once upon a time in a city not so far away…

Fairy-tale scholars Pauline Greenhill and Sidney Eve Matrix (2010) have defined fairy tales as “fictional narratives that combine human and nonhuman protagonists with elements of wonder and the supernatural”. This intensive design studio was inspired by the Fairy Tales design competition (www.blankspaceproject.com) and tackled real world issues through the lens of creativity.

The studio focused on presenting different interpretations of urban and urbanization to consider the social, economic and environmental transformations underway in our cities. The rise of negative social processes is most evident in cities, where key social conflicts often center on socio-spatial rights and needs.

Students each selected a city that they held extensive personal experience and during the course of the studio they developed a text based fictional fairy tale (800-1400 words). Each fairy tale identifies a unique challenge and uses narrative to present landscape architecture responses.

Students: Jude Brown, Stephanie Sells, Tim Spenser, Rachel Yahn, Basalt Li, Omar Estrada, Sofia Segebre, Lauren Homer, Ky Hong Nguyen, Stephanie Roh, & Adrianna Scott

Review Team: Jeff Sandler, Donny Donoghue, Sierra Druley, Jean Ni, Chih-Ping (Karen) Chen, Dick Hemmen P.E., Ariana Cantu, Katie Idziorek, Kristi Park & Nina Mross