Landscape Architecture Commons^™

Urban And Community Tree Cover In The Mountain West, Annie Vong

Undergraduate Research Symposium Lightning Talks

Tree Cover: provides shade, absorbs carbon, e.g. trees and bushes. Impervious Cover: absorbs heat, e.g. concrete and buildings.

Nexuscapes: A Landscape Approach For A Transdisciplinary Water-Energy-Food Nexus Decision-Making Process, Fortino Acosta

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study develops a reliable transdisciplinary framework for complex ecological and social systems by characterizing, mapping, typifying, assessing, and testing enhanced water-energy-food nexus scenarios under critical time constraints, specialized skills, or sensitive data accessibility. Detached management of limited essential resources like fresh water, reliable energy from renewable sources, and nutritious food can jeopardize regional economies and governance. Using a novel landscape approach, this study recommends a decision-making the framework focused on the circular economy that induces collaboration among diverse sectors and brings strategic coordination, specificity, and magnitude to the proposed solutions. The study elaborates on a decision-making tool that integrates …

Transdisciplinarity In Experience Design: A Global Survey Of Higher Ed Programs In Exd/Xd, Yvonne Houy

Creative Collaborations

In our age of ubiquitous devices and digital media it is the perceived value of the end-to-end experience that brings people to a place. Designing inspiring and emotionally engaging end-to-end experiences requires experts in a wide range of disciplines committed to an interdisciplinary collaboration that can arrive at transdisciplinary design - the sum becomes greater than its parts.

Civil engineering, hospitality, business, psychology, digital User Experience (UX) design, and experience data analysis need to be seamless integrated with the fine and performing arts and design fields:

• Architecture, interior, landscape and sound design actively engage the senses.

• Graphic and fine arts …

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Food Desert To Food Oasis: An Engagement With The Community Through Evidence-Based Methods, Phillip W. Zawarus, Lisa Ortega

Creative Collaborations

The state of Nevada has the 12th highest percentage (12.8%) of households living with food insecurity compared to the US average of 11.1% according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (1). Economic and environmental benefits of urban forests have been well documented to address issues of climate change, urban heat islands, and fragmented ecologies, however, in a period of social inequities, urban forests can serve a vital role in providing environmental justice through agroforestry for communities identified within a food desert.

According to Kyle H. Clark & Kimberly A. Nicholas, “urban food forestry can be an efficient way to consistently …

Augmented Decision-Making Through The P[Ar]K: Hybridizing Performance Metrics For User Evaluation, Phillip W. Zawarus

Creative Collaborations

Nature-based solutions are being further appreciated beyond their aesthetics and are being recognized for their ability to sustain, mitigate, and service the sensible ecological preservation and enhancement of the natural and built environments (Beck, 2015). For the profession of landscape architecture to properly evaluate these necessary design tactics, our process must shift to a divergent method of asking questions to direct solutions through evidence-based decision-making (Lahaie, 2016).

Through the emergence of landscape performance and the integration of quantitative metrics into outdoor spaces, technology and innovate methods can begin to communicate nature-based benefits as tangible outcomes to comprehend the complex ecological, …

Anthesis: The Blooming Of The Las Vegas Strip, David Navarrete

Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones

The diversity of thought throughout the HD Studio always produces great synergy between projects with overlapping areas of interest. Here, we see a question about why Las Vegas' public green space lags behind other cities' lead to more questions (and answers) about how the pedestrian experience along Las Vegas Boulevard could transform from a predominantly car-centric space into a sidewalk experience that extends the excitement of resorts' interiors to the outside. Like other theses that explore everything from public promenades to places for social media posts, the work of David Navarreto calls on lessons learned from urban planning, landscape architecture, …

Evapotranspiration Of Urban Landscape Trees And Turfgrass In An Arid Environment: Potential Trade-Offs In The Landscape, Tamara Wynne, Dale Devitt

Life Sciences Faculty Research

Irrigation in arid urban landscapes can use significant amounts of water. Water conservation must be based on plant species and the ability to meet plant water requirements while minimizing overirrigation. However, actual evapotranspiration (ET) estimates for landscape trees and turfgrass in arid environments are poorly documented, especially direct comparisons to assess potential trade-offs. We conducted research to quantify ET of 10 common landscape tree species grown in southern Nevada and compared these values with the ET of both a warm season and cool season turfgrass species. The trees were grown in a plot with a high-density planting (256 trees/ha). A …

The Future Of Cemetery Design, Landon Baker

Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones

Traditional cemeteries defined as a place where the deceased are embalmed, placed in metal coffins and buried horizontally underground, are important places but have become outdated. Traditional cemeteries can be improved in terms of economic use of space, circulation, and visitor experience. Improving these aspects will make cemeteries more environmentally sustainable, more practical for people and cities, and overall improve the experience of the modern consumer.

Vertex: A Compendium Of Research And Design, Alberto De Salvatierra, Alfredo Fernandez-Gonzalez, Samantha Solano, Josh Vermillion, Attila Lawrence, Dak Kopec, Phillip Zawarus, Glenn Nowak, Eric Weber, Rafael Armendariz, Nancy J. Uscher

VERTEX Annual Publication

From the foreword: Vertex was organized to showcase some of the UNLV School of Architecture’s most prominent areas of strength. Our multidisciplinary design foundation program is the initial building block that instills in students an ethos of systematic inquiry through making. Appropriately structured processes of experimentation and production using a variety of tools and media help students develop significant spatial understandings through the sequential act of drawing and making. The spatial understandings developed in the design foundation, supplemented by a culture of inquiry through making that is cultivated in our design studios, prepare our students to creatively engage in a …

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Shane Bevell, Mamie Peers

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Southern Nevada Guide: Tree Selection And Care, City Of Las Vegas, Nevada

Publications (SD)

Trees for Tomorrow was created to educate Southern Nevada residents on the benefits of trees and to help homeowners choose the right trees for their landscape setting. The goal of this booklet is to help homeowners successfully select and establish trees. This Centennial edition recognizes the 100-year celebration of the founding of the City of Las Vegas.

Planting trees is a necessary adaptation to human settlement in arid environments. A strong, healthy community forest is built tree by tree, home by home. Tree canopies help to reduce energy demands, reduce water demands, reduce local air temperatures, reduce air pollution, provide …