Virginia Beach
“Virginia Beach: Sense of Arrival” (2022)
Virginia Tech Landscape Architecture Students proposed design options for the entrance corridor of the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. Student considerations included urban design, planning, landscape architecture, flooding, rainwater management, and resiliency.
Project Video:
The projects—”Immersion,” “Surfers Meet the Wetlands,” and “A Memorable Place to Be”—are below.
Coastal Virginia Beach Landscape Design Studio (2019)
Landscape architecture students from Virginia Tech proposed new designs for various sites across Virginia Beach. The students engaged with the City’s Green Ribbon Committee, meeting key stakeholders and gaining valuable networking experience. They also toured the Brock Environmental Center, where architect Billy Almond (Collaboratory mentor) provided insight into the center's site planning. Encouraged to focus on resiliency in Virginia Beach's southern watershed, the students explored areas impacted by "blue sky" flooding.
The final projects were presented at a LEED-certified Virginia Beach high school, where Green Ribbon Committee members and AP Environmental Science students interacted with the students to learn more about their designs and areas of study.
“Designing the Future of Coastal Virginia Beach: Landscape Design & Planning Studio” (2019)
This rather extraordinary report by Dr. Mintai Kim (VT Architecture) highlights the progress and achievements of his advanced studio course on landscape architectural design and planning across a variety of environments and scales.
The course prepares students to tackle design challenges in urban, suburban, and rural settings, with a strong focus on integrating ecological, cultural, social, and economic factors into responsible land planning.
By examining large-scale processes and their broader regional and global impacts, students learn to apply sustainable design principles. The course also helps students hone their skills in identifying key issues, setting design objectives, and effectively communicating their proposals through both traditional and digital techniques.