Architecture Commons^™

Soft City: Reclaiming Urban Public Spaces For Play, Jennifer Pham

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the relationship between children’s play and urban public spaces. What kinds of play are prioritized, and consequently, what ways of learning are celebrated above others? How are public spaces serving or not serving to nurture children’s development and joy?

The thesis design project is a strategic plan for spatial activism. Using a “guerilla architecture” approach, I am developing a series of workshops with the local community that culminate in collectively designed urban installations. This participatory design process enables people to perceive public spaces in new ways, and it invites community members and children to become active parts …

The Eudaimonic Tree Pilot: A Study Of Public Engagement In Participatory Art At Three Sites, Olivia A. James

Masters Theses

In times of crisis, what tools do planners and designers have to inspire a sense of well-being? How can we heal community through dialogue, recognizing the ongoing need for connection with or without a crisis? Are there ways to uncover unknown concerns and values in a community? The engagement approaches many planners and designers rely on do not typically aim to access these deeper questions in society. Surveys, public meetings and focus groups seek tangible results that target specific issues. They are often conducted out of context, taking the public out of the environment at issue to answer questions on …

The Slow Violence Of Business As Usual Planning: Racial Injustice In Public Health Crises, Monika Sharma

Masters Theses

This thesis is a critical analysis of the normative planning practice in relation to the aspirational principles of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) (especially Section A, Part 1: Overall Responsibility to the Public). By exploring several dimensions of typical, or Business As Usual, planning practices in a local planning department in Springfield, Massachusetts and contextualized within larger planning concerns in the United States, I illustrate that socio-spatial, racialized oppression is deeply embedded in these common practices. Through a multimethod approach that includes historical survey, archival research, interviews, and direct observation, I argue that most professional planning operates from …