Landscape Architecture Commons^™

Salt Tailings, Evan Friedman

Masters Theses

In April 2023, a brushfire erupted at the Queen’s River Preserve, a tract of open land in Exeter, Rhode Island. It spread quickly, to the level of a firestorm, driven by gusty winds and dry conditions. The preserve is a pine barren, a landscape of sandy soil and pitch pine trees, along the Queen’s River. It also abuts the residential and agricultural corridors of Exeter, creating a vulnerable threshold between open land resources and human habitation, known as the wildland urban interface. It required an unprecedented wildfire response for New England, including the region’s first human and livestock evacuation protocol. …

Saving The Great Basin: Creating Places For The Birds, Bees And Beyond, Carlos Gomez

Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones

This project looks at how vacant and underused parcels along the Truckee River in Reno, Nevada, can be rethought as part of a larger ecological system. Rather than treating these parcels as empty leftover spaces, the project sees them as opportunities to create small habitat patches that can support native species, improve stormwater function, and strengthen the river corridor over time. The work focuses on three sites along the Truckee River: California Avenue, Island Avenue, and Commercial Row. Each site responds to a different condition along the urban transect, from a sloped residential river edge to a tighter urban parcel …

Schools Of The Desert: An Integrated Approach To Learning Through Biophilic & Contextual Design, Rejndi Hylviu

Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones

This capstone investigates how high school environments in arid regions can be reimagined through the integration of biophilic design, climate-responsive strategies, and place-based learning. Grounded in personal experience growing up in the Southwest, the project begins by identifying a widespread condition of disconnection, where students are educated in environments that are sealed off from the very landscapes they inhabit. Through a synthesis of literature, case studies, and interviews, the research establishes that exposure to natural systems can measurably improve cognitive performance, emotional well-being, physical health, and social behavior. Biophilic principles such as dynamic light, material connection, prospect and refuge, and …

Queerscape: Transcending Urban Division, Alex Blake

Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones

The project seeks to demonstrate how infrastructure can act as a symbolic anchor, offering a framework for queer urban design that simultaneously addresses safety and cultural visibility. While site-specific, the methodology is intended to inform future interventions in districts for queer and other marginalized communities.

How Did A Pandemic Impact Park Usage Among The Older Adult Populations In Memphis, Tn?, Katherine Barlow

Theses and Dissertations

During COVID-19 older adults’ populations were a vulnerable demographic, and through a review of existing literature it was determined that there is limited research about park and outdoor space use during COVID-19 by older adults. This research seeks to address these gaps by examining how a pandemic impacted park usage among the older adult population (age 60+) in Memphis, TN at Shelby Farms Park. This study examines the comparison of park use during (2020-2023) and after (2023-present) COVID-19. A mixed methods approach was employed. Wilcoxon Signed Rank test was run to analyze the survey data and a significant statistical difference. …

A Woman’S Wilderness: Fostering Mental Well-Being Through Sensory Stimulation In The Outdoors, Anah Gaynes

Theses and Dissertations

The female experience with nature is unique (Nurse, G. A., Benfield, J., Bell, P. A., 2010). This provokes the question explored in this study: “What sensory interactions impact women’s mental well-being in nature-based therapy programs?” This study invited participants of nature-based retreats held at 4 Winds Farm in Glenwood Springs, Colorado or Summit Sisters at Cal-Wood Education Center in Jamestown, Colorado. Findings indicate that women’s positive emotions are significantly impacted by their sensory experiences. It also revealed a fascination with trees and the importance of tactile experiences. For landscape architects this brings about a new challenge in designing for the …

Mapping And Measuring Sidewalk Network Connectivity In Starkville, Mississippi: The Role Of Policy-Required Development, Public Investment, And Destination Access, Isabella R. Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Sidewalks support pedestrian mobility, public health, social community, and access to destinations, but few studies explore sidewalk connectivity in small cities. This study examines changes in sidewalk network connectivity in Starkville, Mississippi after the adoption of a sidewalk ordinance in 2009. Using ArcGIS Pro, a dataset of the city’s sidewalk network was created and used to analyze changes in the network between 2009 and 2024. Sidewalks were given connectivity ratings using a system that considered physical connections to the network as well as proximity to important destinations such as grocery stores, parks, schools, bus stops, and the city’s hospital. The …

Process, Place, And People: A Study Of Contemporary Land Art And Environmental Awareness, Lauren Wright

Landscape Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This capstone investigates how land art can evolve within contemporary environmental, cultural, and educational contexts. The research addresses the issue that much historical land art, while innovative, often lacked ecological accountability, public accessibility, and environmental integration. Through precedent analysis, literature review, and site-based field observation, this study evaluates selected works in the United States and the United Kingdom using a framework focused on site specificity, ecological sensitivity, materiality, construction process, cultural relevance, public engagement, aesthetic value, and longevity. Photographic documentation and annotation were used to translate on-site experiences into comparative analysis. The results reveal that successful contemporary land art prioritizes …

Federal Government Shutdowns And Gateway Communities: Impacts On Businesses, Communities, And Workers’ Perceptions And Attitudes, Dean W. Zakrzewski

Landscape Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study aims to answer a presented gap in the literature on how gateway community workers and businesses are directly impacted by federal government shutdowns. Three gateway communities were selected as case-study communities for this research based on a set list of criteria, including size, proximity to urban centers, geographic context, and the prominence of their associated park. The selected communities are Bar Harbor, Maine; Estes Park, Colorado; and Moab, Utah. Community profiles were drafted for each community to understand them from a contextual level, including the breakdown of their workforce and other general descriptions of their communities. A combinational …

Adaptability From Tv & Film Into Theatre | The Subversion Inspiration In Celia’S Identity Versatility Throughout William Shakespeare’S As You Like It, Emani White

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the inspiration of adaptability skills, pivoting from television and film into theatre, and the potential of unconventional pathways as a catalyst for reconciling anti-traditionalism within the mediums. It offers insight into the obstacles, segues, and adversities faced during the journey of a former athlete turned television and film actor, and into a theatre actor. It illuminates agency as a subversive identity (the disguise), the sacrifice of status, and the need for an emotional anchor of resilience—acknowledging the systemic transitional barriers in performance, career, and education. The paper also discusses the understandings gained from my journey as an …

Open Space Management Planning: A Framework And Case Study From Eagle Mountain City, Utah, Nathan K. Shumway

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Open Space Management Plans (OSMPs) are increasingly used by municipalities to guide the long-term stewardship of natural lands; however, little formal guidance exists regarding how these plans are structured, developed, or organized in practice. While numerous OSMPs are publicly available, their compositional logic, procedural workflows, and thematic priorities remain largely undocumented within academic literature. This study addresses that gap through a qualitative document analysis of fifteen publicly accessible OSMPs from the western United States, published between 2015 and 2024.

Using manual matrix-based coding in Microsoft Excel, each plan was analyzed through three lenses: structural composition, procedural development, and thematic content. …

Restoration Of Rogers Hall, Patsy Glenn

Documents

History and information on much needed repairs of Rogers Hall at UNA, 2006

Una's Predecessor Dates To Feb. 14, 1855, Lorene Frederick

Documents

History of Wesleyan Hall and important dates on the history of UNA

The New Building, The Florence Times

Documents

Information on the new annex for Wesleyan Hall, 1909

Project Courtview Preservation Of Rogers Hall, Project Courtview University Of North Alabama

Documents

Brochure of events for Project Courtview-a fundraising campaign for renovations and preservation of Rogers Hall at UNA

Campaign For Rogers Hall Rededication Ceremony, Campaign For Rogers Hall

Documents

Program for the Rededication Ceremony for Rogers Hall, 2007

Welcome Mat's Out, Susan C. Taylor

Documents

Open House for Rogers Hall, 1985

Wesleyan Hall Named Landmark, The Florence Times-Tri-Cities Daily

Documents

Nomination of Wesleyan Hall to the National Register of Historic Places, 1974

College Is Planning For An Extensive Building Program, Florence Times

Documents

With limited space on campus, Florence State needs to expand

Rogers Hall Nominated To National Historic Register, Florence Times-Tri-Cities Daily

Documents

Rogers Hall was nominated for National Historic Register and is awaiting approval from Washington, D.C. (1974)

Massey Construction Award $444,977 Contract For Addition To Florence State's Collier Library, Florence Times

Documents

Addition to Collier Library, 1961

Erected In 1939: $100,000 Library Is Serving Fsc Students, Florence Times

Documents

Collier Library serves the students and faculty of FSC very well

Striplin And Florence Hall Memorial Dedication, Melissa Tucker Medlin

Documents

Dedication of Striplin and Florence Halls at UNA. These were "residence" halls for men and women at State Normal School, Florence State Teachers College, and Florence State College

Beautiful "Courtview" Purchased By College, Mary H. Bailes

Documents

Article from The Florence Herald announcing the purchase of Courtview by FSTC in 1948

A New Chapter, Ty West

Documents

Rededication of Coby Hall, 2005

*Article from The TimesDaily

Wesleyan Hall Work Preserves Part Of University's History, The Timesdaily

Documents

Preserving Wesleyan Hall at UNA

Willingham Hall Stands On Site Of Locust Dell, Doug James

Documents

Willingham Hall sits on former girl's academy site (Locust Dell)

*Article from The Flor-Ala

Una Winds Up Multi-Million Dollar Project, Carl Cronan

Documents

Article from The TimesDaily about construction and renovation project completions on campus at UNA, including the new GUC

Facelift Una's Coby Hall Undergoing Renovation Project, Bernie Delinski

Documents

Renovation project for Coby Hall

*Article from The TimesDaily

Historic Una Home Sees Renovations, Haley Henslee

Documents

Renovations are underway on Coby Hall, also known as Irvine Place and Simpson House

*Article from The Flor-Ala