Portland teams up with Penn State geodesign students for Olympic bid
Penn states final review provided an opportunity for the students — from Hong Kong to Pennsylvania — to have a synchronic experience online. This was done in the Virtend environment with reviewers from Pepper Foster Consulting in Portland. This includes Damian Smith, founder and managing partner; Pia Shivdasani, consultant; and Jake Lovell, associate consultant; as well as Kelleann Foster, lead faculty member for the program and director of the PennState Stuckeman School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture; and Eliza Pennypacker, director of the Penn State Department of Landscape Architecture. Smith’s input in regard to Portland’s history and his on-site experience gave students a better context for the venues and chosen sites. The reviewers and Sipes agreed that the students managed to ask the right questions and successfully articulate their designs.
“This was a crazy project to give you,” admitted Sipes to his students at the end of the final review. “Realistically, if this were a professional project that you were going to work on, you’re probably working on this for the next five to 10 years. Then, you get to the end of the 10 years and you’re probably still not done. I’m very impressed.”
