I wasn’t intending to go to a rose scholars event this week, but I saw that they were presenting the design ideas that the landscape architecture students came up with and I happened to be free, so I just had to go. It was pretty cool to see everyone’s ideas and how they all had different styles of presenting architectural plans. And I was presently surprised to get free ice cream out of it. But I have to say I was a little disappointed by the lack of things to do in some of the designs. A lot of them had cool designs for places to sit and new paths, but most of them didn’t seem to address the snow/rain issue that personally I think affects people going outside the most. Also, I didn’t see a lot of dramatic improvement of things to do. While a lot of the designs featured outdoor amphitheaters, most of them had that as their only activity area, which I really wanted to see more of. And very few of them added covering to protect from the elements. I’m probably biased on this, but my favorite design was from the girl who explained hers to me. Her design included these light up swings and at least one awning.
Tag Archives: architecture
New Possibilities for West Campus
I loved going to the Design Charette. I still have no idea what the word charette means, but we got to look at different design elements and talk to landscape architecture students about what we wanted for the outside of west campus. I really enjoyed seeing and voting on the different possibilities for things to add, especially all of the possible play spaces. One thing that I did notice while talking to the architecture students is that none of them have been here over the summer and had formed some assumptions as a result. They all assumed Ithaca is nice in the summer. But it pours out of nowhere in the summer. Constantly. It’s really a lot. So even when it’s warmer out, people don’t want to be outside. Personally, my philosophy is if it’s built for the winter, it will translate into the summer, but not the other way around. Both seasons really need for there to be coverings outdoors to protect people from the elements so they can actually spend time outdoors. And have things to do outdoors beyond just sit. I really want a sledding track so the central grassy area is actually used in the winter. The professor for the class said that they’ll be back to present their designs later in the semester, so I’m really looking forward to that.