Architecture Commons^™

Riverside Ranch Landscape Performance Benefits Assessment, Bo Yang

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

Riverside Ranch was one of the first homesteads built in Colorado's Roaring Fork River Valley in the 1880s. The project site was a stop for the railroad and stage coaches travelling to nearby Aspen and a successful agricultural and ranching operation for decades. In the mid-twentieth century, the site transitioned into use as an asphalt mixing plant for the Colorado Department of Transportation. When the landscape architect began work, the site was essentially a brownfield in need of rehabilitation as it was host to multiple rundown historic buildings and remnants of the asphalt plant. The design team reconstructed the landscape …

City Of Arlington, Texas, Blackland Prairie Preserve Master Plan, David Hopman, Dfl Group Llc

Landscape Architecture Faculty Publications - Archive

The City of Arlington acquired the Blackland Prairie site in 1998 after a group of concerned citizens identified its value as possibly the last blackland prairie remnant site in the city. Encouraged by the Arlington Conservation Council, the land was purchased by the city to be held as permanent open space. In its current condition, the site remains in transition. Efforts by volunteers have helped maintain native prairie grasses on approximately half of the site. The eastern half however, has remained untouched since acquisition. Invasive grasses, woody and herbaceous plants continue to proliferate in this area, leaving relatively few native …

Geospatial Virtual Heritage: A Gesture-Based 3d Gis To Engage The Public With Ancient Maya Archaeology, Heather Richards-Rissetto, Jim Robertsson, Jennifer Von Schwerin, Giorgio Agugario, Fabio Remondino, Gabrio Girardi

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

This paper presents our research to develop a gesture-based 3D GIS system to engage the public in cultural heritage. It compares two types of interaction—device-based vs. natural interaction— and summarizes the beta-testing results of a 3D GIS tool for archaeology, called QueryArch3D, in which participants used device-based interaction (i.e. mouse and keyboard). It follows with a description of the gesture-based system—that we developed in response to these beta-tests. The system uses QueryArch3D and Microsoft’s Kinect to enable people use body movements (in lieu of keyboard or mouse) to navigate a virtual reality landscape, query 3D objects, and call up photos, …

Larc 331: Site Systems Iii (Landscape Implementation)—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Bret Betnar

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio investigates LARC 331 Site Systems III: Landscape Implementation, a 3rd year undergraduate course that focuses on the implementation of landscape architectural designs, in which students take a previous Site Design studio project and develop this project into a landscape architectural construction package.

Emotion, Community Development, And The Physical Environment: An Experimental Investigation Of Measurements, George E. Boone

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

A wide range of research fields have studied how emotions and behavior are affected by the physical environment. This gestalt theorist approach of experimental research as well seeks to measure emotion (using the valence-arousal scale) and micro-scale community development interactions when weighted physical environment factors are adjusted. Community development (CD) interactions at the micro-scale have received but slight attention from scholars in the CD research field and this study aims partially to investigate developing objective measures from social observations. CD interactions from recordings along with self-reported emotion through surveys in four quasi-experimental groups (where the environments were constructed based on …

From Mounds To Maps To Models: Visualizing Ancient Architecture Across Landscapes, Heather Richards-Rissetto

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Since the onset of settlement pattern studies in the 1950s, landscape mapping projects have become an archaeological mainstay. Remote sensing technologies such as lidar, photogrammetry, and SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) steadily reveal new archaeological sites. For landscape archaeology, the detection and mapping of small architectural complexes and households offers important data to contextualize larger (often already known) sites and perform regional analyses. However, because the majority of sites remain unexcavated, analysis is limited, and yet Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and 3D Visualization are expanding the possible uses for older and newly-acquired data on unexcavated mounds. This paper describes a GIS …

Can The Application Of A Landscape Designed Learning Environment Enhance Education?, Virginia Bailey

All Theses

There is a need for a restructuring the way that a child's learning environment is designed. Currently, the mainstream educational design process ignores the notion that children have different ways of learning. Furthermore, when there are so many distractions, how we successfully reach a child's mind has become a challenge. The current school system is structured in a manner that does not address the presence of these distractions, often causing overstimulation and inattentiveness. Designing for children should be approached in a way that all senses are engaged. Having opportunities for hands-on learning inside and outside of the classroom is important …

Re-Thinking The Green Belt: Sustainability And Development In Growing Cities, Maria Saavedra

Architecture Thesis Prep

"One of the major goals of this research is to study the relationship between nature and technology as urban generators. I agree with Lisa Tilder and Beth Bostein, who state that instead of using architectural technology to return nature to some impossible, pre-human pristine state, we should consider fully employing the power of architecture to produce new forms of nature. Instead of thinking about the River’s edge as a natural and physical barrier between the water and the city, we should consider it as an opportunity to challenge the image of nature, exploring how it limits or furthers our social …

Drinking Water Resource Directory, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

This document is intended to help local and regional planning agencies, and their constituent water utilities, integrate drinking water infrastructure planning and investments into plans for sustainable development. Resources listed here provide guidance on making land use decisions that protect water resources, setting adequate and sustainable drinking water rates, controlling water loss, funding water infrastructure projects, and managing water utilities.

The directory was developed by the Environmental Finance Center Network through the Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency. Through this program, EFCN is providing capacity …

Park Avenue & Us 50 Redevelopment Streetscape Performance Benefits Assessment, Bo Yang, Yue Zhang, Pamela Blackmore

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

The town of South Lake Tahoe experienced undisciplined development, which created traffic congestion, limited connectivity to recreational assets, and negatively impacted the scenic and environmental quality of Lake Tahoe and the region. In response, strict environmental regulations were developed, which subsequently ceased development activities. Faced with serious environmental and economic problems, residents, officials, and developers jointly revised development regulations and worked to strategically deploy development monies to give the town a new future. Today, the town's Park Avenue Corridor with its wide sidewalks, interconnected plazas, consistent architecture, gondola, intermodal transit center, street furniture, and integrated stormwater management is a national …

Charles City Permeable Streetscape Phase I Landscape Performance Benefits Assessment, Bo Yang, Yue Zhang, Pamela Blackmore

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

The Charles City, Iowa, Green Street project addressed serious issues with street deterioration and nuisance street and adjacent yard flooding for a 16-block residential area. The project combines durable permeable paving materials with sustainable stormwater Best Management Practices, while maintaining the historical character of the neighborhood. By integrating stormwater management, the City was able to leverage additional funding that would not be available for conventional street reconstruction. Because of the success and the lessons learned in design and maintenance, the project has spurred additional phases in adjacent neighborhoods and serves as an important blueprint for others considering similar sustainable stormwater …

Cherry Creek North Improvements And Fillmore Plaza Landscape Performance Benefits Assessment, Bo Yang, Yue Zhang

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

The 16-block Cherry Creek North retail district was designed to be Denver's premier outdoor shopping area. Yet deteriorating infrastructure, tired aesthetics and competition from an adjacent indoor mall had led to steady decline. Fillmore Plaza in the heart of the district was no longer a desirable public space since being closed to vehicular traffic in 1987. The new streetscape strengthens the retail environment, preserves the district's history and character, improves identity, beautifies the area, provides new lighting, improves signage, and adds 20 "Art and Garden Places" for shoppers to relax and linger. The redesigned Fillmore Plaza is now a vibrant …

Design And Implementation Processes Of Low Impact Development In The Dallas - Fort Worth Area, Alice Cameron Holmes

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

In 1999, The EPA published The Stormwater Phase II rule, which instituted the implementation of "techniques, measures or structural control to manage and improve the quality of stormwater runoff" otherwise known as Best Management Practices (BMP). These strategies are designed to address one or more of three factors; flow control, pollutant removal, and pollutant source removal. As part of the list of techniques associated with BMP's, one in particular has become a more strategic approach that mimics predevelopment hydrology (EPA, 2012). This approach is known as Low Impact Development. Low Impact Development (LID) practices have emerged as the new alternative …

The "Pedestrian Realm" As A Genesis Of Commerce: Bazaars Of The East And Mixed-Use Centers Of The West, Zoha Niazi

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Commerce is an ancient economical framework that enables establishment of social ties, improving cultural relationships, and trading values as well as commodities (Edgu et al., 2012). Different trends have taken place throughout history in this revenue based area, from the old Silk Road trading system to new department stores of this era. At the same time, exponential rise of the pressure of motorized traffic into the open public urban space has made non-motorized users such as pedestrians uncomfortable, but recently they started to be given more attention (Morgan, 1996), through mixed used environment especially in western cultures. The review of …

The "Pedestrian Realm" As A Genesis Of Commerce: Bazaars Of The East And Mixed-Use Centers Of The West, Zoha Niazi

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Commerce is an ancient economical framework that enables establishment of social ties, improving cultural relationships, and trading values as well as commodities (Edgu et al., 2012). Different trends have taken place throughout history in this revenue based area, from the old Silk Road trading system to new department stores of this era. At the same time, exponential rise of the pressure of motorized traffic into the open public urban space has made non-motorized users such as pedestrians uncomfortable, but recently they started to be given more attention (Morgan, 1996), through mixed used environment especially in western cultures. The review of …

The Career Of Gary Robinette In The Contemporary History Of Landscape Architecture, Jason Lackey

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Gary Robinette has practiced landscape architecture since 1963. During that time he has overseen policy and research that affects landscape architects in the United States and those in countries who model their regulatory system after the United States. His career has taken him through administration of the leading professional organizations, into the private sector, and the better part of his time he spent in the field of academy or scholarship teaching at The University of Wisconsin at Madison and The University of Texas at Arlington. He has contributed to the landscape architecture body of knowledge through his prolific writing with …

The Career Of Gary Robinette In The Contemporary History Of Landscape Architecture, Jason Lackey

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Gary Robinette has practiced landscape architecture since 1963. During that time he has overseen policy and research that affects landscape architects in the United States and those in countries who model their regulatory system after the United States. His career has taken him through administration of the leading professional organizations, into the private sector, and the better part of his time he spent in the field of academy or scholarship teaching at The University of Wisconsin at Madison and The University of Texas at Arlington. He has contributed to the landscape architecture body of knowledge through his prolific writing with …

Design And Implementation Processes Of Low Impact Development In The Dallas - Fort Worth Area, Alice Cameron Holmes

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

In 1999, The EPA published The Stormwater Phase II rule, which instituted the implementation of "techniques, measures or structural control to manage and improve the quality of stormwater runoff" otherwise known as Best Management Practices (BMP). These strategies are designed to address one or more of three factors; flow control, pollutant removal, and pollutant source removal. As part of the list of techniques associated with BMP's, one in particular has become a more strategic approach that mimics predevelopment hydrology (EPA, 2012). This approach is known as Low Impact Development. Low Impact Development (LID) practices have emerged as the new alternative …

Green Infrastructure Resource Directory, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

Green infrastructure is an approach for managing stormwater that uses vegetation and soils to capture and treat rainwater where it falls. Unlike single-purpose gray infrastructure, green infrastructure realizes multiple benefits at once, including flood mitigation, improved water and air quality, community beautification, provision of recreational opportunities, and energy and cost savings. This resource directory is intended to help communities design, implement, fund, and monitor green infrastructure practices and programs. It was compiled by the Environmental Finance Center Network through the Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities program funded by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. …

Deep Play, Urban Space, Adolescent Place: A Multi-Sited Study Of The Effects Of Settings On Adolescent Risk/Reward Behavior, Benjamin A. Shirtcliff

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The extant literature on the play behavior of youth normalizes adolescent behavior in public space as transgressional, resistant, and in need of social control. The dissertation counters this trend by looking to see if physical qualities, peer effects, and neighborhood context of settings play a deeper role in youth behavior. The study documented urban context, peer effects, physical features, and play behavior across 21 urban settings in New Orleans. Unobtrusive observations employed a highly innovative technique based on YouTube videos and analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. Coded observations of risk-taking and prosocial behavior demonstrated some stability in behavior amongst adolescents—“youth” …

A Step Towards Sustainable: The Meshing Of The Mormon Church Headquarters' Environmental Earth Stewardship Practices With Modern Trends Of Sustainability, Natalie Watkins

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Planners and landscape architects are decision makers whose commitment to sustainable development is integral in transitioning our built environment into a renewable and more self sustaining system. The built environment is a place where the three pillars of sustainability comprising social equity, environmental bear-ability, and economic viability are clearly manifested. The recent decades or scientific research in this area have offered us opportunities to make changes in the built environment that will better support future generations of our local communities. However, social and religious community structures can make change difficult on the Wasatch Front where the headquarters of the Church …

Roger Williams Park Edible Forest Garden, Mark S. Scialla

Senior Honors Projects

An edible forest garden is a low-maintenance system that uses edible native and regionally-adapted plants arranged in beneficial relationships to meet human, wildlife and ecosystem needs. The forest garden in Roger Williams Park will transform underutilized urban land into a highly productive parcel producing market-viable fruits, nuts, vegetables, medicine and fiber. Forest gardens mimic natural forest systems in architecture and complexity. The design follows ecological principles to create a system that promotes biodiversity and enhances the surrounding ecosystem. This project also demonstrates the potential to grow food and create land-based livelihoods in the city.

Located on the edge of a …

The New American Landscape: Beyond Bollards And Barricades, William Towle

Landscape Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

The object of this thesis is to develop landscape architecture design guidelines that aid in the protection of people in public spaces while reducing security concerns on commercial properties. The integration of existing guidelines that come from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES), and the Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) will create a new standard of guidelines to be used for security credits within SITES. These guidelines will be developed through an analytical method. These new guidelines will be added to SITES for security and then tested against a local site, in Rogers, …

Design Of A Constructed Wetland For Wastewater Treatment And Reuse In Mount Pleasant, Utah, Yue Zhang

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

Municipalities in the Intermountain West are facing water shortages based on their current population growth projections. Utah has the second highest per-capita culinary water use in the United States. Among other cities, Mount Pleasant, Utah, is seeking innovative and cost-effective ways to reduce culinary water use. This study presents a feasibility analysis of and a design for using a free water surface constructed wetland system to treat the city’s wastewater. The study further presents a cost-benefit assessment of using the treated water for landscape irrigation in the city. The study is based on an analysis of existing wastewater quality, local …

Perceptions Of Naturalized Playgrounds: A Qualitative Study, Jeffrey C. Hamarstrom

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Play is an important part of childhood as it helps to develop social skills and ensure proper mental and physical development. Electronic media, stranger danger, and urbanization have reduced both the time and access children have to play in natural areas. Many people believe that this is an integral part of childhood and, therefore, concern that children are not interacting with the natural world is becoming a popular topic. Research has shown that natural environments can have various benefits such as reducing anxiety and promoting developmental skills. Play providers are now creating playgrounds that attempt to recreate natural settings, referred …

The Relationship Of Outdoor Recreation And Gardening With Depression Among Individuals With Disabilities, Justin Floyd Wilson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Activities involving natural environments have positive psychological impacts on participants. Both outdoor recreation and gardening have been shown to reduce feelings of depression. However, the effects of these activities on the depression levels of individuals with disabilities have not yet been studied. In order to better understand the relationship between these activities and depression among individuals with disabilities, two separate studies were conducted.

The first study seeks to better understand the relationship between outdoor recreation participation and depression among Montana residents with disabilities using publicly available Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data. It hypothesizes that depression would be negatively …

Transit Oriented Development Report, Taner R. Özdil, Pat D. Taylor, Jianling Li, Steve Mattingly, Brad Bell, Karla Weaver, Alma Morphis, Jack Buchanan, Yao Lin, Bhavana Kidambi, Nakjune Seong

Landscape Architecture Faculty Publications - Archive

The Transit Oriented Development Report is a comprehensive review of transit oriented development (TOD) projects, literature, and guidelines in order to build a knowledge base in the subject and set preliminary recommendations for the Dallas - Fort Worth metropolitan area. The goal of this report is to produce a resource for North Texas stakeholders in both public and private sectors by studying planning, design, and implementation activities of selected TOD projects in local, regional, national, and international scale.

Solving Urban Conservation Issues Through Botanic Garden Functions, John Lashley

All Theses

Historically, botanical gardens have many contributing factors relating to their success. Attracting visitors to botanical sites all around the world and providing a unique set of resources are only a portion of what makes these types of gardens so successful. This paper will first analyze the effects botanical gardens, in their current state of operation; have on society from a cultural, economic, and environmental impact. This paper will then propose and discuss education, environmental and community awareness and urban potential. Through a past and present inventory, a proposed alternative future for botanical gardens will be revealed.
Botanical gardens have an …

Cultural Sustainability Of A Post-Industrial Brownfield In Wanzhou China: Maintaining Cultural Value Through Brownfield Redevelopment, Yi Zhang

All Theses

The post-industrial brownfield, generally regarded as one type of brownfield, is defined as an industrial property that remains abandoned or underutilized in part because of environmental contamination. In China, more and more post-industrial sites are abandoned because of changes to city land use, often becoming an obstacle for healthy city growth. This phenomenon places more concerns on brownfield redevelopment in China. Chinese professionals in landscape architecture can borrow some methods and techniques for addressing brownfields from more developed countries. While the brownfields in China share some similar characteristics with those in developed countries, they also have some specific features. For …

Re-Engaging Historic Military Sites, Gina Hartness

All Theses

Historic Conservation seeks to protect the historically significant built environment while
allowing for more current uses. As it pertains to land planning, this effort extends current
land-use tools beyond the historic and conservation districts to include buffer districts and
heritage areas. We need these tools because preservation, which is defined as maintaining
an unaltered environment, does not adequately address managing change over time. Fort
Moultrie on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina is one example where historic preservation
and conservation merge to address the adaptive reuse of this former military installation.
At Fort Moultrie, many of these former installations are in disrepair …