Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis College of Art is a nationally ranked center of art and design education. Ritchie Smith Associates prepared a landscape master plan to enhance the campus appearance and create usable outdoor space. Landscape improvements complement the award-winning modernist building, as well as the historic Overton Park context. New hedges and bald cypress trees were planted across the frontage to echo the main building's rhythm and form while camouflaging lesser structures. A new garden with contemporary detailing and colorful plantings was designed behind the glass-enclosed gallery lobby to terminate axial views and serve as space for breaks, sculpture exhibitions, and receptions. The highly used side entry was enlivened with planting, garden structures, and upgraded paving material.