FIU student’s Everglades project receives national recognition

An FIU landscape architecture student received the General Design Honor Award from the National American Society of Landscape Architects in Washington, D.C.  in September.

Brennan Baxley recently arrived from the conference and award receiving ceremony, where his project was selected as one of the seven recipients of this year’s award from a pool of 618 submissions from 20 countries.

“It was a shock,” he said.  “From conception to design, it took me six months to create it.”

Southeast view: hardwood hammock and swamp

Baxley’s “Ephemeral Boundaries” project was created during the 2008 fall semester for Professor Roberto Rovira’s landscape studio class.  He challenged students to find ways to integrate the natural and built environment along the Miami-Everglades boundary.

“Brennan’s final project was sophisticated and layered, and emerged from a very thorough design process,” Rovira said.

During the semester, Rovira’s class had to explore the site, located north of the intersection of Krome Avenue and Southwest 8th Street.  Baxley called it a great and fun experience.

“People were losing their shoes in the mud,” he said.

The general design category in which Baxley was honored is considered by the National American Society of Landscape Architects as the most competitive one, with twice as many submissions as the next largest category.

“I definitely owe a lot to the College of Architecture and The Arts,” he said. “The way the school teaches students is enthusiastic and enlivening.”