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Date of lecture: September 9, 2026
The Rutgers Public Design Internship Program placed eleven students at workplaces around the country to contribute to public design projects and community engagement. The purpose of the internship is not simply to give students opportunities to practice design; the intention is to expand what they understand ‘design’ to mean through real public work and community engagement.
Placements ranged from American Samoa to Puerto Rico, Atlanta, Newark, New Brunswick, NYC, and Philadelphia. Students worked in a wide range of professional settings, including design offices, such as Marvel Designs and NYC Parks, Trust for Public Land offices, a large public park, and a municipal parks and recreation department. We will also hear about an LAF Case Study for a Queens nature reserve.
Across these varied settings, students encountered aspects of landscape architecture that extended well beyond producing drawings. Through working with communities, clients, public agencies, and design professionals, they developed a broader understanding of what design skills entail—and how design can be used to listen, engage, collaborate, and respond to complex public needs. More than just something that you make, design is something you do with people, places, and communities.
Students reflect on how their understanding of design and their own emerging professional identities changed through this work. The internships offered not simply an opportunity to practice drawing and design, but transformative learning experiences in which students discovered new ways of seeing, thinking, collaborating, and making a difference through landscape architecture.
Speakers
- Gene Sinnung, Karessa Falcon-Jiminez: Marvel International, Puerto Rico
- Logan Chin, Natalie Mufalli: Trust for Public Land, Atlanta
- Bella Hoy: Trust for Public Land, Philadelphia
- Phoebe Chou: Perez Planning + Design, virtual office
- Maddie Bideaux: Branch Brook Park, Newark
- Annaya Syed: NYC Parks, NYC
- Saanvi Bhattarai: Rutgers University Landscape Architect’s Office, New Brunswick
- Lola Wong: Parks and Recreation, American Samoa
- Brooke Belmonte: LAF Case Study, Queens, NYC