Landscape Architecture Commons^™

Analysis Of The Potential Of Urban Surfaces For Energy Use By Applying Solar Energy Or Green Roofs, Kristin Dietrich, Jose Ambrosini, Fabio Capra-Ribeiro, Juan Raul Massipe Hernandez, Alberto Tama Franco, Fernando Mayor-Vitoria

Faculty Publications

Renewable energy is rapidly increasing in importance in the energy mix in many countries worlwide. They are a key part of the energy transition to more sustainable energy systems. Green roofs are multi-layered systems covered with plants, grasses or turf that are placed on terraces and roofs of different types. Energy savings and reduced urban heat-island effects are among the most notable benefits of green roofs. Traditionally, green roofs and photovoltaic (PV) or solar-thermal installations have been competing systems, but several studies and actual installations have shown that synergistic effects predominate. For example, vegetation has a cooling effect on green …

Citizen Perceptions On The Use, Management And Availability Of Green Spaces In A Mediterranean Region, Daniel Jato-Spino, Fabio Capra-Ribeiro, Vanessa Moscardo, Laura Gallardo

Faculty Publications

Green spaces (GS) are vital for environmental sustainability and public well-being. Understanding public perceptions of GS can promote their distribution aligned with citizens’ preferences. This study explores the alignment between perceptions of GS use, management and availability, captured via a questionnaire in the Valencian Community (Spain), with the objective reality determined through Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Data were collected from 94 participants, with 72 % using GS for relaxation, 54 % for physical exercise and 51 % for walking. Most respondents (78 %) preferred natural reserves as their primary type of GS. While 38 % believed GS were equitably distributed, …

Integration Of Hydrological Simulations Into The Design Process To Assess The Performance Of Green Infrastructure Designs, Clara Jimenez

Design Research

With the growing threat of flooding in coastal and inland communities, it is necessary to migrate nature-based solutions such as green infrastructure. However, one of the challenges that designers face with this strategy lies in the design phase where it is difficult to quantify the performance with traditional design tools. Thus, there is an incentive to incorporate hydrological models within GIS to aid designers in quantifying performance. The goal of this research is to demonstrate that hydrological simulations can be used as a design tool for designers–such as landscape architects & architects– to analyze the feasibility of green infrastructure designs …

Road Rage Or Road Cage: A Study Of The Ecological Impacts Of Roads On Wildlife Corridors And The Resultant Habitat Fragmentation, Addie Bagot

Design Research

As global road networks continue to expand, the resulting habitat fragmentation poses a significant threat to wildlife populations and ecological connectivity. In the United States, wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) account for approximately 10 million animal deaths and 40,000 human fatalities annually, with incidents increasing by 50% over the past 15 years. This research investigates the ecological impacts of transportation infrastructure through a case study of Interstate 10 in Louisiana, specifically a 15-mile segment between Sorrento and LaPlace that cuts through the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area. This forested wetland, home to a rich diversity of species including the American alligator, has …

The Impact Of Visual Stimuli And The Properties Of Green Walls On Human Well-Being In Built And Immersive Virtual Environments, Alireza Sedghikhanshir

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The built environment significantly influences human well-being, particularly in the context of stress recovery and cognitive restoration. This dissertation investigates the impact of visual stimuli, particularly green walls, on human responses related to stress, restoration, and thermal comfort. The research is guided by three primary objectives: (1) examining the role of visual stimuli and their properties in promoting stress recovery and restoration, (2) evaluating the potential of Immersive Virtual Environments (IVEs) as tools for delivering and studying restorative environments, and (3) investigating the influence of green walls on indoor environmental conditions.

A series of experimental studies were carried out to …

Bioagricorridors: Uban Ecosystem Networks To Enhance Biological Diversity, Ecosystem Services And Food Production In Barcelona, Spain, Fabio Capra-Ribeiro, Filippo Vegezzi

Faculty Publications

Urbanisation and environmental degradation pose significant challenges to biodiversity, ecosystem services, and food pro- duction. The Bioagricorridors strategy addresses this by inte- grating agroecology in the urban environment, emphasising the continuity principle to connect diverse ecosystems through green infrastructure. Employing a mapping strategy, bioagricorridors bridge theory and space, using maps as communication tools and deep mapping to explore multi-layered, digital cartographic representations. This approach aids in addressing pressing urban conditions, enhancing genetic diversity, and improving soil and water quality. The exploration uses Barcelona as a case study, a city marked by historical urban planning shifts and landscape fragmentation. Taking into …

A Systematic Review On The Ecosystem Services Provided By Green Infrastructure, Daniel Jato-Espino, Fabio Capra-Ribeiro, Vanessa Moscardó, Leticia Bartolome Del Pino, Fernando Mayor-Vitoria, Laura Gallardo, Patricia Carracedo, Kristin Dietrich

Faculty Publications

Urbanization and climate change are endangering the sustainability of public spaces through increased land artificialization, ecological fragmentation, reduced resource availability, and limited accessibility to natural and seminatural areas. Properly managing Green Infrastructure (GI) can contribute to mitigating these challenges by delivering multiple provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural Ecosystem Services (ES). This would facilitate the implementation of strategically planned GI networks in cities for urban regeneration purposes. In this context, this study developed a systematic review on the ES provided by GI using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. The analysis of 199 eligible articles indicated …

Toward One Health: A Spatial Indicator System To Model The Facilitation Of The Spread Of Zoonotic Diseases, Daniel Jato-Espino, Fernando Mayor-Vitoria, Vanessa Moscardó, Fabio Capra-Ribeiro, Leticia Bartolome Del Pino

Faculty Publications

Recurrent outbreaks of zoonotic infectious diseases highlight the importance of considering the interconnections between human, animal, and environmental health in disease prevention and control. This has given rise to the concept of One Health, which recognizes the interconnectedness of between human and animal health within their ecosystems. As a contribution to the One Health approach, this study aims to develop an indicator system to model the facilitation of the spread of zoonotic diseases. Initially, a literature review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement to identify relevant indicators related to One Health. The …

Acknowledgement, Education, Memory: Reframing The Cemetery Landscapes Of The Enslaved, Aubrey L. Phillips

LSU Master's Theses

The landscape holds onto the nearly imperceivable cemeteries of the formerly enslaved population that have been erased through time, development, and censure of historical narratives in Louisiana. Immediate action is necessary to retie censured chronicles of enslavement to the landscape, educating the public on deep-rooted systemic racism in the contemporary environment. This thesis aims to provide reparations to the Black and descendant communities of southern Louisiana. This work acknowledges the remaining cemetery fragments, reframing and knitting them together as a network of spaces that uphold a more holistic memory of the past.

The role of landscape architecture extends beyond site …

Storytelling As Design Methodology: Reclaiming Little Manila's Urban Landscape Identity, Alyssa M. Gill

LSU Master's Theses

My thesis explores how landscape design can improve its methods of reclaiming lost cultural stories in the urban landscape, using the example of the Filipino American neighborhood known as Little Manila in Stockton, California. Through interpreting both stories and narratives that surround the neighborhood, I propose a basis for landscape design inspiration that focuses on oral history and lived experience. Using this understanding I propose to design a landscape within in the Little Manila Historic Site that celebrates the community’s history while providing public space for continued community use.

My work focuses on the area of Downtown Stockton that earned …

Celebrating Wetland Foodways: Joining Ecosystems & Cultures On The Louisiana Gulf Coast, Deborah La Rue

LSU Master's Theses

Coastal Louisiana is bountiful in cultural and ecological diversity. Spotted with thriving estuaries, meandering bayous and swamps, and rippling grasses of coastal marshes, these wetland ecosystems sequester carbon, purify floodwaters, and buffer against storm surge. Historically, southern wetland landscapes have offered refuge to people of many folk and ethnic traditions escaping violence and oppression. Until the mid-twentieth century, the people living in present-day Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes enjoyed relative isolation from the rest of America, constructing cultural practices that emphasized attachment to wetland plants, animals, and ecosystem dynamics.

Today, changing environmental conditions and high rates of relative sea level rise …

Bernard Palissy: Early Career - Securing Patronage And Mimicking Nature In A Moment Of Crisis, Karissa Bailey

LSU Master's Theses

Early in 1562, France was experiencing a state of high religious tension between Protestants and Catholics that would precipitate the outbreak of the Religious Wars on March 1. A week before, Bernard Palissy, a Huguenot potter, wrote a letter to his Catholic patron from prison inBordeaux where he was being held on charges associated with an iconoclastic incident in his home city of Saintes. This letter would later be published as a dedication letter for the pamphlet Architecture et Ordonnance, which featured the description of a grotto commissioned by Anne de Montmorency, Palissy’s patron, seven years earlier. This thesis analyzes …

Blazing A Trail For The Future Of Paris, Texas, Ashton Wunsch

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Water, Waste, And Race: Designing For Change On The Shelby County Landfill, Elizabeth Peterson

LSU Master's Theses

Historically, landfills have been viewed through an environmental lens as sites for technical remediation, employing scientific or engineering strategies for testing, mitigation and capping. They are more rarely viewed as cultural landscapes, places with histories of habitation and use, or as potential sites for design. This thesis investigation examines the Shelby County Landfill in Memphis, Tennessee from a cultural landscape perspective, opening up a dialog and opportunity to think about this site and other waste sites in a more layered and culturally rich way.

This research contributes to discussions within the field of landscape architecture that present waste landscapes as …

The Siltcatcher: A Sediment-Capture System For Wetland Creation And Coastal Protection In Western Lake Pontchartrain, Andrew M. Wright

LSU Master's Theses

The West Lake Pontchartrain region faces a number of long-term environmental challenges due to anthropogenic climate disturbance and landscape modification, including sea level rise, increased storm surge risk, shoreline erosion, and wetland degradation. In response, this thesis applies recent research in the fields of landscape architecture and civil engineering to propose a dynamic, natural-systems solution for wetland creation and shoreline protection. The project envisions a series of breakwater-like structures in western Lake Pontchartrain positioned to slow water released from the nearby Bonnet Carré Spillway, causing suspended sediment to settle and create self-building and self-sustaining wetlands capable of keeping pace with …

Thiết Kế Cho Gia Tài Nông Nghiệp: Cho Khu Tôi Ở Nu Ô Linh Đông - Designing For A Living Agricultural Heritage: For My Vietnamese Neighborhood In New Orleans East, Nguyệt Nguyễn

LSU Master's Theses

ABfdSTRACT

Versgggailles in New Orleans East is home to one of the densest populations of Vietnamese outside of Việt Nam. Following the Việt Nam War in 1975, thousands of refugees fled the country and several hundred were resettled in this neighborhood. Over time, community members rooted in a sense of home through tangible and intangible means in the landscape. Elders grow vegetables, herbs and fruit from Việt Nam in yards and vacant lots. Neighbors and and amenities are within walkable distance. The Catholic church is a focal community hub. Language and tradition are practiced at the family and the community …

Give Us Back Our River's Edge: An Analysis Of Man Made Flood Controls Along The Mississippi River, Taylor Jacobsen

LSU Master's Theses

Settlement and engagement along a river’s edge can be seen throughout human history. The direct proximity to a water’s edge has both physical and mental benefits, as well as economic value. However, throughout the last century, cities and their citizens along the Mississippi River have become disconnected from their water’s edge; due to man-made interventions for increased flood control and advancements in the maritime industry. These interventions appeared to be prudent at the time and contributed to many cities' economies to growth, poor planning and placement of these interventions created barriers between citizens and their water’s edge. This thesis analyzes …

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 …

Rules Of Distributary Engagement: Cultural Adaptation And Digital Enhancement Of Hydro-Ecological Decision-Making In The Mekong Delta, Việt Nam, Clare-Mai H. Nguyen

LSU Master's Theses

Focused on current initiatives for climate resilience, this paper explores a culturally adaptive approach to participatory planning in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. It details key engagement components to accompany the use of Tangible Landscape, an interactive, data-driven modeling platform, in a series of workshops sponsored by the World Bank. Innovations like Tangible Landscape hold the potential to significantly increase stakeholders’ accessibility to scientific data and scenario models. To what extent do the specificity of place and culture determine the efficacy of these tools in democratizing decision-making?

This paper delves into Việt Nam’s socioeconomic development through Mekong agriculture, as well as …

The Corridor Des Arts, Kade M. Jones

LSU Master's Theses

Arnaudville is a small rural town in south central Louisiana with a population of 1200. In 2010, the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) named Arnaudville as one of fourteen cities that were classified as a successful case study of “Creative Placemaking.” The NEA defines creative placemaking as community partnerships that use arts and culture to shape the social, environmental, and economic identity of a place. The NUNU Arts and Culture Collective, a Louisiana Cajun French non-profit arts organization centered in Arnaudville, is the main catalyst of this effort.

Members of NUNU have identified five other rural towns within close …

Đổi Mới Diy: Tactical Ruralism And Tangible Modeling In The Mekong Delta, Phillip Fernberg

LSU Master's Theses

In recent years, the integrity of the Mekong Delta has been put at risk by a combination of environmental and institutional factors. Understanding that the degradation of the Delta would have far-reaching socioeconomic implications for both Vietnam and the Indochinese Peninsula, The World Bank has responded to the situation by implementing initiatives for climate-smart planning tools and improved water management practices throughout the lower Mekong basin. Seeing the potential for tangible modeling as a participatory planning tool, the Bank has hired a team of consultants from Louisiana State University to introduce a methodology called Tangible Landscape to its climate resilience …

Making Connaught Place (New Delhi, India) Bicycle And Pedestrian Friendly, Surabhi Jain

LSU Master's Theses

India is a place where people have walked miles since ancient times for basic day-to-day needs like water, food, education, shopping, entertainment, tourism, and shelter. However, the rapid growth in population and urbanization is changing the way people live and commute. The urban sprawl is pushing people to the outskirts of the city core because of which personal automobiles is becoming the main source of transportation. This is leading to congestion on roads for most times of the day. The objective of this thesis is to explore and examine how to improve pedestrian and bicycle facilities in a prominent commercial …

Multi-Purposeful Water Design For Monte Sano Park In Baton Rouge, Yuta Masakane

LSU Master's Theses

Today, water-related disasters, including hurricanes, flood, and stormwater surge, are occurring more frequently than in the past due to extreme weather brought by climate change all over the world. In August 2016, Baton Rouge had a historic heavy rain which brought flood and negative economic impacts specifically on the north Baton Rouge area. To mitigate the negative impact of future flooding, in Monte Sano Park and its neighborhoods in north Baton Rouge, it would be helpful to implement green infrastructure which utilizes natural infiltration process of soils and plants to slow, store, and treat the stormwater as well as enhances …

Incremental Landscape At A Baton Rouge Oil Refinery: Temporal Framework For Phytoremediation In Louisiana Cancer Alley, Dahyung Yang

LSU Master's Theses

There is a rising need for clear guidance for phytoremediation applications in contaminated land, in anticipation of the severity of the pollution problem in the petrochemical industrial area. Results of a demographic survey of Louisiana neighborhoods adjacent to petrochemical plants indicated that both deep-rooted environmental issues and social inequity are an inherent part of many communities. This research simulated a temporal framework for incremental landscape at a Baton Rouge oil refinery and its surrounding neighborhood using phytoremediation principles with local plants and insects. Through this novel ecosystem, the site will become biodiverse, and community members will be able to explore …

Salvation Of Landscape: Landscape Remediation Of Desertification In China, Chenliang Ma

LSU Master's Theses

The evolution of human civilization has been accompanied by the replacement of the Earth’s natural landforms. The cities, oases and grasslands from 1000 years ago may have now been transformed into desert. Now, desertification has become a global environmental problem. Many regions and countries are facing development constraints and environmental challenges posed by desertification. Arid and semi-arid areas are extremely prone to land degradation leading to desertification. China faces the threat of a quarter of its land being degraded. Desertification is one of the most serious outcomes of land degradation. Ironically, the part of China with the most serious desertification …

Designing Peace In Hiroshima, Inmi Moon

LSU Master's Theses

The world’s first atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on 6th August 1945, and after such a rare historical moment the place was enormously burnt and ruined. After 70 years of continuous reconstruction, it is a city full of green colors.

The target site of this thesis is located in central Hiroshima. It was previously a baseball field, and it was the symbol of rehabilitation for residents in Hiroshima city. In 1950, the local government decided to establish a Hiroshima-based baseball team as a part of the reconstruction process from the devastation of the atomic bomb. The …

Preservation And Reformation, Yedi Zhang

LSU Master's Theses

ABSTRACT Taking the conservation and development of the Old Town of Luoyang as an example, this thesis explores the issue of largescale renovation and reconstruction of old city in the background of urbanization, and attempts to seek the balance between old town preservation and local residents’ life quality enhancement. It is needing to be aware that, as a result of the layering and intertwining of cultural and natural values over time, the urban historical heritage includes both tangible and intangible components. To protect historical heritage in the city, we should not only just imitate the history scenes, more importantly, it …

Play With Power: A City Park Along The Trinity River, Xiwei Shen

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Developing Agritourism In The Caribbean: Critical Ethnography And Sustainable Landscape Design To Improve The Human Experience At Letan Bossier, Haiti, Kristen Maria Lonon

LSU Master's Theses

The Letan Bossier, Haiti community is in need of continued investment from international agencies, in an effort to improve conditions for locals, along with shaping the experience of the tourist, at and around an attractive natural basin, three miles north-west of Cayes-Jacmel, Haiti, at about 187 meters above sea level. In order to improve one’s journey through this mountainside community to the Grand Basin, capital investments must be made. The goal of the proposed design solutions is to solve for the locals first, in turn, attracting tourists to experience a space that’s supported by its own people. The goal of …

#Cone-Versation: A Tactical Urbanist Experiment, Yifu Liu

LSU Master's Theses

The thesis intends to introduce tactical urbanism as a way to expand the toolkit for designers to communicate with theirs audiences from the public. Lessons from the post-Katrina planning processes urges for better communication tool that invites broader conversation while providing more direct physical outcome from the process. Tactical urbanism is introduced to the city and the discipline of landscape architecture in order to provide a fresh solution to the communication by changing the speech between the authority figure and the residents into a more personal conversation with an invitation through on-site installation. At the same time, it is a …