Landscape Architecture Commons^™

Recharging Bangkok : A Climate Adaptive Vision For Saen Saeb Canal, Ratchu Surajaras

Masters Theses

This proposal aims to investigate an extensive role of Bangkok’s canal system that can potentially serve as a climate-adaptive and multi-functional infrastructure to help address the city’s environmental issues and to support the complex social needs. Together with municipal hydrological systems, the canals can mitigate flooding, land-subsidence and sea level rise while regaining lost cultural functions specific to Thai ways of living with water in both a contemporary context and future scenarios.

The investigation focuses on Saen Saeb canal as a primary study area which is historically one of the most important canals at the heart of downtown of Bangkok …

When The Wind Blows, Yiying Wang

Masters Theses

Climate change is causing extreme weather to become more frequent and intense. However, at present, existing landscape-based strategies to deal with such disruptive natural events are not systematic or effective. Additionally, most projects in landscape and urban design focus on flooding but pay little attention to the effects of high wind. My graduate thesis focuses on the Island of Hainan, in the South China Sea, and explores how to use resilient planning and design to promote passive cooling and reduce high wind damage caused by typhoons and other tropical storms. Based on the solid analysis of hydrologic and meteorological processes, …

Emerging Ecotone, Tongyi Zhang

Masters Theses

Along with the development of society and economy, waste landscape becomes an inevitable result of urban involvement where technological innovation plays a very important role. Computer science, as the most important technology in the 21st century, also affects the physical spaces by enlarging our social distance. People prefer to contact physically less with others unless necessary, causing shrinkage of our community spaces. Abandoned commercial space, which has lost its social function, is one of the typical effects derived from both economic evolution and community shrinking.

In fact, Josh Sanburn (2017) in TIME mentioned “by 2022, analysts estimate that 1 out …

Evolution Of A Type : Street Vending As Urban Strategy In Guangzhou, China, Yuying Shen

Masters Theses

As China continues its program of building new cities and encouraging urban resettlement from smaller towns and the countryside, informal activities that were once typical of urban areas – such as street vending – are being evicted by the government in the name of cleanliness and beautification. In reality, the motivation of eviction has to do with land values and the desire to replace the low-end population: street markets in the downtown areas could be developed into programs that bring large-scale money-making, like shopping malls; street vendors are viewed as undisciplined, messy and outmoded.

If we recognize the conflict between …

Walking Mediation : Bringing Back Rituals On Temple Visits On Mount Putuo, Zhejiang, China, Tianjie Chi

Masters Theses

Mount Putuo is a culturally significant Buddhist pilgrimage site with over a 1000 years history. Traditional walking paths were marginalized on Mount Putuo after a new bus circulation was developed to accommodate more visitors efficiently.

In the past, people were arriving at the old dock, walking through the forests, meeting pavilions and gates, and finally reach the temple. Linear spaces and trees embracing the path help them clean up their mind before they meet burn the joss sticks. Nowadays, most visitors arrive at the modern new dock and spend 20-30 minutes to wait in line for the bus, playing phone …

Responding To The Emotional Needs Of Resettled Refugees In The Context Of Community Gardens, Mai Ann T

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Refugee populations suffer from the effects of post traumatic stress disorder (Shannon, et al., 2014), and members struggle with feelings of helplessness, displacement and marginalization. Research indicates that healing landscapes can address the needs of those suffering from trauma and mental disorders, particularly war veterans and children. This research applies to the emotional needs of refugees settling in new countries (Murray, et al., 2010). For the displaced, creating meaning in their new environment is an essential part of the adjustment process (Brabec, 2018). This thesis draws upon documented research about how landscape experiences can mitigate the effects of trauma in …

Designing Playgrounds For All Children: All-Inclusive Adventure Playground For The City Of Arlington, Texas, Taner R. Ozdil

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

A child’s play is an essential part of his/her connection to a community, social relations, and physical activity and mentality. Through play, a child gains an understanding of himself and his /her world. “Limiting children’s outdoor play harms their cognitive, social and language development, it limits their physical fitness, hurts their health, and reduce learning and the ability to cope with trauma” (Forest, 2008 p.140). Creating a friendly, safe and accessible environment for all is just as significant as the play equipment. Adventure playgrounds, which are in most cases natural environments for children, provide many opportunities for children to develop …

Concrete Poetry, Sara Ghazi Asadollahi

Graduate School of Art Theses

This text addresses my work as an artist and defines it in the context of the following subjects: The concept of ruins, which highlights the relationship between architecture and landscape; the formal and metaphorical dialectic between absence and presence in abandoned places; and the idea of dystopia, which emerges from that in-between space where the real dissolves into the imaginary. At the same time, my work is inspired by the visual culture of cinema and literature, principally within the science-fiction genre, and draws upon my observation of abandoned buildings in Tehran, my native city. These urban ruins are products of …

Environmental Emergency Calls In Dallas, Texas: Applying The Brace Model To Assess The Effects Of Microclimates On Urban Design & Human Heat Stress, Crystal Marie Kazakos

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

The objective of the study is to investigate how the practice of landscape architecture can help mitigate the effects of climate change and the urban heat island effect on vulnerable block groups in Dallas, Texas by using a model framework, to assess, project, analyze, develop, and evaluate microclimates in these urban areas. This study investigated how the physical morphology of urban areas affect the frequency of heat-related environmental emergency calls by applying the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) framework. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was used to identify warm trends in Dallas block groups in …

The Fault With Asphalt: Towards Absorbent Urban Design In New York City, Scott Paul Redfern Brown

Student Theses 2015-Present

In the time of metropolises and rapid urbanization, design is instrumental in facilitating a mutualistic relationship between the built urban environment and the surrounding natural processes. This paper addresses the issue of stormwater runoff and identifies design techniques in urban areas used to mitigate the destructive consequences of urbanization related to precipitation and impermeability. With a focus on New York City, this study uses historical and current rainfall data as well as particular case studies to address successful rainwater collection and stormwater mitigation design implementations. To provide an interdisciplinary approach to combating stormwater runoff, the disciplines of environmental history, economics …

In Present Past: Sun Tunnels And The Historic Reconstruction Of Vision, Patrice M. Capobianchi

Theses and Dissertations

The following study investigates how Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels makes effective use of time and land to reprogram the modern viewer’s eye. By utilizing sculpture that is reminiscent of pre-historic observatories as an observational framing device against the landscape topography, the artwork succeeds in presenting a historic reconstruction of vision.

The Benefits Of Interaction With Environments Created For Attracting Birds On People Living With Dementia, Mahsa Yari

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

In consideration of the increasing growth of people living with dementia, researchers have started to look at different interventions that help enhance their health and well-being. While the search for medical interventions is important, it is critical for other professions to consider how to contribute to the quality of care that dementia patients receive. Therapeutic landscapes can improve the overall care process for older adults with dementia living in long-term care facilities (i.e., dementia care homes) (Bossen 2010). While the landscape should be designed to help older adults with dementia, it should also create natural environments that attract birds that …

Impact Of Interactive Digital Kiosks Upon Social Behavior In Urban Public Spaces, Ravija Munshi

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

The objective of this thesis is to study the impact of Interactive Digital Kiosks upon human social behavior in urban public spaces. William H. Whyte; an author of The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, highlights several characteristics that promote the successful use of urban spaces: sitting space, nature, concessions, pathways, and triangulation (Whyte 1980). The way in which one of these five characteristics i.e. triangulation, influences human interaction is the focus of this thesis. Triangulation is the “process by which some external stimulus provides a linkage between people and prompts strangers to talk to each other as though they …

Fortifying Lower Manhattan's Shoreline, Krystel Campuzano, Mathlyn Mckie

Publications and Research

Lower Manhattan comprises less than 1% of the entire city’s land area, but generates almost 10% of the city’s total economic output, as measured by Gross City Product, and is the location of over 10% of all New York City jobs. Workers in Lower Manhattan come from all parts of the city. The District’s growth is supported by excellent access to transit, with 19 out of 25 subway lines and 26 ferry lines passing through the District. Any climate impacts in the District will resonate across the city as a whole and beyond. Because Lower Manhattan is a critical economic, …

Stitching The Void, Taylor Van Ness

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

My thesis asks how architecture can play a role in the scientific surveying and ecological healing of a landscape of declining biodiversity in order to assist reforestation, while offering an invitation to returning wildlife. A series of architectural interventions stitched into the landscape are inhabited by reforestation activation devices. The symbiotic relationship between architecture and the devices allow for the implementation of a number of dynamic and pragmatic functions based on a pre-determined protocol.

Skater Conscious, Jeremy Bowen

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Skateboarding is made possible by the built environment, but without architecture necessarily being designed for its occurrence. Without knowing it, designers have created environments that facilitate a social and artistic culture to thrive. And this has happened – for the most part – in leftover pieces of landscape, infrastructure, and urban settings. Skaters move through and experience space in unique ways. While their boards enable this experience, there is more; most spaces are not designed for them – and some are even designed to keep them out – but, nevertheless, skaters persevere through invention and creativity. Skaters actively search for …

Vincent Van Gogh's Wheatfields And Piet Oudolf's Meadows: Color, Contrast And Change In The Landscape, Erin A. Cox

Landscape Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This capstone investigates the unique relationship between Vincent Van Gogh and planting designer Piet Oudolf's vibrant use of color and contrast in their work as it relates to their perception of the landscape. The project is mainly a comparison of the two artists, exploring Van Gogh's use of complementary colors and brushstroke techniques to create vivid contrast in his renderings of agrarian landscapes, and Oudolf's parallel approach to creating painterly meadows and prairie gardens. The project focuses on Van Gogh’s study of wheat field landscapes, which are essentially the same in structure and composition but can be used to compare …

Alternative Futures For Dalton Wells, Mary Oliver

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Visitation to the Moab region has increased significantly in recent years, causing campgrounds near town to be consistently full. The Dalton Wells area, a recreation area off Highway 191 just north of Moab, has become an especially popular place for dispersed camping, as it is free and in close proximity to town. Dalton Wells does not have the infrastructure or management necessary to support the current number of visitors, straining the site’s fragile desert ecosystem. The site also hosts a dinosaur quarry and the foundations of a historic CCC camp. These resources are unmaintained and at risk of pillaging and …

Modeling Affordable Housing In Moab And Spanish Valley, Matthew Starley

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The Colorado Plateau region of southeastern Utah is geographically unique. Iconic sandstone geological formations, such as the famous Delicate Arch, which adorns Utah license plates, dot the landscape. This beautiful environment has inspired the formation of national and state parks, as well as a multitude of diverse recreation areas.

Affordable housing in Moab and Spanish Valley is a key issue for the development of the valley. This has been well documented by the Moab Area Housing Task Force (MAHTF) in its 2017 Moab Area Affordable Housing Plan. This Plan B Thesis Project builds on the work of the task force, …

Building A Better Batture: A Regional Recreational Enhancement Around The Morganza To The Gulf Levee, Taylor N. Fehmel

LSU Master's Theses

Twenty-five years ago, the existing flood protection levees along the Louisiana coastline were removed and construction was started by Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District on a new project called ‘Morganza to the Gulf’ or MTG. This project was undertaken to construct a new flood protection levee system around Louisiana in the communities in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parish. The MTG Levee is one of the first coastal projects in Louisiana to incorporate a risk-based analysis for a double levee system containing both local parish drainage levees and future storm surge levees of MTG. It was designed to protect approximately 250,000 people …