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Press Releases 2007
CONTACT: Jana Marcus, Marketing & Communications
(831) 479-5744
jamarcus [at] cabrillo.edu
Octiober 22, 2007
Cabrillo College Horticulture Students win Design Competition at Rosicrucian Museum in San Jose
APTOS, CA— Five students from Cabrillo College’s horticulture department received a $5000 landscape design award from San Jose’s Rosicrucian Museum to redesign two sites on the museum’s park property. The competition focused on redesign and replacement of existing lawn spaces at the museum with native California plants as well as creating an educational experience that tied in with the museum's exhibits.
The competition, announced in the spring of 2007, was open to both professional landscape architects and students, drawing over forty submissions. The Cabrillo team took first place for their designs of both the museum’s front entry landscape and the park site beyond the museum’s Learning Center.
Lisa McAndrews, horticulture instructor at Cabrillo College and California-licensed Landscape Architect, asked students in her spring semester courses if they were interested in participating, and five students stepped up to the plate to become the award-winning team: Kathy Alford, Glenn Douglas, Kim Ferrell, Jackie Nunez de Villavicencio and Carri Wagner.
“The goal of our design was to promote the use of garden-worthy California native plants, while still creating formal elements that evoked Egyptian garden styles seen in historical sources,” says instructor McAndrews. “We wanted to build upon the existing Egyptian and Rosicrucian motifs that are currently included on the museum park site, and also encourage appreciation and enjoyment of both Egyptian garden history and California native plants by creating landscape spaces that are dynamic, accessible and inviting to everyone.”
The winning design included entry spaces flanking the main museum courtyard showcasing Egyptian garden elements such as semi-enclosed courtyards of rammed earth, a shaduf for irrigating plants, and a rainwater catchment system and a cistern to hold the water demonstrating water-wise practices that can be used in home gardens.
Other winning design elements included recycled tumbled glass embedded in new pathways evoking a sense of the Nile, a long seat wall for visitors to relax, a pyramid-covered gazebo, a patio embossed with the Egyptian symbol of the setting sun facing west and a compass to show the four directions in the rear garden. A meadow, with several native bulbs to add authenticity, was also included in the design to illustrate the concept of a lawn alternative, which also acts as an informal picnic/gathering space for school groups or visitors to the park.
The Cabrillo team created extensive landscape maintenance guidelines and a spreadsheet of the eighty-five plants chosen for the design. They were also required to create a budget, which was put together with invaluable advice from Central Coast Wilds Nursery in Santa Cruz, John David of Prime Landscapes in Soquel, Rain Source Water in Soquel, and Tom Ralston of Tom Ralston Concrete in Santa Cruz.
Each of the five students will receive $500 and the remaining $2,500 will be used to fund a continued learning tour for the group of northern, central and southern California to nurseries, arboretums and display gardens that focus on California native plants.
Any further information please contact Lisa McAndrews 479-6450
ABOUT CABRILLO COLLEGE:
Cabrillo College is a leading California community college serving Santa Cruz County with locations in Aptos, Scotts Valley and Watsonville. It is ranked #1 in transfers to UC Santa Cruz. Founded in 1959, the college offers over 100 academic and career technology programs that serve multiple educational goals such as A.A. and A.S. degrees, certificates of proficiency, skills certificates, transfer to 4-year institutions or for lifelong learning and personal enrichment. Our mission is to enhance the intellectual, cultural, and economic vitality of our diverse community by assisting all students in their quest for lifelong learning and success in an ever-changing world.
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