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 …

Building Main Street: Village Improvement And The Small Town Ideal, Kirin Makker

Open Access Dissertations

Before the American small town was enshrined as an ideal, it was a space of dynamic and pioneering progressive reform, a narrative that has been largely untold in histories of professional planning and landscape history. Archival research shows that village improvement was not simply a prequel to the City Beautiful in the years following the 1893 Chicago Expo, but a rich and complex history that places the residential village at the center of debates about the middle landscape as a civic realm comprised of complimentary and oppositional pastoral and urban worldviews. The second half of the nineteenth century saw an …

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. …

Pluzina: The Issues Of Documenting A Vernacular Landscape, Elizabeth Brabec, Kristina Molnarova

Elizabeth Brabec

This paper studies the remnants of medieval pluzina, a historical Central European field pattern dating to the 13th or 14th century A.D. In medieval Czech, pluzina meant the crop fields, meadows, pastures and roads belonging to one village. Today, pluzinas are visible as patterns of long, narrow fields defined by hedgerows. Due to the hedgerows making the pattern visible, pluzinas are attractive parts of farming landscapes, similar to bocage landscapes found in Northern England, Scotland or Brittany. During the last 150 years, the majority of these landscape structures have vanished, owing either to the intensification of agriculture, or abandonment to …

Identifying Cultural Attitudes And Values In Community Landscapes, Elizabeth Brabec

Elizabeth Brabec

Understanding culture and its attitudes and values towards space, place and nature is a critical aspect in determining appropriate approaches to a wide variety of planning actions. Actions such as gaining support for protected areas, designing new developments, and integrating tourism facilities in existing communities all depend on an understanding of cultural norms and values for their success. But understanding the relationship between cultural attitudes and culturally defined space can be difficult, falling prey to the observer’s own cultural norms and biases. This project uses a method based on individual interviews and expert observation of physical traces, to develop an …

Local Surface Water Policy Under Conditions Of Climate Change, Elizabeth Brabec, Elisabeth Hamin, Chingwen Cheng

Elizabeth Brabec

Climate change means two things for local stormwater managers – that storm events will become more severe, and rainfall will, in many instances, become more erratic, causing enhanced periods of drought and flood. Two approaches are needed to deal with the eventualities: mitigation and adaptation.

While urbanization increases stormwater runoff and decreases the lag time of stormwater discharge, there is also a resulting lack of infiltration and reduction in evapotranspiration (Brunke and Gonser 1997). Stormwater detention, retention and infiltration have attempted to compensate, resulting in the concentrated point location infiltration of stormwater, which replenishes groundwater and baseflow. Equally important to …

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 …

Greenspace Conservation Planning Framework For Urban Regions Based On A Forest Bird-Habitat Relationship Study And The Resilience Thinking, Sadahisa Kato

Open Access Dissertations

The research involves first conducting a "case study" of ecological data and applying the results, together with the resilience concept, to the development of a greenspace conservation planning framework for urban regions. The first part of the research investigates the relationship between forest bird abundance and the surrounding landscape characteristics, especially, forest area and its spatial configuration in urban regions at multiple scales. The results are similar for simple and multiple regression analyses across three scales. The percentage of forest cover in a landscape is positively correlated with bird abundance with some thresholds. Overall, the percentage of forest cover in …

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.

University Of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries Master Plan, Shirley Dugdale, Gerald Jay Schafer, Bryan Harvey, James Cahill, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Leslie Horner Button, Theresa Warner, Pam Rooney, John Cunningham

Campus Planning Reports and Plans

Amherst Libraries, which is on the edge of significant change moving into a new era serving scholars, researchers and learners in the 21st Century. Over the last decade the Library has been a leader in many initiatives: increasing development of digital resources; collaborating with the Five Colleges Consortium, which was one of the first in the country to develop a shared book depository; developing a highly successful Learning Commons that engages partners in providing a broad range, of services and settings for learners; providing services through partners welcomed into library facilities, such the peer learning activities of the Learning Resources …

Crafting Form: A Tradition Reinvented, Abigail R. Pratt

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Knitting always begins with a line. As the needles and hands work together, performing the same action over and over again, the line quickly becomes a collection of lines, crossing, looping and locking. The looping and locking generates a surface, and the surface becomes a form. Knitting generates form.

Knitting is commonly categorized as a craft, associated with quick hands, idle time, and everyday objects that clothe us, and as a result, the technique is often overlooked and rarely pursued beyond its’ culturally constructed boundaries. What if knitting constructed new forms that transcended the ordinary and the expected, and challenged …

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 …

A Sustainable Design For The American Commercial Strip Mall, L. Carl Fiocchi, Jr.

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The purpose of this project is to present an alternative in form, materials, and energy performance to the existing building type that has been the staple used in construction of American Commercial Strip Malls since the latter part of the nineteenth century. The project progresses through two phases. The initial phase is the designing of an energy efficient structure that is the basic unit in a system of modularity. This structure permits joining itself together with similar units to form an assortment of assemblies with different possible geometries that are in turn able to respond to various site geometries and …

Regenerative Agriculture Infrastructure Design: The Built Environment Of Food, Culture, & Soil, Jesse Jw Selman

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The goal of this work is to explore the built context of our food system as a manifestation of a set of social and environmental conditions that are antithetical to the long-term health and survival of human life on this planet. The specific focus of this work is the small-scale, integrated farm. The farm is but one piece of the puzzle of how we eat and resides within the larger context of storage, distribution, economy, culture etc. Using precedents, both past and present, and through design explorations this work seeks to develop a positive course forward that will enable humanity …

Rethinking Reiche, Tracie J. Reed

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Part I of the study examines the differences between two environmental assessment methods for the K‐12 education sector: the United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Schools Version 3.0 and the British Research Establishment’s (BRE) BREEAM Education issue 2.0. Credit requirements are compared side‐by‐side and against recommendations from researchers in areas such as acoustics, lighting and indoor environment quality. Strengths in the two schemes and areas for improvement are highlighted, with acknowledgement that each scheme offers components and techniques from which the other could benefit. Part II of the study introduces the Howard C. Reiche Community School in Portland, Maine. …

Disaster Rehabilitative Housing In India, Shehla Hussain

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The project explores the design development of housing within the scenario of Post Disaster Rehabilitation of populations displaced by natural disasters. By looking at the house as a system that combines two distinct phases of rehabilitative housing, namely Transitional Housing and Durable Housing, the design seeks to reduce the complications of relocation every time there is a need to move on to the next phase of shelter aid.

To truly make the house construction an owner driven experience, the system aims to be designed such that it can manipulated by the owner/user to suit their long term needs and personal …

Planning For Passenger Rail In Small Cities And Towns, Alyssa R. Larose

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Projects to expand the passenger rail network in the United States will connect major metropolitan areas over long distances, travelling through smaller communities along the way. Transit-oriented development (TOD) is a concept for planning around stations to support transit and allow the development of dense, mixed use, walkable places. TOD literature focuses largely on developing around transit in metropolitan areas. Guidance for small towns and cities in rural areas is lacking.

This thesis compares best planning practices from TOD literature to the planning practices of small cities located in rural areas of New England where new passenger rail service or …

Human Capital In The City: Exploring The Relationship Between Skill And Productivity In Us Metropolitan Areas, Ryan Wallace

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

In economics, new growth theory suggests that knowledge creation and innovation are key drivers of growth. As a result, the ‘new economy’ is increasingly reliant upon the knowledge, skills, and abilities embodied in its workforce, also known as human capital, that facilitate the stimulation and generation of new ideas (Romer 1986, 1990 and Lucas 1988). This research contributes to the understanding of the relationship between stocks of human capital and economic output. I construct metrics to measure concentrations of basic worker skills using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Information Network (O*NET) and employment estimates for 353 US metropolitan areas. …

Civic Center For Municipal Corporation Of Delhi, Akanksha Sharma

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The thesis project proposes to explore into the design possibilities for the Civic Center for Municipal Corporation of Delhi and extract the richness of the site conditions into architecture through means of computational design. The computational design approach will provide a degree of variance which will be an interesting thing to explore in terms of defining spaces, program and systems.. The design would hinge on to one of the major centers of Delhi and aim to enhance social permeability through means of forms and articulation of spaces. It would cater to all classes of people and help in promoting small …

Socio-Spatial Constructs Of The Local Retail Food Environment: A Case Study Of Holyoke, Massachusetts, Walter F. Ramsey

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This mixed-methods study addresses the relationship between the availability of food and realized food access by studying the retail food landscape of Holyoke, Massachusetts – a small, socio-economically diverse city. While a large body of empirical research finds that low-income communities and communities of color are especially likely to lack adequate access to healthy foods and experience increased vulnerability to food insecurity, few studies explore urban food environments through a mixed-methods case study approach. Through the use of food store mapping, store audits, and resident interviews, this research is a nascent attempt to articulate how the unique development histories and …