 |
Ben takes a break on the Highline in Manhattan, a former elevated railroad that has been converted into a park. Some of the wild plant species that grew on the abandoned railway were integrated into the plantings. |
Scholar's Journal
My summer was fantastic. I had some setbacks initially, like spending weeks getting my computer fixed, but overall the experience went very well. While my computer was down, I spent a lot of time reading and networking with people who work on wildlife habitat initiatives in San Francisco. I learned a tremendous amount about some of the conceptual and aesthetic dilemmas involved with creating habitat for wildlife, such as the conflicts of interest between different endangered species or the difference between restoring and improving wilderness. The people I met were enthusiastic, friendly, and amazing, and their interest made my project feel more meaningful.
The highlight of my summer was visiting New York City for one week. I spent most of my time riding the subway to parks where I would obsessively photograph the borders between wildlife habitat areas and recreational areas. These places taught me a lot—I learned that my project must grapple with homelessness on some level, because the same foliage that might attract nesting birds also tends to attract people who want privacy to sleep or use drugs. There was never a dull moment. When I wasn’t at a park, I was at a museum, a lecture, or eating obscenely good food. At the Museum of Modern Art, I serendipitously found an excellent precedent for my project that I had missed in my earlier searches. I was lucky to see three incredible lectures on three consecutive days right after I arrived—Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto at Columbia University, Teddy Cruz and Thomas Keenan at the Van Alen Institute, and a panel discussion with many incredible designers centering who discussed the use of digital design tools at the Storefront for Art and Architecture. I would wake up in Brooklyn, go over my itinerary, and on the way to the subway I would stop and eat the most delicious bagels I’ve ever had. It was incredible.
Over the course of the summer, I had to revise the structure of my project several times, which taught me a lot about integrating research with design. After a discussion with my mentor, we agreed that it would be better to repeatedly cycle back and forth between searching for data and designing rather than dividing the entire project into one research stage and one design stage. Such an iterative process allows me to brainstorm ideas and repeatedly assess which ideas warrant more detailed information. Instead of writing a big paper and using it to inspire one big design, writing and designing feed into each other in a cyclical manner.
Overall, the Haas Scholars Program has been extremely rewarding. Everyone involved has been extremely helpful, especially my cohort and my mentor. I feel like I have all the support I need, and everyone’s encouragement has given me a lot of confidence to continue researching and designing. I have already gained so much, and I still have two entire semesters left!
