Architecture Commons^™

Small-Scale Green Infrastructure In Urban Networks - Trinity Presbyterian Church As A Pilot Project, Selvana Getsy -

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Rapid urbanization and increasing impervious cover in cities like those within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex have intensified flooding, heat, erosion, and declining ecological quality. Although large-scale green infrastructure (GI) interventions are widely recognized as solutions to these issues, small-scale institutional landscapes remain a neglected yet powerful component of urban GI networks. This study functions as a pilot/demonstration project to evaluate the potential of small-scale GI interventions at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Plano, Texas. The goals are to reduce stormwater runoff, provide ecological and microclimatic improvements, increase community engagement, biodiversity enhancement, and environmental awareness in public institutional settings.

The study utilizes a …

Streets Of Belonging: Reimagining Bataan Street As A Demonstration Project For Cultural Preservation In La Bajada, Avigail Gutierrez

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

The objective of this research is to examine how landscape architecture can be used to preserve cultural identity and community life in neighborhoods experiencing gentrification. The study focuses on the La Bajada community in West Dallas and explores how design can help protect the neighborhood’s character and history while improving comfort, safety, and accessibility in public spaces. The research investigates the role of Bataan Street and its traffic islands as social and cultural anchors within the community. It evaluates how landscape architecture can strengthen belonging and resilience against displacement. The study is guided by a research question: How can the …

Transforming A Public Flexible Space Into An Artistic Place For Leisure – An Artistic Intervention For Downtown Arlington., Sowmya Kanaka

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Open flexible spaces are often underutilized, undefined, or lacking identity, hold immense potential to become vibrant artistic places that support leisure, culture, and community life. transforming such flexible spaces into Community-led arts places serve as adaptable environments that can shift to meet evolving cultural and recreational needs. By integrating artistic intervention through public art, interactive installations, and creative spatial programming, formerly Underutilized open space becomes an anchor of activity drawing residents and visitors and influencing adjacent areas to align with its renewed identity. Arts-driven public spaces attract consistent foot traffic and recurring events, stimulating social and economic exchange. When artistic …

Assessing Biodiversity For User Experience In Public Parks: Learning From Downtown Dallas, Texas, Amanda A. Esparza

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Biodiversity loss is a pressing global issue, with far-reaching ecological, social, and cultural consequences (United Nations Environment Programme, 2011). The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) recognizes the biodiversity crisis as equal in urgency to the climate crisis and emphasizes the importance of incorporating biodiversity conservation into design practices (Green, 2024). However, regional experiences of the relationship between biodiversity in designed urban landscapes and user experience remain unexplored. The purpose of this research is to gain a general understanding of the level of biodiversity present in downtown Dallas, Texas, public parks and to assess park users’ perceptions and interactions with …

Catalyzing Engagement: Investigating Factors And Perceptions Shaping Texas High School Landscape Architecture Education, Recruitment, And Outreach, Johnathan A. Hampton

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Socio-economic and environmental pressures have created a demand for landscape architecture practitioners that far outweighs the current supply of students and professionals (Hendricks et al., 2019; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024c). This reality has spurred industry representatives to examine education, recruitment, and outreach strategies (Cardona, 2024, 2021; Davis, 2022; American Society of Landscape Architects, n.d.-a). Investigating the factors that influence landscape architecture (and allied industry) education, recruitment, and outreach may inform the refinement of such strategies. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the factors and stakeholder perceptions that influence landscape architecture education, recruitment, and outreach in Texas …

Achieving Vision Zero On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard: Enhancing Pedestrian Safety And Reclaiming Community Identity In South Dallas, Safa Sayeed Khan

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Fair Park, a neighborhood of South Dallas, has experienced historical displacement, urban neglect, and pedestrian safety inequities, especially along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (MLK Blvd). This boulevard is a vital entryway to Fair Park and a center for local businesses, attracting significant foot traffic. However, it currently lacks essential pedestrian safety improvements. (Dallas Examiner, 2023). Due to its high crash rate, poor sidewalks, lack of crosswalks, and poor lighting, MLK Blvd has been identified as one of Dallas' most dangerous pedestrian areas, despite being an essential vehicle and pedestrian corridor that connects residents to Fair Park (Phillips, 2024; "South …

Correlating Csr Theory And Soil Texture To Bridge The Gap In Ecological Planting Strategies For Landscape Architecture, James E. Theiss

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Many studies are focused on the benefits of including natural and ecoregional landscape design within urban habitats; however, a focused approach to how landscape architects can begin including ecological applications within their planting designs has not been fully assessed. Once the knowledge gap between ecology and how landscape architects plan landscape plantings is fully realized, research on the benefits of bringing nature back to urban environments can be thoroughly assessed. It is common knowledge that landscape design involves creating aesthetically pleasing plant combinations based on simple site characteristics that can influence how a plant grows (Tabassum S. et al., 2020; …

Breathing New Life Into Main Street Garden: A Design To Showcase Native Forb Flowering Lawns For A More Sustainable Downtown Dallas, Tx, Peter E. Wagner

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Lawns are a landscape staple that dominate urban and suburban spaces. While they are often criticized, for many good reasons, their general popularity and acceptance are undeniable. Aesthetic preference, simple maintenance, low upfront cost, and high recreational value make lawns a ubiquitous feature in urban design (Ignatieva et al., 2017). However, from an environmental standpoint they are immensely costly and contribute significantly to pollution (Smetana & Crittenden 2014). Ecologically speaking, they contribute very little to local biomes and, with their prevalence in rural and suburban settings, they displace large swaths of native habitat. Despite rigorous research and well-articulated arguments against …

Beyond The Visual: The Impacts Of Urban Soundscapes On Landscape Design And User Experience, Beth Sipzner

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

The purpose of this research is to examine how visual stimuli affect an individual’s perception of the soundscape. Soundscapes are the acoustic environment perceived by people, whose character is determined by the action and interaction of natural and human factors (Maffei & Masullo, 2019), also understood as the overall sound environment perceived by people. By understanding user perception and preferences, designers can create more aesthetically pleasing spaces that align with the sounds of urban life. The research poses two questions: (1) What are aural and visual elements that impact urban soundscape experiences? and (2) How do aural and visual stimuli …

Cultivating Change: Enhancing Urban Agriculture Through Landscape Architecture Design, Patricia Cerda

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

The objective of this research is to examine the advantages of applying landscape architecture design principles to urban agriculture landscapes. The study investigates the current and past instances of implementing agriculture in urban areas to comprehend how they benefit the community and local environment and create a connection between people and the food they consume. The study aims to explore how landscape architecture can be efficiently applied to urban farming practices to establish a meaningful and sustainable connection between individuals and their food. The study will be guided by three research questions: (1) What are the environmental benefits associated with …

Advancing The Design Of Shopping Malls For Environmental Benefits And Pedestrian Experience: A Vision For Irving Mall, Texas, Surabhi Raghunatha Jaganmohan

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

The transition of shopping malls from retail-only establishments to multi facility or mix-use projects is indicative of the current trend toward more comprehensive, neighborhood-focused, and pedestrian friendly settings. Shopping malls can improve well-being by incorporating natural aspects (Anderson et al., 2016), although the widespread reliance on surface parking lots poses considerable environmental and economic issues (Evans et al., 2009). These issues encompass urban sprawl, congestion, diminished land values, and impaired walkability (Kille, 2020). Moreover, surface parking lots adversely affect the environment by augmenting stormwater runoff, contributing to water pollution, and intensifying the urban heat island effect (Greentumble, 2022).

This design …

Designing Resilient Communities: Landscape Architecture Strategies To Counteract The Urban Heat Island Effect And Enhance Thermal Comfort In Vulnerable Neighborhoods In Dallas, Texas, Angelica E. Villalobos

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

As cities continue to expand and temperatures rise, extreme weather conditions become more frequent (Tan et al., 2009). This urban heat phenomenon significantly impacts the environment and the health and well-being of living organisms, including humans (Bullard, 2011). Unfortunately, those who live in poverty are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of urban heat island-induced heat (Balbus & Malina, 2009). To address this issue, this research evaluates landscape architecture design strategies that mitigate the urban heat island and enhance thermal comfort in vulnerable suburban neighborhoods in Dallas, Texas. Recommendations are provided for enhancing resident thermal comfort in single-family residential neighborhoods, …

Landscape Design That Enhances Socialization And Community Through Climate Resilience, Guidelines For North Texas Universities., Melissa N. Brown

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Landscape architects must balance social, economic, and environmental considerations while creating places that people will love. And, in the words of American Society for Landscape Architects Fellow Mary Margaret Jones: “If we don’t make places people love, they won’t be taken care of”. (ALSA Interview, n.d.) Consideration for the user experience will result in spaces that people are more likely to love.

The growing student population at the University of Texas at Arlington means that every space must be used to its full potential. The green and open spaces on a university campus are more than circulatory routes between buildings. …

Designing Dreams, Not Divides: Speculative Toolkit For Assessing Community Engagement Strategies – South Oak Cliff Renaissance Park In Dallas, Texas, Heena Shrestha

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Community engagement in park design is critical in landscape architecture as it concerns the design in underserved communities where systemic inequities limit access to high-quality public spaces. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a toolkit to help landscape architects measure how successful their community engagement practices are in their design process. This toolkit addresses a critical gap in landscape architecture practice, where existing case studies often focus on environmental or social outcomes but need more methods for evaluating community engagement. By providing a structured approach, this toolkit enables landscape architects to measure, demonstrate, and validate their community engagement …

A Critical Assessment Of Tiny Urban Forest Methodologies And Their Regional Adaptation For North Central Texas, Michael E. Moore

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Urbanization has led to significant environmental and social challenges, including biodiversity loss, resource depletion, and climate concerns (McDonald et al., 2008). In response to these issues, innovative methods such as Tiny Urban Forest Systems (TUFS) have gained attention. TUFS are densely planted clusters of trees and shrubs designed to emulate the structure and ecological functions of natural early successional forests (Lewis, 2021). For this study, TUFS are defined as small, high-density green spaces incorporating multi-layered native woody trees and shrub species within rapidly urbanizing areas, offering both environmental and social benefits (SUGi, 2023). This research examines the feasibility of implementing …

Promoting Community Identity Through Repurposing Vacant Land: City Park Design In Downtown Arlington, Dasom Phoebe Mun

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

As urbanization progressed rapidly in the mid-nineteenth century, people moved to cities for many reasons, and as a consequence, the volume of green spaces in the cities was reduced. Lands have been developed or redeveloped as urbanization developed. In this process, leftover spaces and vacant lands have been created. Urban vacant lands could be a problem for many cities. They might have aesthetic issues such as disordered or cluttered appearances, safety issues due to lack of maintenance, economic issues for it being wasted and so on (Kim et al., 2023). However, vacant lands in urban areas have become suitable assets …

Landscape Interventions For Pedestrian Safety Around Urban Parks: Learning From City Of Dallas, Texas, Ann Mariya Thuruthy

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Urban parks and their immediate surroundings provide access to nature in urbanized areas. However, they can also be crime hotspots if not properly kept or monitored or provide a safe environment for positive activities (Jones & Robinson, 2008). The local community respects a safe and secure neighborhood urban park as proximity to green spaces (McCormack et al., 2010), which enhances living quality (Iqbal & Ceccato, 2015). Nevertheless, a neighborhood urban park and its context have a negative impact on the quality of life if they cater to criminal activity. Crime rates have increased in urban public parks and buffer zones …

Reexamining The Functions Of Urban Bridges With Nature And People In Mind: A Vision For North Main Street Bridge Fort Worth, Texas, Amanda Hinton

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

How can nature be incorporated into infrastructure bridges to promote connections in urban landscapes? The Paddock Viaduct, known today as the North Main Street Bridge in Fort Worth, Texas was formally opened on July 3, 1914. Designed by Brenneke and Fay to improve transportation to the North Fort Worth district, the bridge was the first reinforced concrete arch bridge in the nation to use self-supporting reinforcing steel and ball and socket joints (Paddock Viaduct - Main - Historic Fort Worth, 2017). Fort Worth in the mid-1900s, like many growing cities, was experiencing the repercussions of heavy flooding issues that come …

Cultivating Charismatic Landscapes: Designing For Preservation And Resilience Of Texas’S Natural Swimming Holes, Jessie Hitchcock

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

The swimming hole landscape provides a unique, immersive interface between humans and the natural world within a riparian corridor. Distinct characteristics of local watersheds and regional ecological systems result in an expression of the natural environment specific to each Texas swimming hole. These environmental components, along with human culture and settlement patterns, are all interrelated, underscoring the importance of health and harmony within and between each one. Overuse, urban expansion, watershed management, and climatic factors have negatively impacted the environmental quality and user experience of these landscapes. The purpose of this study is to better understand the cultural and environmental …

Addressing Obsolescence In Fort Worth Public Pools: Enhancing Forest Park Public City Pool, Juan A. Fuentes

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

The city of Fort Worth, Texas has strived to ensure high-quality recreational water activities, which resulted in the closure or demolitions of several demolished aquatic parks in 2009. With many parks exceeding their lifespan, depicting functional and physical obsoleteness, and presenting health and safety risk to swimmers; the city, following the audit report, demolished famous aquatic parks, such as: Sycamore Pool, Hillside Park Lake, Como Park, Sylvania Park, Marine Creek Park, and Kellis Park, etc. In July 2008, Counsilman-Hunsaker conducted a city-wide Aquatic Master Plan to determine the future of the city's aquatic parks (Counsilman-Hunsaker, Inc.,2012). Implementation strategies included replacing …

Designing Transit-Oriented District Station Areas For Pedestrian Activity: Learning From Dallas, Tx, Oren Mandelbaum

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and Transit-Oriented Districts (TODt) are planning and development strategies that look to leverage close access to public transit to create places or districts that are dense, walkable and diverse (NCTCOG, 2021; Stojanovski. 2019; Ozdil et.al., 2012). While TOD and TODt are becoming more prevalent within Dallas, TX, and around the United States, (DART, 2019), there is limited literature as to how landscape architecture and urban design can be utilized to reach the goals set out by TOD, and especially TODt (Ozdil et.al., 2012). In addition, while station areas have the potential to act as the hubs of …

Enhancing The Entry Experience At Phap Quang Temple, Grand Prairie, Tx, Violet Lam

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

This design thesis explores the design principles of traditional Chinese Buddhist temple gardens and their significance in creating successful entry sequences. The study focuses on Vietnamese Buddhist temples in a suburban context in North Texas and investigates the role of design elements such as architecture, water features, planting design, and rocks in creating a spiritually enriching and culturally significant environment. The research method includes a literature review, comparison analysis, site inventory, user survey, interview with a member of the board of advisors, design testing, and design proposal. The proposed design aims to enhance the accessibility, wayfinding, and sense of place …

Designing For Best Use Of The Downtown I-345 Corridor In Dallas, Tx: Stakeholder Perspectives, Matthew Thornton

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

What is a city? It’s more than a location where many people live and work. It is a conglomeration of shared experience over generations. One generation informs the next, which informs how each subsequent generation adds to the development of their shared home. This is what gives each city its own unique form, character, and identity. But what happens if a city repeatedly outgrows itself, disconnects its communities, and demolishes the physical memory of its own cultural history? Dallas, Texas is one such city confronting these issues and is perceived as one without significant place memory or culture (if not …

Designing Cemeteries For Personal Expressions In The San Francisco Bay Area, Jodwin Surio

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Our country’s largest cities have become more racially and ethnically diverse than they were in 2010 (US News, 2020). Differences are present and yet, our cemeteries, originally catering to a predominantly Caucasian market (Sloane, 1991), remain Eurocentric in design (Jones, 2011). The purpose of this master’s design thesis is to determine the design principles and elements necessary for a cemetery that is transformed by the personal expressions exhibited by visitors after the day of burial. The study focuses specifically on cemeteries in the San Francisco Bay Area. The findings were used to develop a new kind of cemetery typology that …

Designing Neighborhood-Scale Green Infrastructure (Gi) To Improve The Health And Well-Being Of Industry-Adjacent Communities Through Air Pollution Mitigation In Joppa, Texas, Lauren Wardwell

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Ambient outdoor air pollution kills roughly 4.2 million people every year worldwide and is linked as a contributing factor to diseases such as asthma, cancer, infertility, and neurological disorders. In the United States, minority communities are more likely to live near sources of air pollution, such as highways and industrial sites, and therefore face higher risks of developing the associated health difficulties. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), people of color (POC) are exposed to disproportionately higher levels of ambient fine particulate matter (PM) air pollution, regardless of income levels or region. While the EPA monitors and enforces outdoor …

The Role Of Temporary Installations Towards Permanency In The Built Environment, Paul D. Spittle

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Heralding a new wave against “business-as-usual” planning, design and development practice that had in part brought about the Global Crash of 2008 (Marcinkoski, 2016), the rise in rapid and temporary design typologies, like Park(ing) Day or Better Block (CNU Next Gen, 2010), suggested a new direction that recognized that if you wanted to make a positive change in the built environment, it was easier to act first and apologize afterwards (Lydon et al, 2012). Taking the responsibility of living in the city into their own hands, a new guard of designers looked to the unfinished skeletons of civic construction to …

Cemeteries, Construction, And Complicity Tyler’S Universe Cemetery As A Black Burial Site Under Distress, Anjelyque Easley

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Black culture has shaped the American landscape in unique but often unrecognized ways. Black burial sites and cemeteries honor ancestors and are a site of reverence (LaRoche & Blakey, 1997). However, they are routinely neglected, reflecting America’s history of segregation. Black burial grounds, places of connection to history and family, are often “repurposed” and forgotten as the changing of property ownership occurs. In many cases, through hostile zoning and real estate practices, Black burial grounds have been desecrated (Levinson, 2019). Urban infrastructures like major transitways have cut through Black cemeteries, effectively “burying” the existence of the Black landscape and those …

Empowering Artists Who Have Experienced Homelessness In The City Of Dallas, Texas Through Temporary Public Art In Urban Spaces, Angeles Marina Margarida-De Guzman

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Homelessness is a critical social crisis impacting the United States in the 21st century. According to The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, in 2019 there were eight states that displayed a significant increase in the homeless population since 2010, with California and New York states having the most homeless. Even though homeless populations reportedly decreased in 2019 in the U.S. since 2010, most states continue to have large numbers of homeless populations, making this a persisting crisis in 2021 (United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, n.d.). In 2019 Texas was among the top seven states with the largest homeless …

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 …