Landscape Architecture Commons^™

Rural Sense: Value, Heritage, And Sensory Landscapes: Developing A Design-Oriented Approach To Mapping For Healthier Landscapes, Judith Van Der Elst, Heather Richards-Rissetto, Lily Díaz-Kommonen

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Landscape design needs a novel value system centred on human experience of the landscape rather than simply on economic value. Design-oriented research allows us to shift the focus from mechanistic paradigms towards new sensemaking approaches that value both the sensual and the cognitive in human experience. To move in this direction, we investigate cultural and natural aspects of sensory experience in rural landscapes, arguing that: (1) rural (non-urban) regions offer diverse sensory experiences for optimising human health; and (2) spatial interconnectedness between rural and urban areas means that healthy rural regions are critical for urban development. Our key argument is …

Measuring Landscape Performance: Case Study Investigation, Hannah Michelle Lopresto, Brandon Zambrano, Catherine De Almeida

UCARE: Research Products

Participating in the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s 2018 Case Study Investigation has been an incredibly informative experience for our research team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. We are eager to shine a spotlight on the landscape performance of two Great Plains projects: P Street Corridor, a revitalized downtown streetscape in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park, a waterfront redevelopment in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Working on the post-occupancy study of both projects has been extremely beneficial in understanding how reclaiming underutilized sites can create high-performing landscapes. Both are public projects in urban settings with primary goals of transforming formerly unpleasant, …

Planning For Active Transportation In The Western United States: An Alternative Future For Cache Valley, Utah, Stephanie A. Tomlin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mobility in the western U.S. is defined primarily by the private automobile. Since the conclusion of WWII, the private automobile has become readily available to the public, and as a result, has heavily influenced the design of our modern cities in the west. In recent years the connections between high motor vehicle use and rising obesity rates, crumbling road infrastructure, and deteriorating air quality have caused city officials to reexamine the transportation systems of the west. One solution advocates, city officials, and planning professionals have begun examining is active transportation (walking, cycling, and public transit). Research suggests that a robust …

My Catalyst, Gabrielle Gambino Lyon

Celebration of Learning

Over the course of my internship and shadow program with Pepper Lawson Construction and Ziegler Cooper Architects, I was able to explore the various career paths involved in the design, construction, and civil engineering fields. My work on the construction site of a high-rise apartment building located in the heart of Houston, TX allowed me first-hand experience working and learning alongside project engineers, contractors, building developers, and the construction team.

This project was the perfect confluence of my main areas of interest: structural, mechanical, civil, and environmental engineering, as well as architecture. My daily work consisted of on-site walk throughs, …

Tokyo 20/20

SIGNED: The Magazine of The Hong Kong Design Institute

With the Olympic and Paralympic Games heading to Tokyo in 2020, the city is going through a flurry of urban development and design change. And the revitalisation of public space is at the heart of the project

Open Spaces, Open Hearts

SIGNED: The Magazine of The Hong Kong Design Institute

Public space in the city provides exercise and discovery, a chance to commune with nature and neighbours. Landscape architects are addressing human needs in their designs, lifting citizens' spirits with their clever eye for sustainability, smart technology and authenticity

Assessment Of Expanding Light Rail Transit Systems Versus Highway Systems: Influence On Land Use Change And Habitat Fragmentation, Behnoud Aghapour

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

The purpose of this research is to assess and investigate the impact of expanding the Light Rail Transit (LRT) systems versus conventional highway systems for land use change, land formation, and habitat fragmentation in the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) metropolitan area as a highly developing urban area. The DFW metropolitan area is one of the fastest growing urban areas in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2016). Successfully accommodating this population growth requires North Texans to collectively address important issues including: environmental degradation, suburbanization, suburban sprawl, landscape formation and fragmentation, lack of public transportation, community and well-being needs, transportation expansion, …

Chinese Garden Of Friendship And Sydney’S Chinatown : Friendship And Something Beyond At Darling Harbor, Wendy W. Tan

Publications and Research

Chinese Garden of Friendship was a gift from China; Sydney’ Chinatown is a Chinese Australian community, and they are adjacent to each other at Darling Harbor of Sydney, Australia. The author made visits there to witness their beauties. Besides, she also explored other connections—friendship; Feng Shui; and cultural diversity within these two famous tour sites.

Embody Phenomenal Transparency : The Expanded Application Of "Phenomenal Transparency" In Landscape Architecture, Hongfei Li

Masters Theses

Phenomenal Transparency was first identified from cubism painting and applied to architectural analysis by Colin Rowe and Slutzky in 1963. In terms of the discussion of form, this spatial quality synthesizes and demonstrates complex orders and organizations in a structural way which could be comprehend through experience. From the perspective of modern physics considering the traditional space as timespace continuum, the intentionally ambiguous space creates simultaneous perception and actively mutual relationship between human and time-space which is the essential forum of Phenomenology in current context.

The thesis bridges the theory of “Phenomenal Transparency“, the theory of “Phenomenology” in aspect of …

The Future Of Agriculture In Miami, Siyu Zheng

Masters Theses

Miami is facing an inevitable future in which sea level rise will submerge some of the city and most of the Everglades and agriculture area by 2100.

Phase one investigates the impact on ecosystems surrounding Miami due to climate shift and rising sea level. During this phase, the effect of sea level rise (SLR) on ecosystems in Miami will be analyzed using the existing Land Cover Distribution Map and Land Cover Change Report posted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Phase two talks about the farming land being taken over by the wetland. However, both wetland and farming …

Life After Dark, Austin Bamford

Masters Theses

Witnessing the movements of the moon, stars, Milky Way and meteors is a fundamental first step in examining our roles in the universe and revealing the material origins of the landscapes we inhabit. It is this cosmic understanding that leads us to steward our environments and identify who we are.

We see the choreography of the stars not only by seeing the celestial bodies with telescopes or the naked eye, but also by experiencing the ways in which ambient light interacts with ground—changing by the minute, season and year. It is the dynamics between source and surface that catches us …

Future Street, Wushuang Xing

Masters Theses

This book seeks to identify future street typology in the City of Miami for better adaptation to sea-level rise, hurricanes and flooding. Based on the current transportation system, streets in Miami could be improved and be more resilient during natural disasters and be more navigable after disasters have passed. Currently, urban streets in Miami always confront failure during and after hurricanes and flooding. Because of rising sea levels, these problems are going to increase in severity, which could have an even greater impact on people’s daily lives and recovery after disaster. Consequently, improving urban street typology in Miami could have …

Water Voyage From Quabbin To Boston, Ling Xia

Masters Theses

This thesis focus on investigating on revealing the powerful Quabbin to Boston water system. In Boston, whenever we turn on our tap, our shower head, there is water coming out. Being driven by the curiosity of want to know the source of the water, the research eventually get to know the Quabbin Reservoir. Being fascinated by the giant body of water which provides water for people of the big Boston, in phase one the research begins with finding the hidden story of the displaced people who lost their land because of Quabbin reservoir. However, the way of the researching cannot …

Threading Puddles : Stormwater Management As A Way To Address The Impact Of Miami's Future Fresh Water Shortage Due To Increasing Water Demand And Saltwater Intrusion, Jing Zeng

Masters Theses

The city of Miami will face significant challenges in the future of changing climate. Compared with other cities in Florida, Miami is lucky to have the abundant groundwater resource from its surficial aquifer —Biscayne aquifer, which provides potable water for 3 million people of the region. But, as climate change progresses, Florida is expected to experience warmer temperature, more prolong drought, higher precipitation events and more intense storms. All these factors will influence the hydrologic system and current water management due to the uncertainty.

Climate variability will dictate the amount of water available to replenish the suificial aquifer. The low-lying …

Wastescape : Stitching The Process Of Natural Decomposition Back Into The Public Realm, Yu Pei

Masters Theses

The research starts with an interest in waste management in New York City which is the most wasteful city in the world. The city spends extra energy and creates more environmental and social problems by transporting them out of the city and dumping them in the landfill.

With the original question of how to bring the waste back to the city and how to get people close to the waste, Phase I investigates the composition, quantity and mobility of the waste management in New York City and raises the objective of bringing waste back into the city within the broader …

Reviving Floodplain In Miami, Shangyuan Li

Masters Theses

This is a thesis carried out in three phases. Phase 1 and Phase 2 are research-based, and Phase 3 is exploring the future design schemes under the principles and criteria that have been set up in Phase 1 and 2.

Phase 1 is focused on understanding the water dynamics and major issues in Miami, questions like why Miami is so vulnerable to flooding, and where the water comes from are answered. The conclusions of this phase are scientific principles of how water behaves and how water is managed in the South Florida region. Moreover, critical issues caused by flooding and …

Guide The Flood : Miami Vulnerable Neighborhoods Flood Adaptation Design, Zhe Zhao

Masters Theses

When it comes to the future of Miami, what else could be instead of waiting to be swallowed by the sea?

This thesis starts with a group pre-research on different aspects related to the rising up sea-level in Miami. By analyzing the existed urban fabric and typologies, the author tries to use the current segregated open space in every block to create a new open space system to reduce the sea-level-rise influence. Therefore, the goal for the thesis is to provide a powerful and gynamic open space system to the rising sea-level.

The thesis is structured in three phases. In …

The Arctic Commons, A. Gavin Zeitz

Masters Theses

The Arctic Commons envisions a world where geopolitical cooperation and transnational friendship generate an ethos of planetary collectivism promoting the future stability in the Arctic and rest of the world. This book will be a guide to understanding the Arctic at a range of scales, from governmental to regional, and finally the experiential and phenomenal that engages the unique ground conditions. The Arctic Commons encourages political action to create a new network of infrastructure that operates as a model for retrofiting global systems which currently fail to represent the common interests of the everyday citizen. Humankind’s current standards for social …

Home · Land : Olmsted's Legacy And Gentrification In Boston, Ma, Jessica Wilson

Masters Theses

Home • land is a master of landscape architecture thesis project encompassing an expansive body of trans-disciplinary research around the issue of gentrification and cultural displacement. The outcome is a proposal for a Community Land Trust (CLT) around Columbia Road in Boston, MA - the “missing link” of Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace park system. This book examines the impetus of Olmsted’s Legacy and the mayor’s promise to complete the “final jewel” of the necklace, the vectors of gentrification acting on the site, and the strategies and tactics that might aid in combating rather than catalyzing gentrification in this neighborhood. …

Living With Mega-Cavity, Ankang Xu

Masters Theses

With the future depletion of mineral resource, huge quarry pits will be remained in many areas in Massachusetts. They are like vast “scars” laying beside the urban fabric which create a sense of “urban sublime”. They exist abhorrently but definitely have significant influence on the region at many levels, such as ecology, hydrology, economy and society. Moreover, the abandoned mine pits have become a global environmental issue. How to deal with these “scars” will be a vital topic in the future.

In phase 1, the researcher focused on the study of quarries in Massachusetts and the recognition of “Urban Sublime” …

We Can Host! : Preparing Miami's Neighborhoods For An Amphibious Future, Dongning Huang

Masters Theses

HOST is a thesis investigation that seeks to understand the impact that rising water levels will have on the city of Miami. This investigation will take place within the larger context of global sea level rise and will examine a variety of events including flooding and hurricanes. The goal of the work is to promote a conversation about the types of adaptive strategies that can be applied to Miami, how they can be applied, and how to visualize the dynamic of the impact of rising water levels so that the people who live in, work in, or visit Miami will …

Living With Impoundment, Chuxiong Feng

Masters Theses

This research-based thesis uses Miami as a site to investigate how landscape intervention can contribute to adaptation to sea level rise (SLR) and shifts it will bring to this region in the future. The whole thesis is divided into three phases and each phase has specific objectives and builds foundations for research and experiments in the next phase.

Phase One: Possible Future of Freshwater Wetlands in Miami Depict a full picture of the impact that sea level rise has had and will have on the city of Miami with particular emphasis on wetlands. The investigations include overlaying sea level rise …

Providence Productivity Framework : Ideas For A Network Of Sites Rethinking Productivity In Providence, Patricia Noto

Masters Theses

This thesis attempts to answer the broad question: “How can designers have a role in creating or enhancing productive systems in cities?”

The focus is on rethinking the function of public and quasi-public space with the aim of building inclusiveness, ecological diversity, and productivity. The project explores the meaning of productivity and works to push the defi nition of urban productivity to include but also extend beyond community gardens. For example, a productive city might include a network of agroforestry sites, sites being remediated so that they can grow food in the future, a nursery on a capped brownfi eld …

Me Too Park : Inform, Connect, Heal, Xiao Chen

Masters Theses

This project creates an urban sublime experience at an abandoned railroad in order to foster a reflection and healing experience in terms of sexual violence. The big strategy is evoking an urban sublime in the landscape as a bridge to inform, to connect and to heal. The experiment of physical actions to materials and how that could achieve the sublime experience above is also addressed.

In Phase I, the investigation focuses on the definition of sublime and what the sublime is using for. Literature review, site analysis, interviews and experiments are done to clarify the relationship between sexual violence, site …

City In / Above Water, Jin Yan

Masters Theses

Sea level rise is a serious situation facing coastal cities in the world. In the United States, Miami is one of the most vulnerable cities as far as sea level rise is concerned. Floods in Miami not only come from high seawater but also from inland rivers and frequent storm surges. With Miami as a target city, this paper was prepared after taking care of its current political, economic, and cultural status, aiming to explore the way in which Miami responds to rising sea levels and proposes future urban visions. The new solution may also be applied partially or completely …

Floating Miami, Jiongye Li

Masters Theses

This thesis focuses on designing adaptations in order to reduce the impact of flooding in Miami, Florida. Flooding that is generated from stormwater, hurricanes and sea-level rises largely impacts upon Miami in terms of its transportation systems, eco-system and the daily lives of its residents. Even though a large number of adaptations have already been applied in some districts of this city, , such as improvement of pump stations and pipelines, the capacity and materials of those infrastructures still cannot resist the adverse impact brought by hurricanes or other natural disasters.

In order to understand the reasons why Miami has …

Poly Canyon Entryway Redesign, Antonio Emiliano Baldazo

Architectural Engineering

Persistence of Vision investigates the relationship between past, present, and future perceptions of place in the Poly Canyon area. Persistence of Vision takes up the Cal Poly mantra of “learn by doing,” and explores its pedagogical value by engaging with theory, design, engineering and implementation. This project is manifest in the form of a series of signs in the so-called “architectural graveyard” area; with an eye towards changing the name, perceptions, and narratives about this place. This project hopes to create a recognition within the minds of students that this place is, and was intended to be, a place for …

Recycled Substrates: Plant Biomass And Plant Cover Correlation, Richard K. Sutton

Landscape Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Green roofs extend roof membrane life and reduce waste to landfills. However, green roof costs must be reduced if their benefits are to accrue more widely. Use of recycled materials may reduce costs and also keep those materials out of landfills. Some work has been done on use of local recycled materials for green roof substrates, but none describe the characteristics, proportions and results of using an entire suite of blended recycled materials in admixtures (i.e., mixtures of very different materials) such as crumb rubber (CR), crushed used brick (CB) and compost (CPT) in concert with greens grade sand (#10), …

Radical Social Ecology As Deep Pragmatism: A Call To The Abolition Of Systemic Dissonance And The Minimization Of Entropic Chaos, Arielle Brender

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper aims to shed light on the dissonance caused by the superimposition of Dominant Human Systems on Natural Systems. I highlight the synthetic nature of Dominant Human Systems as egoic and linguistic phenomenon manufactured by a mere portion of the human population, which renders them inherently oppressive unto peoples and landscapes whose wisdom were barred from the design process. In pursuing a radical pragmatic approach to mending the simultaneous oppression and destruction of the human being and the earth, I highlight the necessity of minimizing entropic chaos caused by excess energy expenditure, an essential feature of systems that aim …

This Is Not A Memorial, Kaitlin Burger

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

After the Vietnam / American War, both lives

and land were left devastated and still remain

scarred, acting as a tangible memory of the

violence that occurred on Vietnamese soil.

Craters the size of lakes cover the countryside.

People live daily with the injuries and birth

defects resulting from malicious warfare. Though

the fighting is over, the suffering is not. Also

left behind were thousands of pounds of unexploded

ordinance embedded into the landscape, waiting to

resurface. In many unfortunate cases, the

curiosity of children has lead them to these

brightly-colored objects and, thus, their death.

My architectural installation will …