Architecture Commons^™

Politics Of Urban Design: Racist Agendas Built Into The Environment, Chassidy Titley

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Riverview Community Park Commoning Plan, Haley B. Keene

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Riverview Community Park began as an illegal DIY skatepark in the Maymont neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia. Now, although it is a city park, it is still entirely managed by volunteer community groups (skateboarders, the neighborhood Civic League, and a community garden) who view the park as a creative, experimental community-led spatial project. Due to a dearth of communication between the three groups, the park has suffered political strife between the groups and a chaotic physical atmosphere. This plan utilizes a commons governance framework and participatory, asset-based community design to usher in a new era of enhanced collaboration, common narratives, and …

Evidence Of Alliesthesia During A Neighborhood Thermal Walk In A Hot And Dry City, Yuliya Dzyuban, David M. Hondula, Jennifer K. Vanos, Ariane Midell, Paul J. Coseo, Evan R. Kuras, Charles L. Redman

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Designing cities for thermal comfort is an important priority in a warming and urbanizing world. As temperatures in cities continue to break extreme heat records, it is necessary to develop and test new approaches capable of tracking human thermal sensations influenced by microclimate conditions, complex urban geometries, and individual charac-teristics in dynamic settings. Thermal walks are a promising novel research method to address this gap. During a ther-mal walk in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, we examined relationships between the built environment, microclimate, and subjective thermal judgments across a downtown city neighborhood slated for redevelopment. Subjects equipped with GPS devices participated in …

Evidence Of Alliesthesia During A Neighborhood Thermal Walk In A Hot And Dry City, Yuliya Dzyuban, David M. Hondula, Jennifer K. Vanos, Ariane Midell, Paul J. Coseo, Evan R. Kuras, Charles L. Redman

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Designing cities for thermal comfort is an important priority in a warming and urbanizing world. As temperatures in cities continue to break extreme heat records, it is necessary to develop and test new approaches capable of tracking human thermal sensations influenced by microclimate conditions, complex urban geometries, and individual charac-teristics in dynamic settings. Thermal walks are a promising novel research method to address this gap. During a ther-mal walk in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, we examined relationships between the built environment, microclimate, and subjective thermal judgments across a downtown city neighborhood slated for redevelopment. Subjects equipped with GPS devices participated in …

Restorative Streetscapes: Promoting Positive Mental Health Outcomes Through Urban Landscape Design In Winooski, Vermont, Sean R. Fitzsimmons

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

The global health burden of mental health disorders is immense. The World Health Organization ranks depression as the single largest contributor to global disability; anxiety disorders alone rank sixth. One in four people will have a diagnosable mental illness in their lifetime and mental health conditions are increasing worldwide, rising 13% in the last decade. The economic implications are also immense, costing the global economy US $1 trillion each year. Mental health is more than the absence of disorders or disabilities, however. It is defined by the WHO as “a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or …

Oceanside Transit Center Transit-Oriented Development (Otc Tod): Revisioning North San Diego's County Transit Hub, Chad Johnston

City and Regional Planning

Many California coastal communities lack a supply of housing, produce high levels of greenhouse gas emissions by daily auto commuters but have existing local and commuter rail stations with large fields of parking surrounding it. Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) integrates the building of housing, retail, office, and public space together focused around transit stations. This infill of development locates people within comfortable walking distance, usually within a quarter-mile, of a public trail transit station reducing automobile dependence for local trips or commuting for work.

The Oceanside Transit Center (OTC) is a major railway interchange, serving as a gateway to the San …

The Role Of Urban Design In Strengthening Social Links Between Residents Of Residential District, Hussam Alsahli, Tarek Habib

Emirates Journal for Engineering Research

When thinking about planning residential neighborhoods, they usually plan for a service purpose and to cover the housing need without taking into account social life, as Kreidis[1] mentioned that the traditional planning (network) pattern highlighted many social problems and the scarcity of spaces led to a decline in public life and affected the population negatively. With a general overview within the residential neighborhoods, the researcher found that the city of Riyadh suffers from the absence of urban design elements within residential neighborhoods, where it was noticed the absence of pedestrian paths and the lack of continuity of sidewalks, as …

Environmentally Responsible Land Use, Spring/Summer 2010, Issue 22

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Building, Spring/Summer 2009, Issue 20

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Green Cities, Spring/Summer 2005, Issue 12

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Urban Ecology, Spring/Summer 2003, Issue 8

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Urban Design For Environmental Protection, Spring/Summer 2001, Issue 4

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Reimagining Future Sustainable, Climate-Resilient Urban Design For Apia, Samoa: Developing Plans For A Developing Nation, Alyssa Kaewwilai

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Small island developing states are arguably the most vulnerable, exposed nations on a global scale to the harmful effects of climate change. Particularly in Samoa, an abundance of environmental, economic, and social impacts have severe impacts on both the country as a whole as well as on an individual level. This study analyzes future mitigation strategies of land use and urban design to recreate Samoa’s capital of Apia as a more climate-resilient city to encourage economic growth and to ensure the well-being of all inhabitants. This planning is based upon current challenges of Samoa driven by climate change such as …

Urban Design Vision: The Fremont Hub, Megan Kristine Miller

City and Regional Planning

No abstract provided.

A Model For Sustainable Living In Guanajuato, Mexico, Melina Smith

City and Regional Planning

No abstract provided.

Re-Live Downtown Pine Bluff, Community Design Center

Project Reports

Once a prosperous cultural urban center in the Mississippi River delta, but now the nation’s second fastest shrinking city, Pine Bluff (population: 42,700) is Arkansas’ Detroit. Indeed, a study of black wealth conducted by famed sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois in 1899 found that Pine Bluff had the fourth highest rate of black wealth in the nation behind Charleston, Richmond, and New York City. The school’s community design center prepared a downtown revitalization plan, Re-Live Downtown Pine Bluff, a housing-first initiative focused on building neighborhoods around downtown “centers of strength”. While the revitalization approach is triaged around a …

Rebuilding Silicon Valley - An Assessment Of The Silicon Valley Corporate Campus And The Potential For Suburban Sustainability, Eden Lindeman

Master's Projects and Capstones

Silicon Valley is the San Francisco Bay Area’s economic powerhouse and is herald for its innovation and success. However, Silicon Valley’s urban design is unsustainable and characterized by remote and large corporate campuses that contribute to job sprawl and heavy traffic congestion. Many of the buildings are also not performing at an efficient level and are due for deep overhauls to cut back energy consumption and costs. The inevitable effects of climate change continue to loom large over the world, heightening the importance for the built environment to be reformed into an environment that can mitigate and adapt to climate …

The Multiple Limas: Urban Design At The Periphery, Marwan Ghandour

Marwan Ghandour

No abstract provided.

Identity And Urban Design: The Path To Meaningfulness In The City Of Concepción., Laura Yazmin Rodriguez

Focus

In her research leading to this article, Laura Rodriguez studied the urban design and place making qualities of the University of Concepción campus in Chile. Based on interviews with a select group of experts and field observations, the results indicate that the campus' strong meaning within the city image is partly due to its original conception as an overall consistent project and as part of the city grid and life.

The Cerdà Plan For The Expansion Of Barcelona: A Model For Modern City Planning, Judith Urbano

Focus

Modern city planning started with the Industrial Revolution and the scientific advances of the ��19th Century. At the time, Catalan engineer Idelfons Cerdà coined the word "urbanism” as a new and necessary science to deal with cities, having three major preoccupations:� hygiene, traffic, and equality. In this article, Judith Urbano discusses Cerda's plan for the expansion of Barcelona and why it is considered an icon of modern planning�

Forgotten Infrastructure: The Future Of The Industrial Mundane, Whitney Ann Manahan

Masters Theses

The typical cycle of industrial use, disuse, and abandonment is no longer acceptable or feasible. This thesis investigates phased remediation and conversion of petrochemical structures and their respective sites with the intention of increasing both the socioeconomic vitality and environmental quality of the area.

The oil silo is an intriguing object and industrial artifact. Being close to one of these massive structures is captivating and there is something truly exciting and thought provoking about inhabiting a space that was clearly not meant for humans. These are qualities that provide opportunities to connect people with a site and create a place …

No Space Left Behind - Graduate Urban Design Studio - Landarch 606, Christopher H. Counihan, Matthew R. Hisle, Yanhua Lu, Maozhu Mao, Emilie Marques Jordao, James S. Prendergast, Michalagh C. Stoddard, Ruoying Tang, Jing Wang, Nelle Katharine Ward, Yuqing Yang, Yi Yang, Yu Yu, Kellie Fenton, Yue Li, Yuquing Wu

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

The following report documents the work of the 2015 Spring Graduate Urban Design Studio course in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning. This fourteen week studio focused on using tactical urbanism to engage Springfield’s Metro Center neighborhood with visions to revitalize the downtown core of this legacy city.

In addition to completing the components of a traditional urban design studio (site analyses, schematic plans, spatial designs, and programming), the student teams also developed conceptual projects to immediately engage the public. These efforts culminated in a free afternoon walking tour throughout the Metro Center that presented several tactical interventions. …

Rethinking Intramuros: Threats, Values, And Possibilities In Modern Philippines, Ellen Hsieh

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

Intramuros, a walled historic Spanish urban landscape in the Philippines, is located at the heart of Metro Manila. Like most of the developing countries in Asia, Intramuros has facedserious confl icts between urban development and cultural preservation. This paper illustrates the full range of threats to Intramuros, including both natural and human factors, and reexamines the value of Intramuros in the Filipino context. According to these discussions, several recommendations will be given. Furthermore, the basic restoration policy of Intramuros will be questioned. The author calls for applying a wider interpretation to the cultural heritage management of the site.

Socio-Economic Revitalization Through Brownfield Reclamation, Corrin James Breeding

Masters Theses

Brownfields are defined as real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant (epa.gov). Brownfield remediation is land rehabilitation.

There are many brownfield sites that exist around the world today. These locations are nuisances because of their effect on the environment. They can be eyesores, riddled with dilapidated structures and debris that put chemicals into the soil, affect local watersheds, become prime areas for violence and/or other activities viewed as unsafe, etc. The impact these areas have on the health of living organisms is a …

Form-Based Codes, Design Guidelines And Placemaking: The Case Of Hayward, Ca., Cindy Ma

Master's Theses

Throughout history planning codes and standards have been used to regulate the built environment for health, power, order, and economic reasons. More recently, in the urban design and planning field, planning codes and standards have emerged to become tools in the process of “placemaking”. The concept of placemaking builds from the desire of humans to create places, not spaces, which are unique, attractive, identifiable, and memorable. It is a concept that is comprised of visual and social components, recognizing the need for both in the creation of successful places. In the field of urban design and planning, form-based codes (FBCs) …

From Fail-Safe To Safe-To-Fail: Sustainability And Resilience In The New Urban World, Jack F. Ahern

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

Abstract: The extent to which the 21st Century world will be "sustainable" depends in large part on the sustainability of cities. Early ideas on implementing sustainability focused on concepts of achieving stability, practicing effective management and the control of change and growth-- a "fail-safe" mentality. More recent thinking about change, disturbance, uncertainty, and adaptability is fundamental to the emerging science of resilience, the capacity of systems to reorganize and recover from change and disturbance without changing to other states-- in other words, systems that are "safe to fail." While the concept of resilience is intellectually intriguing, it remains largely unpracticed …

Formerly Urban: Projecting Rust Belt Futures, Mark Robbins, Stephanie Miner, Nancy Cantor, Julia Czerniak, Darren Petrucci, Jane Wolff, Mclain Clutter, Hunter Morrison, Damon Rich, Toni L. Griffin, Don Mitchell

School of Architecture - All Scholarship

A two-day conference on the benefits of creating urbanity in weak-market cities gathers twenty-one international experts in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design, as well as planning, policy, finance, economics, and real estate development. Participants share strategies for cities whose urban character has devolved radically due to economic, demographic, and physical change - cities that are now considered "formerly urban."

Contemporary Practices In Sustainable Design: Appraisal And Articulation Of Emerging Trend, Archana Sharma

Architecture Publications and Other Works

Sustainable design is a phrase commonly used in the realms of design practice and yet the definition of the same remains quite fuzzy, thus providing the motivation for this research. The paper looks at contemporary sustainable design practices in the area of architecture design, building construction and landscape architecture. The objective is to understand what the term “sustainable design” really means as used in practice and what strategies are being employed towards the goal of sustainable development. The practices are assessed for their empathies as per the currently defined social, ecological, economical well-being goals of sustainable development. The paper concludes …

Ralph Bunche Agape Neighborhood Vision Plan, Community Design Center

Project Reports

The Ralphe Bunche Neighborhood Vision Plan provides a general design framework to spur reinvestment in this 100-year old historic African-American neighborhood in Benton, AR. The plan aggregates attainable housing (under $100,000/unit) around two neighborhood parks―one existing, and one proposed. Since the city cannot afford comprehensive street and drainage improvements to accommodate redevelopment, the proposal retrofits streets and open space with Low Impact Development (LID) landscapes to remediate urban stormwater runoff. Housing unit types between 1,000 and 1,750 square feet are amassed around these LID landscapes and amenitized with screened rooms, balconies, terraces, and multiple-height living spaces.

Macarthur Park Master Plan, Community Design Center

Project Reports

Like waterfronts and transit stops, parks leverage value in urban areas. While much recent attention has been given to the signature mega-park, the value of the small-scale neighborhood park in reinventing the city has been overlooked. Once connecting neighborhoods of differing character, and sponsoring more than 80 residential structures along its edges, the historic MacArthur Park at the edge of downtown Little Rock is radically underutilized as an urban neighborhood asset. Severed from its neighborhoods along two edges by interstate construction in the 1960s, this moribund 40-acre municipal park is left with only 16 residential structures along its frontage. The …