The Landscape Architecture Program hosted an event on April 19 in Hunt Hall to give eight UC Davis seniors and 11 graduate students from China a chance to pitch their proposals for developing the 44-acre Nishi Property on Davis' south side.

The students from China's Harbin Institute of Technology teamed up with the Davis seniors for a weeklong workshop in which they crafted sustainable site design alternatives. Each proposal contained 600 units of housing and space for an Innovation Hub. Developments had to have zero net energy (produce as much energy as they used), qualify for a rating of LEED-ND Platinum from the U.S. Green Building Council, and emphasize travel by bicycle, foot, or public transit rather than private cars.

The UC Davis West Village neighborhood is the city's first zero-net-energy development, and the Nishi project could be the second. “This could solidify UC Davis' role as a center of sustainable development,” says Stephen Wheeler, an associate professor in Landscape Architecture. By hosting the recent event, UC Davis gained from the Chinese students' ideas and perspectives, and the visitors walked away with first-hand experience on what it's like to study at UC Davis.

Check out the plans of the Nishi Charrette Davis Village.

This is just another example of what makes UC Davis America's 'Coolest School'.

Photo Credit: Stephen Wheeler.