Landscape Architecture Student wins National ASLA Student Award of Excellence

University of Texas Landscape Architecture student Yi Song has been awarded the American Society of Landscape Architects’ (ASLA) Student Award of Excellence in the General Design Category for his project "'Y' Shape Jetty System: A Sustainable Solution for Coastal Ecosystem Protection, Population Retreat, and Global Tourism Development.” 

The project was completed in Spring 2019 as a part of Assistant Professor Gabriel Diaz Montemayor’s "The Yucatán Studio," an advanced landscape architecture studio exploring sustainable social and environmental modes of development in the coastal region of the Yucatán Peninsula. Song's proposal was selected for the prestigious Award of Excellence from among 368 student submissions from around the world. He will be recognized at an awards ceremony during the annual ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture in San Diego, November 15-18, 2019.

Here’s what the 2019 Awards Jury said of Yi Song’s award-winning proposal:
"This substantial and multi-faceted plan, delightfully illustrated with nontraditional graphics, marries robust analysis with beautiful design interventions for the sustainable development within a lagoon community in the Yucatán Peninsula. The power of the plan, whose design elements focus on natural and human-made jetties in a lagoon, is comprehensive in of tackling eco-tourism, environmental protection, economic development and community building. The jetty concept reduces development pressure on the fragile beach ecosystem and creates a framework connecting the coast, lagoon, and mainland in a way that not only fulfills sustainability goals but also helps foster the economic and social opportunities necessary to support an inclusive regional community."

Project Statement:
"Y" Shape Jetty project, located the in the Yucatán Peninsula’s Rosada Lagoon, provides an alternative to coastal development in Mexico. It establishes a new Coast-Lagoon-Mainland-based life circle instead of putting all of the stress on the narrow beach zone. This not only offers a new circle of life, but also protects the environment and supports sustainable development within the area. Fishing, boating, eco-tourism, restaurants, hotels, and industry would all be available around this new jetty system which would also serve as a transition joint, connecting opportunities on both the coast and the mainland. Within this new stretched circle of life, more local people, groups, and parties can be a part of the community together, contributing to the development of social justice.

For more information about the project, including the full project narrative, visit the "Y" Shape Jetty System page on the ASLA website.