Architecture Commons^™

Complete Streets, Jim Speer

2021 Spring Reports (Sullivan)

The City of Sullivan enacted a Quality of Life plan to address multiple improvements to their city, including some of the city’s infrastructure. Mayor Clint Lamb’s goal is to connect the city via roadways and trail systems that are accessible for all transportation methods and attractive for community members and tourists. ENVI460 students provided recommendations based off the city’s need for improvements to road systems and attractiveness. Students recommended a new roadway design for the Main Street section, sustainable infrastructure additions and buffer zones, and green space for attraction sites.

Mitigating Urban Heat Island Effect At Southern City Park, Jim Speer

2021 Spring Reports (Sullivan)

The City of Sullivan indicated the southern City Park as an area of interest for redevelopment as a neighborhood area and for sustainable features. There are existing structures and habitats that they are looking to bolster. Students in ENVI 460 identified multiple components of the city park that could be updated and upgraded to provide more sustainable infrastructure and community focus. They recommended permeable pavers in two locations in the park area, green roofing on some existing structures, and adding native habitats to the overall area.

Impervious Surfaces Mapping At City Scale By Fusion Of Radar And Optical Data Through A Random Forest Classifier, Binita Shrestha, Haroon Stephen, Sajjad Ahmad

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Urbanization increases the amount of impervious surfaces, making accurate information on spatial and temporal expansion trends essential; the challenge is to develop a cost-and laboreffective technique that is compatible with the assessment of multiple geographical locations in developing countries. Several studies have identified the potential of remote sensing and multiple source information in impervious surface quantification. Therefore, this study aims to fuse datasets from the Sentinel 1 and 2 Satellites to map the impervious surfaces of nine Pakistani cities and estimate their growth rates from 2016 to 2020 utilizing the random forest algorithm. All bands in the optical and radar …

Sullivan Sustainable Housing Unit, Riem Rostom

2021 Spring Reports (Sullivan)

Students in ENGR401 were tasked with providing recommendations for an energy efficient heating and cooling system for a housing design provided by IAD251. Students performed necessary calculations and compared information with sustainability factors. There are also further recommendations for building sustainable housing.

Rebuilding California History: Research, Conceptual Design, And Code Analysis For The Reconstruction Of The Swanton Pacific Railroad On Swanton Ranch, David J. Choy

City and Regional Planning

The purpose of this report is to provide code research, code analysis, and conceptual design work for the Swanton Pacific Railroad. This work will provide a basis that decisions makers can use to review potential actions for the future of the Swanton Pacific Railroad. Based on the research, several issues have been identified that will need to be addressed if rebuilding is to succeed.

• The parcel that the railroad is located on is Split Zoned, which will need to be resolved.
• A decision needs to be made if this project is: Only rebuilding what was existing beforehand, rebuilding in part …

The Impact Of Daylight And Window Views On Health And Recovery: A Quash-Experimental Study Of Patients With Heart Disease In A Cardiac Icu, Roxana Jafarifiroozabadi

All Dissertations

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Being diagnosed with heart disease can lead to depression, anxiety, sleep disruption, and delirium symptoms, which can cause prolonged hospital stays among patients. Evidence suggests that the presence of daylight and window views can influence these symptoms positively. However, no studies to date have differentiated the impact of daylight from window views on heart disease patients or addressed how window use can impact patient recovery in cardiac intensive care units (CICUs).

This IRB-approved study employed a retrospective and prospective quasiexperimental approach to investigate CICU rooms of the same …

Planning, Aging, And Loneliness: Reviewing Evidence About Built Environment Effects, Yingying Lyu, Ann Forsyth

Geography & Planning Faculty Publications

Large numbers of people in many countries report being lonely with rates highest among the very old. Does the built environment affect loneliness among older people and if so, how? Using a scoping review, we examined associations between loneliness and built environments at the block, neighborhood, and city scales The (a) neighborhood environment has received most attention. Research has also examined (b) urban contexts, (c) housing, and (d) transportation access. Findings are mixed with the stronger evidence that local resources, walkability, overall environment quality, housing options, and nearby transportation alternatives can help combat loneliness.

Designing With Users: A Participatory Design As A Community Engagement Program In The City Zoo, Yulia Nurliani Lukito, Nevine R. Kusuma, Enira Arvanda, Zafira R. Ummah

ASEAN Journal of Community Engagement

This article discusses a participatory design project that aims at creating a collaborative design among architectural students, visitors, and zoo management in designing street furniture and selfie spots in city zoos. Participatory design is used in the design process to get the users’ and designers’ interpretation of the space, improve design outcomes, and increase the community awareness of their surroundings. As part of the Universitas Indonesia Community Engagement Program, the zoo design project fosters a collaborative design between the university and zoo community and supports the educational, conservational, and recreational goals of Ragunan Zoo in Jakarta. Designing street furniture and …

Consulting Place As Stakeholder: Accessing The Input Of Ecological Community, Hunter Adkisson

Landscape Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This is a project about how landscape architects approach the landscape in their design process. Indigenous worldviews hold that the world is living and animate in its own right. When we consider stakeholder engagement in this light, the need arises to extend the definition of stakeholders to include the ecological communities of place – the flora, fauna, soils, and other non-human elements of place. To gather that input, I experimented with techniques to access a greater awareness of ecological community at two sites with different levels of urbanity and types of land management practices. This experimental approach was surprisingly successful …

How Can Portland's Urban Landscape Better Utilize Stormwater?, Joni Frame

University Honors Theses

This thesis worked to explore stormwater management and water runoff using urban green infrastructure in Portland, Oregon. Water management systems are used to store and treat stormwater (precipitation) that runs off impervious surfaces in our built environment. Stormwater is produced by rain and other forms of precipitation that runs off impervious surfaces such as streets, parking lots, and other sites. Climate changes are projected to include more frequent and more intensive storms which can lead to extreme flood hazards, increasing the stormwater runoff. This study analyzed the context of climate change in the city of Portland, OR, to understand how …

Understanding The Importance Of Statues: Symbols Of Racism In Modern Society, Theresa Vanwormer

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

Whether it is a monument, statue, plaque, or mural, the values and ideologies that are memorialized on public land reflect what reality the people of a country are choosing to remember. The United States’ political and racial history has led to the creation of controversial memorials, including memorials that honor the Confederacy and its leaders, influencing moral concepts based in racism, violence, and oppression. The continued veneration of these symbols on public land sends the message to the Black community that their oppressors are honored as heroes and that the society they live in still allows for their abuse. Annette-Gordon …

Maple Lane Asset-Based Community Development, Portland State University. Center For Public Interest Design, Sergio Palleroni, Todd Ferry, Kaylyn Berry, Hannah Lopez, Athena Shepherd, Sean Silverstein

Center for Public Interest Design Projects

A development of Community Development Partners (CDP) and Hacienda Community Development Corporation (Hacienda CDC), the Maple Lane project will address the community’s need for high-quality, affordable housing. In addition, this project aspires to support an intergenerational community for all ages, and an inter-cultural community. The project aims to be a hub for residents and the wider Oregon City community through the provision of meeting spaces and community center for a wide range of programming. The abundant green space will provide an outdoor park and other recreational amenities, at the heart of the site, echoing a Central Park sentiment.

As an …

Blacow Road Improvement Plan, Nishita Kandikuppa

City and Regional Planning

Providing safe and accessible entrances to schools, especially elementary, middle, and high schools where children are below the age of 18, should be of utmost priority to cities. Providing wide sidewalks, painted bicycle lanes and continental crosswalks (with the lateral lines) are just basic infrastructure improvements that can be made within the vicinity of a school. However, due to lack of funding or attention from the city departments, many school entryways are being neglected and the direct impact of this is increased collisions among students, drivers, and bicyclists. My senior project studied one such school in Fremont, California where the …

A Proposal For Middle Housing Design Guidelines For The City Of San Luis Obispo, Abby Miramontes

City and Regional Planning

The City of San Luis Obispo is interested in developing a Missing Middle Housing Plan to promote the development of attractive, affordable housing in the city. Middle housing includes duplexes, triplexes, cottage courts, and townhomes. Although middle housing is not necessarily affordable by definition, it can increase housing affordability by improving the diversity of housing types available. Design guidelines will help ensure that proposed developments fit into the character of existing neighborhoods and the community as a whole.

Cielo Obispo Development Package, Jack Wanner

City and Regional Planning

The Cielo Obispo is a 0.38 acre lot located on the corner of the Old Town Historic District and Downtown San Luis Obispo neighborhoods. The Cielo Obispo Development Package is a guiding document to future development on this site. This analysis contains information regarding the complex regulatory, financial, economic, and physical constraints and opportunities when developing in California and San Luis Obispo. The development package explains the process and a breakdown of the requirements that would be needed to get a project of this size entitled and shovel ready. This information is particularly important for planning professionals within the City …

Equity In Accessibility, A Case Study Of City Of Sacramento, Meredith C. Milam

City and Regional Planning

This paper is a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) spatial analysis of the transportation accessibility and equity in Sacramento, California. A literature review examines discriminatory regulatory policies in the 1900s that wrote racial segregation into law. The effects of these policies have lasting effects on spatial dispersal of people and create barriers to accessibility and therefore result in inequitable transportation systems. The accessibility and equity analysis in Sacramento explores demographic data, job concentration and available modes of transportation, and commuter data. The results of the analysis suggest that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach when it comes to measuring accessibility and equity. …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Active Transportation, Timothy Scott Mcbirney

City and Regional Planning

This research project examines the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had and will continue to have on active transportation, in particular, cycling. This research was initiated by my own interest in cycling for both recreational and utility purposes as well as articles I had read on the rise in recreational cycling over the course of the pandemic. I wanted to understand and summarize the best practices for converting the increase in cycling for recreation into a meaningful, long-term shift toward active modes in urban transportation in the future. This paper explores how the pandemic has impacted active transportation around the country …

Partial Local Government Operations Ghg Inventory And Recordkeeping Recommendations For The City Of Lompoc 2019 Baseline Year, Liam Crowley

City and Regional Planning

In response to human activities and their impact on climate change, the State of California and local governments have taken action to track and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This includes emissions both at the community scale and from local government operations alone.

This report intends to quantify, to the extent feasible and for which data is available, the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the local government operations of the City of Lompoc for the baseline year 2019. In addition, the purpose of this report is to identify ways in which the City can improve record keeping and data collection …

City Of San Luis Obispo Creek Walk Phase Iii, Ryan Thomas Anderson, Peyton Marie Ratto

City and Regional Planning

The following project includes a detailed narrative of project components and conceptual designs for the proposed City of San Luis Obispo (SLO) Creek Walk Phase III. The “project area” includes San Luis Obispo Creek and adjacent land uses/parcels from the Nipomo Street Bridge to the Marsh Street Bridge. This project is relevant because the City has interest in developing Phase III as an extension from the current walkway that begins at Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. In order to ensure consistency with City goals and policies, various City documents were reviewed, including the Downtown Concept Plan. Our progress was …

The Nolan House, Keiko-Ann K. Sanders, Gilbert C. Munoz, Michael A. Bahr, Titas Kalvalnis

Architectural Engineering

As a precedent, The Green Team analyzed the history of glass architecture, literature, and culture. Based on our research, we found that glass is often depicted as breakable, delicate, and a way to expose or display aspects that would otherwise be hidden. We challenged ourselves to incorporate safety and privacy into our glass house as a way to combat the pre-existing notions of glass in architecture.

Williamson County Building Safety Plan, Jack Combs

City and Regional Planning

My senior year at Cal Poly offered me a vast array of opportunities for enriching my knowledge of the field of city and regional planning. The most impactful of my experiences was the time I spent working for the facilities department of Williamson County, Texas. This department is responsible for constructing and maintaining all of the buildings owned and occupied by Williamson County; this includes more than 60 buildings and more than 2,000,000 square feet. Additionally, as the fastest growing county north of Austin with roughly 600,000 residents, this department had many pertinent development projects to attend to.

As an …

San Joaquin Parks And Recreation Site-Specific Strategic Plan, Ida Araghieyan, Jessica M. Gastineau Romero

City and Regional Planning

The San Joaquin Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan (SJPRSP) outlines a road to success for parks, open space, and recreational amenities. Areas of improvement are identified, and local assessments of opportunities and strengths of San Joaquin are examined to curate a site-specific plan of what could be implemented regarding local parks and recreation and open space.

Health Infrastructure Accessibility In San Joaquin, Ca, Vinson Lok Kwan, Trisha Phuong Tran

City and Regional Planning

The purpose of this study is to assess the health infrastructure and accessibility in San Joaquin, California through the existing conditions of the city, reviewing various cities facing similar conditions, and creating potential solutions or recommendations to be implemented into the city to accommodate growth and overall well-being in the community.

Health infrastructure and accessibility is important to every community since it has the ability to influence the quality-of-care individuals are able to receive. When it comes to infrastructure, it is important to determine the underlying health conditions the local population faces and whether the services provided are adequate in …

Objective Design Standards For The City Of San Luis Obispo, Wilfrido Amaya, Ian Madrigal

City and Regional Planning

The state of California has been facing a housing crisis for several decades (Buhayar & Cannon, 2019). The state, along with other municipalities have been enacting laws to help mitigate the issue such as SB 35 (2017) and AB 2162 (2018). In recent years, cities and other municipalities have been using different methods of integrating missing middle housing into their planning practices. Missing middle housing is defined as being the “range of house-scale buildings with multiple units - compatible in scale and form with detached single-family homes” (missingmiddlehousing.com). There are different methods of implementing missing middle housing, however, in the …

An Analysis On The Future Of Parklets In San Luis Obispo, Reid Crandell, Aidan Lebow

City and Regional Planning

Currently, the parklet program in San Luis Obispo is a temporary program that utilizes encroachment permits to allow businesses to utilize sidewalks and a portion of the street for outdoor dining. With the emergence of parklets around the country due to COVID-19, commercial uses have been able to stay in business while adhering to the social distancing guidelines. Another added benefit has been the overall public enjoyment of utilizing parklets. Specifically in San Luis Obispo, the parklet program has made it easy for businesses to operate with added space. The question we asked in this project was whether or not …

San Joaquin Air Quality And Active Transportation Specific Plan, Samuel Robert Kuennen, William David Jarrett

City and Regional Planning

The focus of this project is to improve the overall air quality in San Joaquin. It will specifically focus on the PM2.5 pollutant, as this pollutant has the highest potential for change. Additionally, the PM2.5 pollutant poses major health risks to the community when there are high levels of it. The primary contributors of PM2.5 are automobiles, geography, and weather. This project will discuss methods that can reduce the reliance on single occupancy vehicles. These methods include the development of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure as well as the improvement of the area’s regional transport services.

Expanding Housing Typology, Increasing Affordability: A Flexible Density Program For The City Of San Luis Obispo, Graham J. Bultema

Master's Theses

The City of San Luis Obispo faces an ongoing housing production shortage and housing affordability crisis that has been afflicting jurisdictions across State of California for a prolonged period of time. The City faces many of the same housing availability and affordability challenges as the rest of the State, but also has distinct characteristics that necessitate unique policies and strategies, such as the concurrent presence of both a large student and young professional population as well as a wealthy retirement community, which drastically drives up housing prices and demand.

The Flexible Density Program is proposed by the City of San …

Examining The Ecological And Social Implications Of Parklets And Plazas Across Multiple Urban Scales, Joshua L. Muller

Master's Theses

Faced with population increases but stagnant capital improvements and impacts from global warming, cities around the world are experimenting with smaller-scale and cheaper strategies in order to accommodate the new influx of residents. New York City has led the way in converting low-efficiency intersection space into public plazas with a limited range of permanently installed elements and San Francisco has pioneered the concept of the parklet, which converts two to four street parking spaces into a modular and flexible pedestrian space. I seek to answer two questions about these spaces: What are common factors influencing the viability and successful implementation …

Difficulties Building Low-Income Housing And The View Of One Company: A Case Study, Kyle Henriken

Construction Management

This case study investigates low-income housing and why it can be more difficult to build compared to other construction projects. Five individuals of PREMIER Design + Build Group were interviewed and gave their opinions on the subject. Each person interviewed has a different role in the company a market leader, project manager, superintendent, and a project engineer to gain a more diverse view on low-income housing. These interviews were semi-structured and open ended to create dialogue about their experiences in affordable housing. This paper investigates a single project called The Cottages located in Lake Elsinore CA. This process found that …

Environmental Cues And The Sociospatial Imaginary: An Examination Of Spatial Perception And Meaning-Making In A Gentrifying Neighborhood, Todd Levon Brown

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

What could be more ordinary or pedestrian than two people walking down an urban street and talking about what we see and what we make of it? Yet this simple, quotidian act of walking a street—seeing, perceiving and experiencing physical spaces, places and objects—and making meaning of what is encountered, is the basis of my dissertation. It is also my basis for claiming that I have learned a great deal—and much unexpectedly—about how differently different people see and interpret the urban streetscape. What are the various environmental cues that stand out to different individuals? What are the psychosocial imaginaries that …