Architecture Commons^™

Fairmount Greenway - A Community Initative, Leah H. Bamberger, Liliana Carvajal, Mary F. Dehais, Yuanfang Gong, John E. Hulsey, Eric C. Kells, Kimberley Klosterman, Pamela Jo Landi, Adam G. Monroy, Seth A. Morrow, Bryan O'Bara, Jie Su, Arianna Thompson, Owen M. White

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

This studio was based on the Fairmount Greenway that was developed through a series of public meetings with the neighborhood community and with consultants from the firm Crosby, Schlessinger and Smallridge (CSS). The Fairmount Greenway, while drawing its identity from the traditional greenway model is in fact a reinterpretation of an urban greenway. The greenway path follows along both primary and secondary city streets because of the lack of space along the rail right-of-way. The Fairmount Greenway begins at what will be a new station stop at New Market South Bay near Upham’s Corner in northern Dorchester. The greenway follows …

Gloucester Marine Station: Future Development Feasibility Study, Jack F. Ahern, Ben Eli Webb

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

The study commenced in July 2009 with historical research about the site and its context, site analysis, including the existing conditions and development regulations. This analysis included: topography, soils, vegetation, structures, utilities, easements, property deed, and city, state, and federal regulations. From this analysis an assessment of future development potentials was made based on the existing data/documents from UMass files, public records, Mass GIS data, site visits, and interviews with Gloucester, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and other officials and stakeholders. From the assessment we identified potential future uses, building locations, and feasible alternative layouts of the site. These alternatives were summarily …

Cultivating A Common Ground: Community Gardens As Urban Infill In Springfield, Massachusetts, Christopher J. Jennette

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

Vacancy, as an actor in our urban landscapes, is growing in importance. As the realities of post-industrialism are making themselves ever clearer in many cities across the country, issues of vacancy are becoming of paramount concern. After all, if the density and centrality characteristic of traditional urban form are the result of forces of production and industrialization, then forces of de-industrialization could be said to have a set of equal, yet opposite results. For many post-industrial cities, these results include job and population losses, and an increase in vacant and abandoned land. The situation has only been worsened by the …

Landscape Urbanism For The Highway City Of Springfield North End, Piyawut Inthasorn

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Honors Projects

The expansions of the transportation and roadway have made many cities in the United States having the interstates or highways cut through the city center. Springfield’s North End is one of them. The Interstate highway I-91 from Chicopee to South Spring has separated three North End neighborhoods into two sides; Liberty Height, Memorial Square, and Brightwood. The separation has not only changed community relation but also created many dramatic problems and consequences to the neighborhoods such as having disconnected access to the Connecticut River or the Van Horn Park, creating some pollution in water, air, sound, and other health issues. …

Western Woburn Greenway Study, Jennifer H. Masters, Bryan C. Aldeghi, Eric C. Kells, Maureen C. Pollock, Rebekah Lynne Decourcey, Carol Waag, Youjin Kwon, Kathryn E. Ostermier, Patrick T. Mcgeough, Ryan Patrick Ball

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

In spring 2010, the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Massachusetts Amherst was asked to complete a landscape planning study, the “Western Woburn Greenway Study” for the City of Woburn, MA. The study was undertaken by a team of graduate students, supervised by Professor Jack Ahern. The goals of that study are as follows.

The City of Woburn currently has two large parcel groups of undeveloped land, Whispering Hill (the north focus area) and Winning/Shannon Farms (the south focus area) that are, or may become, available for acquisition (see “Scope of Project” below). The first …

The Soundscape Planning Of Mountain Park In Holyoke, Massachusetts, Brian Clayton Giggey

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The soundscape of a place is simply its acoustic environment, with the listener situated within the center of the sonic landscape (Porteous and Mastin, 1985). Soundscapes can be adjusted with proper planning, site analysis and design. Often overlooked by design and planning professionals, sounds are a part of the biological, social and spiritual context which needs to be considered if good outdoor environments are to be provided (Hedfors, 2003). With its close proximity to the Whiting Street Reservoir and Holyoke Range, Mountain Park provides a terrific opportunity for an outdoor amphitheater, a cultural resource deeply needed in Western Massachusetts. Significant …

From The Quadrangle To The River: Revitalizing The Heart Of Downtown Springfield, Mary F. Dehais, Yuanfang Gong, John E. Hulsey, Pamela Jo Landi, Adam G. Monroy, Seth A. Morrow, Alexander G. Seib, Jie Su, Kate A. Tooke, Owen M. White, Emily S. Wright, Kuang Xin, Xiao Zhou

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

This studio report explores community service learning in the graduate urban design studio taught in the in Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and instructed by Professor Frank Sleegers.

The project will began with a visioning workshop, conducted to engage community members in the shaping of project goals and objectives within the project area of downtown Springfield. These findings were brought to the studio and guided the design process and outcomes.

Five design teams developed five alternative master plans for the core area of downtown Springfield with focus on the revitalization of open …

Springfield`S Upper Lyman Warehouse District - Visions For Revitalization, Jane Alexanderr, Andre Belperron, Matt Bent, Nick Betts, Anthony Brow, Will Bunker, Tanya Chesnell, Julie Goodwin, Henry Hess, Christopher Johnson, Ryan Kemmerich, Wes Lomax, Nick Mastroianni, Carl Mccrae, Phil Morrison, James Rebello, Sage Sluter

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

This report documents the work of the Senior Urban Design Studio in Springfield’s Upper Lyman District in downtown Springfield. It is part of the Metro Center neighborhood and adjacent to the Union Station that will be revitalized in 2016. The district is challenged by high vacancies and general abandonment. Housing opportunities and market-rate housing in particular are very low. The primary goal of the project was to develop a staged vision to revitalize and rediscover the Upper Lyman Warehouse District and to improve livability in the heart of downtown Springfield for employers, employees, residents, and visitors. The following recommendations can …

The Caspian Coastal Greenway Vision Plan, Andrey C. Boskhomdzhiev

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The purpose of this project is to develop a greenway vision plan for the Caspian Coastal Greenway that would go from Astrakhan city in Russia, to Rasht in Iran, passing through diverse landscapes, populations and jurisdictions. The main concentration of this project would be on the section of the greenway that is within the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation. The greenway would follow an ancient trading route that passes through and used to connect Russia, Persia and India. The development of a greenway in this area would promote and reestablish cultural and trade based connections and link diverse areas. Another …

A Re-Design Of The Native Orchid House At The Belize Botanic Gardens, Jill A. Weissman

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

This project focuses on the re-design of The Native Orchid House (NOH) at The Belize Botanic Gardens (San Ignacio, Cayo District, Belize, Central America). The project question is: What is the research/design process associated with creating a collection display at a public [botanical] garden? More specifically, how can this process be applied to re-design the Native Orchid House at The Belize Botanic Gardens?

Reclaiming The Miracle Mile: A Greenway Park Design & Land Use Strategy For Springfield's Lower Mill River, Amy C. Verel

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The City of Springfield, Massachusetts, a city set on the bluffs and shoreline of the Connecticut River and home to just over 150,000 people, is seeking to develop a strategic plan for improving the lower reaches of the Mill River (highlighted in yellow) between the Armory Watershops on Allen Street and the river's confluence with the Connecticut River just west of Interstate 91, approximately 1 1/4 miles to the southwest. This section of the Mill River (referred to herein as the Lower Mill River) is heavily urbanized and functions as a barrier between its neighborhoods. Once valued for its benefits …

Green Infrastructure Application In The Chelsea River Subwatershed, Lianying Bao

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

This master project uses green infrastructure as a tool to protect urban environment and wildlife habitat under degradation due to urbanization in the Chelsea River Subwatershed in eastern Massachusetts. The goal of the project is to improve the Chelsea River Subwatershed, and therefore to improve the impaired Chelsea River by identifying the best locations for urban landscape interventions and creating blue-green network with green infrastructure in the subwatershed. Site visits, literature review, background data search, interview with government staff and watershed associations helped with site analysis to identify the problems and potentials for green infrastructure implementation. Landscape Urbanism theory as …

A Green Core For The Maroon And Gold: Creating A Sustainable Campus Expansion At The University Of Minnesota, Frank J. Varro

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The sustainable design movement has been one of the most influential trends seen in the last 10 years. This movement is still seen by the public at large as something that is difficult, ugly, and rural. Creating a showpiece project in an urban area allows these myths to be dispelled through education. This project focuses on a proposed design for an 80 acre campus expansion of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. This site has many advantages including a location in an urban core, a Big Ten football stadium that would attract national attention, and a local population made up …

Umass Amherst Framework Plan: Preliminary Observations Of Existing Conditions, Ayers Saint Gross, Wilson Architects, Ann Storer, Susan Personette, Andrew Soles

Campus Planning Master Plans

This report is the first step in the planning process for the development of a Framework Plan for the University of Massachusetts Amherst Campus Master Plan 2012. It provides preliminary observations of existing conditions by integrating information from existing studies and reports and collecting critical findings from many sources in one document, so that they can be reviewed comprehensively. The report provides insight regarding campus natural and built systems so that future planning decisions can be made with informed data revealing challenges and opportunities.

Strengthening Urban Green: Using Green Infrastructure For Biodiversity Improvement In Boston's Highly Fragmented Urban Environments, Christopher L. Mantle

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Increasing recognition of the worlds' expanding population and current global rural-to-urban migration necessitates a better understanding and integration of urban ecological process into the framework for urban design (Sandström, 2006). Incorporating ecological processes such as resilience and dispersal into urban design requires special attention be paid to green infrastructure for the preservation and restoration of biodiversity. In addition, biodiversity improvement promotes related ecosystem services (Opdam et al., 2006) and advocates biodiversity conservation and strengthening as a key part of the development of sustainable urban landscapes.

This research developed a replicable and broadly applicable method for determining the ability of green …