Architecture Commons^™

Comprehensive Academic And Classroom Facilities Plan, Joel Nordberg, Alex Wing, Jeff Funovits, Emily Blaze, Jenna Beltram, Ann Storer, Bryan Harvey, Ludmilla D. Pavlova-Gillham

Campus Planning Books

In 2009 UMass Amherst, under the direction of Chancellor Robert Holub, engaged in a Framework for Excellence initiative and a commitment to elevate the national profile of the institution. The Framework for Excellence called for the recruitment of 250 additional faculty and an increase of 2,500 undergraduate students over the next 10 years. More space and improved, state-of-the-arts facilities was recognized as key in attracting and retaining the highest caliber faculty and students.

The Comprehensive Academic and Classroom Facilities Plan was funded by the MA Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance (DCAMM), which hired Burt Hill to initiate an …

Making Connections - Envisioning Springfield's North End, David M. Ahronian, Kelly R. Ashton, Erin G. Bassett, Maxwell A. Cohen, Victor J. Czulak, Gregory S. Dunbar, Brendan T. Farragher, Jonathan L. Gorman, Peter L. Guy Ii, Timothy J. Iles, Piyawut Inthasorn, Travis A. Johnson, Jonathan Koch, Justin J. Kronewitter, Zachary B. Livingston, Matthew Morano, Brian Mulvehill, Kevin C. Murphy, Sean P. O'Connell, Peter W. Stephens Jr., Christopher Tourigny, Bryce P. White, Timothy E. Young

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

This work explores a service learning strategy in the context of the senior Urban Design Studio taught in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The primary goal of this project is to stimulate a conversation in the neighborhoods of the North End, to develop green design strategies, to improve services and businesses for residents and the employees of local businesses, and to foster cultural engagement and interaction in the North End that will enhance the vibrancy, resilience, and quality of life of this urban community. Making connections - Envisioning Springfield's North End …

Craigmillar Castle Park: Design Parameters In A Historic Designed Landscape And Scheduled Ancient Monument: Planning To Restore Attraction To A Dilapidated Park, Aaron M.N. Crowell

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The castle of Craigmillar was begun in the late 14th century and was developed until the late 17th century when it was abandoned and the lands surrounding it which today comprise Craigmillar Castle Park (CCP) developed into a picturesque park and a plant nursery. This land has been a retreat from Edinburgh's city center recorded as early as the time of King James the IV of Scotland, six centuries ago (Tabraham, 2003). The castle and its parkland have seen significant development of the gardens in the Tudor, Restoration, Georgian, Regency, and the Victorian British historical periods. The park like setting …

Direct-To-Business And Direct-To-Institution Marketing And Distribution Arrangements For Ethically-Based Farms: Reduced Value Chains And Other Strategies For Increasing The Viability Of Mid-Sized Southern New England Farms, Evan C. Aird

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

This Master's Project aims to examine the issues involved in the creation and enhancement of direct-to-business and direct-to-institution marketing and distribution arrangements for mid-sized farms in Southern New England. Previous scholarly and professional literature has indicated that regional food systems are less costly from an environmental perspective than national or local ones, identity-preserved products have inherent marketing advantages over untraced farm products, and these advantages can be enhanced through cooperative efforts by major farm customers. This research study involves reviewing leading examples of local farm marketing and distribution networks, analyzing regional spatial and statistical data, and conducting interviews with farms, …

Community Service Learning Through The Lens Of Applied Field Studies In Guatemala, Central America, Travis Shultz, Adam Monroy, Jason Dell'orfano, Brian Giggey, Tamzeena Hutchinson, Megan Reagon, Dan Shaw, Seth Morrow

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

How can landscape architects and planners apply the skills acquired through our academic training – and in the work we pursue in our careers – with the needs of underprivileged communities? This research proposed to answer this question through the lens of Community Service Learning (CSL) in Guatemala City, Central America. Specifically, a professor of landscape architecture and regional planning carried out an applied field studies class with eight graduate and undergraduate students to test principles of CSL. The work focused on the research, design, and application of a unique project; the start-up of a municipal composting facility that would …

An Assessment Of Natural Resources Management Conflicts In The Working Landscapes Of Mediterranean Turkey (Turkiye): Koprulu Kanyon National Park, Nedim Kemer

Open Access Dissertations

Environmental conservation and natural resources management are critical global issues of the 21st century. The management of protected public lands emerges as a challenge particularly in developing countries because of the biophysical and socio-cultural importance of these lands. These lands are often referred to as 'working landscapes' where the natural systems and the collective actions of local residents have shaped one another in well-balanced interactions for generations. The working landscapes of the Köprülü Kanyon National Park (KKNP) in Turkey have provided the case study for this dissertation. Eleven villages exist within the park with a total of approximately 7,100 residents. …

Watershed As Metaphor For Nested Hydrologic Systems, Christopher Todd Lynch

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The Tan Brook watershed vision and recommendation matrix give the town of Amherst a road map for making the watershed into a resilient ecosystem that could sustain life across many scales. The Master Plan for Amherst Regional high school nested within the Upper Reach of the Tan Brook Watershed, specifically implements components of the recommendations so that it becomes a model for what stream restoration, rain gardens and impervious materials might do to improve water quality, provide social benefit and restore habitat. The landscape of the high school is a metaphor for what the Watershed might become, and with its …

Umass Center For Exploration And Innovation In The Built Environment, Neal A. Overstrom

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

This project proposes the design of a studio facility on the University of Massachusetts campus dedicated to the exploration and application of both traditional landscape materials (earth, structure, plants, water) and contemporary technical media (infiltrators, irrigation systems, green-roof systems) as a part of an interdisciplinary learning landscape committed to sustainability in built environments. At no time in history has the appropriate choice and application of materials for use in the built landscape been more significant. Today the use of materials and techniques that mitigate and, where possible, reverse the impacts of environmental degradation is vital. This mandate notwithstanding, the importance …

Designing The Phytoremediation Landscape: Exploring Phytoremediation Of Urban Brownfields As A System And Stage In Designed And Managed Successional Processes, David N. Maynes

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The present day challenges facing the post-industrial city are economic reinvention, social equity, and environmental recovery. The urban mosaic of these places is vague and broken, and demands new and innovative solutions for the reclamation of vacant, abandoned, and contaminated landscapes that create a unification of economic, environmental, and cultural healing. A multi-scalar approach is proposed as a strategy for the integration of multiple components in multiple contexts. Particular focus is on the synthesis of community engagement and environmental remediation of these spoiled, derelict lands. Specifically, phytoremediation is explored as a solution for land reclamation, ecological and social recovery of …

Revitalizing The South End - The Gateway For Downtown Springfield, Barbara J. Constable, Brian Giggey, Christopher J. Jennette, Julie P. Meyer, Megan M. Plante, Diana W. Slawniak, Ben Eli Webb, Duanchai Yomdit, Deborah A. Zervas

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

This studio report explores a service learning strategy in the context of the Graduate Urban Design Studio taught in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The primary goal of this project is to design the South End as the future gateway for downtown Springfield that will help to transform it into a vibrant urban community.

Green design strategies, improvement of services and businesses for residents and the employees of local businesses, and new housing opportunities will enhance the vibrancy, resilience, and quality of life of this disadvantaged urban community. Revitalizing the South …

Designing Community, Martha Bryan

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

It is at the interface of the virtual and the physical worlds where both the practice and the process of architecture are generated. This premise will be explored in the context of designing community- or in other words resolving apparently binary relations.

This thesis explores the spatial interaction of two autonomous but interrelated systems- for example, the interior and the exterior, the virtual and the physical, human systems and informational systems. The proposed “building” becomes the frame of these relationships. The built project is the landscape of connections shaped by its passengers- the networked individual and the incessant flow of …

Evaluating Methods For Measuring And Managing The Cumulative Visual Effects Of Oil And Gas Development On Bureau Of Land Management National Conservation Lands In The Southwestern United States, Tara L. Germond

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The public lands of the United States administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are used for multiple purposes, like conservation, recreation, grazing, mining, logging, and oil and gas development. Many of these activities have the potential to disturb the surface of the landscape, which can negatively impact scenic values. While the BLM has a system for managing visual resources and mitigating the potential impacts of development on visual quality, it does not adequately consider cumulative visual effects, which are the combined impacts of the same type of activity on the environment over space and time. This paper studies …

The Community Garden As A Tool For Community Empowerment: A Study Of Community Gardens In Hampden County, Shanon C. Kearney

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how community gardens can catalyze positive change in an urban environment, to determine and catalog the impacts, and to learn about their importance to small-scale agricultural production. The study surveyed neighbors of the two umbrella organizations community gardens, The Nuestras Raices of Holyoke and Growing the Community of Springfield, who strive to ensure that local families gets enough food to feed their families on a daily basis.

Parking Regulation Strategies And Policies To Support Transit-Oriented Development, Ryan W. Lundergan

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This thesis identifies and explores the effects that new parking strategies and policies could have on transit-oriented development (TOD) success levels. Additionally, it makes the case for TOD parking regulation reform, and is designed to educate planners and stakeholders on how to successfully and responsibly shape parking regulation in the planning and implementation process, so that land use in the region allows the synergistic provision of sustainable transportation specifically to the Boston region.

Transit-Oriented Development is viewed and defined differently throughout research and literature, with its most common traits being compact, mixed use development near transit facilities and high-quality walking …

Remnants Of Medieval Field Patterns In The Czech Republic: Analysis Of Driving Forces Behind Their Disappearance With Special Attention To The Role Of Hedgerows, Petr Sklenicka, Kristina Molnarova, Elizabeth Brabec, Peter Kumble, Blanka Pittnerova, Katerina Pixova, Miroslav Salek

Elizabeth Brabec

Remnants of medieval field patterns, called “pluzina” in the Czech Republic, are valuable historical landscapes, similar in character to the bocage landscapes typical for some countries in Western Europe. The original historical pattern of fields and meadows has persisted due to the stabilizing network of hedgerows. As in other countries, the development of these medieval fields in recent decades for intensive agriculture or residential purposes has led to their dramatic decline. This study evaluates the dynamics of the development of medieval pluzina hedgerows during the second half of the 20th century in the Plzen Region of the Czech Republic, using …