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Through two delayed flights, rescheduling, two pieces of lost luggage, a government shutdown, and a transportation strike that halted movement across France, two �ձ�av��Ƶ students persevered to compete — and place second — in the 2025 Nantes Charrette Design Competition. 

Seniors Autumn Gross of Huron and Miranda Peck of Glenville, New York, represented �ձ�av��Ƶ’s landscape architecture program at the International Federation of Landscape Architects Global Studio Program in Nantes, France, held Sept. 4-10. 

This success follows �ձ�av��Ƶ's 2024 participation in the Global Studio Program, where �ձ�av��Ƶ took third place in Istanbul and won the Excellence Award in Taiwan. 

The international design charrette brought together students and professionals from around the world to develop innovative landscape design concepts. Throughout the intensive four-day workshop, participants collaborated in teams to research, design and present site-based projects to an international jury. 

Peck’s team consisted of eight students from the Philippines, Taiwan, India, France and Turkey. The group earned second-place recognition for their project titled “Living Compass: A Landscape That Guides Through Temporality and Movement.” 

The team’s concept celebrated the natural rhythms of the site, emphasizing seasonal color changes, daily shifts in light and fluctuating water levels. Their proposal featured small-scale interventions — such as elevated boardwalks, viewing towers and pedestrian bridges — to enhance the visitor experience and connect fragmented green spaces. 

Peck said the experience was both challenging and rewarding, offering opportunities to learn new design techniques, strengthen cross-cultural collaboration, and explore innovative approaches to landscape architecture. 

“I learned a lot from both my teammates and the tutors, projects I never would have heard of, technical skills in programs I don’t think I’d acquire elsewhere, and new approaches to both design and landscape in general,” Peck said. 

The International Federation of Landscape Architects Student Design Charrette is held annually in conjunction with the IFLA World Congress and provides emerging designers with practical experience addressing real-world landscape and urban design issues. 

The students were accompanied by Robert Dalton, assistant professor of landscape architecture, and Pat Crawford, director of the School of Design. Dalton presented at the IFLA World Congress on the School of Design’s academic assessment strategy, sharing methods and findings with the international community. 

Dalton attributed much of the students’ success to the soft skills they developed throughout their time in the School of Design. 

“Their ability to walk into a group of strangers and get to work, their communication skills, their attitude — those soft skills are such an intrinsic part of landscape architecture,” Dalton explained. “It demonstrates that they can walk into an office after graduation anywhere in the country — if not the world — and they have the foundational skills to succeed. Placing is great, but I’m happier when I see them step up as leaders on their team.” 

Gross said the experience provided a unique learning opportunity. 

“I loved learning about the different classes people were taking and methods of teaching they use,” Gross said. “Many students only do hand drawings instead of digital work, so it was fun to see their drawings in comparison to what I learned.” 

Peck echoed the value of the experience, noting how the variety of skills she’s learned in the School of Design were put to practice. 

“There were reflections of many classes I’ve taken in the School of Design during the process of the charrette project,” Peck explained. “Some of the most prevalent skills I used while in Nantes were site inventory and analysis, creative thinking and the design process, site planning, ecological awareness and graphic design used to create drawings, diagrams and the final posters that tied our project together from start to finish.” 

Peck continued, “Learning these indispensable skills from classes in the School of Design at �ձ�av��Ƶ made me more observant, efficient and creative throughout the entire process; my work in Nantes was a direct representation of the skills I’ve learned in the landscape architecture program and the School of Design beyond.”