Nicklaus Fawver

Project Type: Internship

 

For my Signature Project, I had an internship at a civil engineering firm where I worked under their landscape architect. I worked with him on of document setup, landscape planting plans, planting design, new-build concept work, and a few roadway projects with ODOT.

 

Through this project I began to realize what it is really like to do design work in the real world. There’s nobody there looking over your shoulder and checking in every step of the way, nobody there making suggestions for your problems. I can’t show up with a half thought out idea and expect someone to lead me in a direction. I would be given a task and must figure it out as I went sometimes, then I would go to Michael, the LA I was working with, and we would talk through what I came up with. He would point out things that needed to be standardized or corrected and I would go through and fix them and then I would begin asking questions about why things were made the way they are.

I learned that there are a lot of restrictions in design work. There is a standard drawing or detail to nearly everything I will ever design. Designs are unique, but page layouts and the information on them are regulated. These regulations change with every city or county we do work in. All this information then must be approved by that county, so they have a large influence over what can be designed. I learned that design work isn’t about making the most elaborate or breathtaking building or landscape, it’s about working with the land you’re given to maintain the character of a site and solve the challenges of the existing conditions to create desirable spaces. I learned what direction I really want to take in a landscape architecture profession.

 

Throughout my STEP Project I began building relationships with people within my firm as well as through the City of Columbus. At Mannik&Smith, I worked directly under their licensed Landscape Architect, Michael D. Lentz. Michael is an alumnus of OSU and has been working as an LA since 1994. Michael became a senior project manager at Mannik&Smith a year and a half ago and as a result, I worked on most of the projects he managed this past summer. Michael started the summer off by bringing me in to the middle of a few projects he had in the Columbus area. They were all at a stage where most of the design was done and he needed some sheet adjustments done in AutoCAD. This made up my first few weeks of work as Michael judged how much I knew about the programs we were using.

After Michael and the other project managers were able to get a feel for my capabilities, they started giving me more responsibilities and getting me involved in the opening of new projects. At the end of the first month I had my first project kick-off meeting and site visit. The site visit involved me creating a basic design concept for a small commercial development at the last infill site left in Zanesville, Ohio. When we went to the site, we met with the broker who recently purchased the land and hired us. This was my first interaction with a real client. Michael and I had to discuss my concept, walk through the site, discuss the construction process, and receive his feedback on the design along with anything he would like us to create.

At Mannik&Smith, I also had the opportunity to work under Beth Thornton, the roadway team leader at our office, and Randy VanTilburg, the project manager I worked under aside from Michael. Through Beth, I got the opportunity to work with ODOT on the development of a few new roads in Columbus and learn about Microstation, a design software I had never seen before. When working with Randy, I was focused more in the technicalities of site design. Randy taught me how to do cost estimated for development, calculate quantities for materials needed, and create effective graphics for project proposals.

 

My work at the Mannik&Smith Group, Inc. gave me a glimpse of where my college decisions are taking me in the future. I am taking a professional practice class this semester and we recently had a discussion with an LA in California named Mike Todoran. He shared with us a piece of advice that really stuck with me. He told us that when we start in a firm, we must find one or two things to become good at so that we make ourselves into a more asset to the office. My work with Michael and Randy has showed me that I want to focus on becoming an expert at the plants used in planting design and the creation of construction drawings when I begin my work as an LA. This is something I am now considering as I start signing up for Landscape Seminar classes and electives.

In working with Beth and following a few discussions with her about my future, I’ve concluded that I would like to work on roadway projects because I really enjoyed creating drawings for ODOT. I have been considering a minor in City and Regional Planning as well as getting APA (American Planners Association) certified in the future to allow me to work in both city planning a landscape architecture. This is a license I can get with a BSLA (Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture) along with a few years of planning experience.

One thought on “Nicklaus Fawver

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *