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Item Retrofitting for Change: Fargo(2010) Ehiemere, Chidozie13th Avenue South Fargo has gradually grown to become the City of Fargo’s commercial and residential hub since the introduction of interstates i-29 and i-94 in the late 1950’s. The region surrounding 13th avenue South has thrived as result of cheap land for development and the infusion of business ventures such as the West acres mall. This has brought an influx of business investors and residents to the area hungry for a piece of the profit and economic productivity the region has to offer. With Fargo's thriving commerce which is predominantly along 13th avenue south Fargo, population figures have been on the rise. These figures have resulted in an increase in population density within the city of Fargo. It is feared that future projected population growth within the city of Fargo especially along its commercial corridors will not be able to align with the current trends of spread development and urban sprawl that Fargo has been so used to in respects to its current planning trends. If urban sprawl and spread development are not addressed through design and planning within the city of Fargo to meet the needs of the growing population, then we will begin to see future scenario's along commercial corridors in Fargo (such as 13th Avenue South) where economic and aesthetic demise becomes a trend . This will in-turn gradually affect economic productivity and standards of living along such commercial corridors within the city of Fargo and other areas of similarity within the state of North Dakota. This thesis aims to indicate practical solutions to rectifying urban sprawl and spread development along commercial corridors such as 13th avenue south Fargo. This is being done through the implementation of urban development principles of retrofitting, infill, smart growth and urban greenification. This is all being done with the aim of catering to Fargo's present and future growing population as well as protecting and improving Fargo's economic viability for present and future inhabitants of the city.Item Community Resilience: Investing in Walkability(2011) Mellgren, AshleyCurrently, Main Avenue is lacking character and connection to the rest of Fargo, North Dakota. Most of Main Avenue is zoned commercial, and it appears to be highly industrialized because of full scale billboards, concrete buildings and lack of visual aesthetic toward the roadway, greenspace and sidewalks. This thesis investigates how balancing pedestrian and vehicular traffic could positively impact Main Avenue by increasing economic development and safety. The thesis further investigates how the integration of environmentally conscious and sustainable initiatives can contribute to the socio-economic resilience of the streetscape.Item Ecological Resilient Landscapes: Averting a Pending Disaster(2011) Berg, JacobScars can be inflicted on landscapes after decades of human intervention. This project is meant to embrace the effects of remedial ecological design on our fragmented landscapes. Limited human intervention is an essential element in designing long-term, healthy environments. Ecological resilience assists landscape architects in designing landscapes to respond to environmental disturbances such as pest epidemics. Steady state landscapes do not accommodate natural disturbances, ecological diversity and longevity. Disturbances strengthen a landscape’s functional longevity by highlighting the complexities of biodiversity. Diverse ecosystems provide society with a natural balance between positive and negative pulses. Silver Lake Park, a 100+ acre park, near downtown Rochester, Minnesota is currently a fractured landscape in an urban environment. It has potential to serve as a comprehensive landscape to illustrate effects of diverse functions and biodiversity in southeastern Minnesota.The design results of my research serve as a catalyst in promoting design that emphasizes ecological resilience, biodiversity and long-term landscape health.Item Winter Landscapes(2010) Slivnik, KyleWinters in mid western climates create a challenging environment for outdoor activity. Exercise and outdoor interaction decrease with the temperatures, causing a variety of health implications. Conditions such as Seasonal Affective Disorder have been shown to surface during the coming of winter, especially in northern climates that experience less daylight than other parts of the world. Increasing outdoor activity through seasonal landscape interventions is a way to counteract these negative effects of cold weather. This study has shed some light on the connection between Seasonal Affective Disorder, benefits based in dual use landscapes, exercise and health through research and investigations based on case studies. Through an analysis of the information, it has been determined that there is a correlation between exercise and overall health and well being. The potential for outdoor exercise is prevalent during winter months by utilizing space that would be otherwise be left unused. By creating an alternative source of activity, the probability of outdoor activity increases during winter months. This increase in activity provokes the body to naturally elevate its immune system, increasing its ability to fight of bacteria and viruses. Outdoor recreation is a viable option even in the cold weather experienced during winters in the Midwest.Item Place: Community Development and the Effects of Nature and Culture(2010) Zimmerman, LauraWhat conjures a sense of place? Is it the landscape, the built environment, the people, or more likely a combination of them all? This document explores the factors that contribute to a unique sense of place. With this understanding, how can these factors be utilized to show the effects of nature and culture in site specific design?Item Recognizing History through Cultural Interpretation(2010) Martineau, RyanHomesteading was how westward expansion began in the United States in 1862. The Homestead Act gave an applicant one hundred sixty acres or one quarter section of undeveloped land outside the original thirteen colonies. The only stipulations were that after an application was filed the applicant would have to live on the land for five years and improve it, then file a deed of title for the land. Landscape architecture can be used to preserve these homesteads throughout western North Dakota. New preservation ideas and techniques, such as stabilization using materials already on the site, retention of the form already consistent on the site, and restoration of site phenomenology, can be used in landscape architecture designs to help preserve the homesteads. Though saving an old building from being demolished may not intrigue some, this thesis aims to investigate and show why it is culturally important to save these types of buildings as well as what we can learn from this type of preservation. The elements of these homesteads including the buildings and farm equipment will be preserved to keep the integrity of the site. A new cultural interpretation will be created to celebrate the cultural history of the site. This thesis will also show why keeping homesteads around is important to remembering the history of the United States and how compromises can allow groups and people to work together to achieve their goals.Item Sustainable Growth and Redevelopment of Wadena: Evoking a Meaningful Change(2011) Jones, AdamThe general public often delude themselves into thinking that the landscapes we design are implicitly sustainable, though they frequently are not. We, as designers, must make known, and take responsibility for, the implications of our work. By dedicating ourselves to the principles of sustainable landscape construction, we are able to design in ways to work with nature, not against it. As professionals, we have the ability to positively influence not only the environment, but also the perceptions of our clients and the general public. Through the design and redevelopment of a community devastated by natural disaster, I hope to reinforce the sense of community to ultimately strengthen the quality of life within.Item The Human Senses: Designing Beyond Intuition(2013) Lipatan, AprilThis thesis project will explore how multi-sensory experiences can be merged with landscape architecture as a supplement to communicate the meaning of place. The problem of landscape architects not fully understanding the senses and their processes needs to be addressed in order to create designs that are beyond our intuition. Landscape architects can better communicate the experiences humans have with built environments by better understanding how the senses work as communication tools. The problem is the lack of knowledge on the senses in this field. Landscape architects have the capacity to integrate humans into spatial elements creating meaningful places, and producing distinctive memorable designs which harbor extraordinary experiences. This thesis will reveal how the senses can communicate our world around us through a comprehensive understanding. Through the assistance of Juhani Pallasmaa’s outlook on architecture, art, and the senses, this study hopes to connect how multi-sensory experiences could be a key medium for artistically yet successfully communicating concepts and meanings in landscape architecture. This project approaches the gap, understanding the process of the senses, in landscape architecture by combining theory, psychology, and relative research from studies and synthesizing the information into a successful strategy to design communication. Case studies on human senses will explore the processes and reactions in established psychological studies to express how the senses work as communicative tools. The research will then explain how to utilize the selected measures and apply each to Freeway Park in Seattle, Washington. The measures will help in determining their capabilities to create a sensual design in Freeway Park. By artfully applying multi-sensory experiences to the field of landscape architecture, designers can integrate the mind, body, and soul into the senses to create an optimal experience. The importance of this study is to ultimately bring attention to application of multi-sensory experiences in landscape architecture and provoke further exploration of the senses in this field to merge with the related sciences. This thesis will push the limits of what it means to design with the senses.Item Reed Street Yards - Milwaukee, Wisconsin(2011) Leininger, BryanThis project is meant to explore the idea of low carbon development in cities post global peak oil. Milwaukee, like many other Rust Belt cities across the United States, has passed its industrial peak and today is left with an abandoned, misused, and scarred landscape. Much of the southwestern side of Milwaukee is scattered with sites in this exact situation. The site that will be studied lies along the Menomonee River, adjacent to the booming Third Ward. Many of the decrepit industrial structures from the site have either been torn down or are in the process of being repurposed and rehabilitated. Besides these structures, the site is completely abandoned and unused. The goal and vision of this study is to create a low carbon model development which can be used in cities across the United States. With proximity to rail, water and existing bike path infrastructure, the new vision will influence people to use alternative low carbon modes of transportation. All new structures and site design elements will follow a low carbon code and policy system to ensure definite sustainability.Item St. Louis Placeless(2010) McKinney, JoshuaThis thesis investigates the value of beneficial context on a neighborhood in blight and how to transform a neighborhood that has faced decline into a place that harbors community and can be a place of pride for a city. Innovative approaches are taken to achieve this result, some changing the typology of the land use to benefit the community in an aesthetic, as well as an economic way. This thesis is intended to be viewed in an interactive format. This format can be experienced at the website www.joshuamckinney.com
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