Beautiful Point Lookout State Park on the southernmost tip of Maryland’s Western shore may soon be underwater, but if that feels too distant to the campers, fishermen, and swimmers who visit every year, maybe a virtual tour of the place 10, 20, or 30 years from now will help them better grasp the future. That’s what students in AGNR’s Landscape Architecture (LARC) studio program were shooting for when they created a series of 360-degree 3D visualizations depicting the problem, as well as remedial infrastructure upgrades to help the park fight back against changing climate conditions.
The LARC team, including Nicolaas (Nico) Drummond, and Laura Crocker, in partnership with their professor Chris Ellis and Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR), was directly addressing sea-level rise, an unfortunate consequence of the world’s changing climate. It is already an issue that has plagued coastal homes and communities on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, turning once lush ecosystems into ghost forests, and thriving farms into decrepit remains of their former glory.
Strap on their VR headset and you’ll find yourself on a walkway in a park. All around you’ll see trees, a road, a marsh, and a vast coastline against the sky. Then comes the toll of a bell—which is meant to represent a ten-year jump forward—and suddenly the water encroaches up to the edges of marsh grass. Another bell tolls, and the water has hit the roadway. A final bell, and the water has now risen above your feet, and everything around you is inundated. But don’t dwell on the bad news because up next are the fixes, with VR depicted designs of floating wetlands, boardwalks, and raised viewing platforms, healthy living (stabilized) shorelines, migration of marshes to higher ground, and more.
“More so than sharing the design concepts, we wanted to convey to the park rangers that this environment is going to change,” Drummond said. “The conditions that they know now are not going to be the same in the future.”
“As landscape architects, we are helping people see what the future would look like,” Crocker said. “Don’t give up on these sites, as there are so many things we can do! There are still ways to make them ecological, habitable, and sustainable.”
With the conceptual designs now established under the guidance of DNR, the team hopes to see these projects move forward, working towards cost estimates for the build in pursuit of the ultimate goal, to see these upgrades realized to ensure the park thrives for decades into the future.
by Graham Binder
