Going for the Gold: The Philadelphia Flower Show

The crew working on the 2017 UD Philadelphia Flower Show exhibit
The crew working on the 2017 UD Philadelphia Flower Show exhibit

This week on Campus Voices, we visited South Campus to talk to Jules Bruck, an associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Jules, along with students in the Landscape Architecture major and the RSO Design Innovation Group (DIG), are participating in the Philadelphia Flower Show. The Philadelphia Flower Show (March 11th – 19th) is an educational competition that takes place in Philadelphia each March. This year’s theme, “Holland Blooms,” depicts how the Dutch use green infrastructure in their everyday lives. Teams from several area universities compete to create a project that best exemplifies this theme.

Students begin working on the project a year in advance. Each spring, a class of students competes to create the best design for the project; the winning design is the one that is built. From here, the fall semester consists of obtaining material and a strong workforce. Construction begins during the University’s winter session. Soon, the tireless efforts of the team will be finished, as they strive for gold at the exhibition.

The Interview

Jules Bruck and the Landscape and Architecture team, recored on March 2nd, 2017. First aired on March 9th, 2017.
25:58
49.9 MB

About Our Guests

Jules Bruck earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Penn State University; the former in Landscape Contracting and the latter Ornamental Horticulture. She received her Ph.D. in Agriculture Education and Leadership from Texas A&M University. Jules is currently an associate professor in UD’s Landscape Architecture department.

Jules Bruck (left) answering questions from WVUD’s Matt Hewett (right)

Stefanie Hansen is an associate professor in UD’s Theater department. Stefanie has helped to make the project appear more like a theater set. She has thoroughly enjoyed working with the students and faculty involved on this, and hopes to engage more students in the theater department in years to come. Stefanie attended San Diego State University.

Anna Wik is an associate professor, along with Bruck, in the Landscape Architecture department. Anna has been crucial in helping with the technology necessary for building the set. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Iowa, and later received her Master’s in Landscape Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Tess Strayer is the President of the Design Innovation Group (DIG). She is currently an environmental science major at UD. Although she is not in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Tess loves the new challenges she has been faced with when working on this project.

Maggie Heffernan is the Head of Creative Details for the project. Maggie is currently a landscape architecture major and an art minor at UD. She enjoys being able to combine both of her disciplines on one project.

Jose (JJ) Lopez is the Construction Manager for the set. He is in charge of making sure the design is implemented according to plan, and helps his peers with building. He is currently a landscape architecture major at UD.

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Credits:
Matt Hewett: Host, recording engineer, photographer
Julia Giambastiani: Audio editor
Sam O’Donnell: Web page author and editor, photographer