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The Gathering Garden: Bringing Warmth to Fargo's Frigid Winters
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Marsh, Rachel
Fargo’s rapidly improving downtown community life has one large, seven-month-long problem: winter. During the frigid winter, the public life of Fargo’s downtown comes to a halt. Thus, this research began with the goal of designing an ideal indoor public space for Fargo’s winters. To understand the best design for the proposed public space, a broader question is posed: How can a space’s design promote positive third-place activities within an urban, indoor, Midwestern context? The third-place concept was first proposed by Ray Oldenburg’s text The Great Good Place (1989) and is the foundation of this research. Oldenburg defines the term “Third Place” as an informal space which support relationships among community members. The research begins with compiling case studies of spaces which host third-place activities and identifying re-occurring patterns of user behavior and architectural design. The research cumulates in the final design of an elevated interior garden, located directly above stores in Downtown Fargo, to demonstrate how a space’s architecture can encourage third place activities.
Developing a Dialectic
(North Dakota State University, 2012) Greenwood, Brittany
This project, titled Developing a Dialectic, began as an analysis of the tangible evidence of time within a built environment, specifically the changing paths on which we experience our cities and the objects and spaces that become void of use. The exploration of unused space will produce a denser urban environment, building upon valuable space and bridging gaps between old and new construction. The site chosen is the previous path of the Northern Pacific Railway over the Red River between Grand Forks, ND and East Grand Forks, MN. A lone pivot pier is all that remains today of this railway, a once vital component in the growth of these two cities. This prompted an investigation into what form a built structure takes when resulting from a truly deep analysis of context in an effort to create a positive symbiotic relationship with the existing environment. But what do we learn or remember from the juxtaposition of ‘old and new’, of past and present? This then became an investigation of the translation between the process of a drawing and its implementation into the 3-dimensional world. By retaining layers of information - of decision, thought, process- the lines of the drawing articulate possibilities of space, rather than a finite object. Developing a Dialectic is a 56,255 square-foot community analysis and celebration center, examining the ways in which changes in the identity of this city are preserved and communicated over time.
Living Streets within Downtown Fargo: A Living Street that Focuses on the Pedestrian, Environmental, and Social Design Elements in Downtown Cores
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Keller, Matthew
With downtown Fargo continuing to change with new multi-use buildings and parking garages, the focus should now be on the streets. Over the past couple years there has been multiple parking garages built within a mile of downtown Broadway. The question then came to me, was the street parking necessary and what could the street scape look like if the parking were removed. This thesis is to create a potential model for a living street scape in dense downtown city bodies. The design focuses on pedestrian, social, environment aspects of the street. These design aspects will provide opportunities for the community to be part of as well as the businesses located along the street to shape the landscape in front of them. This done through including multiple sidewalk zones, permeable elements, and modular components to create a dynamic landscape. The experience of downtown Fargo will be alive and growing alongside the thriving architecture.
Fresh Place Market: A Permanent Farmer's Market Solution Supporting the Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Area
(2013) Coryell, Jake
Current farmers and individual food producers are struggling for spatial identity and social legitimacy in a larger food network that currently exists in America. Much of the current research only focuses on consumer and vendor ideals in terms of what contributes to an ideal farmer’s markets social identity. However, little research focuses on the need to evaluate farmer’s markets in terms of their spatial identity and how it contributes to creating the ideal farmers market. This research connects with vendors through a pictorial survey to understand some of their preferred spatial qualities, piggy backs on current trends that residents in the Fargo-Moorhead area would like to see in their community, and comparatively analyzes the ten existing Fargo-Moorhead urban area farmer’s markets and produce stands utilizing GIS software. The research is then applied to a design solution that reflects the preferred spatial qualities and overall community vision.
HOLOSCENE: High Performance Landscape Systems
(2012) Hefti, Vanessa
This work studies landscape infrastructural solutions to community health. It addresses the health, sustainability, and resilience of habitated environments. The work suggests an interconnected working landscape system of soft engineering can serve as a civic asset and amenity while solving conventional infrastructural problems. Proven through history conventional infrastructure has been an environmental liability, whereas soft infrastructure has been in demand in the form of public parks, park systems, and city planning. The needs of the present day for improved public and environmental health lend an opportunity to explore landscape systems as ecological design solutions that would otherwise be solved with hard infrastructure.
Red River Civic Plaza : an urban park destination for Fargo-Moorhead Community
(2015) Starbuck, Joseph
The City of Fargo, North Dakota, is funding the construction of a new City Hall to replace their current 1960s structure. This proposed development provides the largest city in North Dakota with a tremendous opportunity to design an iconic open space between their Civic Center, Public Library, and their proposed City Hall. This research focuses on the integration of low impact development into the Red River Civic Plaza to manage stormwater by utilizing bioretention, green roofs, porous pavements, and rainwater harvesting to reduce the demand for the current engineered water conveyance systems consisting of gutters, storm sewers, culverts, and detention basins. The Red River Civic Plaza provides the Fargo-Moorhead community with three sets of benefits: economic, environmental and sociological. This research quantifies the volume of stormwater run-off prior to development, and identifies the cost effectiveness of low impact development over time compared to our current engineered water conveyance systems, as well as its environmental and sociological benefits in the landscape. The Red River Civic Plaza will serve as a year-round urban park destination for the Fargo-Moorhead community.
On the Fringe
(2012) Eggert, Steven
When communities fail to plan, there is no institutional framework where development can progress. This leaves little opportunity for expansion or modification based on changing needs. The establishment of a common vision is vital to the future development of Fargo’s fringe. It provides a synthesis of enhancements from an economic perspective to happiness and well being. This project seeks to define that spirit of place using practices of preservation and restoration of Fargo’s community.
Virtual Space | Creating A Digital Sense of Place
(2013) Williams, Jacob
The recent advancements in computer technology in the 21st century have changed the way many designers work in offices today. New computer software has allowed us to actualize works of landscape architecture that could have never been designed in the past using traditional drawing methods. Designers of the built environment have embraced new ideas and forms of virtual representations to present work which has evolved the landscape architecture profession in many ways. The drawing ability of designers is no longer a limit in expressing their imaginations due to new forms of digital art. As one of the most important aspects of design, the ability to successfully convey ideas to clients is now easier than ever. The concept of pure creation is now placed at the finger tips of skilled computer artists who can make any idea come to life. Although the computer is a great tool for designers to use, it should be seen as merely that; a tool. We are now able to imagine endless possibilities for our built world, but now there is a risk of over-saturating the industry with similar works and disrupting the design process. Photo-realistic computer renderings have changed the way designers communicate their ideas, but by presenting works in such a literal form it leaves no room for further growth or imagination. A question that must be answered is: how do we perceive and experience architectural spaces? In order to help our audience truly experience a sense of place for the projects we design there must be a shift to more interactive and dynamic virtual representations. By utilizing new forms of media and technology we can create a virtual sense of place to better communicate and present our designed urban environments. Examining current methods of graphic representation will help us begin to understand how effective our presentations are and where improvements can be made. Existing case studies will be discussed and evaluated on different levels of quality of representation to further refine the ideal form of visualization. Introducing new methods of augmented reality and interactivity will intellectually engage recipients, allowing for a more effective experience of the concepts being presented. The profession of landscape architecture has the opportunity to progress in many ways by questioning current drawing methods and adapting new ones. Furthermore, the exploration of new forms of representation and interaction can then be embraced and applied to create more interactive physical environments within our cities.

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