Student Post #2

Hello Birmingham. I am Pratisha Shakya, a current second year student of Masters in Landscape Architecture from Auburn University. I completed my five year undergraduate in Architecture from Khwopa Engineering College, Purbanchal University, Nepal. My experience in Landscape Architecture is very different from what I learned during my undergrad. I feel that this degree has helped me gain practical knowledge. I am thus experiencing this from this project of “The Cut” as well. It has been two weeks that I have been here in Birmingham and I am enjoying the stay here. As Claire said, we are actively participating in different activities happening in downtown Birmingham. Birmingham really has lots of potential and opportunities for people. That is why in my understanding Birmingham is growing so fast. I also found Birmingham is one of the rare cities in US which has really preserved its history through time. I personally like the architecture and history of this city very much. Therefore, I am very positive in preserving the history of “The Cut” as well. Regarding our design, we had our first review which was very informative in which we presented our big idea in front of stakeholders. The feedback we got from that review greatly helped me to focus my idea on practical basis and communicated what Birmingham really needed right now, which is to engage people in lots of outdoor activities through “The Cut” as well as preparing a link from Railroad Park to Sloss Furnace. So, all of our big ideas relate that theme. For me it has been a great experience to explore Birmingham along with participating in fun activities out here in downtown. I love my stay here and it feels like it truly has a MAGIC within!