Drexel University Master Plan Spring 2012
Andropogon Associates | Kittelson & Associates | Rickes Associates | W-ZHA | Meliora Environmental Design
Contents Vision
Action
• MASTER PLAN VISION: AN APPLICATION OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN VISION • VISION PRINCIPLES • MASTER PLAN DIALOGUE
• SEQUENCES AND AGENTS • LANDSCAPE AND BUILDING INITIATIVES/ UNIVERSITY CITY CAMPUS > Major Initiatives: New Construction and/or Significant Renovation or Reoccupancy
Strategy • STRATEGIES 1. Distinguish Drexel’s campus as an urban university district 2. Bring the campus to the street 3. Draw the Drexel community together around shared places 4. Create an innovation district • THE FRAMEWORK 5. Space Needs 6. Sustainability 7. Landscape and Streets 8. Buildings 9. Lighting 10. Air Rights (Rail Yards Development) 11. Transportation 12. Retail
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
30th Street Station Gateway 3101 Market Street 32nd Street Esplanade Alumni Engineering Labs The Armory Curtis Hall (and Randell Hall) Design Arts Annex Dining & Intercultural Terrace (33rd and Arch) Five-Star Parking Site Frederick O. Hess Engineering Research Laboratories—see Lancaster/34th Street Redevelopment High Line Park/31st Street JFK Boulevard (Armory to 30th Street Station) John A. Daskalakis Athletic Center and Recreation Center Korman Computing Center Lancaster/34th Redevelopment Lancaster Walk Language Communication Center (and PSA Building) Leonard Pearlstein Business Learning Center Lot F (Abbott’s Dairy Site) Main Building
• • • • • • • • • • • •
Main Quadrangle Market and Chestnut Streets Myers Hall Neuropsychology Clinic—see Language and Communication Center Nesbitt Hall North Campus Common One Drexel Plaza Retail at the GSB (General Services Building) Rush Building Stratton Hall Tutoring Terrace URBN Center
> Minor Initiatives: Upgrades and Maintenance
• 3201 Arch Street • Bossone Research Enterprise Center • Bossone Research Enterprise Center Terrace • Buckley Turf Field • Caneris Residence Hall • Center for Automation Technology (CAT) • Disque Hall • Earle Mack School of Law • James Creese Student Union Complex • Kelly Residence Hall • LeBow Engineering Center • MacAlister Residence Hall • Mandell Theater DREXEL UNIVERSITY MASTER PLAN
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• North Residence Hall • Paul Peck Alumni Center • Paul Peck Problem Solving and Research Center • Race Street Residence Hall • Ross Commons • Towers Residence Hall • University Crossings • Van Rensselaer Residence Hall • Vidas Athletic Complex • W.W. Hagerty Library
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Vision The Master Plan Vision applies Drexel’s Strategic Plan Vision to the important roles the campus can play in furthering the university’s mission. The Strategic Plan’s emphasis on Drexel as an urban research university built upon the foundation of the co-operative education model highlights the unique identity and potential of a campus that anchors an urban district.
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VISION
Master Plan Vision
An application of the Strategic Plan Vision for an urban university.
As an urban university, Drexel has the unique ability to spur institutional, local and global engagement— the key to its growing leadership in education and research. Drexel has framed this master plan around partnerships designed to create an urban campus district distinguished by livability, sustainability and innovation. University buildings and public spaces will embrace and enliven city streets.
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Formal and informal gathering places will animate the campus and foster collaborative learning. This vibrant environment will nurture the personal, civic and academic discovery that inspires Drexel’s mission.
VISION
Master Plan Elements
STRATEGIC PLAN VISION AND MISSION
MASTER PLAN VISION
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STRATEGIES
FOUR VISION PRINCIPLES
ACTIONS
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VISION
Principles The Master Plan’s four Vision Principles guide decision-making as implementation unfolds over multiple years. This ensures that the Master Plan’s outcomes will stay true to its goals while allowing flexible responses to future and unforeseen opportunities and challenges that may arise. The Vision Principles all build on Drexel’s special opportunity to engage the activities and places of its urban environment in West Philadelphia to advance its mission with vigor and distinction.
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VISION > PRINCIPLES
1
Distinguish Drexel’s campus as a vibrant urban university district.
“We’re in Philadelphia, a hotbed of thought… that’s why I came.”
Drexel University should be a premier center of discovery through powerful collaborative thinking within the campus community and applied learning in the world beyond. Drexel’s FIGURE 1 urban campus district offers the competitive Drexel’s Urban Campus District advantage of placing its diverse community VIBRANT NEIGHBORHOODS members within an easy five-minute walk of each other—facilitating cross-disciplinary NEIGHBORHOOD ENGAGEMENT conversations among students, faculty staff and visitors that more isolated campuses cannot match. Streets and blocks from 30th Street Station to 36th Street, and from Chestnut Street to ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT Powelton Avenue, should clearly express Drexel’s CITY ENGAGEMENT presence and identity while inviting an overlap of complementary community retail, workplaces and VIBRANT CITY housing.
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Drexel’s campus core emphasizes portals to academic growth, while its edges offer varied portals to the neighborhoods, city and world beyond.
VISION > PRINCIPLES
2
Bring the campus to the street. The streets that intersect with Drexel’s urban campus should be places of connection rather than division. These streets should offer unparalleled access to a full spectrum of FIGURE 2 campus and local destinations, as well as to Active Street Edges the city and the world, while giving priority to ACTIVE EDGES implemented the safety and consideration of those walking, needed using transit, biking and driving. These streets STREET-THEME GROUPS academic engagement “Life between buildings can also become Drexel’s signature version of city engagement is not merely pedestrian neighborhood engagement vibrant neighborhood the campus quadrangle—lined with seating, traffic or recreational verdant plantings and lively university and or social activities. Life between buildings retail destinations that reinforce the sense of comprises the entire community on campus and knit Drexel into the life spectrum of activities, of Philadelphia. which combine to make communal spaces in cities and residential areas meaningful and attractive.”
JAN GEHL IN LIFE BETWEEN BUILDINGS (1971)
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Each street around campus plays a unique role, individually and within a group of similar streets, in supporting the urban campus districts described in Principle 1. Every Drexel building and its ground-floor activities will play a critical role in enhancing the character and quality of the streets it faces.
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VISION > PRINCIPLES
3
Draw the community together around shared places.
“ Seventy percent of learning takes place outside of the classroom.”
Persis Rickes, who researched Drexel’s academic-space needs for this master plan, observes that “70 percent of learning takes place outside of the classroom.” Effective teaching facilities are settings where students, faculty and staff can meet to expand conversations FIGURE 3 that start in classrooms and laboratories and Community-Building Destinations carry these extracurricular conversations back GATHERING SPACES to academic spaces. The growing collaboration campus buildings among Drexel’s colleges and departments further campus green spaces along streets underscores a need for the campus to promote frequent dialogue among diverse faculty, staff and students. Drexel’s campus district should consciously provide a variety of formal and informal meeting places—from faculty conference rooms to student recreation spaces, from campus lawns to neighborhood cafes—that build n scholarship by building social connections.
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A variety of on- and off-campus gathering places will strengthen learning opportunities and social connections within and across communities.
VISION > PRINCIPLES
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Expand the innovation district For nearly a century, Drexel has demonstrated the value of a multifaceted educational process that integrates academic teaching with applied learning in the workplace. In the 21st century, Drexel can intensify this immersion in multiple learning contexts to include more original research conducted by the campus community and FIGURE 4 Land Uses in and Around the Campus USE MIX private-sector partners and a greater integration Institutional of the spheres of studying, working and living. This Market office/ research/hotel will harness the power of collaborative thinking to Market housing reach new levels of creative innovation by individual Prime retail node members and by the community as a whole. Drexel’s urban setting offers a special opportunity to integrate the activities of the campus, community and workplace into a coherent, dynamic and fully n accessible district that facilitates innovation and “ We are creative, diverse, An intensive mix of university, commercial and residential activity demonstrates its rewards. near 30th Street Station and along Market Street will expand entrepreneurial, Drexel’s innovation opportunities, while areas emphasizing impatient, unpretentious and a little fearless.”
MAJOR PRESENCE MODERATE PRESENCE MAJOR PRESENCE MODERATE PRESENCE MAJOR PRESENCE MODERATE PRESENCE
residential and neighborhood retail activity will build bonds with Powelton Village and Mantua.
DREXEL PRESIDENT JOHN FRY, INVESTITURE ADDRESS, APRIL 15, 2011 DREXEL UNIVERSITY MASTER PLAN
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Dialogue
MASTER PLAN
Over 1,000 faculty, staff and students representing the full spectrum of Drexel’s community took part in defining a campus vision and determining how to achieve it.
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VISION > DIALOGUE
OUR APPROACH An effective campus master plan must earn the enthusiasm and commitment of a broad variety of stakeholders—from students to faculty, neighbors to city officials—to compel the many actions needed to produce results. For this reason, the development of this master plan involved extensive stakeholder discussions with groups large and small. These forums included: • Periodic meetings with the Master Plan Steering Committee and its successor group tied into the Drexel Strategic Plan process, the Master Plan Task Force, each of which provided a variety of perspectives from Drexel faculty and staff and from neighboring residents and institutions. • Meetings with academic deans and administrators to understand academic program opportunities and challenges. • Ongoing meetings with city officials and staff from the Science Center, Penn and other area institutions. • 7-9 February 2011: Forums with faculty, staff and students to gain perspectives on assets, aspirations and challenges. Videotaped interviews with individual stakeholders were incorporated into the four-minute Drexel at 150 video [add hyperlink]
• 21-23 February 2011: “State of the Campus” presentations reporting on conclusions from the Feb. 7-9 forums and inviting further discussion of campus issues. On Feb. 21, the master plan team made this presentation at the monthly meeting of the Powelton Village Civic Association. A forum on Feb. 23 featured presentations by architects of recent Drexel buildings. • 1-4 April 2011: The annual Department of Architecture and Interiors design charrette focused on the campus master plan. More than 50 students from a variety of academic programs worked in groups to re-envision portions of Drexel’s urban campus district. The Triangle’s coverage of the charrette appears at http://thetriangle.org/2011/04/08/students-plan-21st-centurydrexel/ Concepts developed at the charrette appear on the master plan website http://drexelmasterplan.wordpress.com/. DREXEL UNIVERSITY MASTER PLAN
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VISION > DIALOGUE
• 16 May 2011: Open meetings on draft master plan focused on the topics of research and student life. • 9 December 2011: Presentation and discussion of the draft master plan with groups of faculty, staff and students.
• The discussion forum at http:// drexelmasterplan.wordpress. com/ features ongoing postings of master plan concepts and implementation actions and invites comment and conversation by everyone. Additional master plan discussion is hosted on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/ Drexelmasterplan/199373186761435
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VISION > DIALOGUE
WHAT WE HEARD: CORE QUALITIES, OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES Common themes heard from across the spectrum of stakeholders: • Drexel’s continuing growth marks this as a time of dynamic change. • Recent improvements are appreciated, but we need more. • Learning and research are increasingly collaborative. • Campus-community interests are converging more than ever. Common themes expressed about the campus environment: • Campus lacks identity. • Despite many pedestrians, there are few pedestrian-friendly environments. • Campus facilities are aging, crowded. • Many academic and research activities suffer from dispersal. Key qualities shaping Drexel’s identity DREXEL IS… AMBITIOUS Strengths/Opportunities/Aspirations: “We want to see this place rise.” • Improve the quality of every student’s Drexel experience. • Continue to increase enrollment—to expand educational resources and their reach. • Keep programs evolving in response to a changing world, changing markets. • Continue to improve facilities to support a comprehensive research university. • Reinforce campus as the catalytic center of a dynamic learning community. • Through these steps, continue to raise Drexel’s profile and competitive position.
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VISION > DIALOGUE
Challenges: “…but a lot of buildings need heavy renovation…” • Past ambition has already grown programs; faculty, staff and facilities may still be catching up. • Drexel must be increasingly competitive for higher-caliber students, faculty and staff. • Physical constraints will shape the form and cost of campus growth. DREXEL IS… MOBILE Strengths/Opportunities/Aspirations: “I see it as a bridge to West Philadelphia.” • Co-op students are on the move daily between study and work, assisted by unparalleled transit connections. • Students have access to a growing array of international co-ops and other experiences. • Growing numbers of international students are seeking Drexel. • New technologies are enabling better distance learning. Challenges: “There’s no campus connectivity at all.” • Personal safety is a real concern—especially after dark and on weekends. Blank buildings, empty streets and dark corners don’t help. • Traffic is an inconvenient, potentially hazardous obstacle to pedestrians and bicyclists. • Connections among Drexel’s campuses can be difficult and lengthy—yet they’re vital to daily teaching, research and learning. • Language instruction and intercultural activities need to grow to match an increasingly international community. • Must build a more cohesive student community among commuter, co-op and on-campus students.
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VISION > DIALOGUE DREXEL IS … INNOVATIVE Strengths/Opportunities/Aspirations: “We’re in Philadelphia, a hotbed of thought… that’s why I came.” • Research, including at the undergraduate level, forms a growing part of Drexel’s mission and teaching. • Drexel continues to push the envelope of technology—in both development and application. • Drexel students, faculty and staff are quick to pursue promising new learning methods. • Commercialization opportunities will grow from the confluence of innovation, entrepreneurship and investment. QUEEN LANE
Challenges “We’re put into space that is not as good as what we do.” • Some of Drexel’s learning and research activities suffer from excessive separation. • Growing demands for effective learning places require more and/or better academic facilities—labs, study spaces, classrooms, etc. DREXEL IS… INTERACTIVE
UNIVERSITY CITY
Strengths/Opportunities/Aspirations: “Everybody’s excited about being here.” CENTER CITY
• The Drexel community welcomes a diverse group of people to learn together. • “Philadelphia’s University” is highly accessible to the neighborhood, city and region. • A multitude of academic colleges and departments interact in teaching and research. • Student organizations and recreational activity have mushroomed with increased enrollment and on-campus housing. Challenges “…but it doesn’t have integrated public spaces.” • Many campus destinations are closed in the evening—a real problem for coop students and an undesirable message to the community. • The campus lacks “in-between” spaces for informal interaction among students, faculty and staff. Spaces like these—whether dedicated conference rooms, alcoves with comfortable seating, cafes or inviting outdoor landscapes—are vital to learning and student life. • Weak physical campus identity means many in the community miss Drexel’s vitality, openness and overall presence. DREXEL UNIVERSITY MASTER PLAN
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VISION > DIALOGUE
DREXEL IS… INVOLVED Strengths/Opportunities/Aspirations: “We are the professionals…who will work ten blocks away.” • Students, faculty and staff are immersed in civic life, thanks in large part to an urban campus intertwined with the life of its city. • The Drexel community aims to make a real, positive difference in the world, near and far. Challenges “…but this is by far the least green campus.” • Student housing places stresses on Drexel’s larger community context • The Drexel community and its neighbors seek more amenities—stores, places to eat, green space and more—that support quality of life. • Streets and public spaces around Drexel need to be extraordinary as well as ordinary.
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Strategy The core strategies that guide the plan are organized by the four Vision Principles. Following the strategies, a framework of more specific recommendations addresses interrelated planning issues: space needs, sustainability, landscape and streets, buildings, community-focused development, lighting, transportation and retail market opportunity.
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Framework 5 Space needs 6 Sustainability 7 Landscape & Streets 8 Buildings 9 Air Rights (rail yards development) 10 Lighting 11 Transportation 12 Retail
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6 Sustainability In 2010, Drexel made a strong commitment to environmental sustainability by purchasing wind power credits equal to all of its electricity consumption. This master plan gives Drexel the chance to increase the impact of that commitment and enhance its national leadership. The plan enables the university to take responsibility for its environmental impacts through initiatives that enhance community and economic resilience and infuse a pursuit of sustainability into the university’s academic mission.
THE ENVIRONMENT • Energy. The master plan’s focus on developing buildings and infrastructure using a dense, mixed-use, transit- and pedestrian-oriented approach will help Drexel minimize energy consumption and costs. This approach reduces the need for energy-intensive automobile use, encouraging energy-efficient walking, biking and transit use instead. Higher-density buildings generally enclose more usable floor area in comparison to surface area than low-density buildings, reducing heating and cooling loads. Compact mixed-use development on Drexel-owned parcels offers further opportunity to link buildings with district energytransfer loops, enabling the use of waste heat from some buildings (academic and office buildings that need cooling under most conditions) in other buildings that may need it (such as residential buildings, which have inherently longer heating seasons) and in absorption chillers, providing additional cooling. Individual buildings should incorporate energy-saving elements such as extensive daylighting and energy transfer between incoming and outgoing ventilation air. Drexel should also explore opportunities for renewable power sources on or near campus, such as geothermal wells and installation of solar panels on buildings or above adjacent rail yards. • Water. The landscape, street and development initiatives in this plan offer extensive opportunity for managing stormwater in ways that reduce the rate and improve
quality of runoff and that capture stormwater to nourish plantings along streets and in campus green spaces. Drexel’s collaboration with the City of Philadelphia on new stormwater infrastructure along JFK Boulevard will help create a model for further implementation of the city’s progressive new stormwater management policy [www.phillyriverinfo.org/programs/subprogrammain. aspx?Id=StormwaterManual], as well as create an attractive setting for new mixed-use development serving the campus. For new development, stormwaterStormwater Management management Guidance Manual approaches that link landscapes Version 2.0 Revised: April 29, 2011 and buildings into integrated systems can provide landand cost-efficient ways to meet city requirements. Installation City of Philadelphia of green roofs offers important benefits beyond stormwater control, helping keep Drexel’s The plan incorporates numerous opportunities to manage stormwater urban campus runoff in ways that will meet the City’s district cooler in tough new standards while serving warm weather multiple campus needs. and providing an aesthetic benefit for people overlooking the roofs of lower structures. Collecting runoff in cisterns can help supply vital irrigation for the many street trees and smaller plantings needed to make the streets around campus more hospitable. Prepared by: Philadelphia Water Department Planning & Environmental Services Division
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STRATEGY > FRAMEWORK > SUSTAINABILITY
• Graywater systems. Introducing such systems into buildings merits serious consideration as an element of the University’s commitment to reduce water consumption and sewage production. The master plan’s emphasis on mixeduse development makes graywater systems possible. It places residential buildings—which produce surplus graywater from sinks and showers—close to academic and commercial buildings that can use that water to flush toilets and close to plantings that need irrigation, in both instances minimizing piping and pumping needs. • Health. New buildings developed under the master plan should promote the good health of their occupants through use of interior finishes, furnishings and other materials that promote good air quality. New buildings should also introduce significant daylight to achieve associated health benefits. Use building-cleaning products formulated without chemicals harmful to human health or the environment. The master plan’s emphasis on walkability throughout the urban campus district will further enhance health, as people who regularly walk and use transit are significantly more likely than people who drive to meet the CDC’s recommendations for daily physical activity. • Building Standards. Drexel commits to meeting ambitious sustainability performance standards in its building projects to produce environmental and financial benefits. • Education. Drexel’s academic and research enterprises are pioneering development and application of green technologies and making the case for their significance every day. Integrate this innovative work into every aspect of the curriculum and experiential learning, Utilize information 50 | D R E X E L U N I V E R S I T Y M A S T E R P L A N
displays, “energy dashboards” and other means to encourage a greater sense of personal responsibility and build broad awareness and understanding of these approaches among members of the Drexel community and its visitors.
The bio wall in the new Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building (left) includes the largest “living wall” in North America. Twelve species of tropical plants covering 1,500 square feet filter volatile organic compounds out of the building’s air.
Consider displaying real-time campus energy use (above) as a positive way of encouraging greater efforts to cut the university’s consumption and its carbon footprint.
7 Landscape and streets A campus landscape provides value to its institution beyond simple aesthetics. This value includes: • Presentation of the campus—reflecting the aspirations and quality of the institution. • Usability—fostering social interactions and organized events. • Comfort—providing a safe and physically comfortable setting for learning. • Environmental function—providing ecological services such as rainwater management.
landscape stewardship. Place-specific actions, which are summarized in enlarged plans in the Action section of the master plan, show how these strategies come together in various areas of campus.
LANDSCAPE FRAMEWORK Create streets of distinct character.
Each of the streets in Drexel’s urban campus district has The journeys between buildings are among the most memorable a distinct role to play according to its scale, adjacent uses, experiences an “alma mater” offers. At Drexel’s University City connections and other characteristics. Each street should convey a unique identity while also contributing to a collective Campus, the experience along the streetscape is just as vital as identity among other streets in its theme group (Figure 21). the quality of its open spaces. In both cases, FIGURE 21 Drexel holds great potential to become a Active Street Edges dynamic, pedestrian-oriented urban campus that embodies the convenience, diversity and ACTIVE EDGES energy of urban living. implemented To fulfill this potential, Drexel’s campus needs: needed • An intentional structure for landscape—a physical structure that supports multiple purSTREET-THEME GROUPS academic engagement poses and functioning systems, such as social city engagement and environmental systems. This enhanced neighborhood engagement structure can be developed through strategic vibrant neighborhood retrofits designed to further holistic strategies. • Investment in the landscape (manpower, resources)—a restructuring of current arrangements. The principles that guide this intentional structure for the Drexel landscape are outlined as a series of framework elements that address campus identity, socially vibrant streetscapes, open spaces that bring people together and innovative and sustainable landscape practices. The framework directly advances the master plan strategies. Following the framework, this document presents guidelines for fostering sustainability through landscape and effective
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STRATEGY > FRAMEWORK > LANDSCAPE & STREETS
FIGURE 22
Drexel Campus Illustrative Landscape Plan
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STRATEGY > FRAMEWORK > LANDSCAPE & STREETS
• Market—Drexel’s campus crossroads, academic spine and front door to Philadelphia. Prime connections to transit, Science Center, Center City.
• Arch, Cherry and Race—Drexel-themed neighborhood streets at the center of undergraduate student life. Significant view corridors to downtown.
• Chestnut—University City’s neighborhood “Main Street.” Engaging and engaged by Drexel and Penn, as well as an emerging mixed-use neighborhood of jobs, loft housing, hotels and retail/dining near the Schuylkill.
• Warren and Filbert—Drexel-themed streets linking core campus with western campus expansion.
Drexel’s campus is tightly woven into its West Philadelphia setting. Drexel-owned buildings on the campus periphery • Lancaster Avenue—Powelton Village’s neighborhood “Main sit among other institutional buildings and residences. This Street.” Housing and retail/dining bringing campus and “crenellated edge” represents one of the campus’s great potential neighborhood communities together and attracting target strengths, as it gives the campus local relevance and makes faculty, staff and students to choose Drexel. possible mutual neighborhood benefits and the convenience of • Powelton Avenue—Drexel’s front door to Powelton Village. urban living. However, it also raises the challenge of how to give A seam for campus and neighborhood communities, the campus a recognizable and coherent identity. primarily residential in character, with retail/dining in selected locations. Walkable campus corridor to athletic Approaches fields. • Improve “gateway” arrival points around the periphery • 33rd—Drexel’s North Campus “Main Street.” A string of of campus, including the vehicular arrival sequence, key campus windows and informal gathering places that links campus-neighborhood intersections and transit stops. living and learning spaces. Activated through a combination • Create a focused center of campus that is vibrant and of ground-floor amenities and activity programming for strongly identifiable. flexible outdoor spaces adjacent to the street. • Improve navigation through and within campus, including • 31st, 32nd and 34th—Supporting streets linking core sequenced landmarks/artwork and signage, which would campus functions, with 31st emerging as a green connection also be useful for admissions tours. from Penn Park to Market, JFK Boulevard and air-rights development to the north; 32nd playing a growing role in Make gateway points evident and prominent with consistent connecting to the University City neighborhood and airstreetscape features: decorative paving, signage, lighting, trees rights development; and 34th making increasingly important and other built elements that mark the edge of the campus connections to Drexel expansion along Lancaster Avenue precinct. Enhance the “heart of campus” and other significant and Market Street and SEPTA’s 34th Street station. points along Market Street both as immediately recognizable • 30th and 36th—Emerging front doors to the west and east. Offering potential gateways to Drexel and serving as seams with adjacent communities. • JFK Boulevard—“Main Street” of the emerging 30th Street Station neighborhood. Link to community events at the Armory. Gateway to Drexel air-rights development. Focus for student entertainment.
landmarks and as socially vibrant places that act as focal points for the campus spaces around them. At a smaller scale, emphasize important campus navigation points—such as the thresholds to important spaces and main walks—with art, signage and maps.
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Vehicular Arrival Point hia Philadelp Vehicular-Scale GateArt Museum Vehicular arrival point ways: iconic buildings, Vehicular Arrival Pointhelp dene the edge Vehicular-Scale GateGateways large signage, literal ways: iconic buildings, of campus while allowing the Vehicular-scale gateways: Vehicular-Scale Gate- iconic gateways large signage, buildings, large literal signage, literal interweaving of neighborhood a ways: iconic buildings, gateways gateways Pedestrian Arrival Point: large signage, literal Drexel land uses for mutual ben transit stops, campus/ Pedestrian Arrival Point: Pedestrian point: transit gatewaysarrival neighborhood intersecstops, neighborhood transitcampus/ stops, campus/ intersections Ɵ ons The “heart of campus” at 33rd a neighborhood intersecPedestrian Arrival Point: Ɵtransit ons stops, Market, and other key points al campus/ Heart Campus Heart ofofcampus neighborhood intersecMarket Street, should become Heart of Campus Key internalnodes nodes internal Ɵons recognizable landmarks that Key internal nodes Key Wayfinding Waynding Points: points: iconicthe art, campus idenƟty strengthen Heart of Campus maps iconic art, nding maps Points: Key Way both students and visitors. Key internal nodes iconic art, maps Drexel-Neighborhood Drexel-Neighborhood District Improvements: street tree planting, District Improvements: Drexel-Neighborhood Key Way nding Points: sidewalk rehabilitation street planƟ ng, District Improvements: iconictree art, maps Legend sidewalk rehabiliƟ aƟ on street tree planƟng, Potential partnership opportunities Drexel-Neighborhood sidewalk rehabiliƟaƟfor on with UCD stakeholders PotenƟal Partnership streetscape enhancement District Improvements: OpportuniƟ es with Vehicular Arrival Point PotenƟal Partnership street tree planƟfor ng, UCD Stakeholders OpportuniƟ es with sidewalk rehabiliƟ aƟon streetscape enhancment UCD Stakeholders forVehicular-Scale Gatestreetscape enhancment PotenƟal Partnership
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The “heart campus” at 33rd and Market Street, should Market, andofother keybecome points along Market, andlandmarks other keybecome points along recognizable that Market Street, should strengthen thelandmarks campus Market Street, should idenƟ become recognizable that ty for both students and visitors. recognizable thatty for strengthen thelandmarks campus idenƟ both students visitors. strengthen theand campus idenƟty for both students and visitors.
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Enhance the main approaches to the campus from main Drexel in particular at JFK Boulevard and highways and thoroughfares, Park Spring Garden Street, to better represent the University City District (UCD) as a whole. Establishing partnerships with other UCD stakeholders to achieve a greener, more attractive, more pedestrian-friendly arrival experience to West Philadelphia SA SA PS would benefit everyone. Similarly, consider collaborating with os Ross R Ros neighborhood groups to facilitate streetscape improvements along um nearby residential streets—rebuilding sidewalks, planting um eu l e ill Millene y ity unity mu Comassisting street trees and with other revitalization initiatives en de y K llly Kel Gard would help improve perceptions of Drexel’s campus environs e de i si s ths t rt r rths N Northsi and foster good community relations. Street S
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Historic urban streets – some now pedestrian walks – converge at Drexel’s campus Drexel’s lies at acampus. nexus in the urban Drexel’s most fabric of West prominent open spaces are based Philadelphia, another of the campus’s great strengths. Market these corridors,Walk which and are Woodland Walk, Street, Lancasteraround Avenue/Lancaster travelled by many people outside which traverse the University City District, all converge at the of Drexel’s immediate community. center of campus,Drexel just also twohas blocks Street Station. The open from spaces30th that are Armory, a distinctive historictoarchitectural most relevant its own campuslandmark, sits on an two scales of connected by axis with the westneighborhood. entrance of These the train station, open spaces complement each other JFK Boulevard. The West Bank Greenway trail passes through and present different opportuni�es campus. These corridors have a presence and visibility for campusall iden� ty and for bringing beyond the immediate campus community, positioning the Drexel community Open Space Network:together.
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Historic urban streets – some now pedestrian walks – converge at Drexel’s campus. Drexel’s most Legend prominent open spaces are based around these corridors, which are travelled by many people outside Campusspaces spaces connected to of Drexel’sCampus immediate community. connected Drexel alsoto has openurban spaces that are larger pa� ern larger urban pattern most relevant to its own campus neighborhood. These two scales of Campusspaces spaces Campus of of thethe local open spaces complement each other local neighborhood pattern neighborhood pa� ern and present different opportuni� es for campus iden�ty and for bringing Civicconnections Connec� ons the DrexelCivic community together.
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Dec 7, 2011 Progress Copy DREXEL UNIVERSITY MASTER PLAN
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STRATEGY > FRAMEWORK > LANDSCAPE & STREETS
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At a local scale, Drexel also has spaces that are closely associated Strengthen the use of trees and other planting to bring better definition to important open spaces, with their immediate campus neighborhood. These spaces streetscapes and walkways. may be linked to form a local-scale open space network that strengthens the identity of specific campus districts. Primary campus spaces should rank among an institution’s PlanƟng Strategies Approaches most recognizable and memorable landmarks. Drexel has significant spaces with great potential as iconic campus places. • Maintain the continuity of the historic urban fabric and emerging parkways where they pass through Drexel’s campus. Organize trees and other plantings to clarify, not obscure, spatial hierarchy and pattern. Support the campus open space systems • Enhance the visual identity of the historic walks with with large shade-tree planting to provide shade and stronger distinctive paving, seating and tree planting. PlanƟ ng Strategies spatial definition. In contrast, support small-scale campus • Extend the North Campus Commons south to Lancaster spaces, including small plazas, building entries and small garden PlanƟng Strategies Walk and link the spaces. spaces, with additional ornamental landscape plantings such as • Locate outdoor events with external appeal at high-visibility flowering trees, shrubs, ground covers and flowers. sites (cross reference Outdoor Event Spaces Plan). Ex
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Dec 7, 2011 Progr
STRATEGY > FRAMEWORK > LANDSCAPE & STREETS
• Avoid planting shrubs to fix path problems. Modify the walkway system instead. • Plant trees around the edges of open spaces to leave a flexible center space for activity. Group trees in distinct groves that • Strategically screen service areas with a combination of walls, frame views. Avoid planting new trees uniformly through fencing and planting. available open spaces. Approaches
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• Use large shade trees to define large spaces and walks. Unify the campus character and consolidate service Reserve small ornamental trees and flower beds for building- areas. related plantings and more intimate garden spaces. Consolidate service areas to minimize visual and physical • Raise the lower canopy of shade trees for greater clearance impacts on street life, pedestrian circulation and campus over plazas and lawns and to open up important groundlandscapes. Avoid placing service areas parallel to the sidewalk, level views. since this createsService the largest potential impact on the streetscape. • Simplify the campus landscape. Remove or transplant flowering trees and shrubs that are out of place or in poor Structure service areas to minimize Approaches the visual and physical impacts to the condition. street life and the campus seƫng. • Create service access perpendicular to Service Strategies that minimize streetscape frontage, providein screening streets the form of service bays, driveways FIGURE 26 Structure service areas to minimize integrated with the adjacent the visual and physical impacts to the Service Areas Framework Plan or alleys. Screen areas with streetscape or architecture, and service that street life and the campus seƫng. revitalize service streets as mulƟ-use architectural walls and a decorative gate Strategies that minimize streetscape pedestrian precincts will provide frontage, provide screening overall benets to the pedestrian Hall gate). (e.g., the Stratton integrated with the adjacent 76
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streetscape or architecture, and that revitalize service streets as mulƟ-use pedestrian precincts will provide overall benets to the pedestrian expericence.
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Limited Access Streets - pe• Reconfigure selected service streets as destrian oriented, accommodates service streets with access for service pedestrian S Service Entries vehicles and/or move-in day traffic. Use Screening /in Streetscape changes paving material selection to enhancement shift the perception of a service street from a utilitarian necessity to a multipurpose laneway.
Dec 7, 2011 Progress Copy
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DREXEL UNIVERSITY MASTER PLAN US Postal Service
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STRATEGY > FRAMEWORK > LANDSCAPE & STREETS
Create comfortable outdoor places that support social interaction.
to locations with good sunlight exposure, near corners or intersections—places where people naturally pass by.
For many students and faculty, Drexel’s campus is strongly defined by journeys along its streets. As part of building a vibrant, urban experience, streetscapes serve as the arteries of campus: they should be active, enjoyable places where people can meet, hang out and feel refreshed between classes.
Strategies will differ for street right-of-way boundaries. Within the public sidewalk, café tables, narrow planters and other movable furniture can be adapted to narrow spaces and can be removed for clearing winter snow if necessary. On campus property, small plazas opening off the sidewalk can provide additional social space for larger groups of people or even small events.
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To create lively, vibrant streetscapes, Drexel’s streets need more indoor retail and student-life amenities that have a visible and physical connection to the sidewalk, such as outdoor Along the main streets, the thresholds to Drexel’s internal open plazas that allow nearby indoor activities to extend outside in space system should be green, inviting and readily distinguished good weather, regular placement of outdoor furniture where from more incidental spaces along the streetscape (Figure 27). Streetscape AcƟvaƟ people can rest or work, trees and lighting for physical comfort Vibrant urban streetscapes throughout the day. When creating outdoor spaces, give priority for people. They rely on ac 76
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building edges – places to g to do – and on outdoor ame that provide visible, conven se�ngs to for people to gat in comfort. Drexel’s streets benet from addi�onal ame that support social interac�
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FIGURE 27
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Streetscape Activation Framework Plan Active building edge: priority retail sites Active building edge: campus amenities Outdoor plazas – amenities that complement social use of streets (back of ROW) Streetscape amenities – options within ROW Transit nodes (high pedestrian traffic) Gateways to internal campus green spaces
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58 | D R E X E L U N I V E R S I T Y M A S T E R P L A N
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Maintain green and beautiful streets. Street trees and
projects. Details subtly influence how people perceive their other plantings are highly effective in reinforcing the distinctive landscape and represent opportunities for operations staff identity of a street and at enhancing pedestrian comfort. to implement an ongoing series of small improvements that Supporting trees with properly sized tree trenches is essential add up to a significant whole. Drexel’s recent replacement of for their health and longevity. Consider extending tree the concrete Jersey barriers outside the Armory with planters trenches under the sidewalk paving and integrating them with represents a good example of this approach. rainwater-management systems so trees have the moisture and soil volume they require (see Stormwater Management Concept Encourage bicycle use through improved storage facilities and bicycle routes. Diagrams).
Philadelphia has a growing bicycle network and is committed • Coordinate street tree character and details with the campus to providing adequate facilities for cyclists. While the university has a large number of bicyclists on and around campus, the street hierarchy: > Neighborhood streets: trees in planted, connected tree pits few marked on-street lanes end abruptly and offer little hint > Main north-south corridors and other campus streets: trees of a more fully connected system to come. The planned West Bank Greenway trail will link Drexel north to Franklin Park via in unit paving an existing off-street multi-use path along 31st Street north of > Powelton: trees in unit paving; small planters define Bicycle Network FIGURE 28 storefront seating Bicyle Network Framework Plan Suppor�ng the con�nuity and > Market: trees in unit paving or raised PROPOSED effec�veness of the bicycle lan network will improve safety fo planters; trees and planting in center Multiuse trail, off-street cyclists and pedestrians. Prov median addi�onal op�ons and conven On-street bicycle lane for bicycle parking and storage > Chestnut and JFK: small planters define also promote responsible bicy Interim connection sidewalk seating Approaches
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• Incorporate planters into the design of restaurant-style seating areas along the main streetscapes, as a flexible way to provide seasonal flower color and support the creation of social spaces along the sidewalk.
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• Create a planted center boulevard, with trees and ornamental grasses or flowers, along Market Street. Convert unused portions of the existing left-turn lane zone (striped areas) into space for the median. The boulevard creates an additional recognizable landmark for Drexel along Market Street.
• Incorporate a “details up” strategy to supplement larger capital-improvements
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Dec 7, 2011 Progress
STRATEGY > FRAMEWORK > LANDSCAPE & STREETS
Powelton Avenue. It will link south to Penn Park and connect to 30th Street Station and Center City via JFK Boulevard. The City of Philadelphia and University City District have joined to improve bike facilities on other streets around Drexel as well. Figure 28 shows recommended routes for accommodating the Trail and on-street bike routes through Drexel’s urban campus district.
• Extend indoor programming outside. • Provide plenty of comfortable and convenient seating in sunny locations. • Create secondary garden spaces that offer a different experience. • Provide activity to watch, from space for casual sports to organized events.
Approaches
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• Provide secure, covered, long-term storage for bicycles at student residences.
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• Continue to support development of the West Bank Greenway trail.
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Active building edges are as important for the campus green spaces as they are for the streetscape. Coffee shops, dining, study lounges and other community amenities create anchors for social activity. Small plazas with outdoor tables and seating facilitate the extension of indoor activity out into the landscape. Open Space AcƟvaƟ Prioritize the edges of the main spaces, near multiple walkways CreaƟng Shared, Liv for convenience, allowing the center to remain open for casual Outdoor Spaces sports or larger events. Seating needs to be plentiful and placed Campus greenspaces bene
• Continue to coordinate with the City of Philadelphia to improve connections within the existing bicycle network.
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• Provide significantly more bicycle parking at campus FIGURE 29 destinations. Open Space Activation Framework Plan • Implement a bicycle safety program to promote bicycle-riding habits that improve the safety of both riders and pedestrians. eet
Greens Green spaces – gardens Outdoor plazas – amenities that support social use of greens Active building edges – campus amenities
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60 | D R E X E L U N I V E R S I T Y M A S T E R P L A N
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Open green spaces are an essential complement to vibrant streetscapes within Drexel’s urban campus. These spaces have yet to reach their potential as lively, active social places that also provide quieter spaces for relaxation. To do so, they need strategic support.
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Dec 7, 2011 Progre
STRATEGY > FRAMEWORK > LANDSCAPE & STREETS
with an eye to seasonal comfort. Tethered but movable chairs and tables offer greater user flexibility and do a better job of supporting outdoor study.
Structure outdoor space to support a variety of events.
Outdoor events add immeasurably to the social life of the campus. Drexel needs to accommodate a large variety of outdoor traditions and celebrations, from graduation events and Spring Jam to picnics to sports tournaments. Define event spaces to best fit a wide range of contexts, sizes and needs.
Small courtyards and gardens can complement larger green spaces by offering quiet settings for discussion and study that are more closely tied to specific residences or departments. Views should remain open to the larger landscape. Pedestrian Approaches streets, in contrast, offer durable settings for organized events and may become destinations for celebrations or student events. • Consider crowd size and density, event configuration (linear or compact), required services and the potential audience when choosing an event site. • Host events likely to attract non-Drexel observers or participants in spaces with civic visibility. West
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Drexel’s campus needs to accommodate a large variety outdoor tradiƟons and celebr Use outdoor events to showc the enhanced campus spaces foster a vibrant outdoor seƫn events with external appeal in with civic visibility.
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SPACES WITH CIVIC VISIBILITY
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Several open spaces are big enough to hold really large events: the Main Quadrangle, the 32nd Street Esplanade, Lancaster Walk, JFK Boulevard and Drexel Park. However, each has limitations, including possible noise conflicts with adjacent classroom spaces or private residences, limited ability to restrict access for paid events or necessary coordination with City agencies. JFK Boulevard holds great potential as a site for loud celebrations such as Spring Jam, provided permission can be arranged to close the street for a limited (off-peak) time.
• Use outdoor events to showcase the campus, like Art in the Park along Lancaster Walk. • Provide additional lawn spaces for casual sports to reduce competition for play time on the formal fields.
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• Consider providing additional services—electricity, water, lighting—at selected event sites to give them greater flexibility/convenience.
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• Consider hosting events specific to the campus community along the North Campus Common, which is convenient to many of the residence halls.
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FOSTERING SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH LANDSCAPE Create High-Performance Landscapes
On an urban campus with limited space, integrated rainwatermanagement strategies can produce multiple benefits from a single investment in the campus fabric. Consider techniques that create green space amenities, provide horticultural benefits and conserve potable water for building and landscape systems. Approaches
• Integrate building and landscape stormwater systems at redevelopment sites for the most efficient use of resources (see Figure 31, “Integrated Building Design”). • Construct green roofs to reduce the overall stormwater system size required for any new building and to add an aesthetic and social amenity to the building. • Design Lancaster Walk, the North Campus Walk (linking the Commons) and Woodland Walk as pedestrian “green streets” (see Stormwater Concept Diagram “Green Pedestrian Walk”). Consider a similar approach for new pedestrian streets such as the west section of JFK Boulevard.
Promote landscapes that inspire, engage, teach and demonstrate the strengths of Drexel’s academic/ research programs.
Capitalize on the academic value of Drexel’s outdoor campus, particularly given the university’s roots in technology, engineering and science. The outdoor landscape provides a convenient and highly visible setting for demonstrating and monitoring new technologies and approaches to landscape construction and stewardship. The Drexel “Smart House” offers an excellent example of this type of collaborative strategy applied to architecture and exploited for recruitment and promotion of academic quality. The campus landscape offers similar opportunities. Examples at other institutions include sustainable pavements, on-site wastewater collection and treatment systems, green roof ecologies and horticultural science. Foster the urban forest.
The Drexel community places a high value on mature trees, including the collective canopy and individual specimens. Trees also contribute fundamentally to the comfort and health of the campus landscape.
• Collaborate with the city to implement “Complete, Green Streets” concepts. Such integrated streetscape designs include Approaches continuous street tree trenches, porous sidewalk pavements • Plant the next generation of campus trees and provide both and rain gardens in curb extensions (see Stormwater the up-front soil systems and on-going maintenance they Concept Diagram “Green Streets”). need for best longevity and growth. Support Greenworks Philadelphia, which aims to increase the city’s tree coverage • Retrofit existing buildings to disconnect downspouts and to 30 percent by 2025. direct rainfall to the support of campus green space adjacent to the building (see Stormwater Concept Diagram “Existing Building Retrofit”).
• Promote the protection of large, healthy trees as a central component of architectural and construction practices.
DREXEL UNIVERSITY MASTER PLAN
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STRATEGY > FRAMEWORK > LANDSCAPE & STREETS
Apply a “soils first” approach.
EFFECTIVE LANDSCAPE STEWARDSHIP
The quality of growing conditions greatly affects how quickly plants grow and the effort needed to maintain them. Investing in good growing systems greatly improves the subsequent growth and health of trees, lawns and ornamental flowers. That improvement translates directly into reduced maintenance and care requirements for the plantings.
Provide leadership for a landscape paradigm change.
Carrying the new vision for the campus landscape through a large, diverse institution such as Drexel requires clear, consistent leadership voices to support everyone’s efforts. In recent projects Drexel has successfully embraced a new philosophy for architectural design, incorporating a stronger connection Approaches between indoor and outdoor activity. Elevating landscape structure and design to a higher level will require the same • Renovate existing tree pits for better growing conditions level of coordination and consensus, and it will need to include before replanting. Invest in continuous tree trenches for support for grounds staff and operational initiatives (see the better rooting volume. Provide curbside protection to fend off car-door damage to tree trunks. Match tree species to soil discussion of maintenance operations). conditions. Support the needs and effectiveness of landscape
• Remediate soils in campus open spaces through maintenance operations. supplemental lawn maintenance: consider compost tea programs (or similar) to improve soil structure and promote A campus landscape provides significant value to its institution, root development, particularly where soils are compacted. and it plays many more roles than simply supplying aesthetic • Continue to make use of planters for seasonal flower color. pleasure. These roles include the presentation of the campus The planters represent a flexible system that can be optimized to potential students, faculty and staff; the usefulness of for flower growth, easily updated for seasonal effect the spaces for multiple events and daily interactions; the and quickly moved or replaced as needed for individual creation of physical comfort; and the completion of important maintenance. environmental tasks such as stormwater management and shading impervious and heat-absorbing pavements, among Promote multi-purpose landscape initiatives. others. Maintenance is essential to the campus landscape; without it, landscapes cannot succeed in any of these roles. To make the most efficient use of space and resources, look for opportunities to elevate needed landscape elements into more To deepen our understanding of how landscape maintenance holistic design concepts that deliver larger benefits for campus can be addressed, we polled five colleges and universities by helping meet social needs, making open space, managing (Bowdoin College, Lehigh University, Northeastern University, stormwater and providing beauty. Opportunities range from the University of Pittsburgh and Tufts University) about the integrated stormwater concepts for campus walks (see their maintenance resources, practices and expenditures. Stormwater Concept Diagram “Green Pedestrian Walk”), to the This informal survey and set of conversations about the use of rain gardens to define landscape spaces (see Stormwater “Grounds” aspect of university/college facilities revealed some Concept Diagram “Existing Building Retrofit”), to the current interesting statistics and strategies. We also reviewed a facilities use of planters to define building entries and control traffic access. 64 | D R E X E L U N I V E R S I T Y M A S T E R P L A N
STRATEGY > FRAMEWORK > LANDSCAPE & STREETS
benchmarking study produced by Sightlines (April 2011); the data primarily relate to buildings but do include some general conclusions for grounds. Through this process we found that:
improve adaptive maintenance strategies.
• Increase the recognition of landscape maintenance as a skilled trade. The design and management of living • Drexel has been spending very close to the average on landscapes and maintenance of stormwater infrastructure general landscape supplies on a per-acre, per-year basis require skill, craftsmanship and long-term dedication. Most (through 2010). college and universities that we interviewed have grounds crews that consist of unionized skilled labor and have high • Drexel has fewer staff per acre—about one-third the average employee retention. number of personnel per campus acre—than the institutions polled (through 2010). Recent hires should reduce this gap. • Continue to seek out experienced, skilled foremen with the desire and ability to educate and train their crews. Drexel • Most institutions outsource fewer tasks and cultivate a more has recently hired additional skilled staff for grounds in robust skill set within their grounds crews than Drexel does. recognition of this need. The findings from this brief benchmarking effort suggest the following strategies:
• Invest in on-the-job training that can reduce the number of tasks Drexel contracts out. Many institutions train their staff in equipment handling, paving-system installation and various horticultural skills.
• Drexel should recognize the presentation of the campus as a form of recruitment and retention. Identify the highestvolume visitation times of the year and intensify effort and • Consider creating specialty skill sets such as irrigation resources at those times. The campus has visitors throughout management, arboriculture, pond/water-feature the year, but certain times bring predictably high numbers management or others that address specific campus needs of both parents and students. Other institutions have found and can provide a sense of ownership to employees. that the most important times for the campus to look its • Establish a night shift for litter policing and trash pickbest include, pre-admissions tours, graduation and arrival up. Night is the most efficient time to clean up. Other week—because new students and their parents feel the least institutions have found a night shift essential to rodent emotionally secure and can most easily withdraw then. control and feel that it allows daylight activity to focus on The quality of campus landscapes can provide a measure of other tasks. reassurance that students will be safe and well cared for. • Implement trial programs to allow the staff to test ideas for • Take a strategic approach to landscape improvements. campus improvement. Identify priority zones where landscape investment is most • Consider opportunities for collaboration with the University critical and identify areas where the investment can be less City District and neighboring institutions for the care and intensive. Conversely, identify areas where maintenance maintenance of shared public streetscapes. investment can be reduced by removing shrubs or planting beds that contribute little to the image or environmental function of the campus. • Develop a campuswide GIS plan to help track landscape improvements and maintenance over time. This database would serve as the basis for monitoring results and evaluating interventions, which in turn can refine and DREXEL UNIVERSITY MASTER PLAN
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STRATEGY > FRAMEWORK > LANDSCAPE & STREETS
Incorporate a “details up” strategy.
The strategic use of a series of ongoing small improvements projects at the operations level can be highly effective in realizing campus landscape retrofits. This “details up” strategy supplements the larger capital improvements projects and represents opportunities for operations staff to implement an ongoing series of small improvements that add up to a significant whole. Drexel’s recent replacement of the concrete Jersey barriers outside the Armory with planters is a good example of this approach. Foster opportunities for local engagement.
• Explore the idea of tying needed landscape improvements to potential research funding for developing and evaluating cutting-edge landscape-stewardship technologies and practices. For example, Harvard University implemented and monitored an experimental compost-tea program to study improvements in its main lawns. Foster collaboration between faculty and grounds staff. Publish the findings. • Consider setting aside a percentage of capital fund raising for general landscape improvements along the lines of a “percent for art” requirement. The University of Toronto, for example, has used this strategy to support implementation of a campus landscape master plan.
• Consider endowing maintenance of the campus landscape as part of the institutional development strategy. Explore the potential to engage specific departments or student groups in landscape initiatives. Consider projects that might • For each new building project, incorporate the surrounding also be of interest to community groups as partners. This landscape into the project scop. Make sure such landscapes strategy would be similar to fostering a “Friends of the Park” have well-defined purposes, programs and performance group or organizing annual Earth Day projects. goals, all of which should become part of the project brief. Establish new capital-development approaches for landscape projects.
As fundraising goals, landscape projects can represent a tougher sell than architectural projects. Many institutions address this by yoking landscape projects to building projects, with some success. Drexel should also consider additional strategies: • Promote a higher vision of the campus landscape as making possible social activity, promoting environmental stewardship and providing a testing ground for new technologies. This will elevate discussions beyond “trees and flowers” to a more substantial and philosophically interesting level that has greater potential interest for financial supporters.
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