Released May 07, 2007
URBANA, Ill. - University of Illinois students and others who cut through the south end of campus will tell you that the area just south of Allen Hall and north of the retention pond, was always flooded after a heavy rain -- nearly impassable for cyclists and a muddy mess for pedestrians, not to mention endangering the vitality of a large and majestic nearby red oak tree.
The recently completed Red Oak Rain Garden is a solution to the flooding problem that is a melding of art and function. The rocks and plantings create an attractive, environmentally aesthetic method of capturing and filtering storm water, while the art installation consisting of rusted fingers of steel add color and interest to the landscape.
The rain garden began as a project in Tony Endress' Restoration Ecology class. "My classes have been doing this kind of thing for nearly a decade," said Endress. "This is the first one implemented on the main campus, but not by any means the first one implemented. Endress is a botanist/plant ecologist/horticulturist, but also serves as CEO when his classes' projects move out of the classroom and into the real world.
Some of the real world clients that Endress' Restoration Ecology course has worked with are: the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Friends of Kickapoo Creek, Urbana Park District, Champaign County Forest Preserve District, Vermilion County Conservation District, Naperville Park District, Allerton Park, University of Illinois, and some private individuals.
"Student teams spend the entire semester responding to their particular client's charge," said Endress. "Students give an oral presentation of their recommendations in a public meeting that's juried by commercial restoration practitioners. Then they modify their recommendation and ultimately submit a final report and plan to the client."
Endress said that students in his class had to determine the amounts of storm water, light levels under the trees, types of soils, appropriate native plant species and sources, and quantities of materials needed.
U of I industrial design graduate student Jennifer Astwood designed the "Prairie Fire" steel art installation portion of the rain garden under the guidance of U of I assistant professor of art and industrial design Alex Fekete. The rusted metal "flames" embedded in the ground resemble the fingers on the front of farm machinery -- appropriate for the garden which is on the edge of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) campus.
"The sculpture is made from recycled core 10 steel, which rusts to a point and then stops," said Astwood. "The material was used to create the orange/red that makes up the Prairie Fire."
Astwood said that she developed 10 designs. There were other graduate students that submitted ideas, but a committee chose this concept for the rain garden.
"This is my first outdoor sculpture," said Astwood. "It was a challenge to take a concept into reality. I went from sketches to mock-ups. Another challenge was finding a metal shop that would produce the flames, and finding a metal shop that would make the sculpture at the budget prescribed by the University," she said.
The group of students designed and installed the rain garden with assistance from U of I's Facilities & Services and the City of Urbana and in cooperation with Housing Services.
The Red Oak Rain Garden is a BLUE Illinois Faculty/Student Project funded by Facilities & Services in conjunction with the Environmental Council.
For more information, including before and after pictures, visit http://www.fs.uiuc.edu/swmprojects/ViewProject.cfm?id=1
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http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news3997.html
Contacts: Anton Endress (217) 244-1679, aendress@uiuc.edu
Debra Levey Larson, (217) 244-2880, dlarson@uiuc.edu
