Architecture Commons^™

Happy, Healthy, Active And Engaged:Incorporating Public Art, Planting Design, And Physical Fitness Along The Norwottuck Rail Trail., Rebekah L. Decourcey

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

Applying these concepts to a person’s lifestyle can significantly improve the quality of that person’s life. Regular physical activity of the body and engagement of the mind have been irrefutably proven to decrease health problems and increase happiness. The goal of this project is to apply design suggestions for a 2.2 mile section of the Norwottuck Rail Trail including proposed amenities, improvements, and public art that support this wellness concept. The project site is in Hadley, Massachusetts. The Norwottuck Rail Trail (rail trail from here forward) has undergone significant improvements over the time span of 2013-2015. Improvements included repaving and …

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 …

Umass Amherst Campus Green Infrastructure Planning, Meilan Chen, Zhuoya Deng, Joseph Larico, Bin Liu

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

Conventional stormwater management methods are a major problem in urban areas that can result in erosion, sedimentation, flooding and in the contamination of natural waterbodies that can be harmful for wildlife and costly for humans. This project will focus on the integration of green infrastructure and UMass campus planning with the goal of solving stormwater management issues on campus. We propose a series of green infrastructure interventions that will increase infiltration and time of concentration, reduce peak flows of runoff, and filter sediment. These interventions will allow for the removal of catch basins and pipes, reduce pavement, and add vegetation. …

A New Vision For An Old Institution: Addressing The Challenges For Urban And Peri-Urban Agriculture At The Waltham Experiment Station, Kevin C. Hartzell

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

Urban and peri-urban agriculture has a new place in (sub)urban landscapes because of the suite of ecosystem services it can provide including, but not limited to; increased local food production, waste recycling, stormwater infiltration, and reconnecting urban dwellers to their food source. The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Waltham Experiment Station, located in Waltham, Massachusetts, is poised for redevelopment as a model for multi-use urban agriculture production, research, and education as well as a living laboratory to monitor and document the ecosystem services provided to the surrounding community. This project will focus on educational and research categories within the theme of …

Resilience At Umass Amherst: A Sustainable Sites Initiative Inspired Master's Project, Nelle Ward

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

A new movement to plan and design monitorable green stormwater infrastructure is beginning to emerge. Faced with the imminent effects of climate change, "sustainability" is becoming a more important part of municipal long-term planning and design strategies. Accumulating evidence demonstrating the myriad of environmental and aesthetic of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) has given rise to programs that offer sustainability guidelines such as the sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) guidelines. SITES encourages resilient landscapes that are designed to: maximize ecosystem service benefits, be monitored for benefits or lack thereof, provide educational opportunities, and improve human health and well-being. In using these wholistic …

Creating The West Gate Entrance: Erosion And Water Quality Solutions For The University Of Massachusetts – Amherst Campus, Nathan A. Frazee

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The impacts of development have degraded the Tan Brook to the point that water pollution and flooding issues are affecting residents and the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus as well as the adjacent Mill River Watershed. Water quality measurements indicate high levels of conductivity possibly due to winter salting. This proposed design solution includes a vegetated swale that integrates sand filters and bioretention basins. These applications within the design could reduce erosion issues and improve water quality while providing students, faculty, and staff a location for educational purposes, recreation, and respite. By embracing innovative and aesthetic solutions, the West Gate …

Preservation Through Design: Reclaiming Franklin Park's Place In The Future Of Boston, Junzhi Yu

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

This project is a demonstration of heritage landscape preservation done through a new design for Franklin Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Design from a preservation perspective requires sensitivity to the interacting forces between site history, existing conditions, and future needs, especially when engaging a historical landscape that was designed by a renowned figure like Olmsted. The goals of this project are to rehabilitate the Franklin Park site, securing its integrity and historical value, while allowing changes and future growth to take place.

Shelter Scape 7: Combining Regenerative And Earth Sheltered Practices For A New Housing Community In Massachusetts, Laura Gayle Keskula

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

Global Climate is projected to change significantly over the next decade. Given the potential impact of these changes, human relationships with the landscape will change. We as a people will have to re-evaluate our behaviors, activities and aesthetics; and our communities might have to re-assess and re-classify their current land use designations; as is the case potentially for Wachusett Mountain Ski Area in Princeton, Massachusetts. Under the projected climatic changes, the future snow making and sustaining ability of this mountain is of question and at potential risk; and these questions therefore beg the discussion of what to do instead with …

Living With Farm Creek And The Reconciliation Of A Laden Landscape, Irene E. Miller

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

Recent trends in East Peoria, Illinois have seen new commercial developments replacing former industrial and manufacturing properties as well as naturalized floodplains. Recent development pressures have consumed properties located more inland, leaving the historic downtown compromised as old businesses leave.

The recent increase in large-lot development has compromised Farm Creek as well. Frequent flash flooding in the past led to damming, channelizing, and leveeing of the creek, causing the unwanted side-effects of increased sedimentation and water loads to the Illinois River, loss of floodplain habitats, and an eyesore that characterizes East Peoria as a whole.

Farm Creek is an under-utilized, …

Children's Playscapes: Risk, Safety, And Creativity, Ngoc Doan

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

This project focuses on urban playgrounds in the Boston metropolitan area in Massachusetts. Since 1995, renovations implemented through the Boston Schoolyards Initiative (BSI) have transformed school playgrounds into more vibrant environments for children. Nonetheless, these playgrounds may provide further opportunities for innovative designs that help promote creativity.

In the twenty-first century, children seem to be more interested in exploring the world of digital technology rather than spending time outdoors. However, the outdoor environment provides a great medium for children to explore and learn along with other children, which cannot be experienced via technology. One of the challenges that prevents children …

Building A Modern Agricultural Planting Garden In An Urban Area, Restoration Of Shenzhen Central Park, Guangdong, China, Yan Xu

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

This master project proposes a restoration plan for building a modern agricultural planting garden in an urban area for Shenzhen Central Park, China. There are various challenges in the selected area including weak accessibility, lack of social activity, and loss of cultural identity. This paper will propose a restoration plan based on field study, literature review, background data analysis, and case studies. Urban agriculture practice and community garden study provide guidance on the selection of strategies to deal with those challenges in the urban context. Specific concepts include sustainable urban development and creating social and cultural experiences. The design proposal …

Creative Placemaking: A Case Study Exploration Of How Creative Economy Strategies Can Provide Potential Opportunities For Revitalization In Downtown Chicopee, Ma, Laura Selmani

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

Chicopee, a former industrial center in western Massachusetts, is experiencing a stagnant economy, high vacancy and a steady loss of population. City of Chicopee wants to increase downtown visibility and bolster its economy by attracting in the area people constituent of creative class. This research represents an attempt to identify creative strategies to develop the neglected downtown of Chicopee. After more than a century of economic blight, vacancy and declining population, the city wants to research and exploit the potential of arts and culture as means to a physical, social and economic revivification of its downtown.

A key aim of …

Increasing Urban Biodiversity In Springfield, Ma By Restoring The Native Floodplain Plant Community Along The Connecticut River, Keith W. Hannon

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The purpose of this project was to increase urban biodiversity by restoring the native floodplain plant communities along the Connecticut River at the Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club (PVRC). Restoring or designing native plant communities is an important design alternative to the typical design methods of using non-native plant species and mono-culture plant palettes. Restoring a native plant community at the PVRC will allow the landscape to function once more as usable habitat for wildlife and native plants, encourage the natural succession of native plants, and become a more resilient landscape that can better withstand ecological changes caused by various factors …

Lake, Land, And Sky: A Design Proposal For Northerly Island, Chicago, Andrew L. Weir

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

Shortly before midnight on March 30th 2003, without notice and at the orders of Mayor Richard M. Daley, bulldozers destroyed a small airport known as Meigs Field on Chicago's Northerly Island. Planes were trapped on the ground and other flights diverted. This action, dramatic and of debatable legality, effectively ended the struggle between the Mayor's office who wanted the site for a park, and the state legislature who wanted to keep the airport open (in no small part for their own ease of commuting). With the airport now demolished, Chicago has turned its attention to developing a vision for the …

An Integrated Experience At Springdale Park, Holyoke, Ma - Designing For Ecology And Community At The Edges, Amanda Lynn Rookey

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

Springdale Park has potential to be a model urban open space in Holyoke, with a resurgence of its connection to the Connecticut River. Springdale Park's edges offer opportunities to connect to urban agriculture, recreation, ecology, heritage, education and community. The park has successfully served as a recreational space for the flood plain communities of Holyoke since before 1850.

Now, as the city is making efforts to rebrand with a focus on the Downtown Revitalization Project and Arts + Industry District, Springdale Park could play a significant role. By focusing attention on this area as a model, transformation of this city …

A Sustainable Alzheimer's Garden - Creating Outdoor Spaces At Long-Term Alzheimer Care Facilities, Barbara Jean Constable

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

Gardens built specifically for those with Alzheimer's disease are designed with the intention to improve the quality of life for the patient, caregivers and family. The focus on human health is built into Alzheimer's garden design. This project summarizes recent literature and establishes ten elements necessary in the design of an Alzheimer's garden and seeks to relate those ten elements to sustainability by focusing on relatable sections from the Sustainable Sites Initiative: Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009. The Alzheimer's garden design elements and principles on sustainability are then applied to a design for a Sustainable Alzheimer's Garden at a long-term …

Application Of Stormwater Management Techniques For Mitigation And Education At The Stockbridge School Agricultural Learning Center, Samantha R. Anderson

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The Stockbridge School Agricultural Learning Center (SSALC) will be a 40-acre hands-on agricultural learning laboratory for students, staff, visitors, and neighbors. Still in its planning phases, the Center will be located on what is currently a hay field just north of UMass Amherst campus. A conceptual master plan was created in 2013 that is being used for fundraising as well as planning for agricultural demonstration plots and architectural hubs. Improperly managed agricultural landscapes are known as one of the biggest threats to water quality in the United States. As a model of forward thinking agricultural practices, properly managed stormwater on …

Urban Informal Settlements As Sites For Green Infrastructure: Regenerating Dayouzhuang And Saoziying Urban Villages In Beijing, Feiqiang Tong

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

Urban villages are the primary form of urban informal settlements in China. They emerge from the ongoing process of extensive rural-to-urban migration. While urban villages provide more readily available and affordable housing options for new urban migrants, their overloaded population and poor living environment have become a problem in the city. The existing official solution of urban villages is to remove them and to replace them with new developments. This solution takes a long time to complete and neglects the social role of urban villages in the city. This project focuses on solving the inland flooding problem that occur regularly …

Golden Age Lessons For A Twenty-First Century Golf Course: Applying The Lessons Of The Masters Of Golf Course Architecture To A Present Day Course, Alexander H. Von Plinsky Iv

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The design process behind a golf course is unlike other landscape architecture design processes. The interaction of a golfer with the course is much more engaging and active than a park goer's interaction with a city park. For this reason this project has delved into the tenets behind the golf course design process, using as guides the great designers of the Golden Age of Golf Course Design. The results indicate that there are five primary design tenets that form the framework of a successful golf course design project. Similar to the circular system design process found elsewhere, the five tenets …

Healing In A War Torn Nation: Cultivating A Restorative Environment In Afghanistan, Ryan P. Ball

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The Afghanistan world that many westerners imagine is one of a war-ravaged and depraved land littered with danger and peril where individuals struggle in daily survival. The concept is not too distant from the truth. Afghanistan has spent the better part of its history engaged in war both externally and internally. Constant turmoil has left the country in a state of social, political, ecological, and medical turmoil and stress.

The country once again finds itself in a state of repair. Much of this effort is focused on fighting disease through increased healthcare and education. Many recent advances in healthcare have …

Greyfield Adaptive Re-Use: Applying A Matrix Of Contemporary Theory To A Real Site In Springfield, Ma, Kathryn E. Ostermier

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

New neighborhood and home construction since World War II has been rapid and sprawling. Development companies have used increasingly efficient modular plans and construction techniques to design, grade, and construct sub-divisions across the country with little regard for vernacular landscape or a sense of place. Salmon-colored stucco homes in Ladera Ranch, California could be confused with those in Tucson, Arizona, which look just like communities in Homestead, Florida. Rows and cul de sacs of houses with duplicate floorplans, similar color and finish with standard foundation plantings and landscaping blur into one another, and it becomes impossible to place oneself because …

Revitalization Of An Urban Riverfront To Revitalize The Socio-Economic Conditions Of Springfield, Ma, Sneha Rasal

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The City of Springfield, Massachusetts is one of the largest cities in western Massachusetts, and was established on the Connecticut River for trading and as a fur-collecting post. In 18th and early 19th century, it experienced an industrial boom and became a regional financial center. Springfield became a major railroad center and grew to become the regional center for banking, finance, and courts. However, in mid-19th century Springfield suffered due to the flooding of the Connecticut River and the disinvestment in industry. These resulted in an urban sprawl as people started moving away from heart of the city.

Now, once …

Evaluation And Amendments Of A Healing Garden At The Western Massachusetts Hospital, Owen Morgan White

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

This study evaluates the variety and quality of four healing gardens currently in existence, with an eye toward developing a healing garden at Western Massachusetts Hospital (WMH) with similar characteristics, but designed specifically to the confines of the WMH site. In the evaluation process, the researcher employed the Mara Eckerling three-layer evaluation method. Personal survey and site photography were performed at four healing gardens; the Howard Ulfelder Healing Garden at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA; the Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Massachusetts; the Joel Schnaper Memorial Garden at Terrance Cardinal Cooke Health Center in Manhattan, New York and the …

Envisioning Yantian Urban Greenway: A Part Of Pearl River Delta Greenway System In China, Xiao Zhou

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

This master project proposes an urban greenway for Yantian district in Shenzhen, China. Various challenges in the selected area are analyzed including urban green space fragmentation, water pollution, high building density, lack of open space, singular land use and loss of cultural identity. A greenway solution is proposed based on field visit/study, literature review, background data study and case studies. Greenway theories and precedence study provide guidance on the selection of strategies to deal with those challenges in the urban area. Specific sustainable urban development concepts such as stormwater management, material reuse and mixed land use are adopted.

The greenway …

Communicating Climate Change Impacts With Stakeholders On The Coast Of Connecticut-Stewart B. Mckinney National Wildlife Refuge, Cynthia L. White

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

This research project consists of two parts, a scientific analysis of potential impacts of climate change on a coastal wildlife refuge, Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, and its surrounding area and a summary of the response by stakeholders to the information. The refuge with headquarters in Westbrook, CT consists of eleven units that span 70 miles along the coast of CT and include habitats such as saltmarsh, tidal flats, deciduous upland, rocky island, and barrier reef. Projected impacts over a span of 100 years include a projected loss of one quarter to one third of the dry land (which …

Participation In The Planning And Design Of Public Open Space, Julie Meyer

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

This master's project considers public participation in regards to design of sustainable public open spaces, and recommends methods to include it in current landscape design practice.

The introduction describes the scope of the project, definition and evolution of landscape design of sustainable open space and sustainability. It presents the claims that landscape architects need an understanding of the ranges of participation in order to deliver flexible, creative and sustainable public projects in a capitalist economy and that a more active participation and more creativity contributes to sustainable designs. The rationale, limitations, methods and introduction to the literature review are also …

Illuminating Urban Agriculture: A New Framework For Understanding Complexity, Helena K. Farrell

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

Modern, conventional food systems vulnerable to declining fossil fuel resources are a 21st century plight demanding rapid transition to regenerative agricultural practices. Urban agriculture is currently responding; expanding and diversifying from recent and historic roots worldwide to help meet the needs of contemporary urban dwellers and ameliorate the aftereffects of industrial agriculture.

Urban Agriculture is comprised of many different styles, practices, and modes of production. From traditional to state-of-the-art, they result in a range of landscape typologies occurring around the globe. The tremendous variety creates the need for better articulation and more accurate distinctions between actual urban farm systems. In …

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 …

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 …

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 …