Visual Design Intern: Ravipa Ramyarupa
Ravipa Ramyarupa, also known as Pa, is a student at Barnard College. She is currently a Visual Design Intern at Freshkills Park, working on projects that illustrate what the park will be like in the near future.
What is your name and title?
My name is Ravipa Ramyarupa, but I just go by Pa. I am a rising junior at Barnard College and I am one of two Visual Design interns at Freshkills Park.
What are you working on?
I am currently doing preliminary research on virtual reality for Mariel, my boss and the Manager for Programs, Art and Grants at Freshkills Park. We are still in the beginning stages of designing and deciding what the virtual reality aspect could mean for the development of Freshkills. The tentative goal is to bring the park view to everyone via virtual reality. This would mean creating (or filming) a simulation of three-dimensional environment that can be viewed on any smartphone to better expose the beauty of the park to the public.
Prior to this project, I was creating a ‘2020 vision map.’ This essentially is a rendering or a visualization of what Freshkills Park would look like in the year 2020. In creating this map, I was able to quickly familiarize myself to the park both geographically and conceptually – now I can easily identify where the north, east, south, and west mounds of the park are, and I can also talk quite comprehensively about what each would consist of in approximately four years. Similar to the virtual reality project’s purpose, the 2020 vision map’s is also one that seeks to accurately and visually inform the public of what the park would be like in the near future.
What drew you to Freshkills Park?
My first academic introduction to Freshkills Park was two years ago during my first semester in college. What fascinated me about Freshkills is its history and its massive transformation from what once was the largest landfill in the world into what it is now: a clean, scenic park. Freshkills Park drew me in because although I currently study architecture, I did not want to limit myself to design that just comes in the form of buildings. When I saw the internship opportunity as a Visual Design Intern at Freshkills, I was extremely eager to apply. I wanted to learn more about the infrastructural and developmental aspect of the unique landfill-to-park project, as well as to gain exposure to graphic design and landscape architecture – a specific field of architectural design that I had no prior knowledge about.
What’s one way to send less waste to landfills?
Do the ‘Three R’s’, and do them in order! Try to reduce first and if that doesn’t work then reuse, and if the first two options don’t work then recycle. Although I have been essentially trained to always do the ‘Three R’s’ because I only had environmentally-conscious teachers throughout middle school and high school, I have also learned the equal importance of educating and correcting other people about it. Not spreading knowledge especially about this could be harmful to our world. So by reducing, reusing, and recycling as well as encouraging other people to follow suit, there will definitely be less waste sent to landfills.
Favorite color?
All shades of blue.
