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Organization
Marvel International, Puerto Rico
Bio
Gene is a fourth-year landscape architecture student with an interest in forestry and education. He aspires to do hands-on work with underserved communities as an educator and designer in the public sector. Gene is grateful to be working with Marvel to further their design visions in collaboration with the local community in the San Juan area. In his free time, Gene enjoys being outdoors and printmaking.
Project description
Coordinating with María Gabriela Huertas Díaz (Manager of the Restoration of the Guachinanga and Guachinangita Islets) and Fernando Silva-Caraballo (Director of the Institute of Sciences for the Conservation of Puerto Rico), the landscape architecture interns focused on revisiting plans for a public natural area on islet Guachinanga. The site is located in the San Jose lagoon, between the municipalities of San Juan and Carolina, near the Martin Pena channel. Over the span of several weeks, a site visit was conducted, two community meetings with the Cantera Peninsula community across from the islet were held to receive updated feedback and information for the islet’s design, and an updated report containing relevant information for new design considerations was generated.
Final reflection – what I learned
The most valuable experience was being able to work in a real-world scenario and make an impact on a project that has been in the works for over a decade. Developing professionalism by showing up to work punctually, coordinating meetings with the Cantera Peninsula community and across several different organizations, gaining mentorship to the landscape architecture and architecture teams at Marvel, has given me insight into my future career choices within the field.
