Expand view for photograph Architectural rendering of a sunlit outdoor terrace with a table and chairs, surrounded by greenery and trees. People are sitting and standing, enjoying the space next to a modern white textured building with large glass doors.
Expand view for photograph Architectural rendering of a modern residential complex with white buildings, large windows, rooftop gardens, and abundant greenery surrounding terraces and walkways under a clear blue sky.
Responding to both the studio theme, “Research by Design: Living with Trees” and an in-depth analysis of West Campus, “Cultivating Green Density” arose from playful United explorations and precedent study in collaboration with Ken Gosset and Lindsey Myers, a strip of West Campus centered on Guadalupe Street was analyzed in terms of human access, natural space, nonhuman space, and program.
The site, located on the corner of West 25th and Guadalupe, included an outdoor food court and two large trees that the project works to enhance, while also bringing more vegetation and residential density to the site. Mindful of the urban condition and culture of the Drag, but also desiring to increase both the amount and variety of natural spaces, this project proposes a residential densification solution that reincorporates the natural spaces that make Austin so attractive. The beauty of these spaces tends to stop where UT campus and the Draft meet; in this proposal, that natural space grows alongside the ever-densifying built environment in West Campus.
Spring 2021 Design Excellence Winner
Eli Johnson
Intermediate Design IV
Instructor: Rasa Navasaityte
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