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Nicole was part of Landscape Architecture’s Center for Community Design Research where she worked on a project called the Freedom Garden with the city of Syracuse. The city tore down a couple of abandoned homes and asked CCDR to develop the space into something that would help the neighborhood. The project was highlighted in a college television program called Improve Your World with SUNY-ESF. The following video is from that broadcast.
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Nicole Formoso
Landscape Architecture Major
“It’s a major plus. No matter what you expected it’s always 100 percent better than you assumed,” said landscape architecture student Nicole Formoso of her semester abroad.
The fifth-year off-campus semester is the signature component for ESF’s Landscape Architecture program. Students formulate a study topic then chose a country based on the best place in the world to study that topic, then make their own travel and living arrangements. “You have an advisor, but it’s mostly self-driven,” Formoso said.
Formoso, who also serves as the student representative to ESF’s Board of Trustees, said by the time the off-campus semester arrives, students are ready to put what they’ve learned to the test. “It definitely tests your time management and self motivation.”
Formoso chose to study the factors that contribute to the value of an historic district in Amsterdam, Netherlands. “I saw buildings that were built in 1190 and my jaw was just gaping every time. To walk through buildings that have seen feudalism and every form of government and so much history was amazing. Amsterdam keeps their old buildings instead of tearing them down and they’re very solid.” Because Amsterdam is a small city, she said, the residents know how to make the space they have work.
Nicole Formoso—Landscape Architecture
Associate Professor Robin Hoffman served as Formoso’s advisor for her off-campus semester and noted a distinct change in Nicole. Like many ESF students, Formoso runs at a fast pace and is very task oriented. “I think she learned how important it is to slow down — stop, look and listen. Nicole learned the value of an afternoon spent in an outdoor café sipping coffee while people watching. She saw not only what was happening in the world around her but also, through careful observation, she learned about another culture’s relationship to their places and how this process of discovery will serve to inform design decisions throughout her career.”
“To go and see places for oneself has always been a necessary step in the education of landscape architects. Such experiences become touchstones for future careers,” said Richard Hawks, chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture.
The off-campus experience leaves a lasting impression. “When you come back you feel so much more mature and ready to go out and do something. Having lived on your own and traveled abroad you now know you can take on the world,” said Formoso.
After graduation, Formoso plans to head to Portland, Oregon, to work in sustainable development and green design. “I want to make architecture and landscape architecture last for years to come in a green way,” she said. The West Coast is on the cutting edge of sustainable design, she said and she hopes to eventually return to the East Coast to apply that knowledge to building and design.
