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SPECIAL
RECOGNITION

UC DAVIS ARBORETUM COMPETITION
Davis, CA

UC DAVIS ARBORETUM COMPETITION. Entrance View rendering.

The brief asked for the 150-acre arboretum along an existing creek to form a new entrance to the university campus.  Triangular shaped earthworks line the arboretum along the freeway interchange and provide the entry identification for the access to the campus.  A grid of allées unifies the site and provides orientation, direction, identity and scale. Cascading hyacinth water purification ponds provide continuous water flow to the creek. Recreational boating, a new marina, channels and water fountains line the creek.  Experimental, recreational, natural history and demonstration gardens provide multiple experiences of enclosed and open landscape spaces.

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EARTH SCULPTURE

Triangular tilted earthworks form the edge of the site.

Identification of entry to UC Davis from freeways.

Field plantings on tilted surfaces display historic agricultural role.

Major car parks at sunken triangles under tree canopies.

Earth mounds contain major buildings

Cut and fill from lower terrace, lakes, hyacinth ponds to earth mounds.

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WATER

Cascading hyacinth water purification ponds provide new water source.

Added lakes with continuous flow towards east rectify stagnation.

Recreational boating.

Irrigation channels in fields.

UC DAVIS ARBORETUM COMPETITION. Site Plan

UC DAVIS ARBORETUM COMPETITION

Special recognition award.

Christoph Kapeller in collaboration with Elsa Leviseur (landscape architect) and Judith van Euer (artist)

Scope: competition design

Client: University of California, Davis

Size: 150-acres

Year: 1988

Project Type: institutional

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