Canal Wild: Reclaiming the Edge
2025 AIAVT Emerging Professionals Design Charrette

This year’s AIAVT Emerging Professionals Design Charrette, held at the South Burlington Senior Center, invited participants to reimagine Burlington’s Pine Street Barge Canal—a 28-acre brownfield that has transformed from an industrial site into an unexpected refuge for wildlife. Under the theme “Canal Wild: Reclaiming the Edge,” three teams explored how design can celebrate the site’s evolving ecology while acknowledging its complex history.

The design challenge called for a “wild observatory”—a low-impact landscape intervention that encourages visitors to observe, engage with, and learn from the canal’s flora and fauna. Teams were encouraged to use reclaimed materials, design for multi-species use, and tell the story of the site’s journey from pollution to resilience.

• Team One, Sabian Garcia (NU) and Hannah Bacon (NU), proposed a minimal intervention: a single pavilion placed at the heart of the site, offering a quiet space for reflection and observation that honors the canal’s natural recovery.

• Team Two, Nora Dunigan (NU) and Eleanor D’Aponte, AIA, envisioned a defined programmatic perimeter, activating the park’s edges with new connections to Burlington City Arts and the Farmers Market. Their concept created an urban framework that filters activity between city and nature.

• Team Three, whose concept earned first place, designed an organic network of multi-level paths weaving through the site. Their proposal featured small, adaptable facilities built from reclaimed materials and included a micro-museum narrating the canal’s industrial past. The winning team—Mac Wood (SAS), Brian Dan Kamins (NU), and Alice Backe (NU)—was praised for its sensitivity, storytelling, and seamless integration with the site’s natural systems.

The charrette showcased the creativity and collaborative spirit of Vermont’s emerging designers, demonstrating how architecture and landscape can foster ecological restoration, cultural storytelling, and community connection.

AIAVT extends its gratitude to all participants, mentors, jurors, and sponsors for making Canal Wild an inspiring success.