The University of Kentucky Department of Landscape Architecture will host a workshop to develop design and planning proposals for a new public green space on abandoned railroad property adjacent to UK’s campus.

The department, part of the College of Agriculture, will collaborate with UK students, members of the community and the Design Workshop, an international landscape architecture and planning firm, to make new use of the property that runs between Scott and Bolivar streets behind University Lofts and UK’s Reynolds Building in Lexington.

The five-day charrette—a method for organizing thoughts from experts and stakeholders in a structured, but unrestricted medium conducive to creativity— will take place at the E.S. Good Barn on the UK campus April 17-21.

“It is going to be an amazing event,” said Ryan Hargrove, UK landscape architecture faculty member.

More than 100 faculty and students from landscape architecture, fine arts, music therapy, arts in healthcare, engineering and architecture will participate in the charette. Students will have an opportunity to draw up final plans and recommendations and present them to the public and invited guests April 21 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

“The site presents a unique set of challenges but also provides the opportunity to infuse a creative, multidisciplinary approach into the design process,” said Ed Krafcik, Design Workshop project manager. “We believe that the students can make a substantial contribution in creating a plan for the site that makes it a special destination in the future.”

Krafcik will lead the five-day session along with Kurt Culbertson, Design Workshop chairman. Hargrove and UK landscape architecture lecturer Carolina Segura will lead the UK efforts. Segura is a former Design Workshop employee.

Design Workshop has led similar collaborations in university communities across the United States. They provide landscape architecture, urban design, land planning and strategic services to clients throughout the world. The company’s efforts have been recognized with more than 150 awards from such organizations as the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Planning Association and the Urban Land Institute including the American Society of Landscape Architects Firm of the Year Award in 2008.  Design Workshop is known for its DW Legacy Design® methodology, which measures project performance in four key areas of sustainability: environment, economics, community and art. For more information, visit http://www.designworkshop.com.

The UK landscape architecture department offers the only accredited professional degree in landscape architecture in Kentucky. For more information, visit http://www.uky.edu/Ag/LA/.