Resiliency in the WUI: Where Reciprocal Relationships Build Capacity to Thrive: A Janes Village Case Study
Nikki Rinehart
SCASLA Achievement Award
The judges highlighted the project’s strong research and analysis, with clear concepts and diagrams that were easy to understand. The evocative “Woven Basket” theme and precedent images brought a strong sense of place, while creative ideas like the tower walk stood out, even if they felt grand in scale. The sections and visuals were compelling, and the narrative showed thoughtful intent. Overall, a beautifully presented project with strong vision and creativity.
Resiliency in the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) explores how a neighborhood in Altadena, California, affected by the 2025 Eaton Fire, could become a living system of resilience. Rather than simply rebuilding what was lost, the project reimagines the neighborhood as a place that can produce, share, and steward the resources it needs.
Through water-focused design, shared spaces, native and climate-adaptive planting, local food and energy production, and collective stewardship, the project explores how reciprocal relationships between people, land, water, soil, and community can build the capacity to provide, adapt, regenerate, and thrive. The resulting framework offers a model for rethinking resilience in high-density communities beyond the WUI.
About
Nikki Rinehart
Landscape Architecture is what I was meant to do and who I was meant to be. It is a culmination of everything I’ve learned from my degree in Social Ecology at UC Irvine to my work as a fiber artist and as a caretaker, but mostly in my love and relationship with Native Plants. While my journey with plants in general began when I was a child, it wasn’t until I started observing the fairies who accompany Native Plants, in particular, that I truly saw the magic that surrounds them. One of my main goals as a Landscape Architect is to help people form their own relationship with these enchanted life-givers.
Passion is what drives me. Bringing my passion for water conservation and mending the ecological fabric have been goals of mine since before I even learned about Landscape Architecture. It is with a shared relationship between water, ecology, and human communities that our resilience is secured. Knowing this I am ready to keep exploring the various ways this can happen and lending that knowledge to make safe and enjoyable environments for all life. I take inspiration from all outdoor spaces and am always ready for another adventure, whether it’s to the wildlands, a botanical garden, a community park, or elsewhere.