Architecture Commons^™

Santry River Greenway Feasibility Appraisal, David O'Connor, Matthias Borscheid, Odran Reid, Meadhbh Ní Lochlainn

Reports

The North East Dublin area has been identified for the development of a plan addressing health inequality and promoting a Healthy Community (WTO 2011) by the Northside Partnership (NSP), a local development company established in 1991 to address social exclusion, and the Dublin North Health Promotion Department. Poor health has been identified as an issue for people who live in areas affected by structural disadvantage and social exclusion in North East Dublin. A community survey in 2008 and a health needs assessment in 2003 both highlighted risk factors for high levels of chronic disease risks in the surveyed neighbourhoods and …

Regulation Of Recreational Marijuana In Small Cities And Counties In Colorado, Katherine Nesse, Colin Victory

SPU Works

In November 2016 the number of states where recreational marijuana sales are legal increased to eight. Thousands of cities and counties are now on the front lines of regulating these new land uses. Local governments in Colorado, the first state to implement recreational marijuana legalization, are models for jurisdictions in other states. We study counties and municipalities in the eight micropolitan statistical areas in Colorado to learn how they regulate recreational marijuana businesses. We reviewed codes, ordinances, and other documents of 43 local governments and interviewed planners in a third of these jurisdictions. These places were purposefully selected and reflect …

Riverside, Paso Robles Urban Design Concept Plans, Crp 341 Urban Design Studio

CRP 341 Urban Design Studio III

No abstract provided.

Small Housesholds Left Out In Cold By One-Size-Fits-All Policy, Lorcan Sirr

Media

In Ireland, homeowners can pay up to 31% of their after-tax income on their mortgage, and the situation is worse if you are a single-person mortgage holder. That’s according to figures released by AIB mortgage brand EBS and DKMEconomic Consultants last month.

Pivot Dublin: A Discussion On The Bid For Dublin To Become World Design Capital, Barry Sheehan, Ali Grehan

Articles

In this article, Barry Sheehan interviews Dublin City Architect, Ali Grehan, about PIVOT Dublin, the bid for World Design Council, how and why it came about, what happened to the bid and where PIVOT Dublin is now.

The Shenzhen Activist Program`, Hyunggyu Kim, Jae Hyun Kim

Architecture Senior Theses

There is a gap between being an architecture student in western countries and working as an architect in underrepresented communities. Architect Teddy Cruz defines the role of an activist architect as "expanded mode of practice", and the task of "deigning the protocols or the interfaces between communities and spaces".

This thesis contends that architecture schools need to continue to embrace the widely-accepted norm of studios studying abroad and working in an international studio. Current study abroad programs tend to skew towards being touristic field trips and there is not a curriculum or programmatic investment in cultivating relationships between the visiting …

Aftermarket Supermarket | A Speculative Retrospective, Alexander Kim

Architecture Senior Theses

In the preface to Delusive Spaces: Essays on Culture, Media and Technology, media theorist Eric Kluitenberg writes that “the delusion of the new”1 pollutes our theorizations of new media. This sort of technocratic fetishization of emergent technologies can only amount to a surfatial investigation of its effects or capabilities. Architectural investigations of virtual reality and other new media systems suffer from this tendency as well. Content-based experimentation and criticism obsess over the simultaneously exciting and daunting prospects of what we can now do or make with recent digital developments. There’s definite value in such endeavors, but frankly, in the grand …

Lower Prairie Creek Project Recreation Tourist Facilities, Susie Van Kirk

Susie Van Kirk Papers

General references regarding tourist facilities in Humboldt County from the 1930s up until 1990. This report is divided into multiple sections, focusing on the Moseley Property, the Berry Glen area, the Valley Green area, and the Tennessee Auto Court. These sections discuss who lived there, who owned the property, any construction that happened, and what kind of lives and relationships the residents had.

You’Ll Like The Tenancies Bill And Poppintree Build, But Not A Lot, Lorcan Sirr

Media

Two things exercised my brain this week, both of which reminded me of a late, lamented magician. The first is the government’s Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016. This is the bill that will send planning applications for 100 or more residential homes directly to An Bord Pleanala. As I have said before, this will not be the panacea for a perceived problem, mostly because the problemdoes not exist. In 2015, 985 appeals in relation to residential developments were made to An Bord Pleanala, and about 75% of judgments confirmed the local authority’s decision. Indeed, 82% of …

We Should Heed Research Into What’S Happening In Rural Areas, Lorcan Sirr

Media

Ireland’s rural population has increased by just over 19%in the past 20 years, according to Teagasc, the state research body for the food and agriculture sector. A study, carried out by Dr David Meredith, senior researcher at Teagasc, looked at rural Ireland —its economy and where people are going to live. Media reports tend to focus on specific components of population decline, especially the headlinegrabbing “Can’t even field a GAA team” line, which focuses on young men. Populations comprise more than young men, however, and increases can be found in other age categories, such as the over-55s.

James Joyce Dubliners Run: He Went Through The Narrow Alley Of Temple Bar Quickly, Barry Sheehan

Other resources

I write a blog www.jj21k.com which looks at the works of James Joyce, the environment which he wrote about and changes that have taken place since he wrote about them. The blogposts are predominantly about Dublin. As part of discovering Dublin by reading and Running I have written several longer pieces.

This piece creates a running narrative that runs through each of the Dubliners stories, physically connecting them and making observation on them and the city of Dublin.

You can see more background information and other posts on www.jj21k.com.

State Must Play To Crowd On Renting Or Face The Consequences, Lorcan Sirr

Media

In 1895, the French polymath Gustave Le Bon published his seminal work, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, on the behaviour and danger of crowds. For decades after, Le Bon’s theories influenced generations of politicians and their policies. Le Bon was influential at a time of rapid urbanisation, social upheaval and worker organisation. Social order was under threat and it was feared that “the masses” might break with patriarchy, social order and religion.

Creating A Successful Wayfinding System: Lessons Learned From Springfield, Massachusetts, Yanhua Lu

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The masters project presents findings from recent work the author completed related to wayfinding, and wayfinding systems. This work began as part of a graduate urban design studio, followed by work as a research assistant at the UMass Design Center in Springfield, on a new “demonstration” wayfinding system installed in Springfield, Massachusetts. The wayfinding project was done in association with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and the Springfield Office of Planning and Community Development, was implemented with the main goals of improving public health by encouraging more people to walk.

Wayfinding systems are increasingly seen as an important part of …

Help-To-Buy Scheme Is Detached From How We Really Live, Lorcan Sirr

Media

The government’s help-tobuy scheme, announced in the budget, was rightfully criticised by many people. Various ministers seemed a little surprised, if not a bit tetchy, that fewpeople had rowed in behind their latest genius wheeze. In research carried out by Davy stockbrokers and the property website myhome.ie, even firsttime buyers did not expect a helpto- buy scheme (people are not too easily schmoozed these days). Two other things flew under the radar when the proposal was announced. First, the silence from retail banks was deafening, which was strange given the allegedly positive response from the Central Bank. It nowlooks as …

Let’S Stop Calling This A Crisis And Start Building More Homes, Lorcan Sirr

Media

Over the past couple of years I have made a concerted effort not to use the phrase “housing crisis”, and I’ve been doing quite well, too. Recently, however, I have been using the dreaded phrase more often than I like. I don’t like the word “crisis” because it often gets abused, and although I’m talking about housing here, the same point can be applied to many economic and social problems and solutions.

Networks Of Opportunity: Public Engagement Survey Results, Sammi S. Gay, Derek J. Krevat, Stephanie Carlisle, Justin Gilmore, Gianpaula Hulten, Alexandra 'Ola' Smialek

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

The Project for Public Spaces notes, “People who use a public space are the ones who know, from experience, which areas are dangerous and why, which spaces are comfortable, where traffic moves too quickly and how certain aspects of a space could be improved” (2011, p. 13). Therefore, public engagement was a core part of our project. As previously stated, one major objective of this project is to propose safer paths to school for students. This objective stems from the fact that no bus services are provided to children who live within 1 mile of an elementary school, 1.5 miles …

Networks Of Opportunity: A Citywide Vision For Pedestrian And Bicycle Pathways In Chicopee, Massachusetts, Stephanie Carlisle, Ambica Chadha, Daniel Fontaine, Sammi Gay, Justin Gilmore, Gianpaula Hulten, Derek Krevat, Shuo Li, Alexandra ‘Ola’ Smialek, Melody Tapia

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 2016, the City of Chicopee gave the Regional Planning Studio four directives that aim …

Powering Forward: A Vision For The Turners Falls Canal District, Desiree Demski-Hamelin, Kellie Fenton, Brett Gallagher, Kenneth Kirkland, Jeremy Price

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 2016, the Town of Montague’s Department of Planning and Conservation gave the Regional Planning …

Urban Design Proposal For Nispero Parkway, City Of San Miguel Allende, Study Abroad Fall 2016, Tommy K. Chong

Other CRP Student Work

No abstract provided.

No Landlord Exodus But Still The Same Old Eviction Problems, Lorcan Sirr

Media

There has been a lot of discussion this year about concerns that landlords are fleeing the rental market in the face of rent freezes and difficulties in making a profit — but are they? First, it is important to note that it is not the number of landlords in a market that is relevant, it’s the number of tenancies, which is a measure of the size of the sector. The sector has actually expanded in the past 12 months from about 319,000 tenancies at the end of last year to 324,000 in mid-2016. The number of landlords also increased in …

First-Time Buyers’ Grant Is For The Developers’ Back Pocket, Lorcan Sirr

Media

Over the last few weeks, political feelers have gone out to test the likely response to a grant for first-time buyers. Perhaps surprisingly for the government, the reaction has not been totally positive. The broad idea is that first-time buyers would get a lump sum payment, or other credit, of between €5,000 and €15,000 to help them to meet newmortgage lending thresholds, depending on the price of the house they are buying, perhaps up to €350,000.

Solid Waste Management Of Disposable Diaper Sanitation And The Connection To Environmental Awareness For Women In Zanzibar, Micalea Leaska

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project examined the solid waste management of disposable diapers in three locations, Stone Town, Mangapwani and Vikokotoni, within Zanzibar, Tanzania. Its methods included field observations of the solid waste disposal system in Zanzibar and interviews with women about their rationales for buying and using disposable diapers. For one of the first times, the data collected during this project will further assist to educate women about the benefits of cloth diapers and the negative effects disposable diapers create for Zanzibari families and the environment. This study has observed one of the most growing concerns regarding excess solid waste contributing to …

To Solve Housing Crisis, We Must Get Over Our Problem With Cities, Lorcan Sirr

Media

Housing is a many-headed beast with elements of technology, planning, finance, sociology and of course, politics. At its core, however, it is a simple thing: buildings for people and this is why it’s crucial to keep an eye on our population statistics. Preliminary results fromthe recent census are throwing up some interesting figures, all of which have implications for where we should be focusing our efforts to build housing. The location of our empty houses should have told us by nowthat there’s little point in building homes where there’s no demand for them.

Eroding Planning Powers Leaves Us At The Mercy Of The Market, Lorcan Sirr

Media

There is little evidence to show that the planning system in Ireland hinders the delivery of housing, yet it is regularly blamed for preventing developers from building. Consistent with our political tradition of “anecdote as fact”, no credible evidence is ever presented to prove these allegations that the planning system—and indeed, planners themselves—are a blockage. The elephant in the room is, of course, owners sitting on land with planning permission who won’t build, or who won’t sell if they can’t afford to build. Critics of the planning system are fewin reality, yet they are vocal and influential. Diluting the system …

European Road Trip Reveals Housing Sectors United By Strife, Lorcan Sirr

Media

I recently undertook a 6,000km road trip that began in Glenties, in Co Donegal, and went as far as Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, before returning home via Trieste in Italy. During the trip the housing similarities and challenges that many European countries face became evident.

Stumbling Block Of Social Housing Stalls O’Devaney Gardens, Lorcan Sirr

Media

Last week, Dublin city council (DCC) resolved a dispute with its own councillors over the regeneration of O’Devaney Gardens, a council estate behind Arbour Hill in Dublin. Named after Bishop O’Devaney, who was hanged at Arbour Hill in 1612 as a friend of Tyrone rebel chief Hugh O’Neill, O’Devaney Gardens is a 1950s corporation-built estate of 300 flats in 12 (originally 13) blocks.

How Failings In Policy Making Give Us Plenty To Worry About, Lorcan Sirr

Media

Journalist Mick Clifford recently questioned the will and ability of any new government to solve the housing crisis. It’s a legitimate question as governments get caught between the needs of the electorate—more and cheaper housing—and those of the economy, and in particular the banks—higher house prices to pass European Central Bank stress tests.

Rental Sector Reform Must Look At The European Dimension, Lorcan Sirr

Media

One of the key points of interest for me in Rebuilding Ireland, the recently published Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, was how it proposed to deal with reform of security of tenure in the private rental sector. Under the plan, where a landlord proposes to sell 20 or more units within a single scheme, the tenants can remain in situ “other than in exceptional circumstances”. Hopefully, this will be amended in due course; the proposal affects few landlords, offers protection to only a small proportion of tenants, and is riddled with legal holes. I would argue that landlords with …

The Limits Of Liberal Planning: The Lindsay Administration's Failed Plan To Control Development On Staten Island, Jeffrey A. Kroessler

Publications and Research

Staten Island grew rapidly after the Verrazano Narrows Bridge opened in 1964. Mayor John Lindsay introduced a plan to control and guide development there, and encouraged planned unit development. The Rouse Company, then building Columbia, Maryland, was contracted to plan new communities for the southern third of Staten Island to more than double the borough’s population. State Senator John Marchi introduced legislation for the South Richmond Development Corporation in 1971. The plan called for the city to use eminent domain to buy property and transfer it to the Rouse Company, which would also construct residential towers on landfill in Raritan …

Industrial Ecology Analysis Of The Potential For An Eastern Nebraska Industrial Symbiosis Network (Enisn): A Comparative Study, Bradley A. Behne

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The area of Eastern Nebraska north of Omaha, including the municipality of Blair is host to a collection of unique companies and industries. These industries, driven by the agricultural and urban economy of the area, as well as the geographic proximity to each other, make it an advantageous area to study the potential for a network where individual entities utilize the concept of industrial symbiosis. This potential network is referred to as the Eastern Nebraska Industrial Symbiosis Network (ENISN). Industrial symbiosis, a sub-set of industrial ecology, engages separate industries in a collaborative and collective approach, concerning itself with the flow …