Landscape Design 2
Site Design
This course introduces the landscape architectural design process. Emphasizing process and concept development, students identify a problem and then use site inventory, analysis, program development, and exploration to test solutions. Projects are small-scale sites—preferably actual and visitable, such as intimate courtyards, street plazas, and pocket parks—and/or physically built (i.e., limited use of computer drafting, rendering, and 3D modeling).
Instructor
JIM SMITH
NICHOLAS DECKER
Project Location
MELNITZ STAIRS UCLA
judges
LORENA MATOS – CITY OF LOS ANGELES, STREETS LA
CHARLES STRAWER – CHARLES H. STRAWTER DESIGN INC.
ANGIE SONG – WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING
scribes
KRISTEN BYRD
VICTORIA STOVER
Project 2: Melnitz Stairs
SCASLA Achievement Award
Strong use of page space and clear, simple diagramming. The relationship between the big idea and the concept drawings is evident, and the idea carries through to the site plan. Sections are detailed and convey verticality; site plan shows strong flow into and out of gathering spaces. Tree drawings with shading are well handled, and the perspectives successfully communicate the gathering concept.
Melnitz Stairs Redesign
Student: Bella Smith
Students were tasked with redesigning the Melnitz Stairs on UCLA’s campus. My design featured a curvilinear staircase that provided students with a slow journey. Along the stairs are sunken amphitheater enclaves for students to gather and relax.
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Melnitz Stairs
Student: Brian Bautista
This project was at the Melnitz Stairs at the north part of UCLA Campus; the brief was to create a staircase that befits the sites importance as the main entrance to UCLA North Campus. The design focused on creating distinctive set of stairs that functioned not just as stairs but as a destination in North Campus. Multiple nooks, benches, and places for passive respite are embedded within the design, along with a series of fountains.
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SCASLA Achievement Award
The final design is clean, functional, and easy to read, with good line weights throughout.
Melnitz Stairs Project
Student: Laura Williams
A proposed design for the Melnitz Stairs located at the north end of the UCLA campus.
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SCASLA Excellence Award
Clear, well-organized site analysis, with the sienna tone on the site and vicinity maps reading beautifully. Concept development—bubbles, vignettes, and sketches—was thoughtful and showed substantial effort. Strong graphic hierarchy and line weights communicated intent effectively, and the drawings clearly demonstrated how the concept translated into the stair design. Sections are solid, perspectives are strong, and the overall presentation quality is consistently high.
BALL GAME
Student: Ryan O’Leary Jones
This project reimagined the Melnitz Stairs on the UCLA campus, focusing on how to move people effectively between two major grade changes. The course emphasized developing a clear concept and carrying it through the design process to a final concept plan. My work included a site plan, sectional drawings, and perspective views to illustrate circulation strategies and spatial experiences, showing how the redeveloped stairs could better connect the upper and lower campus areas..
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SCASLA Honorable Mention
The judges remarked that the courtyard added to the left of the stairs is a thoughtful move that fits well with the stair design. The bubble diagram communicates the concept clearly. The site would benefit from more trees to soften the design, and the sections are graphically very well executed.
Melnitz Stairs Redevelopment
Student: Tato Maizza
Final Project – Melnitz Stairs
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SCASLA Honorable Mention
Concept diagrams are strong, and the site plan layout is intriguing, with ideas clearly carrying through from concept to plan. The sections and perspectives have notable artistic quality.
Melnitz Stairs Redevelopment
Student: Tom Hurst
Melnitz Staircase Final Submission.
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