Most people would not expect to see an oasis in the middle of Parking Lot 80 or a large snake with mushroom seats on the HUB lawn.

But students presented these and six other ideas for "A Folly and the Landscape" in the recent Bracken-Corbelletti Design Competition sponsored by the Landscape Architecture Student Society, the Amercian Institute of Architecture Students and Alpha Rho Chi fraternity.

The results of the contest, which required landscape architecture and architecture students to work together, were announced at a reception attended by about 30 people last Friday afternoon.

"I think the variety of ideas was exceptional and it really showed the creative efforts of the teams," said Arthur Anderson, associate professor of architecture and a juror for the competition.

Contestants were judged on their adherence to the definition of a folly and their application of this to the Penn State campus and the twentieth century, said Eliza Pennypacker, associate professor of landscape architecture and a juror.

A folly, historically viewed as something funny or whimsical, is "an element within a landscape or a place, that speaks or says something," Pennypacker said.

The winning entry, designed for the area in front of the Engineering Units, included several geometric wooden trees and green foliage behind a barred glass case.

"It takes the idea of man and nature and transforms nature to fit the man-made place," Pennypacker said.

Ellice Herman (senior-architecture), a member of the winning team, said her entry makes a statement on the interaction of man and nature. "It talks about the folly of man not paying attention to the built environment," she said. "It's a folly in that we're not respecting nature."

Gwendolyn Newell (senior-landscape architecture), a runner-up in the competition, said her team tried to take a more light-hearted approach.

Their project illustrated a "You are Here" sign located deep within a wooded area on campus. Upon reaching the sign, the lost viewer discovers that it is a map of Princeton and not Penn State.

"I think its something that even the most foolish people would get," Newell said.

Neil Porterfield, head of the landscape architecture department, described all the entries as "high quality."

"This event has brought together two departments in a way that never happened before," he said. "It demonstrates what can happen when you bring closely related yet distinctly different fields together."

JoAnn Trach, president of the Landscape Architecture Student Society, said the projects will be on display in the HUB for about a month.