Stephanie Erwin
landscape | urbanism | planning
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Curriculum vitae Collaborative consumption Pigs eye crossing Island station What's Upcycling Photography
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Curriculum vitae
EDUCATION University of Minnesota- Twin Cities | Masters of Landscape Architecture 2011-present
Coursework (thus far): design and ecology studios, advanced rendering, construction and grading, details, flora identification, and metropolitan ecology
Iowa State University | Bachelor of Science, Community and Regional Planning 2009-2011
Coursework (thus far): design, ecology, and dwelling studios, advanced rendering, construction and grading, details, flora identification, metropolitan ecology, plants and design, and storm water management.
Kirkwood Community College | Associates of Arts, Liberal Arts 2006-2008
Coursework: Cultural Anthropology, Sociology, International Relations, Political Science
LEADERSHIP | MEMBERSHIP President of the American Society of Landscape Architecture- Minnesota, Student Chapter (UoM) 2012-present Vice President of the Undergraduate Community and Regional Planning Club (ISU) 2010-2011 Vice President of the Women in Landscape Architecture Student Chapter (UoM) 2011-present Member of the American Society of Landscape Architects 2011-present Member of the American Planning Association 2009-present Member of the National Society of Leadership and Success 2009-2011 Undergraduate Rep. in the faculty search committee for the Community & Regional Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Design Departments. (ISU) 2010
SKILLS | INTERESTS | HOBBIES Skills: Arcgis, Communityviz, Microsoft Office Suite, Google Sketchup, Google Api, Google Earth, Adobe: Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign and Premiere. Interests: Urban Design, Urban Planning, Human Rights, Intentional Communities, Environmental Conservation, Community Involvement, Local Food Movement, Bioregionalism, and International Relations Hobbies: Watercolor, Photography, Sewing, Photography, Crafts, Decorating, Hiking, Cooking, Making Jewelry, Power Tools, Swimming, Kayaking, Skiing and Gardening
EXPERIENCE Landscape Design Assistant | Metro Blooms | Minneapolis, MN | 2012
Facilitated educational workshops teaching business owners and residents of the Twin Cities about storm water management and native planting Meet with property owners to discuss a personalized landscape design Designed rain gardens
Editor | there | Minneapolis, MN | 2012-present
Pursued journal contributions for 2012-2013 issue Edited content relating to place and fear
Content Editor and Producer | Cities the Magazine | Amsterdam, NL | 2012
Edited online and exhibition content relating to polycentricty and bottom-up initiatives Managed a group of five in the production of Issue Two: Emerging Centers Contributed infographics and collaborated with the Art Director Worked the Food and Architecture Fair 2012 in Amsterdam; focusing on the history and viability of urban agriculture
English Instructor and Cultural Intern | Libertas International | Amsterdam, NL | 2012
Facilitated English language course
Planning Intern | City of Ames | Ames, IA | 2011
Administered a façade improvement grant program in Ames’ historic downtown. Collaborated with planners to create grant stipulations and requirements. Reviewed grant applications and met with applicants in the field. Implemented a historical image catalog of downtown and Main St. Attended development review committees and departmental meetings. Conducted precedent research related to potential developments Used ESRI software to create green-way maps and completed GAP analysis of future land use map and zoning map. Created context maps for City Council, Zoning Board of Adjustments, and Zoning Commission Contacted residents and property owners of public hearings via mass mailings
Garden Volunteer Supervisor | Volunteer Center of Story County, United Ames | Ames, IA | 2010
Reported to Volunteer Engagement Coordinator at VCSC, Americorps VISTA for UA (All of the food grown in the community garden went to homeless shelters and food pantries) Checked in volunteers, enforced rules, explained tasks, kept volunteers on task
Beginner ArcGIS Adobe: Illustrator Adobe: InDesign Adobe: Premiere Adobe: Photoshop Google SketchUp Microsoft Office Suite
Intermediate
Expert
Contact Me: +1 612 916 2155 stephaniemerwin@gmail.com stephanieerwin.com
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COLLABORATIVE CONSUMPTION Valley Nodes
This project considers what the Duwamish River Valley, in Seattle, Washington would be like if capitalism were to collapse. With a slow economic recovery, Americans are struggling to survive. Citizens are participating in collaborative consumption, sharing resources and relying on social network as a way to maintain a life style. In addition to sharing resources like washing machines and cars, people consider land and property to be a shared resource. Waste is up-cycled, materials are reused or re-purposed, Places are used more efficiently. In the Valley, Intentional communities are the preferred neighborhood type; where the idea of public has been redefined. These communities are popping up adjacent to natural and cultural assets. Community cohesion is a matter of pride. An Informal economy emerges as a way to handle the collapse of global trade. Time banking becomes a way for people to contribute to their communities and receive something in return. Bartering between communities is a common practice. The traditional economy still exists, but has been stifled significantly. Citizens are starting to focus their energy on supporting the each other by non-monetary means. The formal, more tradition economy, has concentrated the types of Industries in which people work outside the community to government and manufacturing. Every other service, once provided by the formal economy, is now provided by the informal economy in each community. With the reduction of the formal economy, the tax base has been severely decreased, resulting in a limited role of government that incentivizes bottom-up initiatives and self-governance. My concept displays what one of the nodes might feel like.
2040
2030
2050
2060
Analysis
Contaminated Sites
Vacant Parcels
Superfund Sites
Brown fields
Restored Sites
Canopy
Parks
Public Parcels
Informants
Rising Sea Level
Contaminated Site
Diagonal Edges
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PROGRAM 1. Public Boat Docks 2. Inter-tidal Habitat 3. Medium Density Co-housing 4. Public Plaza 5. Cherry Orchard
6. Wet Meadow Boardwalk 7. High Density Mixed Use 8. Grey Water Treatment Wetland 9. Community Garden
Sections: NTS
A: Medium density co-housing with grey water treatment wetland and public plaza
B: High density live-work units upcycled from shipping containers adjacent to a wet meadow boardwalk
C: : Medium density co-housing, pollinator trail, public orchard and plaza
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NTS
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Keystone Species
Pigs eye crossing Context +Site
Blanding’s turtle
This project considers the need for ecological, hydrological, and cultural connectivity to natural areas in the Upper Mississippi River Valley. Pigs Eye Crossing was a part of an ecology/design studio where we explored the patch, corridor, matrix model at a regional scale in the Upper Mississippi River Valley between St. Paul, Minnesota and Prescott, Wisconsin. The project was broken into three parts; part one and two were completed in small groups, analyzing existing ecological assets and identifying opportunities for better cultural and ecological connections. My group considered ecology, economy and culture, using the lens of bioregionalism and critical regionalism. In part three, above, given the industrial past of the river, I wanted to address a site with heavy infrastructure and an opportunity for connections. The site chosen was adjacent to Pigs Eye Lake in St. Paul, MN. To the East is a forested bluff-land atop of which sits residential neighborhoods. The wetland area below is primarily vegetated with cattails as a result of the nutrient rich storm water runoff from the residential land use on the bluff. Separating the bluff and the wetland are nine lines of heavy rail and six lanes of interstate highway, and as such there is no connection to the bluff from the valley in this area. The concept of part three explores raising and reducing the infrastructure to provide wildlife and cultural connections to and from the wetland and the bluff. Additionally, I attempt to cleanse storm water runoff with a series of sediment traps and riffles along the stream for aeration. The path provides not only an experiential sequence, but by showcasing water, it brings the importance of healthy water into light.
Diagrammatic Master Plan 1. Wilson’s phalarope
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Both of these species would normally inhabit this area, however, intense pollution and large scale infrastructure has made it a hostel and home. The Blandings turtle needs unobstructed access to sandy uplands while the Wilson’s phalarope needs shorter vegetation adjacent to shallow water.
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PROGRAM
NTS
1. Viewing Deck 2. Winding Wetland Path 3. Restored Vegetation 4. Runoff Treatment Stream
Existing
Sections: Site Conditions
Proposed
TREATMENT EXPERIENCE
Concept Diagrams
Model
Pool Drops sediment Path + Place
Trail Bluff connections Riffle Aerates Soft edge Bebb’s sedge
Hydro Flow + Treatment
Wildlife Corridor Materials: Chipboard, clay, paper and broom bristles
Resilient Connectivity
Goals + Strategies Regionally appropriate infrastructure -Reduce highway 61 to two lanes; each 15’ -Reduce rail lines to 3 tracks along this corridor: 2 freight and 1 passenger
Re-flow hydro -Remove Springside Dr.; restore hydro flows -Move storm water/run off through the meandering stream & wetland system for treatment
Deciduous forest Upland connections Blandings turtle nesting Storm water treatment stream
Canopy drive Crane street lights Geothermal bridge
Cultural interface Restored wetland Wilson’s Phalarope habitat
Upland Connectivity Resilient ecosystem -Restore native plant communities; manage cattail wetland -Raise infrastructure to allow wildlife passage beneath
Compost culture -Promote more efficient methods of travel and industry -Raise infrastructure for human passage to the water -Immersion experience with views of nature and culture with tributes to past land uses
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This site would act as the National Park Service’s regional headquarters with programmatic elements like a canoe slip, wetland boardwalk, interpretive signs, outdoor classrooms, swimming beach, and fishing pier. Island Station, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, is a derelict coal power plant that is heavily polluted. The site is on the shores of the largest river system in North America and is near the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers. Recently, this area has seen significant revitalization because of lower land prices and its adjacency to downtown St. Paul. The Mississippi River suffers from impaired water conditions because of heavy nitrates, high turbidity, fecal coliform, and dissolved oxygen. As a peformative landscape, water is guided into the site and improved through a meandering stream that slows and aerates the water. The water then flows through a wetland system that provides habitat while up-taking nutrients.
Site Sections: experiential qualities
Island station Opportunity for ecological connectivity St. Paul
Mississippi River
Minneapolis Pig’s Eye Lake
Missouri River
Site containments Water Quality
Fecal Coliform (200 CFU/100 mL) ............................................................................32 Turbidity (25 NTU) .................................................................................................................................33 Nitrate (10 mg/L) ..................................................................................................................................05 Dissolved Oxygen (5 mg/L) ..................................................................................................04
Soil Quality + Phytoremediation Northwest to southeast
Arsenic: white lupine, bracken fern, sunflower Cadmium: field chickweed,yarrow, field mustard Beryllium: cottonwoods, dogwoods, willows, duckweed Mercury: cottonwoods, dogwoods, willows, hybrid poplars Nickel: alpine pennycress
Site Photos
East to west
PROGRAM
Master plan
1. NPS office and cafe 2. Viewing building and concessions 3. Marina and fishing pier 4. Meandering stream 5. Old IS building; relic 6. Entrance 7. Interpretive path 8. Party pavilion
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Paddler access Viewing platform Community Garden Path platform Beach Parking Motorized boat launch
Goals + Strategies -Enhance the ecological corridor of the Upper Mississippi River Valley -Treat water from the river and run off from the site -Provide habitat for wetland critters -Provide an interface for people and the river
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Concept Perspectives Beach
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Trails
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15 NTS
Concept Diagrams
NPS headquarters
Cut and fill
Treatment areas
Parking
Hydrology
Destinations
Circulation
Wetland
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What's Upcycling
The reuse of something in a way that maintains or increases its value; something that can be a constant part of the supply This project explored the shifting paradigm of resource management. Upcycling is the reuse of something in a way chain. that maintains or increases its value so that the materials remain a constant part of the supply chain. With so many places mis or under used, why not apply that same logic to landscapes?​ ​ Consumption habits everywhere are changing as a result of a new environmental consciousness. Not only does it make ecological sense to reuse materials it also makes economical sense. Products made from recycled goods have an added value to the consumer; people want to feel good about what the buy. Because of dwindling supplies and ecological impact, we can no longer afford to use up raw materials at our current rate.
Energy
Median Household Income Expendable Income
Upcycle
Waste in Landfills Consumer Price Index
Recycle Product
Recycled Waste
Trash
Landfill
Environmentalism Consciousness
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s Re n n tio o uc pti d o m r u lP ns na Co o i l t a ua niz ivid ga r Ind O
Top Eco-Conscious Countries
Mapping Consciousness
Raw Materials
Data from Goggle Analytics 1. U.S. 2. U.K. 3. Australia 4. Canada 5. Ireland 6. Philippines
7. India 8. The Netherlands 9. Germany 10. Italy
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Product
Supply Chain
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Product Consumption response Individual Concern for the environment Trendy
Organizational
Added value Less expensive materials Corporate environmental footprint
Crisis: Brown Field Past Priorities
Future Priorities
Present Priorities
Economy
Economy Demolition Redevelopment
Economy Habitat Adaptive reuse Mixed land use Harvest the rainwater Food production Social interactions
Crisis: Grey field
Crisis: failing infrastructure Past Priorities
Past Priorities
Present Priorities
Past Priorities
Future Priorities
Future Priorities
Economy Multi-modal transportation Walk-ability Harvest the rainwater Habitat Solar energy Mixed land use
Economy Social interactions Walk-ability Polycentricty Habitat Harvest the rainwater Mixed land use
Economy Auto-centric Move the water away
Economy Tolerating bicyclers Walk-ability Move the water away Street trees
Economy Social interactions Auto-centric
Economy Social interactions Green-washing Auto-centric
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Photography