Landscape architecture students win top honors at IFLA Awards, sweep ASLA Awards

Three FIU College of Architecture + the Arts students swept the Florida American Society of Landscape Architects (FLASLA) Awards in Orlando as the only student winners in the competition featuring 68 submissions from students and professionals alike.

Carolina James MLA ’11, received the Award of Honor for her project, “Colón: Collective Strategies for a Regenerative Waterfront.” Her proposal addressed the role of individual perception and collective space in highly complex urban environments.

Meanwhile, Jose Manual Alvarez MLA ’13, received the Award of Merit for his Rural Reintegration proposal to insert community gardens throughout South Florida’s Ludlam Trail – a seven mile abandoned railway in the heart of Miami-Dade.

Completing FIU’s student sweep of the awards, Christopher Cabezas MLA ’13, received the Award of Merit in the Open Space category for his “Stitching the Urban Trail: Perspectives Through Movement” proposal, which promotes the value of a walkable, sustainable and diverse environment through a former six-mile railroad corridor.

In addition to the FLASLA Awards, another FIU Landscape Architecture student was selected in the Twenty Best Design Works student competition at the 2011 International Federation of Landscape Architects in Zurich, Switzerland.

Chelsi Rome MLA ’11 was selected from among 361 submissions from 38 countries for her project, “Mitigating Landscape: Proliferating Healing Through a Morphological Network.” Her proposal involved revitalizing the post-industrial landscape created by South Florida’s limestone quarries, creating a positive transitional boundary between the Florida Everglades and South Florida’s urban sprawl.