2025 RRSLA INTERNSHIP BLOG

  Week 3 This CAD Monkey has officially evolved. I have moved off blocks and have begun developing CD’s. It started with details, but by the end of the week I was just told to make a demo plan and layout plan with all the ref notes and everything and got to it. It feels much better to see my work go into a final package. Excited to see how much more I can develop my skills. I already have learned so much about LandFx.  On the non-work related side. I hung out with some people from USF some more and have enjoyed the community they have going on over there. Currently just trying to balance the work time with free time. I also just started another YouTube Channel called TheFilmMinors (go sub and follow on insta) so I’ve been working on stuff for that. Still pretty exhausted so hopefully I can get a restful weekend in.  Also I bought a ticket to visit epic universe so that’s exciting. Anyway bye guys.  - Logan

  Week 2:  Week 2 was good. Got introduced to more projects and started looking into a process to standardize renderings so good looking renderings can be made swiftly. I also was given a bunch of markups to look over and change. Also made a jillion blocks.  Made it over to another young adult and church group and really liked the atmosphere so hopefully I can meet more people from there. To finish off the week, my family came in to celebrate my step brothers birthday at Disney and Universal. It was total chaos and now I’m exhausted going into the next week, but glad to be here! Hope everyone is going well.  - Logan Randazzo

  Week 1:  What’s up SlowBrogang, how’s everyone doing? Unfortunately I can’t hear your response but hopefully you said good. Anyway I’m interning at Conner Landscape Architects which is a small firm located in Tampa, FL and I’m liking it so far. This week there was just a lot of learning to do about the systems that are in place. The firm is currently in the process of standardizing a lot of things such as details and rendering so this week I spent a lot of time doing that. Just making different blocks that can be placed into details and plans and what not. Finished the week with a site visit to a very high end residential project and that was sweet.  I’ve been in the city for about two weeks now and it’s got so much to do. I caved and bought an annual pass to Disney so I have been there a couple of times and I’ve also visited some churches and college ministries and hopefully I’ll be making friends soon!  Went to eat with Michael at a Korean BBQ place as well...

Hey yall! I just got payed and am feeling good because it's Friday! This blog post is gonna be mostly pictures but still with juicy updates. This is one of the streetscape projects I've been involved in. We're basically making the sidewalks all ADA and adding in some pedestrian crosswalks. Just showing what the sidewalks look like and showing a big crack that would totally bring a struggle to any wheelchair rider. Fun fact... the curbs on these sidewalks are over a foot high from the road up. This is a percolation test for some bioswale soil at one of our sites. All you do is let water drip through a cup of the soil and measure how fast the water level drops every 30 seconds with this tube doohikey thing. You do this about 3 times then average all the ending numbers together and that's how you get the MPI(minutes per inch). Crazy stuff right there I could not figure out how to rotate this but this is a study area I'm thinking about for my Cap Stone Project. Not sure...

Blog #1 – Jalen Winburn Hello all, I hope everyone is having great times at their internships! In my first week at Confluence in Minneapolis, it was all about learning the systems and how things work here: file structure, licensing, AutoCAD standards, company structure, and how project timelines and budgets work. On my first day, I was able to introduce myself to everyone in the office and get settled onto my desk and computer. In our office there are only 10 of us, including myself and another intern who is also a 4th-year landscape architecture student but at the University of Minnesota. After the first week, and once I was settled in, I was able to start helping around the office for several projects. One thing that surprised me in my first few weeks here was how many projects we are working on at the same time. After my first month and a half, I have already worked on about 30 different projects ranging from amenity decks on rooftops for condos/apartments to city parks around the M...

  It has already been well over 7 weeks since I started in early January. Time flies.   "As we keep living and as we keep being positive, all we can do is hold onto these memories." Another couple of weeks setting up sketchup models, proposing Lumion planting designs and wrapping up detail sheets for construction documents on Autocad.  I was also assigned  to come up with the planting and material palette for 2 projects in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area. I happily organized many pages of native plant selections from Overstory trees, understory trees, large shrubs, small shrubs, deciduous shrubs, evergreen shrubs, perennials, bulbs, grasses, and vines. I was using a combination of ladybird plant database as well as inaturalist to see if the plants actually exist naturally in the area. It is saddening to see hydrangeas, bridal wreath spirea, boxwoods, distyliums, crepe myrtles, and chinese elms still getting used when the local ecology allows plenty of native diversi...

GEAUX JEAUX  My first attempt at a blog while interning at SWT Design in St. Louis, MO       During my first week at SWT Design I was debriefed on three projects that I would begin to contribute to. First, I was introduced to SEED STL’s demonstrative garden near the Delmar Divine. Project manager Scott and Ted led a sketch session where they caught me up on existing concepts. For this project, I created a hardscape paving and site walls/furnishings material board and a plant palette. I searched through the reference library to use products that SWT has used before, while learning the ins and outs of the drive. During the same sketch session I was introduced to the project on Lagoon Dr., a Forest Park entrance redesign. The 3 rd project I was introduced to this week was a project the KC studio is working on located in North Kansas City. The project is River Forest Park, managed by Lance. Lance briefed Corey and I on the project and from there Corey and I did res...

  Week 5-6: Challenges Mount The work intensifies. The city demands more. And I must deliver. The Work     A brief retreat home . Valentine ’ s Day. My mother ’ s birthday. Even warriors need respite.     The signage and wayfinding presentation takes form. The city must be seen, understood. ·   Roundabout wayfinding and sculptures — giving character to a place still defining itself. American Basketflower    SketchUp models and Lumion renderings — visions evolve, plans shift. 2023 me wouldn't understand     Then, the illness. Three days lost to the abyss.     Sidewalk sketches and modeling — the unseen arteries of the city. ADA compliance is the law. Aesthetic cohesion is the challenge. Street.   A brush with deception. Almost fell victim to the unseen enemy — a work email scam. Thought my boss needed Apple gift cards, four of them, $500 each. Drove to Apple, ready to serve. Reality hit before the transaction did. Le...

Week 3-4: The City Speaks Onboarding finally ends, delayed by the icy grasp of winter. But now, the real work begins. The Mission ·          CAD updates for aging park elements. The past must be honored, but it must also be improved. ·                  -    A presentation for new site elements—visions of the future. ·                    -    Cost estimates. Numbers tell a story, but not the whole one. The Field Calls A site visit —eight parks, each whispering their needs. Signage and wayfinding, the unsung heroes of public space. We observe, analyze, take notes. Then, the ambush. Squirrels. Too many to count. Their motives? Unclear. Their presence? Unnerving. Suspect 1 Suspect 2 Suspect 3 Gathering Intel: Lunch and Learn Spruce and Gander. A name that carries weight. Materials, applications, insights. ...

The city breathes , and I find myself adjusting to its rhythm. The internship begins— a new world, new expectations. I navigate its corridors, absorbing workflows, learning the tools of the trade . Training in the Art of Design They put me through their trials: CAD, Photoshop, SketchUp, Lumion. Each one a different weapon in an architect’s arsenal. Mastery is the goal. Adaptation is survival. In between, I meet the ones they call "Northside." Lunch is exchanged, pleasantries traded. Another day, another connection. The mentor/mentee lunch was insightful— veterans passing wisdom to the recruits. The Cold Comes for Us All Houston. It isn’ t supposed to snow. But it did. The city slowed. I worked from home, watching the world freeze for a moment. Snow The Hunt for Sustenance ·          The 401 (New American) o     Food: 4/10 – Disappointing. A meal should leave a mark; this one faded before it began. o   ...

Wow, has it been a month already? I feel like the weeks have been going by so quickly! I know they told us offices move at a faster pace but damn, I feel like it was literally last week that I moved back to Texas. Lately, I’ve been working more on the technical aspects of a project, like cost estimates, detecting square footage, creating sheet sets. I feel like everyday that goes by I learn something new about AutoCAD (will I ever be a real cad monkey?) So far I still haven’t been to a site visit (sigh..) but then again they said it’s always slow this time of year and that most of the projects on Team Oak are pretty far out (some in completely different states and countries!) Giant streetscape with every layer you could imagine on I’m definitely the busiest I’ve been since I left school. Even my free time isn’t very relaxing, I’ve been going out a lot more with friends and playing tennis on the weekends when I can. Last weekend I visited a speakeasy in my hometown’s square with my best...

 GRADING... Today I spent every minute grading the whole New Branch Horse Ranch in New Orleans. I had two maps to use one was spot elevations and the other was a topo trends map with 4 two interval contour lines. Which like I know what you are thinking.. Ava that's literally all you need.. BUT NO YALL the maps didn't line up in the slightest bit and were very contradicting to each other AND WERE BLURRY AS HECK! And the site is originally at a 0.2% slope and we wanted to get it to like 1-2% but not make OD changes because we dont want to have to ship soil off if there is extra.. blah blah yall get the point.  I really wanted to just jump out my desk window right then and there. I'm not even sure how I even got through any of the grading classes we took throughout the years. Shout out to y'all for helping ya girl out. BUT DANG I was SCARED  Also mind you whole time Dana was explaining the project to me she was saying she doesn't even know where to start so goodluck.. ...