The creative work of student landscape designers soon will refresh the outdoor surroundings of Mumford Hall on the University of Missouri's historic White Campus. The building notably displays a lot of character and history, but, in comparison, its exterior environment is looking tired.
So the six students in Instructor Tim Moloney’s Advanced Landscape Design course welcomed the challenge of gaining real-world experience through a Mumford Hall landscaping update. Creating a new look for the 93-year-old building was the midterm work for their Capstone Course in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.
Chief designer of the chosen landscape plan is Liz Leingang of St. Louis, a senior with a double major in civil engineering and plant sciences, who loves working outside. Seeing her design on campus became an unexpected and inspiring opportunity for Leingang, who is on track to graduate in December.
“I’m very excited to leave my mark on Mizzou. The site was surprisingly difficult. It was very important to make a landscape that would require as little maintenance as possible,” she says.
An ad hoc selection committee of Mumford Hall faculty and staff, led by Joseph Parcell, department chair and professor of agricultural and applied economics, opted to incorporate pieces of three designs in the updating and awarded Mizzou Store gift cards to the winning students.
Leingang’s plan best addressed the year-round aesthetic and had a package for the whole building, Moloney says.
Reviewed 2015-07-06