TRANSITION

Set within the Sarita Wetland Restoration, this design celebrates the monumental scale of an Eastern Cottonwood, a 7' diameter giant with a 120' canopy. The intervention emerged from an analysis of the human body’s struggle against steep topography and the shifting moisture of the wetland floor. Transition proposes a gradual ramp, anchored by a stone retaining wall harvested from an on-site rock pit, that descends toward the Cottonwood’s roots. The path transitions from light to dark gravel, a tactile metaphor for the passage of time. Sustainability is woven into the experience: fallen Hackberry trees are reborn as mulch and a restorative bench. Framed by a corridor of Tamarack and White Spruce, the journey offers a rhythmic seasonal dialogue against the dense Box Elder saplings.