Architecture Commons^™

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 …

From Quadrangle To Square: Connecting Culture, Art And Public Spaces In Downtown Springfield, Lauren Azuela, Patrick Burns, Bo Carpen, Winfield Henry, Joseph Langois

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

From Quadrangle to Square: Connecting Culture, Art and Public Spaces in Downtown Springfield provides strategies to revitalize Springfield’s Metro Center through landscape architecture and public art initiatives, and to acknowledge the role that race has played in Springfield’s development from the City’s incorporation in the early 1600s through present day. With the Studio’s partnership between the Springfield Cultural Partnership, Armory Quadrangle Civic Association, Springfield Museums, Fresh Paint Springfield, and Art for the Soul Gallery, an overarching goal for each student was to create a cultural corridor along Bruce Landon Way from Springfield’s Museum Quadrangle to Court Square.

Green Stormwater Infrastructure For The Town Of Maynard, Ma, Angie J. Gregory

Sustainability Science Working Papers

Green Infrastructure refers to ecosystem service solutions that provide human benefit. In the context of Stormwater Management, GI benefits address regulatory compliance measures related to stormwater runoff pollutant capture and flood mitigation on site, while providing co-benefits. Inherently distributive, non-exclusive, and non-rival in nature, Green Infrastructure as publicly owned infrastructure can provide restoration while generating capacity for community resilience. Comprehensive public and private investments will equitably advance public health and safety through this method. This paper will present the use of GI for satisfying compliance for MS4 permits for municipalities and implementation at residential and commercial scale with comprehensive review …

Enforcing Higher Standards For Flood Hazard Mitigation In Vermont, Tamsin Flanders

Masters Theses

The state of Vermont faces increasing risk of costly damage from catastrophic flooding events as climate change increases the frequency of heavy rains and cumulative precipitation. In addition to increasing flood inundation risk, extreme precipitation events are leading to high rates damage from fluvial erosion—erosion caused by the force of floodwater and the materials it carries. As in all U.S. states, flood hazard governance in Vermont is shared by multiple levels of government and involves a complex compliance model that relies on local governments to regulate private property owners to achieve community, state, or federal goals.

To encourage municipalities to …

Transforming Downtown Springfield: The Green And Equitable City Of Tomorrow, Frank Sleegers, Abriana Brown, Ella Cormier, Benjamin Devos, Matheus Gomes, Justin Hailey, Stuart Han, Ming Huang, Nan Jiang, Joshua Lemieux, Rachel Newman, Zachary Numan, Makenna Palzkill, Carter Roy, Hannah Welsh

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

Transforming Downtown Springfield, MA: The Green and Equitable City of Tomorrow

This urban design studio is a community service project that developed visions for the downtown in Springfield, MA, as a revitalized mixed-use walkable neighborhood. The project emphasizes neighborhood connectivity through walking and biking and creating a green mosaic of places to sit and gather outdoors. We understand cities as active, vibrant, and inclusive places that are accessible and inviting to all. The project covers 7 team projects from Dwight Street down to the Connecticut River.

Main Project Goal:

Create visions for a green downtown district and ways to foster …

Resilient Urbanism: Bridging Natural Elements & Sustainable Structures In A Post-Industrial Urban Environment, Nicholas Mcgee

Masters Theses

How can the revival of nature combined with the introduction of contemporary structures improve a city’s appeal? The goals of this thesis are as follows: 1) To provide a new public space along Hartford’s waterfront, 2) To relieve traffic of those traveling through Hartford, 3) To allow for easier/increased access for local traffic to access the downtown area and central business district, and 4) To create connections across the River at the Human Scale. The relocation of I-91 to the opposite side of the Connecticut River using existing infrastructure is a clean, concise way of achieving these four goals. By …

Understanding Agrihoods: An Exploration Into The Growing Trend Of Farm-To-Table Communities Across The United States, Benjamin Breger

Masters Theses

Agrihoods are a recent trend in real estate development that integrate agricultural amenities - such as working farms, orchards, or community gardens - into residential or mixed-use communities. As an emergent trend, agrihoods have the potential to enhance farmland preservation and local and regional food systems, making them a ripe area for research. However, very little scholarly research has been carried out to characterize, contextualize or evaluate agrihood developments. Thus far, the development model has primarily been detailed in popular media sources. This thesis serves as a baseline study that seeks to understand how neighborhood food systems operate within agrihood …

Multimodal Transit And A New Civic Architecture, Samuel Bruce Hill

Masters Theses

We live in an age defined by the automobile and its infrastructure. This paradigm of movement has shaped how we live our lives, and the urban frameworks we inhabit. Cars as a form of transportation damage the environment and engender unsustainable lifestyles. They also create anti-social spaces with the infrastructure they require, and therefore their success is inverse to that of the pedestrian experience.

I seek to adapt this transit paradigm with a more flexible and resilient multimodal system. My work focuses on reinvigorating a rail line in central Massachusetts and designing a modular station system that can serve as …

Healthy Placemaking - Revitalizing Springfield's Medical District, Allyson Fairweather, Michael Gagnon, Tianyi Guan, James Mealey, Gwendolyn Stoll, Peter Wackernagel

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

Healthy Placemaking - Revitalizing Springfield’s Medical District

Healthy Placemaking for the North End Medical District was a community engagement urban design studio for Springfield, MA to propose a new vision for the Medical District as an exemplary model of healthy place-making. WHAT IS HEALTHY PLACE-MAKING? Healthy place-making is a creative process that generates an interconnected mixture of amenities that activate the public realm, creating a livelihood that builds upon sense of place. Urban design strategies consider the ecological relationship between people and the environment in order to provide design interventions that improve the mental, physical, social, and economic wellbeing of …

Springfield's Legacy: A Vision For A Transformative Transit-Oriented Union Station District, Keith Benoit, Nigel Cummings, Caitlan Davis, Kinjal Desai, Marcos Gonzalez, Jiaqi Guo, Anna Kellerman, Olivia Ashjian James, Bryce Lloyd-Hahn, Stephen Mccusker, Chris Ramage, Jessica Schottanes

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

This urban design studio developed concepts around equitable transportation Union Station in Springfield, Massachusetts. The work creates a vision for the Union Station District, a revitalized mixed-use walkable neighborhood adjacent to the restored transportation center. It emphasizes reusing the city’s historic street grid in new, forward thinking ways that enhance neighborhood connectivity. The plan creates physical and social networks that bring together diverse groups of residents and visitors. The Union Station District will be a place that offers a range of non-automobile transportation options to residents and visitors and will help transforming an area characterized by vacant lots and empty …

Knitting Together Communities - Designing The Heart Of Six Corners And Old Hill, Samantha Bowman, Ankur Choudhary, Alexandria Connell, Megan Davey, Katina Decoulos, Richard Duhamel, Brooklyn Feng, Ian Finn, Doreen Guan, Sophia Liquori, Connor Moloney, Claudia Namaroff, Emily Noonan, Hunter Proulx, Stephen Rezendes, Maura Robitaille, Vincent Shu, Jaques Skriletz, Frank Sleegers

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

Knitting together Communities -Designing the Heart of Six Corners and Old Hill

Knitting Together Communities – Designing the Heart of Six Corners and Old Hill provides a framework to knit together assets and opportunities for creating a strong identity and sense of coherence for a transformative urban district in Springfield, MA. The Senior Urban Design Studio 2019 created six proposals that were searching for design opportunities that enhance the aesthetic quality of the neighborhood and increase services for the wellbeing of the residents. The two neighborhoods are characterized by strong neighborhood leadership through committed residents, community centers and active religious …

The Just Green City: A Vision Of The South Holyoke Neighborhood, Michael Gagnon

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

Landscape Architects need to take their place as formative roles in the planning and design of our cities in the era of climate change. Not only do we have to be a part of the collaborative efforts, but we also have to bring it to the communities who need it most to create long-lasting impacts. Climate change is an equity issue and without tackling our social problems, we cannot tackle climate change. Our role is to not reinforce the status quo but to change it. The Just Green City takes place in Holyoke Massachusetts. This legacy city was once the …

Correctional Landscape Studies: Improving The Restorative Potential, Allyson Fairweather

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The United States is the world’s leader in incarceration with 2.2 million people currently in the nation’s prisons and jails. On average, one-third of former offenders will return to prison for re-offence within three years of their release (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2018). This cycle is known as recidivism, and demonstrates a major reflection of the criminal justice system’s failure to provide rehabilitation that meets the needs of the incarcerated population. However, horticultural therapy in prison may offer a sliver of hope. Also referred to as Green Prison Programs (GPPs), studies indicate that participants in these programs gain valuable job …

Boxborough Economic Development Study: Phase 2, Technical Memo, Henry Renski, John Mullin, Camille Barchers

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

The Town of Boxborough’s Economic Development Committee (EDC) contracted with the Center for Economic Development at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to produce an economic development study. Phase II began in January of 2020 and provides a deeper evaluation of the development scenarios proposed at the completion of Phase I, involving four key components: 1. Summarize the results from a survey of citizen preferences on the Phase I scenarios. 2. Produce a series of "vignettes" to explain the key elements of the different scenarios to the public. 3. Assess the potential market demand for specific office, retail, and other commercial …

Peripheral Rural Landscapes And Architectural Heritage Around Kayseri As A Sustainable Preservation Problem, Bahar Elagoz Timur, Nilufer Baturayoglu Yoney

ISCCL Scientific Symposia and Annual General Meetings // Symposiums scientifiques et assemblées générales annuelles de l'ISCCL // Simposios científicos yy las Asambleas Generales Anuales

The rural areas on the perimeter of Kayseri present a rich heritage and culture environment threatened by recent urban development. This paper focuses on the valley settlements on the northeast of the city in Gesi and Koramaz valleys, some of which date from as early as the Medieval period and whose population was multi-ethnic and multi-religious until the middle of the 20th century. Following the emigration of the Armenian and Greek population, the activities which have created and sustained these settlements for many centuries are disappearing as well as the architectural heritage as the villages are partially and seasonally occupied. …

Kc 4.3: Rural Landscapes Of The 20th Century, Stefania Landi, Concetta Lenza, Denise Ulivieri

ISCCL Scientific Symposia and Annual General Meetings // Symposiums scientifiques et assemblées générales annuelles de l'ISCCL // Simposios científicos yy las Asambleas Generales Anuales

During the 20^th Century, rural landscapes all over the world underwent rapid transformations as a result of many factors - including new socio-political and economic conditions, new agricultural practices and the mechanization of agriculture - resulting in radical transformations of land uses and in the introduction of new infrastructures and facilities, necessary for the storage and distribution of an ever increasing amount of products. Based on the existing documents and bibliography relevant to the topic (ICOMOS-IFLA, Principles concerning rural landscapes as heritage, 2017; ICOMOS-ISC20C, Madrid-New Delhi Document. Approaches to the conservation of twentieth-century cultural heritage, 2017; Meeus, Wijermans, Vroom, …

Kc 4.1: Rural Heritage And Urban-Rural Linkages In The Icomos Sdgs Policy Guidance, Ege Yildirim, Ilaria Rosetti, Patricia O'Donnell

ISCCL Scientific Symposia and Annual General Meetings // Symposiums scientifiques et assemblées générales annuelles de l'ISCCL // Simposios científicos yy las Asambleas Generales Anuales

This Knowledge Café aims to provide a discussion platform to contribute to the drafting of a new ICOMOS SDGs Policy Guidance, from the perspective of rural heritage, landscapes and rural-urban linkages. While 50%-plus of global populations are urban dwellers, we tend to forget that the other half dwell in rural places.

One of the 7 Priority Actions of the ICOMOS SDGs Working Group in 2018 is the preparation of a consolidated policy statement, as an effective tool for advocacy and communication to wider society and the development world. Based on the need to boost the role of cultural heritage in …

Panel 10. Paper 10.3: A Multi-Layered Rural Settlement Resisting To Sustain The Rural Habitat: Gaziköy, Turkey, Nihan Bulut, Tugce Yuruk, Sera Naz Ersoy, Ayse Guliz Bilgin Altinoz, Ozgun Ozcakir, Meltem Cetiner

ISCCL Scientific Symposia and Annual General Meetings // Symposiums scientifiques et assemblées générales annuelles de l'ISCCL // Simposios científicos yy las Asambleas Generales Anuales

The most important features of rural settlements are the fertile agricultural lands satisfying needs of people, the connections with the regional transportation network and proximity to natural resources such as water and fresh air. These features are important for the continuation of rural life and Gazikoy, which is known as Ganos in ancient period, has always been a rural settlement since antiquity because of them.

Throughout time, Gaziköy (Ganos) in Thrace was inhabited by different cultures. The inhabitation in the village continued all through the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods. The Gaziköy (Ganos) which had a Rum (Ottoman-Greek) population …

Panel 10. Paper 10.2: Contradictions Between Local Values And Top-Down Conservation Priorities: Taşkale, Turkey, Emine Cigdem Asrav, Ayse Guliz Bilgin Altinoz

ISCCL Scientific Symposia and Annual General Meetings // Symposiums scientifiques et assemblées générales annuelles de l'ISCCL // Simposios científicos yy las Asambleas Generales Anuales

Taşkale village, located on a valley, has been formed by having direct relations with nature within its own dynamics. In its historical continuum, there has always been active and continuous use of places even though functions change in time. The initial settlement starts in rock-cut spaces, then the settlement moves towards the slope of the valley in front of the rock formation. The rock formation has been used for various purposes of inhabitation, storage and worshipping since prehistoric times onwards. The church carved in the rock is still in active use today as a mosque and the rock-cut granaries are …

Panel 10. Paper 10.1: From Understanding To Action For Conservation And Sustainability Of A Rural Heritage Place: Kemer, Turkey, Cansu Ekici, Miray Kisaer, Azime Aladag, Ayse Guliz Bilgin Altinoz, Ozgun Ozcakir, Mercan Yavuzatmaca, Sibel Yildirim Esen

ISCCL Scientific Symposia and Annual General Meetings // Symposiums scientifiques et assemblées générales annuelles de l'ISCCL // Simposios científicos yy las Asambleas Generales Anuales

Kemer Village, a historic rural settlement situated in western Anatolia, is a very good representative of rural heritage places of this geography. Well-preserved buildings and settlement tissue of the village, provide invaluable information about spatial and architectural features, construction materials and techniques common to this geography. However, upper scale agricultural production and settlement policies, as well as changing ways of living in time, lead to depopulation, discard, alteration and even destruction of Kemer Village. Besides the physical aspects, its intangible aspects, like local living traditions, beliefs, rituals and indigenous knowledge, are also under the risk of disappearing. Although the population …

Panel 10 Rural Heritage Places In Turkey: Different Contexts | Diverse Issues | Distinct Responses, Ayse Guliz Bilgin Altinoz, Ozgun Ozcakir

ISCCL Scientific Symposia and Annual General Meetings // Symposiums scientifiques et assemblées générales annuelles de l'ISCCL // Simposios científicos yy las Asambleas Generales Anuales

Rural heritage places are social, cultural, economic and natural environments shaped according to the habitat in which they are located. Thus, they are unique places where people and natural environment are in constant interaction. However, rural heritage places in Turkey, face with various problems similar to those in the world such as depopulation, changes in policies for agricultural production and excessive cultural tourism.

In the panel; complex physical, social and economic structure of rural heritage places and the problems that they are faced with today will be discussed with reference to three different villages from different regions of Turkey. The …

Panel 4 Paper 4.2: Resiliency Of Rural Socio-Ecological Landscapes: Case Study Of The Black Volta And Weto Landscapes Of Ghana, George Ortsin

ISCCL Scientific Symposia and Annual General Meetings // Symposiums scientifiques et assemblées générales annuelles de l'ISCCL // Simposios científicos yy las Asambleas Generales Anuales

In response to Ghana’s obligations under the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Global Environmental Fund Small Grants Program (SGP) adopted a resilience approach to sustainability, focusing on how to build local capacity to deal with unexpected landscape change. This paper will: (1) share experience from Ghana in restoring landscapes for resilient livelihoods, (2) present methodologies on how rural landscapes can be managed to ensure a sustainable and resilient supply of essential ecosystem services, and (3) discuss the challenges that are associated with these approaches. The paper will also discuss how Ghana’s Weto and Black Volta socio-ecological production landscapes enhanced …

Panel 4 Paper 4.1: Icomos Perspective On Addressing Culturenature Integration In The Implementation Of The Sdgs, Ege Yildirim

ISCCL Scientific Symposia and Annual General Meetings // Symposiums scientifiques et assemblées générales annuelles de l'ISCCL // Simposios científicos yy las Asambleas Generales Anuales

Rural landscapes with interconnected CultureNature heritage value have much to contribute to the resilience and sustainability of food production, use of renewable natural resources and overall well-being of communities. Rural landscapes are addressed in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in SDG 11 as a type of ‘human settlement’ and Target 11.4 calls for 'strengthening efforts ‘to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage.’ Even so, to date, the contributions of rural landscapes have had limited recognition within the global framework for the UN SDGs and some reference in the UN-Habitat New Urban Agenda.

This paper will provide …

Panel 3 Paper 3.2: Nature, Agriculture And Rural Resilience: Interdependencies Between Natural Protected Areas And Rural Landscapes In Satoyama/Satoumi In Japan, Maya N. Ishizawa

ISCCL Scientific Symposia and Annual General Meetings // Symposiums scientifiques et assemblées générales annuelles de l'ISCCL // Simposios científicos yy las Asambleas Generales Anuales

The Capacity Building Workshops on Nature-Culture Linkages in Heritage Conservation (CBWNCL), held at the University of Tsukuba in Japan, gather Asia-Pacific heritage professionals with the aim of creating a platform of mutual-learning and exchange between the culture and nature sectors. In the first workshop on Agricultural Landscapes, from 14 case studies, 5 showed natural protected areas in tense relations with their rural landscape surroundings. However, these agricultural landscapes are essential for protecting natural values, as they form part of their larger ecosystems. In the second workshop on Sacred Landscapes, from 16 case studies, 5 case studies were also …

Intermodal Transit Terminal: Integrating The Future Of Transit Into The Urban Fabric, Guy Vigneau

Masters Theses

The very foundation of transportation relies on its ability to efficiently move people and goods through a transitional space. Transportation hubs are key to achieving this goal. However, many transit terminals are outdated or poorly designed to fit the needs of the modern world. At the core of this thesis are two overarching questions. First, how do we design intermodal transit terminals so that they successfully integrate into an existing urban fabric? Second, how do we design for innovative modes of transportation, such as hyperloop technology? This thesis explores how architectural design can recover existing transit connections within an urban …

Arc Of Recreation 2.0 Connecting The Mcknight Rail Trail From Mason Square To Union Station, Springfield Ma, Kevin Atkinson, Benjamin Boschetto, Sicheng Cui, Lauren Fiedler, Micah Franzman, Jiaqi Guo, Joseph Herman, Ross Kerr, Thomas Leary, Xueqi (Lucia) Li, William Taylor, Joseph Wynne Jr.

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

ARC OF RECREATION 2.0

Connecting the McKnight Rail Trail From Mason Square to Union Station, Springfield MA

ARC OF RECREATION 2.0 is a Senior Urban Design Studio that created design concepts to envision the McKnight Rail Trail on an abandoned railroad corridor as a place to walk, bike, recreate, and congregate and to connect Mason Square to Union Station. Arc of Recreation was a name that was coined over 10 years ago through a different project at UMass. Finally realization is within reach. The City published a feasibility study in 2014 and has freed a construction budget of $430,000 for …

Placemaking In Metro East Springfield - Creating A Landscape Framework, Benjamin Breger, Sean Fitzsimmons, Mitchell Johnson, Tasuku Kamei, Jiarui Yu, Tia Novak, Sarah Welch, Josiah Simpson, Yincheng Zhang, Dania Khlaifat, Jess Schoendorf

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

PLACEMAKING IN METRO EAST SPRINGFIELD - Creating a Landscape Framework

Placemaking in Metro East Springfield – Creating a Landscape Framework provides strategies to use the landscape as a framework for rebuilding community in a downtown urban area that has “good bones” but has been neglected and overlooked for decades. A catalyst for the development of project area is the recent acquisition of the historical 1916 Willys Overland building through a developer. The Graduate Urban Design Studio 2018 developed five proposals for urban revitalization in the area that are centered on the landscape. The programming of the proposals was developed in …

The Industrial Park: A Landscape-Based Vision For The Turners Falls Canal District, Josiah Simpson

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

This design study examines the history and economic context that defines Turners Falls as a de-industrialized mill town. It reviews the social, economic, locational, physical, and historical obstacles the town has faced redeveloping the mill buildings within its Canal District and proposes a landscape-based approach for addressing redevelopment. Landscape redevelopment is offered as an alternative to traditional redevelopment of buildings for non-affluent mill towns, like Turners Falls, because the costs associated with landscape upgrades are much lower and can provide multifunctional and multi-purpose spaces for many types of people. Additionally, it is a pathway for inviting community involvement that allows …

The Industrial Park: A Landscape-Based Vision For The Turners Falls Canal District, Josiah Simpson

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

This design study examines the history and economic context that defines Turners Falls as a de-industrialized mill town. It reviews the social, economic, locational, physical, and historical obstacles the town has faced redeveloping the mill buildings within its Canal District and proposes a landscape-based approach for addressing redevelopment. Landscape redevelopment is offered as an alternative to traditional redevelopment of buildings for non-affluent mill towns, like Turners Falls, because the costs associated with landscape upgrades are much lower and can provide multifunctional and multi-purpose spaces for many types of people. Additionally, it is a pathway for inviting community involvement that allows …

Boxborough Economic Development Study: Phase 1, Technical Memo, Camille Barchers

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

The Town of Boxborough’s Economic Development Committee (EDC) contracted with the Center for Economic Development at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to produce an economic development study. Phase 1 of the study, conducted from September through December 2019 by Regional Planning Studio master’s students, began with an investigation of existing conditions and public opinion on economic development and concluded with four plausible future economic development scenarios designed to support the eventual creation of the Town’s long-term economic development plan.