During this meeting I got to see photos of how the West campus landscape has changed over time. It was amazing to see the great improvements Cornell has made as they have really improved the enlargement of West sector as well as the building structure. Overall, I found the gallery very interesting as it also showed me how West Campus is going to develop in the future (primarily enlargement).

The design charrette was a very unique experience for me. I had never before, in my life, interacted with a landscape architect/planner. I had also never seen a better way to plan out a renovation or augmentation of open spaces. The design charrette seems like a very simple idea on the face of it: ask people what they like and implement it. However, I had not seen anyone ask college students about what they liked or disliked in terms of landscape designs, even though the designs are primarily created for them. As I stayed till the end of the event, I saw how the host of the event got clarity on many of the proposed designs and how good the event turned out to be in terms of portraying a student body’s true opinions on designs. Kudos to the fresh thought!

I attended the design charrette that focused on potential landscaping opportunities on West Campus. The first part of the event involved walking around to different posters with different themed potential projects: outdoor spaces, “play” equipment (like swings), trails and more. After this, we sat around a large paper map of West campus and brainstormed ideas of how we would landscape West campus if given enough time and resources.

I found the discussion enlightening, as it wasn’t something I had thought about before. I hadn’t realized that West Campus has almost no landscaping: there aren’t any outdoor features or any deliberate control of green spaces. We just have large swathes of grass and concrete paths connecting buildings. Some features were very popular and were thought up by multiple groups independently: things like increased lighting and outdoor structures (picnic tables under a roof, fire pits, etc).

One suggestion I thought was particularly interesting was the suggestion of an outdoor garden (possibly one for each house) that is tended to by the students of that house. I think it would be a neat way to get some extra fresh food and to foster a community in houses. At least from what I’ve seen on West campus, intrahouse relations aren’t very strong. This may or may not be a desirable thing but I think it’d be interesting to try at least!

Going over these suggestions also made me realize how fundamental ones surroundings are to being a happy and productive person. Seasonal depression was a common theme in some of the suggestions (like adding evergreens/conifers so there would be greenery all year long). Being cognizant of ones surroundings and the little things is vital, and I’d like to be more conscious of this in the future.

While attending the West Campus 6.0 Design Charrette, I enjoyed getting to see various designs that could be described as both ordinary and unusual. From an outdoor cinema to beautiful flower gardens and playgrounds, Cornell’s own students came up with creative ideas that I had previously never considered. While I personally don’t consider myself to have any commendable design skills, it was amusing to think that some of the kooky architectural designs would actually be put on display at West Campus. I recognize that many of these proposals would be very costly and challenging to implement, but I do hope that some of these eccentric ideas are actually put into place one day. Cornell boasts an expansive, beautiful campus, and many of these designs would only improve this aspect of the university for future generations. All in all, the event made me feel better immersed within the Cornell and West Campus communities because I had the opportunity to contribute my opinions to something that all the students would share.

I attended the West Campus Design Charette in the Common Room a few weeks ago. There are different exhibits of potential West Campus landscapes. We were given green and red stickers to put on each visual to show like or dislike. It was an interesting activity. I did it with a close friend. There are visuals that we both like and visuals that we both dislike. There are also visuals we have the opposite view. I feel that my opinion is valued and respected. We all have a common goal here: to improve West Campus. I am glad that I went to this event to contribute.

A couple of Fridays ago I attended the West Campus Design Charette in the Common Room. Architecture students set up posters with visuals of ideas for the future of West Campus architecture and landscape. We were then given red and green stickers to put on each visual with the red meaning “I do not like this idea” and the green meaning “I do like this idea.”

This was a fun activity for me. It made me feel like my opinion about the future of West Campus really matters. The amazing thing about Cornell is that it seems like it is always looking for ways to improve. I appreciate the architecture students respecting the validity of our opinions in the pursuit of improving West Campus. I look forward to seeing in the future what changes they make!

West Campus is a great place to be living. As a transfer student to Cornell, I feel extremely lucky to have gotten a spot in one of the main buildings of West Campus. However, what is most interesting to me is to how receptive this campus is to the suggestions and ideas of students. As I attended the West Campus design event, it was interesting to see how students are pitching their ideas of how they want West Campus to be in the future. Because West Campus has become a second home to be in a short span of time, this event was a must-attend.

Coming from a public school, I noticed a stark difference in the ways that Cornell can make the lives of its students better. Of course, this is reflected in the premium tuition that we pay, but it is surprising to see the resources and receptiveness of the campus to the needs of students. It is such a rare thing to find where the students can effect change on their landscape, and by putting stickers on what I want to see on the future West Campus, I was trying to support that efforts of those that want to make our campus living spaces nicer.

This week I attended the design charrette, with the goal of providing feedback for a potential redesign of west campus. The experience was enlightening in multiple ways, not the least of which I realized how much I wasn’t considering. Almost all of my focus went into simple aesthetic projects and possibly getting west campus students involved in maintaining a handful of garden boxes. Things like lighting and study spaces genuinely never crossed my mind, and seeing how other students approached these design challenges was enlightening in many ways. I deeply appreciated seeing how other students approached the project.

Moreover, the project got me thinking about the Rose community on west campus. As great as Rose Scholars is, it’s still very hard for me to participate in a lot of events. With undue frequency they conflict with prior commitments I had, leaving me to watch the friday film more than I’d like to. Something like an early morning gardening project would be a great addition to the kinds of events that Rose scholars could participate in, and would be a way to beautify the west campus, as per the goal of this project.

Last Friday I attended the Rose House’s Design Charrette. I genuinely didn’t know what to expect walking into this event (especially considering I had to google the word charrette!). I suppose that in my head, I was initially picturing some sort of panel of people who were spearheading the redesign of west campus. I thought that these people would give a presentation on what they were planning to do to update west, and that they would briefly open the floor up to us residents to provide our input and feedback on their design plan. This was very incorrect, however—the actual event ended being much less one-sided than I had expected, which was definitely a very positive thing.

The event almost resembled an art show, with posters scattered about the room with different pictures of design ideas. We were asked to put small green stickers on photos that elicited a positive response, and to put red stickers on photos that did the opposite. This was a very interesting, and surprisingly difficult, exercise for me (especially as someone with very little design sense). After this, we sat at tables with a map of west campus and were asked to draw all over them what we would like to see changed. Again, having such an open-ended, free-form task was much more difficult than I initially expected.

After this, each of the different tables presented their ideas to the rest of the group. In general, there were a few common themes, the biggest of which was that there’s way too much “open space” on west. Most people wanted more gardens and seating areas. All in all it was a cool event to attend, and I hope we have more opportunities like this in the future, especially since now I know what to expect!

On Friday, I joined the Rose Scholars to view a presentation by AAP Professor Mitch Glass and his students and to participate in an interactive discussion about West Campus’ redesign. I thought that this was an amazing opportunity to actually have a say in how our campus is structured, how the landscaping and spaces can be changed based on our own opinions. Professor Glass did make it clear that these were proposals, that all of our ideas may not necessarily be put into action, but it felt good to be able to contribute to something that could affect us, as well as future generations of Cornellians.

I really liked ideas such as implementing gardens with winter-proof plants. A lot of gardens throughout campus die as soon as the cold sets in, leaving behind brown and unappealing patches of dead grass and sticks. I like the idea that evergreen brush and holly berries can bring a little color amidst the snow. I also liked the ideas of more outdoor seating for the warmer weather on West Campus, and outdoor dining. Structures like swings and hammocks also are a great idea, encouraging Cornell students to get outdoors while they can.

Overall, I really enjoyed this program. It was a great opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at our campus.

I attended the design event in the Common Room today. It was not what I expected. I was nervous because I thought we would have to come to the event with ideas already in our head. However, it was way different. There was a sort of gallery set up with different ideas for West Campus. Each student could place a green sticker on the ideas they liked and a red sticker on the ideas that they did not like. This was such an innovative and efficient way to run the event because the designers gave us something to base our opinions off of.

I am glad I attended this event because it makes me feel as though I have a voice on campus and can actually contribute my ideas into something as important as the landscape of our campus.