Planning healthy cities, studying urban ecosystems, and creating equity through design are my passions.
I hold professional degrees in Architecture and Geodesign, I have traveled to all but two continents, and I practice yoga daily. I'm fluent in Spanish, grew up on the beach, and am learning to garden.
My goal is to design cities and architecture that benefit many generations to come through their holistic resilience and adaptability. For me, sustainable design is not just what I do, but it is also what I love and I am even lucky enough to consider it my purpose. My skillset is best leveraged when working with communities to help them gain the ability to be sustained. I am constantly seeking growth through challenging new experiences and inspiring teamwork.
After recently completing an internship and masters degree in Geodesign, I am motivated to work in an environment that is multidisciplinary and encourages a holistic systems approach to design. I have advanced technical skills with a number of computer and GPS softwares including ArcGIS, CityEngine, Rhinoceros, SketchUp, Adobe CS6, and AutoCad.
Langan Engineering & Environmental Services, Philadelphia, PA, US, Sustainable Planner
Responsibilities as an employee on both the Landscape Architecture and Planning and the GIS teams were to: prepare initial maps of natural resources and site analyses for new land development sites, study systems from a sustainability perspective, create 3d models and visualizations of new designs, synthesize deliverables from team in booklet or presentation form for client meetings, visit campus sites to gather information for new projects
Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, PA, US, Masters, Geodesign
Geodesign is sustainability in practice, the study of which provides an understanding of how geospatial technologies can be used to design more successful master plans. This framework for managing the integration of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning is designed to encourage feedback loops between stakeholders and designers so that the result is a holistic and resilient urban ecosystem. View my website for some example projects: http://veronicaanderson33.wix.com/designs#!geodesign/cj5l
Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, US, BArch, Architecture
The culmination of this five year architectural degree is a thesis that demonstrates how architecture can catalyze change by empowering citizens, strengthening ecosystems, and conserving resources. Looking at the least sustainable city in Latin America, Lima, Peru, as a test site for a prototypical intervention, a living system was proposed that enhanced the resiliency of informal settlements in this desert city. Resiliency was achieved in the community by weaving together 300 families, self-built structures, and constructed wetlands which allowed the community to recycle their grey water and reuse it on site for doing the dishes, washing laundry, and taking showers. The intervention is a response to the decreasing availability of water in Lima, the increasing housing crisis, and a need for economic stimulus. The project is seen as a prototypical solution to the increasing numbers of informal settlements in the third world which lack basic resources like water, sewage treatment, and power infrastructure.
Temple University Library Prize for Research in Sustainability and the Environment, Honorable Mention
The award was in recognition of the thesis research performed for the project, Urban Climate Catalyst: Lima, Peru.