Architecture Commons^™

Downtown Athol: A Revitalization Plan (Athol, Ma), Brendan Conboy, Nicole Forsyth, Robert Hummel, Ian Kolesinskas, Christina Pillarella, Katelyn Silva

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

The goal of the Master of Regional Planning Studio is to develop a student’s techniques for collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing spatial and non-spatial data and then presenting that collective data in a manner (i.e., report, video, presentation, and charettes) that is understandable to academics, professionals, and the public. Planning Studio allows students to integrate knowledge from coursework and research, and apply such knowledge to resolving representative planning problems. At UMASS Amherst, these problems are found in neighborhood, rural, urban, and/or regional settings.

In the fall of 2014, three local governments contracted with the MRP Studio to create separate vision plans …

Recreating Winchendon Village: A Distinct Destination In Toy Town (Winchendon, Ma), Cat Bryars, Kathleen Doherty, Brandon Gibbs, Sheena Grewal, Allyson C. Manuel, Johanna Stacy

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

The goal of the Master of Regional Planning Studio is to develop a student’s techniques for collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing spatial and non-spatial data and then presenting that collective data in a manner (i.e., report, video, presentation, and charettes) that is understandable to academics, professionals, and the public. Planning Studio allows students to integrate knowledge from coursework and research, and apply such knowledge to resolving representative planning problems. At UMASS Amherst, these problems are found in neighborhood, rural, urban, and/or regional settings.

In the fall of 2014, three local governments contracted with the MRP Studio to create separate vision plans …

Memorial Drive Revitalization (Chicopee, Ma), Emily Anyzeski, Pei-Yu Chen, Noam Goldstein, Stephanos Koullias, Jesse Regnier, Elena Shulman

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

The goal of the Master of Regional Planning Studio is to develop a student’s techniques for collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing spatial and non-spatial data and then presenting that collective data in a manner (i.e., report, video, presentation, and charettes) that is understandable to academics, professionals, and the public. Planning Studio allows students to integrate knowledge from coursework and research, and apply such knowledge to resolving representative planning problems. At UMASS Amherst, these problems are found in neighborhood, rural, urban, and/or regional settings.

In the fall of 2014, three local governments contracted with the MRP Studio to create separate vision plans …

Reconnecting Downtown To The Riverfront. Springfield, Ma. Senior Urban Design Studio,, Aqsa Butt, Justin Cooper, Elyse Couture, Matthew Crosby, Valerie Degroote, Andrew Duncan, Caroline Fay, Adam Fearing, Russell Greene, Mark Gullifer, Bladimir Hernandez, Christopher Johnson, Daniel Keirstead, John Milos, Jing Pan, Benjamin Perrett, Rebecca Jean Walton

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

The work of this urban design studio illustrates visions for the revitalization of Springfield’s downtown riverfront through landscape architecture facing the challenges of a dissecting I-91 highway corridor. Re-Connecting people to the riverfront capi­talizes on the great Connecticut River and will revitalize the city to attract and engage residents and visitors alike. The proposals foster creating spaces in Riverfront Park for multiple activities such as recreation, places for arts and culture, education and enhancement of the River’s ecology. They further promote pedestrian/bicycle arteries to and along the riverfront that are embedded in a livable, mixed-use, diverse neighborhood.

The work explores …

Greening Worcester: Planning And Designing Green Infrastructure Networks For Habitat, Recreation, And Landscape Interpretation:, Meilan Chen, Zhuoya Deng, Ericka Duym, Matthew R. Hisle, Laura Keskula, Joseph Larico, Bin Liu, Shu Liu, Wenjie Liu, Tharyn S. Nein-Large, Junbo Zhang

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

This graduate studio focused on the creating green infrastructure networks in Worcester, Massachusetts which is the second most populated city in Massachusetts. The studio worked in conjunction with the EcoTarium, an innovative science museum in Worcester in order to link the City’s rich cultural, historic, and academic resources across a densely populated urban region; and expand opportunities for local residents to learn about urban ecology in their own neighborhoods. The studio project builds on the City’s open space plan goals by planning improved access to water resources, increased connectivity between existing parks and open space, and safer bicycle and pedestrian …

Architecture For Science: Space As An Incubator To Nurture Research, Maryam Mohammad Shafiee

Masters Theses

This thesis will study how scientific research environments should be designed, specifically addressing the issues beyond mere needs of research scientists. Assuming that the purpose of research is to create new knowledge and foster discoveries, as well as positively influence the community in its processes and results, this thesis will explore the potential of the influence of this building typology that has not been previously considered enough. The objectives of the thesis are on one hand, the changes in science disciplines and their reflections in the evolution among this building type, on the other hand, the impacts of research environment …

Greening Greenpoint: Investigating Technology And Environment-Based Design, Adam Castelli

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates architectural design with a focus on technology and parametric, or computational, design strategies in relation to environmental simulation and sustainability. While numerous studies of new digital and parametric design technologies have been undertaken, few discuss their potential application or synergy with sustainable or environmentally focused design. However, there is increasing interest in bridging the perceived gap between these areas of focus in architectural design, as will be discussed in a section on recent symposia related to performance and design technologies. The research project seeks to apply insight gained from these studies to a design project to be …

New As Renewal: A Framework For Adaptive Reuse In The Sustainable Paradigm, Luke A. Beck

Masters Theses

The way in which we approach building design is constantly being influenced by evolving economic, environmental and social parameters. These factors have implications on both pragmatic and aesthetic facets of design. The built environment is not autonomous from its immediate site or the ecologies of the region in which it is located, rather, the former must be designed to symbiotically exist within and enhance the latter. The term ecology is defined as “a branch of science that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.” Although this typically relates to biology, the term can …

The Ark: Grafting Productive Programs Onto Contemporary Waste-Space, Caryn Brause, Carey Clouse

Caryn Brause

As the intertwined issues of climate change and resource scarcity profoundly alter the shape and scope of urban life, emerging designers must be positioned to respond in meaningful ways. This paper documents a research and design project that foregrounds several key design considerations for the future city: the expanded role of animals, the necessity for communal spaces to share knowledge, tools, and materials, and the waste-spaces that can be appropriated for that purpose. In doing so, it critically considers how we can prepare future design professionals to propose architectural and landscape program types that have yet to be invented, to …

Redefining America’S Postwar Urban Renewal At The Northgate Of Springfield, Ma, Mohammed Abdelaal, Meilan Chen, Zhuoya Deng, Ericka Duym, Laura Keskula, Joseph Larico, Bin Liu, Shu Liu, Wenjie Liu, Tharyn Nein-Large, Junzhi (Jason) Yu, Zhangkan Zhou

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

This project presents visions for an underutilized and overlooked district in Springfield, MA, developed by the Graduate Urban Design Studio in the spring of 2014. The area between downtown and the North End neighborhood has undergone major transformations in the 1950’s and 1960’s during America’s era of postwar urban renewal. Residential blocks were replaced by large office buildings and oversized streets left a ”no-man’s land”. The current rehabilitation of the Springfield’s Union Station into an intermodal transportation hub should draw new attention to the area as the northern gateway to downtown - the “Northgate”. Five visionary design proposals rethink and …

Commonwealth Of Massachusetts Mill Building Repurposing Pilot Project (Twist Mill - Athol, Ma), Mark D. Berube, Calliope E. Bosen, Tara Lynn Gehring, Allyson C. Manuel, Alexander Casey Mello, John Armando Rosa, Alexander R. Train, Benjamin Perrett

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

The purpose of the UMass Amherst Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning’s participation in this project is to establish a redevelopment action plan that incorporates the ownership’s clear vision for reuse of the site, proposes solutions to various obstacles that have hindered progress, and serves as a guiding model in terms of improving the feasibility of similar projects throughout the state.

The project team gathered information from a variety of resources, and conducted three distinct phases of analysis in order to complete this redevelopment action plan. The Phase I: Inventory examines the physical, regulatory, and financial context surrounding the …

The Heritage Landscape Of Plymouth, Ma Greenway Planning And Cultural Design, Dave Mitchell, Evan Cox, Jen Verville, Rob Garcia, Dan Kamins, Andrew Fang, Rich Disharoon, Colin Lord, Tricia O'Grady-Howard, Calder Alexander, Brett Riley, John Nicol, Sam Brown, Bryan Anderson

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

In anticipation of the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrim’s landing in 1620, this studio combined greenway planning and cultural landscape design and interpretation to revitalize the public landscape of Plymouth, Massachusetts and convey the significance of these historic places to visitors and residents. Through the use of landscape research combining GIS data and analysis with historical narratives and maps, this fourteen-week senior BSLA capstone studio developed a regional and town-scale greenway plan along with detailed designs of individual public landscapes in historic downtown Plymouth.

Application Of Stormwater Management Techniques For Mitigation And Education At The Stockbridge School Agricultural Learning Center, Samantha R. Anderson

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The Stockbridge School Agricultural Learning Center (SSALC) will be a 40-acre hands-on agricultural learning laboratory for students, staff, visitors, and neighbors. Still in its planning phases, the Center will be located on what is currently a hay field just north of UMass Amherst campus. A conceptual master plan was created in 2013 that is being used for fundraising as well as planning for agricultural demonstration plots and architectural hubs. Improperly managed agricultural landscapes are known as one of the biggest threats to water quality in the United States. As a model of forward thinking agricultural practices, properly managed stormwater on …

Qualitative And Comparative Analysis Of Stormwater Management In The Tan Brook Watershed, Natalia Von Hausen, Robert F. Smith

Research

The Tan Brook Watershed is both a daylighted and diverted underground stream that runs through the Town Center of Amherst and the campus of UMass Amherst. Various stormwater management practices have been used to infiltrate stormwater runoff from streets, lots, buildings and/or vehicles. These systems are custom-designed relative to the surrounding permeability of the soil, vegetation and geographical topography. Some systems have higher success rates than others.

Syllabus: Sustainable Green Infrastructure Planning And Design, Robert L. Ryan

Sustainability Education Resources

Green infrastructure planning requires a systems approach to improving ecological function while providing vital ecosystem services for human populations. This course will introduce students to the concepts, theories, and applications of greenway and green infrastructure planning at multiple scales, including the site-level, neighborhood, and regional scales. A particular area of focus will be the relationship of green infrastructure for improving hydrology and riparian corridors as part of comprehensive green space planning for recreation and cultural resources. The course will look at a wide range of systems including water, transportation, and food systems. A case study approach will be used to …

Syllabus: Urban Policies, Ellen Pader

Sustainability Education Resources

This class focuses on a significant and far-reaching federal policy, The Fair Housing Act (FHA), as a springboard to explore many facets of urban life and policy. The purpose of the FHA is to enable all people, regardless of race, religion, disability, national origin, sex, age or the presence of children under 18 in the family (plus other characteristics enacted by states and municipalities) the right to rent, buy and enjoy housing in any neighborhood they can afford. We explore how US cities and towns became segregated as a context for exploring other social policies including, but not limited to, …

Springfield’S “X” – From Crossroads To Center, Joseph A. Agrillo, Theodore D. Chesbro, Nic M. Brown, William Cody Black, Patrick W. Corey, Krystal A. Ford, Jay M. French, Alexander Jardin, Da Hee Lee, Henry C. Puza, Sean J. Regnier, Charles M. Richard, David William Ross, Stphen Sanborn, Julia Rose Sim, Thomas F. Holt, Bryan Anderson, Samuel Brown, Richard Disharoon, Andrew Fang, Dan Kamins, Colin Lord, John Nicol, Tricia O'Grady-Howard, Brett Riley, Jennifer Verville

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

The work explores a community service learning strategy within the framework of two urban design studios with the goal of revitalizing the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, through design, planning, and engagement with the community. The studio worked in the Forest Park neighborhood around the “X” – on the intersection of three major street arteries. Our study contains a diverse catalogue of strategies to make the Forest Park Neighborhood a better place to live, work, and recreate where the most important streets meet. Through rerouting of the traffic patterns around the “X” the number of pedestrian crossings is increased and the …

Evaluating The Benefits Of And Barriers To Building With Structural Insulated Panels, Alison E. Moynihan

Student Showcase

Changing climate and increasing costs of energy are putting pressure on the building industry to adapt to higher performance building systems. One technology that can improve building performance is structural insulated panel (SIP) construction. The purpose of my practicum is to evaluate the possible benefits of SIPs and to identify obstacles to SIPs gaining a larger portion of the building industry. Using the information from practicum I intend to evaluate current design tools and suggest my own tools. The benefits of SIPs are lower thermal bridging and air infiltration leading to lower operating costs and minimal material usage. Findings include …