.7 divide into 9 categories spanning .99 _list results (9) 2.5-3.49
3.5-4.49
4.5-5.49
> asg diameter/symbol for corresponding m level
42 | Sophia Geller
5.5-6.49
6.5-7.49
7.5-8.49
8.5-9.49
9.5-10.49
10.5-11.49
Research | 43
44 | Sophia Geller
Research | 45
A Hertzian Space
the radio-ecologies of Vandenberg Air Force Base Landscape Architecture IV Core Studio , Spring 2016 Teammates: Lu Wang, Leandro Couto de Almeida
Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County,
California, is an active ICBM testing site, as well as NASA’s key strategic launch site for placing satellites into polar orbit. All eight Landsat satellites have launched from Vandenberg. My group and I are undertaking an exploration of the various manifestations of acousitc and the electromagnetic radiation on the site, from the low, powerful frequencies that permeate through deep sections of ground during the launching of a rocket, to the specific wavelengths of light read bythe remote sensing technology of Landsat.
Above: Study model examining the propagation of acoustical energy through the various materials of a sectional cut through an inactive ICBM test site on Vandenberg Air Force Base. Material properties of density and homogeneity were explored. Left: Component of sound installation discussed on following spread. Right: Section cut examining the different types of acoustic and electromagnetic frequencies employed at a Vandenberg launch site. Technologies and phenomenon studied include Landsat remote sensing, rocket launches, and electromagnetic geosurveying techniques used to detects chemical plumes, ground materials, hydrological systems, and undocumented landfills on inactive launch sites. 46 | Sophia Geller
Research | 47
Sandy loam: 1,725.00 kg/m^3
Steel: 8,050.00 kg/m^3
Wood: 750.00 kg/m^3
Aluminum: 2,712.00 kg/m^3
Plaster and silty loam: 950.00 kg/m^3
Concrete: 2,000.00 kg/m^3
48 | Sophia Geller
5-200 Hz. A sound installation exploring the frequencies of acoustical energy that permeate through the ground during the launching of a rocket. These frequencies range from 5-200 Hz., so low that we percieve most of the energy as vibration. The installation allowed one to experience how these frequencies travel through various materials cut through a deep section of a Vandenberg launch site, exploring how different densities of material react to the range of frequencies - a range as low and destructive as an earthquake.
Research | 49
50 | Sophia Geller
Bands 2, 3, 4, 5 Red, Green, blue, and near-infrared wavelengths are picked up by bands 2,3,4, and 5, respectively, of the Landsat 8 eath imaging satellite. The following model and drawings explore nine different sites on Vandenberg, breaking them down into the 30m x 30m pixels read by Landsat, and examining the specific frequencies of electromagnetic readiation recorded in each of the 225 chosen pixels.
Research | 51
Sophia Geller
Master of Landscape Architecture 2017 Harvard University Graduate School of Design sgeller@gsd.harvard.edu