From a floating oceanfront walkway to urban agriculture in downtown Squamish, UBC students unveiled visions for future community projects recently.
For close to a year, University of British Columbia Landscape Architecture (LARC) pupils have put Squamish under the microscope. Last April, member of the graduating class asked the District of Squamish to be the school's municipal subject for their studio projects.
After visiting the community in September - including tours of the Squamish Oceanfront, Mamquam Blind Channel, Brennan Park Recreation Centre and downtown - students started to compile studies focusing on everything from vacant, under-used downtown sites to opening up pedestrian access to the Blind Channel, district planner Sabina Foofat told Committee of the Whole earlier this month.
"All of the projects are really exciting from a fresh set of eyes," she said.
As the end of the school year gets closer, the students were gearing up to present their findings to municipal staff on Wednesday (April 24), after The Chief's press deadline.
While the graduating students' projects are part of an academic exercise, the value for Squamish in participating is "tremendous," stated a planning report to council. The studies provide the municipality with fresh perspectives, innovative design solutions and out-of-the-box thinking, Foofat said.
While the design projects cross the spectrum in terms of implementation potential, they can all contribute to the development of ideas, approaches and programming in future municipal initiatives, the report stated.
The students' projects are extremely interesting, Coun. Ted Prior said.
"The real challenge is for us leaders to make some of this happen," he said.
Researchers with UBC Master of Landscape Architecture program conducted work in Squamish many years ago, the course's professor Cynthia Girling told The Chief last fall. But this is the first time the the UBC School of Landscape Architecture has picked the community as the workshop for graduating students' projects, she said.
