Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

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  • Publication
    Transit Oriented Development Plan for Palmer, MA
    (2023-04-01) Benoit, Keith
    The purpose of this project is to create a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) plan for Palmer, Massachusetts based on scholarly and professional literature, site visits and a review of case-studies. It begins with a definition of TOD, describes the best TOD practices, analysis of obstacles related to TOD and measures of success. It then moves to a description of the possible TOD site in Palmer and creates an implementation strategy for the town. Palmer was included in the MassDOT East-West Passenger Rail study, that investigated putting a commuter rail stop in the town as part of the extension of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) Framingham/Worcester Line, connecting Palmer to Worcester, Boston, Springfield, and New York via rail. Transit Oriented Development has the potential to create the elements that increase the use of transit and capture more of the economic activity generated in the TOD zone.
  • Publication
    The Cultural Landscape of As-Salt, Jordan: Keys to World Heritage Nomination
    (2019-04-01) Khlaifat, Dania
    As-Salt, a city in Jordan, has undergone heritage enhancement projects since the 1990s and is currently undergoing a heritage regeneration project in its downtown core, in preparation for potential World Heritage designation. Consequently, the State Party representing As-Salt submitted a report in 2015 to UNESCO for World Heritage Nomination. The report was entitled “Arab Eclecticism - Foundation and evolution of an Architectural School in the city of As-Salt (1860-1925)”. It focused mainly on the architectural image of the city. Unfortunately, the report was unsuccessful in proving the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of As-Salt, a value used by UNESCO to determine the cultural or natural significance of sites and monuments. Hence, As-Salt’s nomination status was deferred. While the ongoing project of “Oqbah bin Nafe” in As-Salt’s downtown addresses touristic amenities and increasing public open space, a piecemeal approach of specific physical interventions is not the solution. In order for a resubmission of the nomination, the State Party of As-Salt must go beyond architectural merit to identify what makes As-Salt unique in comparison with other Muslim cities of the Levant. This paper develops an understanding of the history of As-Salt’s development, and compares its physical characteristics with other Muslim cities at the local, and regional level, in order to establish the characteristics that make As-Salt significant, and may propel its nomination to World Heritage status and may identify additional aspects that may raise the level of Outstanding Universal Value.
  • Publication
    The Just Green City: A Vision of the South Holyoke Neighborhood
    (2020-04-01) Gagnon, Michael
    Landscape Architects need to take their place as formative roles in the planning and design of our cities in the era of climate change. Not only do we have to be a part of the collaborative efforts, but we also have to bring it to the communities who need it most to create long-lasting impacts. Climate change is an equity issue and without tackling our social problems, we cannot tackle climate change. Our role is to not reinforce the status quo but to change it. The Just Green City takes place in Holyoke Massachusetts. This legacy city was once the queen of paper manufacturing up until the Great Depression. Thanks to a series of urban renewal practices and ingrained cultural turf wars, many parts of Holyoke have been left with an environment that offers little to the people that live there. South Holyoke is a neighborhood that has seen disinvestment for decades in a community largely composed of Puerto Rican, non-English speaking, mixed-generation families that need to be brought into the larger picture for the city of Holyoke. Through analysis layered into the various city plans already conducted by other planners/designer, we found that promoting community cohesion through green infrastructure and art can be the civic infrastructure Holyoke needs to take care of their vulnerable communities. This plan lays out a vision of what South Holyoke could be if we address our social disconnects to each other in layers of environmental improvements.
  • Publication
    Using Phytotechnology to Redesign Abandoned Gas Stations
    (2018-04-01) Hisle, Matt
    Hazardous pollutants that exist in contaminated soils represent a threat to human, animal, and environmental health if left unmanaged. Phytoremediation in the U.S. was generally named and formally established in the 1980s and applied as an alternative method using plants to cleanse contaminated soils on site in a more economically and environmentally friendly way than removing contaminated soils off site. High expectations and mixed performances with failures outnumbering successes led to a crash of phytoremediation with a decline in environmental research funding by the early 2000s. “Phyto”, a book by landscape architects Kennen and Kirkwood (2015) recently reintroduces the subject with a more approachable set of planning, engineering and design tools. One commonly occurring site with a history of perpetuating contaminated land is the abandoned gas station. Abandoned gas stations are highly visible in the landscape and if soils are contaminated then remediation costs can hinder redevelopment. The focus of this project is the redesign of abandoned gas stations through phytotechnologies by applying and expanding Kennen and Kirkwood’s (2015) framework. Phytotechnology as a means for remediating small sites polluted with organic chemicals is a step in promoting this technology and proving its worth for other, larger and more complicated brownfield. While this study explores one possibility of redesigning an abandoned gas station on a highway corridor in Hadley, Massachusetts (USA) it is necessary to expand design possibilities on other abandoned gas stations with different contexts and conditions. The results should also be extended to gas stations in operation to apply phytotechnologies as a preventive method. This design study is relevant for the profession of landscape architecture because it merges design aesthetics with science-related technologies. There are still aspects that have been overlooked or need more exploration: process-oriented strategies especially public participation. Implementing and promoting this type of remediation will require community support and involvement, of which can be directed and associated with an experiential transformation of such abandoned and contaminated sites. These findings may be accompanied within a regional process of identifying and networking potential sites while considering them within an established city greenspace or greenway plan.
  • Publication
    Sunset Park, Brooklyn: Reclaiming an Urban Industrial Area and Creating Community
    (2019-04-01) Zhang, Yincheng
    Like many metropolises around the world, urban renewal in New York dominates the process of urban development due to the scarcity of urban land resources and the ever-expanding population of New York. In the history of New York’s urban expansion, with the continuous expansion of the city’s outer edge and industrial relocation, industrial land originally on the edge of the city is gradually surrounded by residential areas. The large area of vacant land and building also limits the further development of the region. How to reuse the existing infrastructure and brownfield with the highly degraded environment is particularly important for urban regeneration. The physical development of Sunset Park, which began over 100 years ago, was based on a different platform for manufacturing and distributing goods, one which was well-suited to the infrastructure and building types developed at the time. Today, the main challenge is to figure out ways to adapt and reuse this antiquated industrial infrastructure and develop Sunset Park into a 21st century model for diverse, dense and environmentally sustainable industry. Through the transformation of two different types of brownfields at the Sunset Park waterfront area, this design proposal will promote the process of urban restoration and promote the sustainable development of existing brownfield.
  • Publication
    Uncovering the Potential of Peabody's Hidden North River: A Greenway for Social and Ecological Connectivity
    (2019-04-01) Johnson, Mitch
    Project Goal Demonstrating the opportunity to strengthen both urban and ecological qualities, this project has the goal to transform an old industrial corridor in downtown Peabody into a green corridor integrating stormwater management, habit restoration, recreational, and catalyst for urban development. The site’s location at the downstream end of existing creeks combined with its proximity to the Salem Sound makes this an extremely sensitive area to flooding events. This design proposal transforms this risk into an opportunity by restoring this former industrial site to its former function as a floodplain within the existing North River Watershed. In a phased process, businesses along the river corridor will be relocated to more suitable locations and reestablish the desecrated lands and channelized streams to a picturesque and healthy landscape. Elevated views along the urban edges will allow residents and visitors to look down into the meadow fields and the wetlands of the North River being as the central asset of the landscape. This project transforms this neglected landscape to a scenic urban ecological corridor to provide a more sustainable urban environment for downtown Peabody. Project Objectives The following four planning and design objectives are central for the success of this project. The first objective is a phased land use strategy that will relocate businesses along the North River floodplain and infilling them in other parts of downtown. The next objective is to improve the riparian health and beauty of North River through stream restoration, wetland restoration and recreating a landscape of the grassy meadows. The third objective is to provide a network of paths through the landscape and connect to the North River and a promenade along Walnut Street. The final objective is to restore the connection of downtown Peabody and the surrounding neighborhoods to the North River.
  • Publication
    The Art of Healing the Landscape: Creating A Sense of Place with Phytotechnology
    (2019-04-01) Novak, Tia
    This project builds on previous work completed as part of a masters project by Matt Hisle under the guidance of Frank Sleegers in Hadley, Massachusetts at an abandoned Getty gas station. The previous project sought to integrate phytotechnology into a “comprehensive experience that provided connectivity and educational purposes” and used Phyto by Kate Kennen and Niall Kirkwood as a framework for applying six phytotechnology typologies (referred to as phytotypologies) in the design (Sleegers & Hisle, 2017). This project also explores the site’s historical, social, and ecological sense of place and the application of phytotechnology as garden art to create a functional, legible landscape. This will require an understanding of the site’s historical, cultural, and ecological context through written and visual data, an understanding of phytotechnology’s practical application and place in the context of landscape design, and an exploration of phytotechnology in garden and land art as a tool to construct legibility and create a sense of place. More research is needed to establish the artful application of phytotechnology in landscape architecture and related interdisciplinary fields as a strategy to remediate polluted sites at the national and international scale. Designs that address both the utilitarian aspects of phytotechnology and the needs of the community are an opportunity to create a demand for similar projects, for funding further scientific research, and for public policy that facilitates the implementation of phytotechnology. The greatest promise of phytotechnology in landscape design is the potential to exact real environmental and social change; environmental issues are almost always social justice issues. The use of phytotechnology in garden art is one of the many possibilities to heal the landscape, to create environmental and social change, and to make the world a more resilient, beautiful place for future generations.
  • Publication
    The Industrial Park: A Landscape-Based Vision for the Turners Falls Canal District
    (2019-04-01) Simpson, Josiah
    This design study examines the history and economic context that defines Turners Falls as a de-industrialized mill town. It reviews the social, economic, locational, physical, and historical obstacles the town has faced redeveloping the mill buildings within its Canal District and proposes a landscape-based approach for addressing redevelopment. Landscape redevelopment is offered as an alternative to traditional redevelopment of buildings for non-affluent mill towns, like Turners Falls, because the costs associated with landscape upgrades are much lower and can provide multifunctional and multi-purpose spaces for many types of people. Additionally, it is a pathway for inviting community involvement that allows for different groups to take ownership of various aspects of the programming that happens there. Landscape-based redevelopment does not replace redevelopment of mill buildings, it ought to be conducted in tandem with a variety of redevelopment efforts. The project focuses on a strategic area of the Canal District that proceeding planning studies have identified as good locations for open space and recreational uses. The design proposal integrates passive, active, and commercial recreation, historic and ecological education, cultural spaces for non-profit and community groups, and creative venues for supporting the budding creative economy in town, such as artists, performers, and musicians. It uses the industrial ruins and landscape as opportunities to create a unique place that improves quality of life in Turners Falls, which this study argues is important for improving the real estate market for redeveloping the wider Canal District over time.
  • Publication
    An Ethnobotany of Mount Rushmore National Memorial
    (2019-07-01) Savage, Meredith
    The historical and continuing cultural significance of the Black Hills to Native Peoples is well documented, as is the relatively recent mineralogical significance of the area to non-indigenous Americans. Human habitation of the area may go back thirteen thousand years and many tribal groups are known to have occupied, used, or otherwise laid claim to portions of this region. Full recognition by non-native Americans of the long-standing and very different cultural significance the Black Hills held historically and continues to hold for Native Peoples is still a work in progress. It is the author’s hope that this ethnobotany of Mount Rushmore will further that recognition by providing a discussion of the floral resources of the Memorial specific to their historic use by Native Americans for food, medicine, manufacture (life needs), and ceremonial purpose. It is intended as an informational tool for park personnel and docents who have not been raised with a traditional knowledge of plants. The National Park Service has recorded 459 species of plants within the Memorial; of those species, 288 have been recorded as having some use by any native tribe and 153 of those species have records of use by tribes known to have occupied or used the Black Hills region. The 96 species highlighted in this paper includes many of the species recorded in vegetation monitoring conducted in Mount Rushmore, species that had uses recorded for all four categories (food, medicinal, manufacture, and ceremonial/sacred), and species with distinctive characteristics that might make them more easily recognizable to park visitors. Information for the 288 plant species is presented in a table using the four categories of use and a fifth category that provides general information regarding the habitat and elevation where each species might be found within the Black Hills.
  • Publication
    Restoring Landscape Experience: Research & New Design for the Battlefield Landscape of Minute Man National Historic Park
    (2018-05-01) O'Connor, Kathleen
    This project looked critically at the landscape design of three specific battle locations located in Minute Man National Historical Park: Meriam’s Corner (West Entrance), Paul Revere Capture Site, and Parker’s Revenge (East Main Entrance). The landscape re-designs address three specific goals: 1. Make the landscape central to the visitor experience. 2. Enhance the interpretation of the 1775 landscape of specific sites too often overlooked or passed by. 3. Transform the overall experience of the park through limited interventions at specific sites. The landscape at Minute Man National Historical Park is at present not conveying its historic significance or landscape character that caused the Battle of April 19, 1775 to occur in this landscape. These goals hope to enhance and restore the 1775 landscape character at Minute Man while improving the overall visitor experience.
  • Publication
    Parcel By Parcel in the Three Bays Watershed: Framing Ecological Residential Design for Water Quality
    (2018-06-01) Serrill, Doug
    The Three Bays Watershed, located in the Towns of Barnstable, Sandwich, and Mashpee, is facing a crisis of water quality degradation. Excess nitrogen has been identified as the largest contributor to water quality degradation throughout Cape Cod including the Three Bays (Cape Cod Commission, 2015.) Residential waste water systems and non-point sources of pollution including stormwater runoff, and excess fertilization, are identified as the three primary sources contributing 77%, 13% an 10%, respectively, of the excess nitrogen flowing through groundwater and into the bays. Like other watersheds throughout the Cape, Three Bays is largely a residential watershed with 92% of its parcels zoned for residential use. In addition to nitrogen contamination, water quality degradation is recognized to have significant ecological, economic, and cultural impacts on the health and quality of life in the watershed. Applications of ecological planning, design strategies, and best practices at multiple scales, from watershed to parcel, create opportunities to improve the ecological health and quality of life throughout the watershed. Research in ecological design and cultural perceptions of landscape help inform the development of conceptual residential ecological designs. Three residential parcel districts, Freshwater Waterfront, Saltwater Waterfront, and Upland Neighborhood are used to frame typical parcels. Within these parcels, conceptual ecological landscape designs are displayed that provide multiple ecosystem services to improve watershed health while honoring aesthetic and cultural norms, and possible expectations of the watershed. Recommendations discuss potential impacts of a parcel by parcel approach to watershed planning and describe water quality improvement scenarios under varying levels of participation and consequent reductions of nitrogen in the watershed.
  • Publication
    A Green Core for the Maroon and Gold: Creating a Sustainable Campus Expansion at the University of Minnesota
    (2010-02-01) Varro, Frank J.
    The sustainable design movement has been one of the most influential trends seen in the last 10 years. This movement is still seen by the public at large as something that is difficult, ugly, and rural. Creating a showpiece project in an urban area allows these myths to be dispelled through education. This project focuses on a proposed design for an 80 acre campus expansion of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. This site has many advantages including a location in an urban core, a Big Ten football stadium that would attract national attention, and a local population made up of many impressionable students. By creating a design that fits in with the existing campus, but also treats stormwater, creates a regional transportation node, collects solar power for use on site, and creates areas of habitat including a greenway, the project would show any visitors that sustainability can be beautiful, functional, and located in urban areas.
  • Publication
    Just Big Enough: Imagining the future of "small home" residential design with a master plan at the nexus of affordability and sustainability
    (2018-05-01) Kraus, Maggie
    Communities everywhere are experiencing significant and unpredictable shifts in the social and physical infrastructure of their landscapes. In the midst of a cultural, political, and ecological moment which has no precedent, it seems as though many of our contemporary crises have one thing in common: they will either be alleviated or drastically exacerbated by the alliance of professions working to improve the built environment. Now more than ever, the world is in need of designers, planners, and policy-makers who are willing to use this moment of great change as momentum to imagine a new era of community development, one which prioritizes creative and systemic solutions. One sector that continues to be in great need of systemic solutions is housing. As rental rates soar and class-based equity gaps widen, many people are losing what few housing options they had. For many, the dream of homeownership has been replaced by a struggle to afford monthly rent as a tenant. This Master’s Project seeks to expand upon the work of Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity (PVHH) as they gain traction in a robust community initiative to build smaller, sustainable and affordable homes for low-income families in Western Massachusetts. The work that follows was developed in response to PVHH’s efforts and their recent acquisition of 1 Garfield Avenue, a residential parcel in the village of Florence, Massachusetts. This research and design work aims to contextualize this region’s housing affordability crisis within the broader scale of a national, historical timeline of housing inequity for the poor. It will identify opportunities for meaningful, affordable and sustainable landscape design solutions that can enhance the experience of first-time homeownership for low-income families. It will offer resources and information to these families so that they might be more equipped to identify their property’s opportunities and constraints, and be more informed as they implement landscape design projects in the future. This project will culminate with a conceptual Master Plan for the parcel and some recommendations moving forward.
  • Publication
    Innovative Waste Water Strategies in the Landscape: The Application of Green Infrastructure Principles in Cape Cod, Massachusetts
    (2017-10-01) Fenton, Kellie
    Context Wastewater management is an issue that every community faces. Whether a small-scale septic tank or a large-scale centralized wastewater treatment plant, these systems are often insufficient in accomplishing their singular purpose: cleaning water. This results in the contamination of hydrological systems. In its focus on the intersection of the natural and built environment, the practice of landscape architecture may include the design of wastewater management systems. This project demonstrates how landscape architecture principles applied to waste water management systems provides both ecological and human benefits. Goals The goal of this project is to find ways that waste water systems can be a part of green infrastructure initiatives. The project proposal demonstrates that landscapes can be multi-functional; in this case, a greenway can be a recreational amenity and provide waste water management. Scope of Work • Develop a typology to inventory waste water systems • Case studies research of innovative waste water treatment systems • Apply knowledge to address a waste water issues in region of Cape Cod, where increased development has resulted in contamination of the hydrological system. The town of Barnstable faces the following challenges: • Increased development • Decrease in effectiveness of septic systems • Ineffective centralized sewer system • Excess nutrients in groundwater detrimental to hydrological health This approach seeks to accomplish the following: • Create a public greenway • Reconnect fragmented hydrological network to improve ecosystem functionality • Improve resilience of public water infrastructure
  • Publication
    Therapeutic Garden Design in Hospice Settings: A Case Study Employing the Lake Superior Hospice Garden in Marquette, MI
    (2018-02-01) Tapia, Rose Melody
    Gardens have been used as places for meditation, relaxation, and restoration through the ages. From the earliest times, gardens were used as sanctuaries and restorative places, providing psychological, spiritual, emotional, and physical health care delivery in Western, Eastern, and Asian societies. In the late twentieth century Roger Ulrich’s (1984) scientific investigations showed the tie between nature’s positive effects on human health and the ability of patients to recover from surgery faster. This and other scientific research gave rise to the creation of therapeutic gardens in healthcare facilities. Today, therapeutic gardens are designed to meet medical goals through activities known to improve human health—e.g., walking, socializing, massage therapy, etc. The intent is to support the patient’s recovery in the medical environment, and to provide positive measurable results (Gerlach-Spriggs & Healy 2009). Conventional wisdom suggests that the most effective therapeutic gardens tend to be designed for a specific patient group, and those surrounding the patient—i.e., medical staff, family members, and care givers. Specific activities can be designed into a therapeutic garden that match the standards of care and therapeutic outcomes defined for a patient group. These may include: walking (physical therapy), planting (horticulture therapy), smelling (aroma therapy), viewing flowers and plants (chromotherapy, cognitive therapy), and all other therapeutic treatments aided by nature. Since a therapeutic garden often targets the deficits of specific patient groups, they oftentimes are not designed alike nor do they follow the same guidelines. This project identifies tests the idea that therapeutic gardens should be designed for the primary patient population and/or the secondary support personnel that care for a patient; it uses a hospice garden to test whether this notion of unique design is appropriate within the broader specialty area of therapeutic garden design. This professional paper is an exploratory study that examines the distinct benefits that a garden provides under hospice conditions. Unlike more traditional therapeutic gardens, the primary user group—i.e., the patient—quickly fades from the program elements, leaving three distinct secondary populations to being served—medical staff, family members, and care givers. Understanding the desired outcomes for these three populations helped the author broaden her knowledge and appreciation of the relationship between, and among, health care delivery, therapeutic garden goals/objectives, and standard treatment protocols. It is for this reason that this study attempted to define when standard therapeutic garden design protocols and goals are appropriate, and when the designer must go to a broader set of goals and objectives that address the health and wellbeing of a secondary “patient” group—i.e., those medical staff, family, and care giver who have been left behind. This paper is organized into four parts—a literature review, methodology section, data findings, and a conclusions chapter. The literature review section presents a general history of garden use in the treatment of patients and contemporary thoughts on gardens in health care delivery. It also discusses current needs for therapeutic gardens in hospice care, since hospice is the final stage in palliative care delivery. The methodology chapter begins with a typical request for a design project with solution, involving the Lake Superior Hospice Association and their property in Marquette, MI. At that time, a preliminary set of plans were completed, using the typical questions a designer would address with a client. Among the questions to be addressed were what are the specific characteristic of this hospice; what do we know about its users and their needs in terms of garden program? To broaden out an understanding of hospice environments, this preliminary set of plans were set aside to pursue a second and third phase of inquiry involving this evaluation of four other hospice facilities and their users in order to develop baseline data on the similarities and differences in hospices. It allowed the author to define a broader base of personal, professional and/or therapeutic benefits a hospice garden might provide to its users; it also identified other needs that hospices might have that were different from the Lake Superior case study. The chapter on data findings summarizes the investigation into hospice similarities and differences and is applied to the Lake Superior Hospice (LSH)Association) in Marquette, MI in a final set of plans which can be found in the conclusions chapter. The paper essentially involved studying the pre-construction condition of a site with a narrow perspective on hospice garden design, which was then followed by a broader investigation of hospice facilities operating elsewhere, and using that data to suggest possible improvements (i.e., a metaphoric post-construction evaluation) in the original design that serves the LSHA more appropriately. This project will contribute to the advancement of landscape architecture as it continues its transition to an evidence-based profession. Findings from the case study and baseline data comparison was used to create a conceptual framework for decisions affecting garden design that serves patients, patient advocates, and hospice staff, who deal with end-of-life circumstances. The appropriateness of certain design elements under different hospice conditions—structurally, environmentally, managerially, and demographically – must be taken into account. This will provide better design outcomes that can be used to compare and analyze the decisions affecting therapeutic gardens in a hospice healthcare system.
  • Publication
    Creating a Successful Wayfinding System: Lessons Learned from Springfield, Massachusetts
    (2016-11-01) Lu, Yanhua
    The masters project presents findings from recent work the author completed related to wayfinding, and wayfinding systems. This work began as part of a graduate urban design studio, followed by work as a research assistant at the UMass Design Center in Springfield, on a new “demonstration” wayfinding system installed in Springfield, Massachusetts. The wayfinding project was done in association with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and the Springfield Office of Planning and Community Development, was implemented with the main goals of improving public health by encouraging more people to walk. Wayfinding systems are increasingly seen as an important part of a successful built environment. For many cities, good wayfinding systems can make the environment easier to understand and navigate, making for a better, more enjoyable experience. And an enjoyable experience may encourage people to return again, further enhancing civic life. The overall aim of this project is to use the experience gained as part of an actual project in Springfield to make recommendations and provide guidance to other cities and towns considering new wayfinding systems.
  • Publication
    Application of Stormwater Management Techniques for Mitigation and Education at the Stockbridge School Agricultural Learning Center
    (2014-04-01) Anderson, Samantha R
    The Stockbridge School Agricultural Learning Center (SSALC) will be a 40-acre hands-on agricultural learning laboratory for students, staff, visitors, and neighbors. Still in its planning phases, the Center will be located on what is currently a hay field just north of UMass Amherst campus. A conceptual master plan was created in 2013 that is being used for fundraising as well as planning for agricultural demonstration plots and architectural hubs. Improperly managed agricultural landscapes are known as one of the biggest threats to water quality in the United States. As a model of forward thinking agricultural practices, properly managed stormwater on the SSALC site should be as paramount as the primary demonstration agricultural plots. Currently, however, the relationship between agriculture and stormwater is not represented in existing planning documents. The SSALC project presents a unique opportunity to merge sustainable agricultural practices with sustainable stormwater management practices in what will be a public and heavily utilized landscape. This project ultimately reintroduces stormwater management to the planning process of the SSALC so that as the Center becomes established, stormwater management will not be a reaction to development in the landscape but an integral aesthetic, functional, and educational aspect of the visitor, student, and staff experience.
  • Publication
    Happy, Healthy, Active and Engaged:Incorporating Public Art, Planting Design, and Physical Fitness along the Norwottuck Rail Trail.
    (2017-02-01) DeCourcey, Rebekah L.
    Applying these concepts to a person’s lifestyle can significantly improve the quality of that person’s life. Regular physical activity of the body and engagement of the mind have been irrefutably proven to decrease health problems and increase happiness. The goal of this project is to apply design suggestions for a 2.2 mile section of the Norwottuck Rail Trail including proposed amenities, improvements, and public art that support this wellness concept. The project site is in Hadley, Massachusetts. The Norwottuck Rail Trail (rail trail from here forward) has undergone significant improvements over the time span of 2013-2015. Improvements included repaving and widening the existing trail surface, enhancing road crossings, upgrading trail signage, improving parking and other amenities along the entire 10.6 miles of trail from Northampton to Amherst. This rail trail project seeks to provide a site design including non-invasive vegetative plantings and public art that engages all five senses. It will embrace the native landscape and history of the area, and encourage circuit loops off the main rail trail to provide alternative physical activity options for a wide range of users.
  • Publication
    Preservation Through Design: Reclaiming Franklin Park's Place in the Future of Boston
    (2015-05-01) Yu, Junzhi
    This project is a demonstration of heritage landscape preservation done through a new design for Franklin Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Design from a preservation perspective requires sensitivity to the interacting forces between site history, existing conditions, and future needs, especially when engaging a historical landscape that was designed by a renowned figure like Olmsted. The goals of this project are to rehabilitate the Franklin Park site, securing its integrity and historical value, while allowing changes and future growth to take place.
  • Publication
    UMass Amherst Campus Green Infrastructure Planning
    (2016-05-01) Chen, Meilan; Deng, Zhuoya; Larico, Joseph; Liu, Bin
    Conventional stormwater management methods are a major problem in urban areas that can result in erosion, sedimentation, flooding and in the contamination of natural waterbodies that can be harmful for wildlife and costly for humans. This project will focus on the integration of green infrastructure and UMass campus planning with the goal of solving stormwater management issues on campus. We propose a series of green infrastructure interventions that will increase infiltration and time of concentration, reduce peak flows of runoff, and filter sediment. These interventions will allow for the removal of catch basins and pipes, reduce pavement, and add vegetation. Additional positive externalities are in the form of other ecosystem services such as the enhancement of habitats, the promotion of biodiversity on campus and improvement of education, all while improving campus aesthetics.