Source: College of Design, Construction, and Planning
Representing the human rights activism group called Action India, Gouri Choudhury once proclaimed, “It’s a question of belief in human dignity, which somewhere along the line we seem to have lost.”
Luckily for more than 524 million people in India, University of Florida senior landscape architecture majors Xiaoyu (Nikki) Zheng and Kate Noel believe in human dignity more than ever.
As a result of their project entitled “Rethinking A Fundamental Human Act: Landscape as a Solution for Open Defecation,” the duo were recently named winners of the American Society of Landscape Architects Award of Excellence in the inaugural Urban Design category. This new category recognized projects that activate networks of spaces mediating between social equity, economic viability, infrastructure, environmental stewardship and beautiful place-making in the public and private realm.
“Our college is committed to addressing societal challenges our world faces through the design of our built environment,” Department of Landscape Architecture Interim Chair Dan Manley said. “Receiving the 2020 ASLA Award of Excellence in Urban Design is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students and faculty, as well as the support we receive from our alumni. We are tremendously honored that the jury chose to recognize our students with such a prestigious award.”
Working out of the Undergraduate Urban Design Studio in the College of Design, Construction and Planning, Zheng and Noel submitted a project introducing sanitation facility designs and phasing in Raipur, India, proposing design solutions based on a theoretical framework highlighting causes, conditions and effects of open defecation. With more than half a billion people practicing open defecation in India, a vicious cycle of disease and poverty has arisen and led to child mortality, malnutrition, social inequity and violence against women and girls.
To read the full article, visit their website.