Landscape Architecture Commons^™

Holding: Speculative Infrastructure For Fire Mitigation, Ian George

Masters Theses

This thesis proposes permanent and deployable infrastructure and devices for wildfire mitigation at different scales. Designed with consideration to the conditions in the western United States, but primarily Oregon.The primary approach to infrastructure is designing water retention systems for fire suppression and prevention. Some strategies are familiar and proven, while other proposals are new, but build off of existing practices. Interventions need to be site specific, so the types of proposals will vary in scale, location and timeline.The infrastructure should be adjustable, because the needs of a region may change periodically. Landscape systems take time to establish. Speculated infrastructure is …

Transforming Islands: A Living Memorial For The Marshall Islands, Chengwen Jiang

Masters Theses

Does Utopia exist? If so, I believe it is a state of mind, a way of thinking. This thesis speculates on future uncertainties. As such, my work punctures an illusion, examining history to reveal underlying tensions and, finally, conceive a brighter future for the Marshallese. Using the Marshall Islands as a case study, this thesis examines how a population might face traumas, both historical and climactic, and demonstrate how new infrastructures can build resiliency to support minorities and create new memories. My proposal introduces two potential “visitors:” Marshallese people ( future generations as well as indigenous) and the rest of …

Re-Foresting: Cohabitation Of Human And Trees, Chengyu Ke

Masters Theses

This thesis starts with the ideological thinking of the interconnected and interdependent relationship between humans and non-humans. Taking the tree as an example, this research focuses on rethinking our urban built environment, and dynamic urban ecotones where humans and trees cohabitate.

It reframes the city from the bottom up with the consideration of root ecology and canopy ecology, focusing on this important metaphor for the infrastructure of the city. The goal is to develop healthy, productive co-dependencies between natural and man-built environments.

It proposes a utopian point of view for our cities and imagines a forest city with an asymmetrical …

Rewilding Seattle: A Green Network For Both Humans And Non-Humans, Zhouqian Guo

Masters Theses

More than three hundred years ago, Seattle City was a place of wilderness, occupied by non-humans and the Duwamish Tibe and Suquamish. After the continuous human habitation of the village site, the dominance of Seattle has eventually shifted from non-humans to humans. While non-humans have been lived in the city all the time and seek a better living space.

The project proposes a multi-functional green network operating at different scales to cohabitate and reconnect between humans and non-humans. It restores natural habitat patches in existing locations of urban green spaces in Seattle City and connects them with co-habitation corridors in …

Virtuality, Reality, Community, Siqi Rao

Masters Theses

With the popularization of the Internet and the development of technology, virtuality has penetrated into our lives and has taken up an increasing proportion of our time. However, while bringing convenience and benefits, virtuality also brings many problems, such as polarization, radicalization, cyber violence, and social isolation. In the face of these problems caused by virtualization, this thesis studies the importance of the sense of place in a community and uses some virtual technologies to enhance real-world relationships, working to alleviate problems caused by virtualization. At the same time, it explores the role of virtual tools in shaping the sense …

Post-Industry Brownfield Renewal System: Precision Strategy And Design Via The New Methodology, Sirui Li

Masters Theses

Industrialization has brought economic development, but industrial zones can also bring depression if the opportunity for transformation is not seized. Industrial areas in the post-industrial era are often referred to as rust zones, which not only hinder urban development but also bring a series of problems. This thesis book wants to explore the problems brought by post-industrial land, to find possible directions for post-industrial industrial land through new methodologies, and also to guide landscape architects to have clearer design goals and methods.

This project focuses on the Allegheny area of the American Rust Belt, where the city of Pittsburgh was …

Wandering Land: Landscape On Space Station, Xin Wen

Masters Theses

When the exploration of the universe and the colonization of the universe are getting more and more attention, this thesis book focuses on the question of “What role will landscape play in space resettlement?”, and conducts research and design based on this, trying to explore the possible landscape attempts and experiences on space stations in the future.

This thesis starts with the background research of space habitats and clarifies the definition and advantages of the space station landscape. And through the study of the physical models of the future space station, Stanford Torus was selected as the subsequent design site. …

Community Steward Of The Deep Bay: Staging Lau Fau Shan For Resiliency Through Collective Participation, Lauren Tam

Masters Theses

This thesis explores tensions of utopian ideals through the lens of stakeholders living and working in the Deep Bay coastal region of Hong Kong, Using Lau Fau Shan as my case study, I have worked on ways to build socio-ecological resilience through bottom-up strategies of community engagement through first hand experience of interacting with a local oyster farmer. In understanding how the different forces of climate change and development pressures are currently impacting the community and the daily workings of the fishing community, my goal is to demonstrate how design can advocate for the importance of community driven strategies to …

Fluid Ground: Imagining A Floating Future For Tuvalu, Yuxi Liu

Masters Theses

Climate change is posing great challenges to Tuvalu, a small archipelago in the center of the Pacific Ocean. With low elevations above sea level, poor soil, and limited land resources, Tuvalu is considered to be one of the smallest countries in the world, as well as the most vulnerable nation under climate change. About 2000 years ago the seafaring Pacific Islanders inhabited the archipelago and developed its unique culture following the fluid geographies of atoll islands––a culture that was once associated with the notion of paradise, and which gradually faded away with the arrival of western colonizers in the 19th …

Affordable Green: What Cause Landscape Gentrification And How We Deal With It, Siyu Pan

Masters Theses

The topic of this thesis is to figure out how landscape gentrification happened and what we can do to decelerate the process. The first phase of this thesis includes a brief introduction and definition to the term “Gentrification“, its history and the process. Discussions about how such a situation would influence communities and related people would also be mentioned in this part. The last part in this phase is the analysis of some recent research about gentrification world wide. The second phase is a transition from gentrification to landscape gentrification. This part analysis of the cause and effect of landscape …

Mother River: Restoring Transiting Producing, Rui Yang

Masters Theses

The Fen River, located at the Loess Plateau in Shanxi Province, is one of the most important life sources for local people. Most residents in the past relied on farming to make life. As the only riverway that could serve for irrigation in the region, Fen River provided a huge amount of water and fed plenty of people. In addition, nearby lands were vastly used for agricultural purposes. The river acts as a spine to support people’s life for a long time. It is also called as the Mother River in the region.

However, as cities in the region quickly …

Land, Labor, Water: An Agricultural Commons In The Central Valley Of California, Jacob Lightman

Masters Theses

An Agricultural Commons in California's Central Valley examines the spatial and structural relationships between food systems, the ecologies that support them, and the unincorporated farming communities in The Central Valley. Current industrial practices in The Central Valley deplete water resources, deplete topsoil, create toxic living conditons for local communities, and undervalues farmlabor. Further pressures from climate change will inevitably cause greater instability in this food system and greater injustices towards the local communities and ecologies. The Central Valley is already a commons for Americans, as it supplies the majority of our year-round produce. Through a reevaluation of the idea of …

Driftscape: Maximize Urban Space Uses In The Context Of Densification, Sida Zhang

Masters Theses

This study aims to explore a systematic method to stimulate and maximize the use of the urban space in the context of urban densification, expanding urban space usage in the dimension of time and space. In this context, urban space is reclaimed as the notion of overlap between public and private space in urban figure-ground.

The research focuses on Providence as a study area that encompasses different transects of the urbanized American city and faces typical densification issues. It has strategically turned the issue of densification into opportunities for improving social interactions and space utilization. The “Driftscape” principle with its …

Optics / Perception / Experience: Regenerating Agricultural Landscape Through Railways, Tianyi Xie

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the relationship between two large infrastructure systems: the railway and agriculture. It’s becoming increasingly important as unhealthy nation-wide industrial agriculture is destroying people’s health and decreasing the long-term capacity of sustainable production of food. In the discipline of landscape architecture, there is a necessity to reform our thinking to match the modern-day development in population growth, transportation and mass production. There exists vast farmlands outside our city, which support our city life with energy and food sources. How could we get people to understand its significance? In chapter I and II, the history of agriculture and railway …

Across The Boundary: Addressing Segregation Along Transportation Infrastructure, Ruochen Wang

Masters Theses

Across the United States, we can see examples of cities where highways and railways pass between two ethnic communities or through communities of color and are used to further divide and segregate cities. Increasingly we are seeing a new typology of landscape architecture projects to transform, redesign, or remove transportation infrastructure to help ameliorate the negative impact of transportation infrastructure on neighboring communities and support public uses. However, these projects often lead to gentrification, whereby surrounding housing prices rise, and the original residents are displaced or lose their sense of belonging. The goal of my research is to understand how …

Anthesis: The Blooming Of The Las Vegas Strip, David Navarrete

Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones

The diversity of thought throughout the HD Studio always produces great synergy between projects with overlapping areas of interest. Here, we see a question about why Las Vegas' public green space lags behind other cities' lead to more questions (and answers) about how the pedestrian experience along Las Vegas Boulevard could transform from a predominantly car-centric space into a sidewalk experience that extends the excitement of resorts' interiors to the outside. Like other theses that explore everything from public promenades to places for social media posts, the work of David Navarreto calls on lessons learned from urban planning, landscape architecture, …

A Vision For Buchanan, Andrew C. Von Maur

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Improving The Livability And Therapeutic Properties Of Hospital Campuses In North Texas By Integrating Artful Rain Design And Heat Island Mitigation, Reza Mabadi

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Despite these efforts and signs of progress, such design and planning efforts have failed to thoroughly integrate restorative design principles and sustainable strategies into the landscape architecture of healthcare facilities. The case studies presented in this research illustrate this phenomenon. Currently, sustainable approaches to evidence-based research on health and well-being necessitate a reexamination and reinvention of design methods and recommendations for hospital landscapes to improve their therapeutic properties. The main goal of this research is to investigate strategies to improve the livability and therapeutic values of the constructed landscape of Clements University Hospital through an evidence-based approach and to examine …

Classifying Desire Paths Utilizing A Campus Master Plan Study: A Method For Recognizing Urban Design Flaws, Michael Shuey

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Desire paths are the informal pathways created from the erosional effect of repeated foot traffic. These footpaths come in many shapes and sizes and can occur in spaces where there are no formal pathways for pedestrians. However, in many developed urban and natural areas, desire paths may appear within a landscape that has been intentionally designed. In some perspectives, desire paths can represent user dissatisfaction with the pedestrian landscape, as well as a failure of the urban design process. Recent literature on this topic considers the environmental, economic, and social impacts caused by desire path occurrences. However, desire paths are …

Evaluating Dallas County Landfills For Public Amenity: Repurposing The City Of Grand Prairie Landfill Through Landscape Architecture, Elena E. Naccari

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

The state of Texas produced more than 36 million tons of waste in 2019. Currently, there are 198 active landfills of varying size and capacity in the entire state. Overall landfill capacity within the state is decreasing over time, while the size of landfills on average is increasing, creating quite the contradiction and clear picture of the average consumer’s increase in waste production (Municipal Solid Waste, 2019). The state of Texas is on an unfortunate path to meet landfill capacity in 53 years (Municipal Solid Waste, 2019). Of the almost 800 landfill sites (active and inactive) in the state of …