Studio DC

Washington, DC

Studio DC equipped young people from Wards 5 and 7 with the tools to analyze and redesign environmental conditions in their own neighborhoods. Students learned about stormwater in order to propose implementable solutions rooted in place, equity, and public space.

The program strengthened partnerships between schools, universities, public agencies, and the design community, creating a visible pathway into landscape architecture, planning, and environmental careers.

Designing a Greener DC

• 2021–2022•

Studio DC was a paid high school design studio funded through a Community Stormwater Solutions Grant from the DC Department of Energy & Environment

Using the city as a classroom, Studio DC engaged high school students from across Washington, D.C. in a ten-week Saturday design studio focused on the Hickey Run and Nash Run subwatersheds of the Anacostia River. 

Students learned to apply design thinking to water quality challenges in their own neighborhoods. Through site visits, guest lectures, watershed mapping, and hands-on studio instruction, participants explored green infrastructure, urban planning, and landscape architecture as tools for environmental problem solving.

Over the course of ten six-hour studio sessions, students worked in plan and section, analyzed real sites, and developed landscape proposals that integrated bioretention, porous paving, rain gardens, tree preservation, cisterns, and community gathering spaces.

The program culminated in a public symposium at the National Building Museum, where students presented their final projects to an audience of more than 150 community members, professionals, and family supporters.

Hickey Run Subwatershed

2412 Rand Place NE

Students developed a concept titled Urban Oasis, which included:

  • A new recreation center

  • Tree preservation strategies

  • An island playground

  • Porous parking lot

  • Outdoor kitchen

  • Rain gardens

  • Basketball courts

  • Cistern integration

The proposal demonstrated how stormwater infrastructure could double as public space and neighborhood investment.

Nash Run Subwatershed

4748 Sheriff Road NE

Students developed a Water Park concept featuring:

  • Terraced bioretention

  • Porous paving

  • Street trees

  • Amphitheater

  • Porous alley

  • Grocery store and flea market plaza integration

The design addressed runoff mitigation while strengthening commercial activity and public gathering space.

At a Glance

Landscape Architecture Magazine

Featured in:

American Forests Magazine

ASLA’s The Dirt blog

Thank you to our Project Partners

  • Academy of Construction and Design

  • IDEA Public Charter School

  • Howard University College of Engineering and Architecture

  • National Building Museum

  • Landscape Architecture Foundation

  • American Society of Landscape Architects

  • DC Office of Planning

  • Anacostia Riverkeepe

  • SmithGroup

  • Additional local educators, designers, and environmental leaders