MEMPHIS, Tenn. – On October 1-3, teams of Landscape Architecture and Management students from Auburn University, Hinds Community College, Louisiana State University and Mississippi State University will travel to Memphis, to participate in the 2015 Come Alive Outside Design Challenge with students, teachers and parents at Memphis Catholic Middle and High School. Memphis landscape contractor, Michael Hatcher and Associates will host the college students for the three-day collaborative design process, building relationships between college students, professionals and members of the high school community in order to create an outdoor learning environment at Memphis Catholic that will help to connect young people with nature for years to come.
The current generation of young people in the United States spends less time outside than any generation in history, and this growing disconnect between people and nature is leading to a wide range of social, public health and environmental issues. As we look to a future in which more than 90 percent of North Americans will be living in urban areas by the year 2050, engaging outdoor learning environments at schools and childcare facilities provide an increasingly essential point of connection for young people to interact with nature. In addressing this growing crisis, it is also essential that more young people in high school and college become passionate about careers designing, building and maintaining great outdoor spaces that create the opportunity for people to interact with nature near the places where they live, work and play.
Following the 3-day Design Charrette in Memphis, the college teams will finalize and submit design proposals by November 2. These proposals will be voted upon by the Memphis High School community and judged by a panel of professional Landscape Architects to determine the winner of the Design Challenge, based upon the following criteria:
1: The design encourages interaction with the space using all five senses.
2: The design integrates the creative input of the students and teachers who will use it.
3: The design creates a Certified Wildlife Habitat.
4: The design effectively manages and utilizes rainwater.
5: The initial phase of the design can be built on budget of $10,000.
The winning team will be announced on November 20. During the winter, Come Alive Outside, The Kitchen Community and Michael Hatcher and Associates will work with Memphis High School to finalize the design, leading to the construction of the first phase in the spring of 2016. For full details on the program,
click here.
