Madeline Kirschner- Carbo #1

 Hi Everyone! 

I just got into the blog, but I enjoyed reading about everyones' experiences. I miss you studio peeps, but I do appreciate that the people at Carbo remind me of our studio culture. We go to lunch every Friday and this upcoming week, we are going to top golf as an office. They talk about random things throughout the day as an office and I really appreciate the time they have spent teaching me different things. 

I have been enjoying work at Carbo during the week. While the ice day was not fun, I have enjoyed going by the river in the afternoons and seeing the sunset. Downtown is such an interesting place. People flock to the area during the day, yet at night, it remains pretty empty. I am hoping that some revitalization happens in the future. I always wonder why Baton Rouge does not borrow more from New Orleans' culture. 

Carbo works on a large scale of projects and there is a head person over residential, institutional, and municipal. I think that I lean towards the institutional and municipal side, but it is fun to pay attention to the details and I hope to work on some planting plans soon. 

I just finished my first solo project this past Friday for a boat launch in Houma. It was fun to work on and see how Jeff and the other designers think. Zach,  who came and spoke to our class, sits behind me and is very helpful in drawing things by hand. He goes through trace paper like a maniac but you can see him working out ideas for designs and displaying diagrams with his pen. 

I have had small tasks on the Greenwood Zoo (choosing plants to mimic different landscapes/ reforestation modules), a sculpture plaza and a master plan for the Burden Center with Susan Turners' office.  The office is working with a Native American tribe to put a meadow on the Indian Mounds. Its going to take close to 3 million dollars and they are going to need to widen the street, but this past week, students were sledding down them and people were not happy. Afterall, they're older than the pyramids!

I am enjoying it so much and I am very hopeful for the future of Baton Rouge if our projects are any indication! I hope to catch up with yall soon. 

Jacob and I are beginning to plan LABASH 2022 if anyone wants to be a part of that :) I am also hopeful that we will get to go to the ASLA conference in Nashville, Keeley. 

Have a wonderful week.