s a m p l e w o r k s
hello. I am a design practitioner/researcher/educator working in the realms of biophilia, human-centered design, and urban resilience planning. My projectbased experiences have demonstrated how to reconnect humans to one another and to the broader world, helping places address the faces of climate uncertainty, resource scarcity, and social isolation. My work fosters connections between human systems and natural systems and supports a transdisciplinary approach to problem solving to bring about positive societal change. Since 2001, I have practiced as a professional designer. Since 2008, I have been teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and working as a designer and researcher throughout a range of disciplines. Of my 13 years of professional experience, the enclosed series of international projects help to tell my story. Thank you for taking the time to review these sample works.
Fallingwater Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Mill Run, Pennsylvania, United States Designer, Private Sector, 2003 I began my career as a multidisciplinary designer at a small consulting firm and rose quickly through the ranks from staff designer to head of not only environmental graphic design but of product design as well. This project marks one the pivotal works of my early career. It offers insight into my grasp of the importance of the user experience. With full regard of the engineering, architecture, materials, and location of one of the most iconic residences ever constructed, I designed the exterior identity and wayfinding program for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. Like the house itself, the family of signage achieves a seamless, low-impact integration with the natural surroundings. The entire program is built from three locally sourced materials: sandstone, fossilized wood, and steel. As visitors reach their destination after traveling through miles of rolling hills that are the Laurel Highlands, they are greeted by the juxtaposition of two adjoined stones. One stone rests on grade and in its natural state, while the other is hewn smooth, cantilevered, and inscribed with the only word necessary to notify visitors that they have arrived. Minimal information, displayed on thin slabs of steel, then modestly direct vehicular traffic through the woods and to the visitors center. Here, patrons embark on foot past a pedestrian-scaled pylon created from a piece of fossilized wood, and into the forest. Lastly, with the help of small stone plinth signs that reverently end before reaching the residence, visitors then guide themselves along a series of wooded trails to discover Fallingwater for themselves.
Proposed Wayfinding Family
Eastside Mosites Development Division Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States Project Manager/Designer, Public Sector, 2005-2007 As a project manager and a multidisciplinary designer for this project, I contributed to several components of this brownfield infill development. The scope of the project was multifaceted and encompassed the design of pedestrian and vehicular wayfinding, hardscape and planting, and a pedestrian bridge to support a diverse retail experience at the intersection of two Pittsburgh neighborhoods. To accommodate retailers that typically require acres of parking, the typology of architecture helped create a hybrid solution. Eastside accommodated the parking demands while minimizing the impact upon the two neighborhoods of East Liberty and Shadyside by creating a second level deck that managed severe grade changes and created new usable space where there once was unusable airspace adjacent to a rail line. The rail line marks a historic divide of the two neighborhoods, which currently are home to opposing demographics. This design responded to its urban context by maintaining a streetscape prioritized for pedestrians and contextually extending the fabric of the adjacent districts. The pedestrian bridge offered a new connection to the development by bridging the rail line and merging two vibrant commercial districts. Envisioned by the reknowned artist Sheila Klein, the modest structure meets strict safety code set by the rail company through whimsical expressions of commonplace materials. I was a member of the original design team to help bring functionality and feasibility to her vision. During the conceptual phase of design of the wayfinding and site furnishings, the head foreman of the project tragically lost a son in a construction accident. In response, I was asked to consider the foreman’s son in the design. Rising from the center of the site, and traveling upward and through both levels of parking, are three monolithic tapered concrete spires. Atop the shortest is a blade sign to mark new district’s name from 360˚ views. Nestled within the base of the three spires is a humble memorial to the fallen worker, reminding any passersby of the dedication of the young man and those like him.
The Memorial
The Wayfinding
The Pedestrian Bridge
WATER’S EDGE The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States Designer, Private Sector, 2005-2006 As part of a multi-disciplinary team of biologists, zookeepers, writers, architects, and artists, I developed the vision for this major exhibit at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. When there remained a debate about global climate change in the national media, the zoo envisioned an exhibit that would take a definitive stance against misinformation and on the side of the creatures suffering from the effects of global climate change. The proposal I wrote and presented for this project won the work out of a field of several international exhibit design teams. As visitors enter the Water’s Edge, they begin their journey in an indigenous Inuit village where they learn the myths and traits of the polar bear and sea otter. At the time of the creation of this exhibit, these were two of the creatures most directly effected by a changing climate. Therefore, the core themes adopted their perspective and were woven throughout the visitor experience. Along their way through the outskirts of a coastal fishing town, visitors learn about the mammals they will soon encounter. Educational messaging took on forms that transcended traditional intperpretive signage and were instead embodied by artifacts that concurrently created the exhibit’s sense of place. Once in town along the water’s edge, various buildings and façades were designed to incorporate interactive features. One such feature included an industrial scale that modified to allow families to compare their combined weight to that of such animals of the Arctic as the walrus. Another feature–the Sound Seafood market–displays various species of fish to educate which are the most sustainable choices for the dinner table. Throughout the exhibit, visitors are able interact with their surroundings to learn directly how their decisions might allow creatures like the polar bear and sea otter to continue to exist in the wild where the land and water meet.
Polar Bear Trap
Sound Seafood Market
Interactive Scale
ERIE ART MUSEUM Erie Art Museum Erie, Pennsylvania, United States Designer, Nonprofit Sector, 2006-2007 In attempts to broaden my scope and ability as a designer, and take human-centered design to a macro level, I began to consider graduate school in landscape architecture in 2005. One of my informational interviews led to a full-time hire as a multidisciplinary designer with the Pittsburgh-based landscape architecture and planning firm, LaQuatra Bonci Associates. The Erie Art Museum was the first of several landscape design projects prior to the eventual pursuit of my Masters of Advanced Studies in Landscape Architecture degree. The landscape of this award-winning renovation and expansion of the Erie Art Museum helped to redefine the museum’s street presence as well as its life throughout all four seasons of its lakefront setting. The expansion acts as the Museum’s new entry and is transparent to provide visual intrigue as the courtyard nearly seamlessly becomes the foyer. Lines and elements of the grounds bisect various curtain walls of its spaces, providing opportunity for ease of visual and physical transitions. The grounds accommodate outdoor seating for the café and an outdoor “living room” sculpture garden. Further, passive green roofs, permeable paving, and rainwater harvesting all were incorporated in the design to reduce operational expense and limit the building’s environmental deficit by considering its lifecycle analysis.
Image by EDGE Studio
Image by David Joseph
Schematic Design
MONONGAHELA WHARF LANDING & Switchback Riverlife Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States Designer, Nonprofit & Public Sectors, 2008-2009 The transformation of Pittsburgh from its industrial heritage into an innovation hub for brownfield redevelopment and green building technologies began with its waterfront. Formed in 1999 to reclaim the shoreline of the three rivers that bound the city, the nonprofit organization Riverlife began by envisioning a 13-mile long interconnected riverfront trail system. The Monongahela Wharf Landing transformed an essential parcel of land to help complete the revitalized riparian zone and connected waterfront amenities for the city. I played a design role with four of the projects integral to the completion of the riverfont trail system. Two are part of the same north shoreline of the Monongahela River. The linear park known as the “wharf landing,” repurposed a 5-acre parking lot prone to seasonal flooding beneath a highway. Today it is a successful component of the waterfront trail system and river access linkage that utilizes drought tolerant native riparian planting and infrastructural detailing to address flooding concerns. The easternmost transition to the street level of the downtown core is composed of the “switchback.” Currently under construction, the Mon Wharf Switchback will provide universal access from city level to the water. I was the form giver and lead designer for the switchback. Its design respectfully adjoins the wharf landing with the historic arch bridge that spans the river to the south side of the city. With the completion of the switchback and a cantilevered connector to Point State Park, another public space amenity will be complete; it will mark the completion of the City of Pittsburgh’s portion of the Great Allegheny Passage, a 350-mile pedestrian trail to and from Washington, D.C.
Rendering by Ed Dumont
Monongahela Wharf Landing
the convention center riverfront plaza Sports & Exhibition Authority Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States Designer, Nonprofit & Public Sectors, 2007-2009 Following his design contributions with for the Monongahela Wharf Landing park and switchback, I played a role with another key component to the 13-mile long interconnected trail system along the riverfront of Pittsburgh. The Convention Center Riverfront Plaza is the riverside entry for the monolithic LEED Goldcertified structure by Rafael Vinoly Architects. The design transforms a lost urban space–a 1:1 concrete slope devoid of life and water access–into a series of spaces that completed the pedestrian network along this shoreline of the Allegheny River in 2011. The Convention Center Riverfront Park incorporates paths, overlooks, and direct vertical and subterranean connections to the convention center. Further, it provides recreational boat access as well as docking for water taxis and larger clipper boats. In keeping with the ethos of sustainability embodied by the convention center, the largest green building in the world when constructed, the design followed with similar ecological integrity. The plaza produces no point-source stormwater runoff from the site; existing concrete was used on site for back-fill; indigenous planting was utilized to stabilize and reestablish the riparian zone; and the overhang of the plaza’s platform structure provides shade and cold water habitats for spawning fish. I joined the project during its schematic design phase to contribute to the detailing and design of the pedestrian experience throughout the site.
Artist Rendering of The Plaza
The ramble Biltmore forest Biltmore Farms, Inc. Asheville, North Carolina, United States Designer, Public Sector, 2007-2008 Nestled in mature woodlands of western North Carolina is a residential community that compliments the architectural and landscape legacy of original Biltmore Forest. The Ramble builds upon the century-old legacy of expert craftsmanship and consists of a comprehensive framework of parks and public open spaces with a majority of the 1,000-acres permanently preserved as pristine woodlands. In keeping with the environmental ethos established by the adjacent Biltmore Estate, the largest private estate in the United States, I worked with LaQuatra Bonci Associates to see that a substantial portion of The Ramble remain as protected parks and greenways. Techniques were used to retain as much existing flora and tree canopy as possible. Where not possible, trees and plants lost were either transplanted locally or felled timber was used in future construction. The roadways, trails, greenways, and common spaces are all designed as integral parts of the stormwater collection and conveyance system to help sustain the functionality of forested landscape as it was first discovered. To spread awareness of its unique design and preservation techniques, I designed interpretive signage to highlight various features of the development. Additionally, I contributed my skills as an industrial designer with the creation of publicly and universally accessible features throughout the site, including open air structures, a fire ring, and a community wellness center. Each of these elements used local materials and craftsmanship with their creation and were designed to reinforce the ecology and natural aesthetic of the native setting. My contributions to this project helped lead to additional public and private work throughout this region of North Carolina. Consequently, LaQuatra Bonci Associates was able to open an Asheville-based office of the firm to handle the new business.
Aerial View of The Ramble
Stormwater Management Detail
THREE PNC PLAZA PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States Designer, Private Sector, 2008-2009 As the first new high-rise building in Downtown Pittsburgh in 20 years, PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. erected a 23-story Gold LEED-certified structure. The building boasts office space, an upscale hotel, luxury condominiums, restaurants, and retail, and remains to be one of the nation’s largest mixed-use green buildings. Situated at its prominent front corner is a public park intended to connect Pittsburgh’s Cultural District and primary square. This project characterizes the role I commonly held with LaQuatra Bonci Associates. I was a member of a small design team that contributed to the project in several capacities. My work was responsible for the physical branding of the site, including the design of the site furniture, bus shelter, shade and privacy structures, environmental graphics, as well as contributions to the schematic design of the park. Located as a gateway into the urban core at the corner of the two primary arteries of Fifth and Liberty Avenues, This pet-friendly passive park provides the public with respite and access to nature with ample seating, shading, and various living and nonliving sound-dampening features. Drought-resistant native plantings requiring no irrigation accompany the shade canopy and its integrated seating, constructed from locally sourced steel. Their forms drive the design of the park, tracing its spine and segmenting its formal and informal traits that welcome visitors to the entrance of the building. The establishment of This building and its park have helped to produce a catalytic effect throughout This district of Pittsburgh, encouraging adjacent revitalization projects to contribute to a rise in the city’s expected quality of design of objects and spaces within the public realm.
ROSELAND Roseland Conservation Trust Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States Designer, Private Sector, 2006-2007 A short distance from the town of Richmond, Virginia is the 1,400-acre planned community of Roseland. This project was envisioned to be a traditional Virginian town with a mix of employment, service, and residential uses. It consists of a series of connected neighborhoods woven together by a continuous system of trails and parks. Running astride the existing waterways is a greenway—a dedicated conservation area to preserve plant and wildlife habitats while creating a link to future county-wide greenways. The architectural character of this new town draws upon the heritage of historic places such as Old Town, Alexandria, and Georgetown. Roseland exemplifies this character with its skinny walkable streets, sidewalks, parks and trails, interconnected blocks, and diversity of housing types and mixeduse structures. All landscape elements were set within an open rural character and were enhanced by preserving 400 acres of land and its open pasture, woodlands, and waterways. Community centers and neighborhood parks create distinct addresses integrated into the town’s fabric and in turn help drive the success of the pedestrian experience. As my first of several charrette-based master planning projects, I worked as a landscape architect and urban designer as a member of the team that developed the pattern book and landscape master plan for Roseland. In addition, I helped to transition the scope from the project’s planning stages to conceptual and schematic design of phase one to help it become a built reality.
Charrette Renderings by David Csont
Community Center
Phase One Sales Center
a pattern book for neighborly houses U.S. Area Office of Habitat for Humanity International & The Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America Designer, Private & Nonprofit Sectors, 2007 After Hurricane Katrina caused widespread catastrophe along the Gulf coast, there was both a dire need and an opportunity to help rebuild countless communities. Habitat for Humanity International and The Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America asked Urban Design Associates to assess the region and create a pattern book to help families and communities of the region build new homes and lives, while aiming to preserve the regional architectural and open space vernacular. LaQuatra Bonci Associates was asked to be a member of the design team that created the pattern book publication which was distributed for free throughout the region. As a principal designer with this firm for various community development projects, I was a key player in each phase of the creation of several landscape master plans, design standards manuals, and pattern books. Each were unique, yet this was the most rewarding. With A Pattern Book for Neighborly Houses, I was tasked primarily with the Sustainable Design subsection. Here, specific techniques, devices, and materials were called out to promote sustainable landscape design. Native planting to reduce watering, proper planting and home siting to make best use of wind and solar yields, pervious paving to reduce loads upon stormwater systems, rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling techniques to increase water conservation. Each of these elements were integral to the Landscape Patterns section of the publication to provide both sources of inspiration and instruction.
Final Report Cover
Sample Pages from The Report
CASTLETON Scotia Homes Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Designer, Private Sector, 2008-2009 As a multifaceted designer, my abilities have enabled me to work throughout North America as well as in Europe. For this project, I was a member of the design team that collaborated with The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment that developed the master plan and open space framework for the expansion of the town of Ellon, Scotland. The preservation of the agricultural and cultural heritage of the site was set as the team’s guiding design principle. To abide by it, the team designed within the boundaries of the site’s ancient stone walls. This maintained the project’s infill status, while carefully manipulating the site’s topography to allow the stands of existing woodlands throughout the site to flourish. Study and emulation of the site’s drainage patterns enabled a neighborhood plan and agriculture and nature preserves whose existences are dependent upon the successes of one another. An integral component to this new development was its Sustainable Drainage System (SUDS) plan. I was particularly tasked with developing the plan with the intent to manage all stormwater where it fell on site through integrated design with natural systems. In particular, the stormwater management implemented in Castleton was designed to slow, spread, soak, and harvest all stormwater that falls upon the site. The kit of parts used included water butts, stone control devices, permeable surfacing, rain gardens, soakaways, and infiltration trenches. As with all good design, one thing should never do just one thing. In this spirit, the plan was designed to also provide an amenity for the community by preserving its rural character with public open space characterized by native, drought resistant, and easily maintainable landscape.
ssociates
SUDS Schematic Plan
NOTE: This drawing is for guidance purposes only and reference should be made to Cameron and Ross drawings for all construction details which will be adopted.
Project
Urban Design Associates
Michael Gilmour Associates
707 Grant Street 31st Floor Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 15219 Tel: 412.263.5200
22 Rubislaw Terrace Aberdeen AB10 1XE Tel: 01224 643117
Sheet Title
Schematic Details
Castle Meadow Application for Planning Permission
SUDS Schematic Details
Client
Project Number
Scotia Homes & Barratt East Scotland
LBA 08026
Drawn
Checked
Date
Scale
20 JUL 2009
NTS @ A1
Sheet Number Approved
Revised
L7.4
Image of Region by James Buchan
Precedence The Modeling & Project Charrette Details
Pack Square Renaissance The Pack Square Conservancy Asheville, North Carolina, United States Designer, Public & Private Sectors, 2006-2009 Pack Square Renaissance is an urban park revitalization project with work spanning from 1999 to 2009 that focused primarily on restoring street vibrancy and access to the pedestrian. The final plan involved the restoration of historic Pack Square, reestablishment of the street grid, and the creation of a new park spanning two city blocks and totaling six acres. The new park is designed to attract everyday use while celebrating Asheville’s heritage as a festival city with the provision of various public performance venues. In addition, the square creates a unique address for needed commercial and residential infill. The lowest terrace portion of the park consists of a great lawn. This section boasts an amphitheater and a central green to compliment the two architecturally significant civic buildings. The mid-block park serves as a transition between the historic Pack Square and the central green. Gathering the majority of the park’s activity, it controls circulation and provides amenity with a terrace, an interactive water feature, and a multiuse pavilion. The pavilion is designed to collect stormwater, which in turn is used for irrigation throughout the park. From the adjacent promenade, the view corridor is enhanced to provide views of the green below and the forested Appalachian Mountains beyond. I contributed to this project throughout my tenure with LaQuatra Bonci Associates as a multidisciplinary designer. My contribution to the hardscape design and physical branding of the space helped lead to additional public and private work throughout this region of North Carolina. Consequently, LaQuatra Bonci was able to open an Asheville-based office of the firm to handle the new business.
SILVERTIP Stone Creek Properties Canmore, Alberta, Canada Designer, Private Sector, 2007-2008 Silvertip sits on the sunny side of the Bow Valley, nestled in the Canadian Rocky Mountains between Calgary and Banff. In the 19th century the general public gained access to this pristine wilderness with the creation of a transcontinental railway. Now, maintaining the very wilderness the railway sought to tame, has been deemed just as important to preserve. Silvertip respects the adjacent wilderness of the Banff National Park by utilizing high density similar to what is found with the famous mountaintop towns of Switzerland and Italy. LaQuatra Bonci Associates and I joined the design team, including reknowned consultants such as Leon Krier, to help develop the 582 acre master plan for Silvertip Village. The scope of work originally included the design of the principal urban plaza and expanded into the design of other plazas, the resort entry and sequenced experience as visitors climb the mountain, as well as the wayfinding master plan for the entire site. The design and construction of this pedestrian-oriented community adopted The Natural Step, an internationally renowned program that helps developing communities follow an ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable path. Currently under construction, Silvertip embodies an iconic melding of luxurious living with and within nature.
Schematic Design of The Village
Silvertip Village Destination Destination Street Name Destination Street Name Street Name
Destination Destination Street Name Destination Street Name Street Name
Silvertip Trail
Proposed Wayfinding Family
INNOVATION OAKLAND Oakland Task Force Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States Project Manager/Principal Researcher, Nonprofit Sector, 2009-2010 As a member of the Remaking Cities Institute at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), I was the design team leader, researcher, and co-author of this community-wide wayfinding infrastructure initiative. The primary focus of the project was to celebrate the Oakland community as an international center of new technology and research innovation. Oakland, the educational and medical heart of Pittsburgh, is the third largest downtown in Pennsylvania. The result of this initiative combined progressive technologies, interaction and industrial design, and multi-layered community planning into a comprehensive wayfinding and transit infrastructure initiative. Over 100,000 daily visitors, workers, and local residents were able to utilize analog and digital information sharing made possible through a variety of physical and wireless data delivery technologies developed as a result. The initiative succeeded by highlighting Oakland’s unique assets while providing an array of outcomes explored through stakeholder and public engagement processes. The various challenges addressed by the project’s diverse team included: addressing the visual clutter from an overuse and redundancy of signage, managing wayfinding objectives without a net increase of signage, and embodying the element of play throughout each project element. Analysis, design, and prototyping were made possible though collaboration with other groups within CMU, including Heinz College, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, CyLab Mobility, and Entertainment Technology Center.
2010 oakland task force oakland business improvement district remaking cities institute carnegie mellon university
oakland tas oakland business improvement d remaking cities in carnegie mellon uni
Innovation Oakland team will use the digital o associate them with QR codes of various hen be applied to storefronts, fliers, and other ural assets associated with each Oakland nnovation Oakland mobile app would serve nning Oakland-specific QR codes to get more he business. For example, the India Garden cial can be captured into a QR code that could d onto India Garden’s fliers, printed onto placayed at the front of India Garden (perhaps on the window or even on the sidewalk).
d these digital tags be informational and eduh residents and visitors alike (visualize these ng placed prominently in front of historical nd, allowing people to scan these tags to view heir phone associated with those historical existing of the allies entry corridor y could be a fun aspect of “Discoverboulevard Oakland,� to gain more points, as they uncover and scan app phone app menu (android screenshot) Qr code outside a restaurant gs Oakland. i nthroughout novat ion oa k l a n d|pi t t sbu rgh, pe n ns y lva n i a
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io app phone app menu (android screenshot)
Qr code outside a restaurant
(c) forbes and bouQuet sQuare
proposed graphic treatment during daytime, boulevard of the allies entry corr
sion of the iO mobile app supports the scanags in the form of QR codes. Some of the the current Android version of the iO mobile here.
io app (android screenshots)
2010 oakland task force oakland business improvement district remaking cities institute carnegie mellon university
incentives associated with this, such as counts at an Oakland business if a user collects all associated with that business, where the five ght be scattered around Oakland. Incentivizs manner not only allows Oakland businesses ir offerings through existing digital media also encourages users to explore Oakland, to ory and its interconnections. Moreover, these a valuable way of increasing awareness and oting a business, increasing revenue and drive business.
selected images from the seven focus group meetings
2010 oakland task force oakland business improvement district remaking cities institute carnegie mellon university
public outreach
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io app (android screenshots)
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Public Charrettes
Smartphone Wayfinding
Information Hub
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information, such as something related to an Oakland-wide scavenger hunt, to promote play.
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Conceptual Wayfinding
proposed unifying wayfinding poles at night
unifying the streetscape
whereas other options explored could not. The 3D view of Oakland, that an AR map would present, seemed particularly Once Augmented OnceReality Augmented was selected Reality was as the selected direction the the direction well suited toas display typography of the neighborhood.
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kiosk working kiosk drawi wor
2010 oakland task force oakland business improvement district remaking cities institute carnegie mellon university
to pursue, thetoETC pursue, teamthe entered ETC team a second entered phase a second of phase of Augmented Reality was selected as the direction benchmarking benchmarking research. AR research. is an emerging AR isOnce an technology emerging technology to pursue, the ETC team entered a second phase of The Website with many exciting with many new exciting uses in marketing new uses benchmarking in campaigns, marketing video campaigns, video research. AR is an emerging technology many exciting new uses in marketing campaigns, video games, and museums games, and displays. museums Thedisplays. movie with Avatar The movie partnered Avatar partnered games, and museums displays. The movie Avatar partnered with Coke forwith a recent Cokemarketing for a recent campaign. marketing ARcampaign. markers AR markers with Coke for a recent marketing campaign. AR markers were printed were onto printed the sidesonto of Coke the sides Zero of cans. Coke Zero cans. were printed onto the sides of Coke Zero cans.
kiosk working drawings
folded pocket size maps would both serve as trigger for the AR kiosks and be useful as a map takeaway for users
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kiosk prototype
pe n ns y lva n i a
Interactive Kiosk Prototype
green infrastructure charrette Chester A. Arthur School Education Foundation Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Landscape Architect Intern/Researcher, Private, Public & Nonprofit Sectors, 2012 Philadelphia is at the forefront of implementing green infrastructure in the United States to solve the common problem cities have with combined sewer overflows and the pollution they bring. This project dedicated an urban schoolyard to be the focus of re-imagining how natural and social systems have to work together to create places that enhance all types of life—human, animal, and microbial life alike. I was a member of the four-person team at OLIN that led the efforts to create a plan and schematic design for the client stakeholder group. This group consisted of the primary school students, the teachers of Chester A. Arthur School, Friends of Chester A. Arthur School, Philadelphia Water Department, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and South of South Neighborhood Association. The robust program for the site, including play structures, outdoor classrooms, a multi-use sport court, and edible gardens, are tied together with low-tech high-impact graphics, an exercise track to increase the physical literacy amongst the children, and a rain garden that runs the length of the site. Included in the program is stormwater capture and reuse for irrigation, photovoltaics on the roof to power the cistern pump and exterior lights, and a waste to soil to food composting and food growing program. Trees and shade structures mitigate the urban heat island effect, and when school is not is session, the schoolyard serves as a community park. The entire site is designed to created to benefit all who enter “from the sound of clean running water, the taste of fresh greens, the scents of blossoms, the touch of things cool and soft, and the sight of bold colors and green growth.”
Highest Obesity Rates
TABLE OF CONTENTS AN “OPPORTUNIT Y SITE” FOR INCREASING ACCESS TO HEALTHY LIFEST YLES FOREWORD
EXISTING CONDITIONS SITE PHOTOS
3
CHESTE
obesity rate EPA air toxics2.assessment CONTEXT heat related deaths green space, social equity, stormwater, health, partners on the ground, green network, goal statement
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8
UR SCHO
OL CATC
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AREA
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5 6
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Again, Chester Arthur School sits in an area that cumulates poor health indicators: it isANALYSIS well placed to influence 3. SITE a large body of students on the benefits of outdoor exerparking, stormwater management, circulation, shade cise (200 – 400 children) as well as generally increase
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the air quality and the canopy coverage of the area for the benefit of all. 4. PROGRAMMING THE SPACE
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space requirements, program elements, precedent imagery
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5. CHESTER ARTHUR MASTER PLAN
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design narrative, annotated plan, perspectives, sections, concept and system diagrams, planting palettes
6. PHASING
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This composite map presents areas where
phase 1 and 1A, phase 2, phase 3 with program element description and goal attainment assessment
health factors indicate the highest need for
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green space. This space must serve the dual purpose of providing free outdoor fitness op-
7. APPENDIX
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portunities and offering space for community gardening, which can offer fresh produce.
documentation of design process, comparative space analysis, sources
Partial mapping of food, beverage, and exercise amenities in Chester A. Arthur School’s neighborhood
8 SOMERTON TANKS FARM 2 blocks away
1 SCHUYLKILL RIVER PARK
15 DONALD FINNEGAN PLAYGROUND
9 MARIAN ANDERSON PARK
3 7-ELEVEN cornerstore
10 YMCA
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4 SOUTH SQUARE MARKET fresh produce
11 NUNEZ GROCERY cornerstore
17 CHRISTIAN FOODMARKET cornerstore
6 GOVINDA’s GOURMET VEGETARIAN
12 ASIA SUPERMARKET fresh produce
18 CAVA NIM GROCERY cornerstore
13 FAMILY DOLLAR STORE cornerstore
19 RAY’S cornerstore
7 WHOLE FOODS 4 blocks away
Chester Arthur School G R EEN 201 5 map from page 49 of Green 2015 by Philadelphia Parks and Recreation and Penn Praxis
14 CHEW PLAYGROUND
2 MAX’s PRODUCE fresh produce
5 WALGREENS Priority areas for encouraging healthy eating + living
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access to fresh produce
access to exercise
drinking fountains
access to junk food
Ch est u r A . Art h u r s Cho o l g reen i nfrAst ru Ct u re i nt erns hi p C h Arret t e
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SITUATING THE SCHOOL 1889
Since its founding in the late 19th century, Chester A. Arthur School has gradually increased its footprint. Originally only occupying the most eastern edge of the block, the school has expanded both its building footprint and school yard over the past century. Gradually pushing out the smaller grain rowhouses to the west, Chester A. Arthur now occupies the entire one acre block. The entirety of the yard is covered with asphalt, with the exception of the three small courtyards nested in the building, which hold small planters and trees. More than a third of the yard is occupied by vehicular parking.
21st ST.
20th ST .
CHESTER A. ARTHUR SCHOOL
MASTERPLAN
Serving the catchment area between South Street and Washington Ave on the north and south, and 19th Street and the Schuylkill River on the east and west respectively, Chester A. Arthur School currently operates at half capacity with about 200 students, of which 22% require special education. In a restructuring effort over the next five years, the City of Philadelphia is planning to close 64 Philadelphia schools. Partially due to its successful special education program, Chester A. Arthur is scheduled to remain open.
CATHERINE ST.
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This proposal encourages the community to push back into the school yard, from the western edge, and bring back the neighborhood and human scale to the overpaved yard.
NDITIONS SITE PHOTOS
K-3 recess
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Sophie Robitaille, RLA, ASLA, Associate OLIN The adjacent map focuses on health indicators for determining “opportunity sites” that would most influence an increase in physical health for residents. Three indicators 1. INTRODUCTION used were: site location, historical context, partners and stakeholders • • •
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State of playground asphalt surfacing
Students crossing Webster to go to lunch
It is reasonable to assume that the capacity of 400 students will be reached in the near future as school closures in the district force the consolidation of Chester A. Arthur.
School roof during early s
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Limit of site highlighted, including Chester A. Arthur School and its flanking streets
2015 community takeback?
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Sample Mapping from Existing Document 28 27 and Diagramming 25 23 The 22 FinalPlayground 21
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A NEIGHBORHOOD VENUE
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2 Civic Neighborhood Entry Plaza & Fountain 4 “Stoop” Seating 10 Existing Playground with New Seating 19 New Playground Entry 28 The Long Table 30 Garden Shed 32 Community Garden 33 Lawn with gazebo 35 Curved Wall Bench Seating
A PLAYFUL AND HEALTHY YARD 3 Multipurpose Ball Court 6 Rubberized Mounds 7 Concrete Half-Sphere Mound 8 + 14 Elastomeric Paint Graphics 23 Rubberized Partial Mound 27 Mast Net Playstructure
OUTDOOR CLASSROOMS 9 The Green Carpet 11 Sensory Courtyard 15 Recycling & Composting Courtyard 16 Storytelling Courtyard 26 Edible Forest & Visible Irrigation 29 Teaching Garden & Fountain 31 Primary Composting Station
ENVIRONMENTALLY PERFORMATIVE GROUNDS 1 + 5 + 36 Street Stormwater Curb Inlet & Channel 12 Upper Green Roof 13 Lower Green Roof 17 Roof Surface Available for Solar Panel Array 18 Growing Wall 20 Overflow Raingarden 21 Grate Over Raingarden 22 Meadow Mound 23 Rain Garden 34 Primary Rain Garden
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Final Schematic Plan
The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, NY, United States Designer, Nonprofit Sector, 2012 The Metropolitan Museum of Art hired OLIN as the landscape architect to lead the first renovation of the museum’s Fifth Avenue street presence in forty years. I joined OLIN during the construction documentation phase and contributed to creating details and the specifications manual for the project. The comprehensive renovation envisions a transformation of the museum’s primary entrance façade from its vehicular orientation into a four-block long pedestrian-oriented plaza. The design maintains the iconic front steps as a prominent public seating amenity while improving universal access to the museum, as well as adding interactive fountains, substantial planting, updated lighting, and various advancements in the museum’s contributions to environmental sustainability. Matching the symmetry of the granite fountains are bosques also flanking the main entrance. The design doubles the tree count of the plaza and includes 100 new London Plane trees to provide shade for the allées running beneath them. Scattered throughout will be moveable chairs, much like those found in New York City’s Bryant Park, another OLIN project from years prior. Such seating provides patrons with infinite viewing opportunities as they sit and enjoy the plaza. To offer a safe and more appealing evening presence, the new lighting program employs a diffused system of LED lights. The hierarchy of the system provides wayfinding and offers visual appeal focused upon the architecture of the museum and the fountains and bosques of the plaza. Regarding the plaza’s support of environmental sustainability, it concurrently manages stormwater while reducing the heat island effect of its hardscaping. The increase of shade trees supports a reduction of 25º Fahrenheit and a reduction of stormwater runoff by upwards of 1390 gallons per tree. Additionally, the plaza implements suspended permeable paving that allows for subsurface storage for runoff. This stormwater receives some treatment from planters and tree pits, and is then directed into storage and released slowly back into the City’s infrastructure to help reduce polluted events of combined sewage overflow. All of this is achieved out of site of patrons and without detracting from the formality of plaza or the museum’s historic landmark status.
Final Renderings for The New Plaza
CLOSING THE GAP WITH RAINWATER HARVESTING City of Vancouver Greenest City Action Team Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Research Consultant, Public Sector, 2011 As a graduate student, I was chosen to be a Greenest City Scholar and was contracted to perform research to help activate Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Plan. The plan provides the framework for The City to become the greenest city of the developed world by the year 2020. In the report, I demonstrated the work of seven international cities leading in water conservation to implement and incentivize rainwater harvesting and grey water reuse policy and community action. Collectively, the case studies provided the necessary insights to answer the guiding research question for the report: What combination of programs utilizing primarily rainwater harvesting and water reuse would be necessary to achieve the desirable 12% gap in the 33% reduction of per capita water consumption by 2020? The documentation collected through my research provided a diverse sampling of policy drivers and corresponding incentives to set precedent for Vancouver. Subsequently, the interdepartmental interviews I performed and information I gathered told both the qualitative and quantitative stories for Vancouver. Subsequently, it illustrated the remaining work necessary to support rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse citywide. To move Vancouver forward and overcome the Vancouverite belief in the myth of infinite water, as well as other barriers to full utilization of these sources, the report concluded with a series of 18 informed recommendations help reach the water conservation goal. All are under consideration and a few have since been implemented by the City.
Methodology Before initiating research for this report, the following question was posed: What combination of programs utilizing primarily rainwater harvesting and water reuse would be necessary to achieve the desirable 12% reduction of per capita water consumption by 2020? To produce supporting documentation, it was determined a report involving several case studies of international municipalities with rainwater harvesting (RWH) and greywater reuse (GWR), the two non-potable water sources with the safest and most widespread use, be created. A literature review from a range of publications highlighted that the stories of both water-starved regions as well as those with similar weather and precipitation patterns as Vancouver be explained. The result provided a diverse sampling of policy drivers and corresponding incentives from other municipalities before the story of Vancouver was explored. To learn this story, a series of interviews with several key individuals from various City and Metro Vancouver departments were carried out to discuss what efforts have been made regarding this topic. The result is the Greenest City 2020 International Water Harvesting Case Study Report. It provides a comprehensive survey of relative best practices to help inform Vancouver of high level and local level RWH and GWR policies and incentive mechanisms.
Greenest City Action Team Goal 8: Closing the Gap With Rainwater Harvesting July 29th, 2011
Case Studies To reach the GCAT targets pertaining to water, a well planned strategy is needed to ensure that resources are allocated effectively. Because water quality already meets stringent standards, efforts will focus primarily on reducing city water consumption and promoting water conservation. The following sections outline various programs gleaned from related international case studies that will aid Vancouver towards reaching its water goals by providing precedent and guidance. The selected cities are as follows:
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Tucson, Arizona, USA Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Bangalore, Karnataka, India Portland, Oregon, USA Seoul, Seoul National Capital Area, South Korea Guelph, Ontario, Canada Seattle, Washington, USA
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Regional Watershed Mapping
The Inspiration: Protected Headwaters of The Coquitlam Reservoir
The ORCHARD GARDEN The University of British Columbia Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Graduate Research Assistant/Lead Designer, Nonprofit Sector, 2011 The Orchard Garden is a collaborative project between the faculties of Education, Land & Food Systems, and Landscape Architecture at the University of British Columbia (UBC). It aims to cultivate a living outdoor classroom that invites learners across disciplines to explore and connect theory to practice through the relationships between teaching, learning, and growing organic food. As a researcher and designer, I applied my expertise with allotment garden layout and site furnishings design to help transform the satellite garden of the UBC Farm into an outdoor classroom. My work ranged from laborer and fabricator to creator of the garden’s 5-year master plan. The primary goal of the project was to provide collaborative and experiential learning opportunities for students, faculty, and staff, as well as for primary education teachers from across the greater community. The team undertook pedagogical research to provide direction and opportunities for testing several designs of space. Of the guiding principles for the design of the site are the following: •
Recognize a sense of urgency regarding our current global social and ecological crises.
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Honor a playful, exploratory attitude toward teaching and learning.
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Provide a space for innovative landscape design, curriculum and pedagogy.
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Support and transform teacher education.
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Recognize and explore the relationships between land, food and healthy communities.
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Acknowledge the complex social and ecological history of the land.
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Create an interdisciplinary space for teaching, learning and research.
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Build on and complement successes at the UBC Farm, Centre for Sustainable Food Systems by creating an urban-scale, land-based outdoor classroom.
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Create an inviting space through active community participation at all stages of the project.
Teaching Local Teachers How to Teach Outside
CHINATOWN: THREE STORIES OF HOME Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Area Society Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Filmmaker, Nonprofit Sector, 2011 Created to help progress dialogue efforts within the community and increase the outreach with the School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia, I directed, shot, edited, and produced a short film to address the controversial issues surrounding affordable housing in Vancouver’s Chinatown. It transcends the topic of housing to consider the question of “home” by telling the story of three iconic individuals. Since its debut, the film continues to inspire groups working with housing issues in the diverse and rapidly-changing community. Since 2005, Chinatown has been the focus of a different kind of development strategy— revitalization. The main strategy for achieving This economic goal is the introduction of a substantial increase in market housing to the neighborhood. Having your home in Chinatown is on the cusp of meaning something entirely new for the neighborhood. What now does housing and having a home in Chinatown mean? This film is meant to be a tool for dialogue between any parties steeped in negotiation, discussion, or, simply an interest in the topic of the revitalization of Chinatown and the current contentious issues regarding affordable housing in Vancouver. Through the film, three stories about the neighborhood will come to light. Chinatown as it once existed, where it is currently, and how it might particularly be shaped for the future…This film attempts to communicate, with nuance, subtlety, and humanity, the story of the Chinatown’s housing past, present, and future. To view the film, visit: http://vimeo.com/22144826
The long table The City of Vancouver & CityStudio Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Researcher/Project Director, Public & Nonprofit Sectors, 2011-2012 To continue my work with the City of Vancouver helping it to achieve its desired greenest city status, I was selected to be a member of the first ever CityStudio Cohort. The program is a collaboration between post-secondary institutions and the City to transform Vancouver into the classroom and a living lab. Having already researched the role of municipalities to progress urban sustainability, I joined CityStudio to explore community engagement and activation. Each of the city staff who identified needs to help implement the Greenest City Action Plan also identified a strong need to connect with community stakeholders. The goals, my team learned, could not be achieved without the involvement of the residents of Vancouver and their contributions towards implementation. Therefore, rather than work towards a singular goal, I helped to build a portable 30’ table from a salvaged downed park tree, and developed programming to help deliver each of the goals to communities and to help them in turn deliver ideas to the City. The pilot event addressed the objective of reducing “per capita water consumption by 33% by 2020.� The Long Table Series brought a community together, provided a process by which one could obtain and have help installing a rain barrel, and offered guest lectures to contextualize the use of a rain barrel with the larger story of urban water. Most importantly, the event built community around the implementation of the goals by people getting together in a space, talking about sustainability, participating in idea creation, and building relationships with one other. To date, The Long Table continues to live on with dialogue events throughout the city.
DO YOU WANT A RAIN BARREL?
Come get one and see how it works on Saturday December 3! 12:00 - 6:00 pm Saturday, December 03, 2011 1800 Spyglass Place False Creek Sea Wall Under south side Cambie Bridge
Members of the Mount Pleasant community are invited to gather around The Long Table to talk about water in your neighbourhood and in your city!
Get a rain barrel Installation Demos Water Taste Tests Lost Streams Maps Puddle Jumping
The Long Table Series are public events that bring neighbours together to meet, learn, and collaborate around practical opportunities for engaging the Greenest City goals.
Story Sharing by Community Stakeholders
1.778.847.5441 | hello@joshuawelsh.com