Petty 2015 Ball State University
College of Architecture and Planning Department of Landscape Architecture
Bryce Benjamin Petty
5th Year Undergraduate BLA Faculty Advisors: Martha Hunt & John Motloch
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT]
Retrofitting the Olmsted Parkways in Louisville, Kentucky to accommodate contemporary transportation needs while fulfilling Frederick Law Olmsted’s design principles
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015
Abstract This research explores what guiding principles led to the development of Olmsted Parkways in the early 1900s and what contemporary practice principles can and should be incorporated to reinstate the integrity of Olmsted’s original design goals. Through this research it becomes evident that the design intentions of Frederick Law Olmsted in his parkways were successful and should reverberate throughout time. The prominent issue is that methods of transportation have evolved over the past century creating a substantial divide in past transportation methods and thusly an inadequacy in configuration of designated paths within travel-ways. This research specifically explores parkway systems designed by Frederick Law Olmsted for potential retrofitting. The parks and parkway systems throughout Louisville, Kentucky were originally planned and developed under Frederick Law Olmsted’s designs as one of his final major design projects. The Louisville Parkways’ foundations are strongly rooted in Olmsted principles and are now over a century past original master planning, providing the ideal venue for a successful retrofitting project of this intent. This research provides the necessary knowledge to become acquainted with Olmsted design principles, contemporary green street redevelopment and native planting effects to support design decisions for the redevelopment of the Louisville Parkway System in Kentucky. The project will directly use the given research for design implementation to ensure the integrity of Olmsted principles while accommodating the contemporary transportation needs for the people of Louisville.
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Table of Contents SECTION I: THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING .............................................................................. 3 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................... 4 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM .................................................................................................................. 5 SUB-PROBLEMS ......................................................................................................................................... 6 ASSUMPTIONS ........................................................................................................................................... 7 DELIMITATIONS ......................................................................................................................................... 7 SIGNIFICANCE ........................................................................................................................................... 8 DEFINITION OF TERMS .............................................................................................................................. 9
SECTION II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE.......................................................................................... 10 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 11 BODY ....................................................................................................................................................... 11 FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED’S DESIGN METHODOLOGY ................................................................ 11 SECTION 1: INFLUENCE EARLY IN LIFE ............................................................................ 11 SECTION 2: A SUBCONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE ACCOMPANIED BY FUNCTION ..................... 12 SECTION 3: OBSERVING TRAVEL-WAYS........................................................................... 14 SECTION 4: DESIGN METHODS THEN AND NOW ............................................................... 14 CONTEMPORARY PARKWAY DESIGN ............................................................................................. 16 SECTION 1: BRIDGING THE GAP ........................................................................................ 16 SECTION 2: DESIGNING GREENWAYS ............................................................................... 20 SECTION 3: CREATING GREEN ROADWAYS ...................................................................... 24 SECTION 4: URBAN TRANSFORMATION ............................................................................ 27 NATIVE PLANTING ......................................................................................................................... 28 SECTION 1: BRINGING NATURE HOME ............................................................................. 28 SECTION 2: OLMSTED PARKS; A BOTANICAL FIELD GUIDE ............................................. 29 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................... 30 WORKS CITED ........................................................................................................................................ 32
SECTION III: METHODOLOGY.......................................................................................................... 33 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................................... 37 APPENDIX I: MISSION, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES .................................................................................... 38 APPENDIX II: SITE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................. 39 APPENDIX III: PROJECT TIMELINE .......................................................................................................... 41 APPENDIX IV: BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................ 42 2|Page
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Section I The Problem and Its Setting
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[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015
Introduction The way in which people move from place-to-place has constantly morphed and evolved as technology continued to fuel innovation. As populations increased over the past century new forms of transportation became more prominent while demands on past transit routes were overloaded. As the global population continues to increase and saturate the urban scenery it has become essential to develop efficient ways in which to move about, especially in and around urban nodes. From the automobile boom in the early to mid-1900s, an impressive expanse of hardscape was laid across the United States of America, providing extreme accessibility accompanied by equally extreme future maintenance. However the influx in automobile ownership quickly surpassed the threshold for traffic movement efficiency on nearly all travelways. Although the amount of hardscape in the form of travel-ways has approached the threshold of what can be maintained, the ever increasing population in North America still exhibits a deficiency in the effectiveness of travel-routes through congestion and an increase in health/safety risk. The two phenomenon suggest that future infrastructural implementation for roadways should focus on two key principles; initially focusing restoration efforts on key travelways and retrofitting previous design styles of those travel-ways to better accommodate people. In this project research suggests a venue in which to focus on restoration efforts and how to retrofit focus areas to meet the contemporary needs of people which provide positive functional, societal and environmental impacts. Parkways once flourished across urban areas in the United States of America providing optimal ways in which to get from place to place. Many of the most successful and recognizable of those parkways were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. However Olmsted Parkways were not immune to the effects of change over time, they also require retrofitting to keep with the contemporary demands. This project focuses on determining criteria to fulfill the design requirements of Frederick Law Olmsted while meeting contemporary design requirements for multi-modal transportation in urban areas. The focus area for this project in which to begin the restoration of travel-way infrastructure in the United States of America will be the Olmsted Parkways of Louisville, Kentucky.
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[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015
Statement of the Problem This project is the re-development of Frederick Law Olmsted’s original parkway design plan for Louisville, Kentucky. The redevelopment of the parkway plan focuses on implementing contemporary design principles which have been developed to update the outdated parkways of the early 1900s. Research will be focused towards urban roadway re-development and ecological conditions that will be encountered along the trail. Research on parkway design will be focused only on work done by Frederick Law Olmsted and examples of contemporary methods developed within the last fifteen years. Ecological conditions within the research are native plantings, native habitat structure for the region and connectivity between habitat patches through the parkway. Hierarchy of trails, positive human health feedback from redeveloped parkways and potential extensions to Olmsted’s original parkway system will be investigated as well.
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Sub-Problems What guiding principles did Frederick Law Olmsted use when designing parkways?
What guiding principles and design criteria do contemporary parkways implement?
What factors help ecological systems move and thrive genetically along corridors?
In what way can using native plantings positively affect corridors, specifically parkways?
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[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015
Assumptions •
The re-development of the Olmsted Parkways will provide adequate travel lanes for the most common contemporary forms of vehicular and pedestrian movement in urban areas; automobiles, walking and cycling.
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Native plantings used throughout the redeveloped Parkway system will encourage an influx in the populations of native insects and small mammals which prey upon them.
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The use of native plantings will reflect a longer life-span for planting designs.
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The availability of adequate multi-model lanes within the parkway will decrease the amount of vehicular traffic while increasing the amount of pedestrians who walk and cycle from place-to-place.
Delimitations •
Calculations for the amount of pedestrians who switch from vehicular to other modes of transportation will not be assessed.
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Population increases in insects and small mammals resulting from the incorporation of native plants will not be calculated.
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Change in health effects related to use of the parkway post development will not be assessed.
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Frederick Law Olmsted’s original designed will be examined and used as reference but will not be recreated.
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[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015
Significance of Project The amount of roadways developed within the United States of America went beyond the threshold over the past century for which the government can continue maintenance at an adequate level. The result has been a continuous mosaic of roadways which are infrastructural unstable and often lead to vehicle damage, an inefficiency in time of travel and an overall health risk to the misuse of travel-ways as originally intended. As populations continue to increase this problem will continue to grow and become more prominent. As the issue becomes more apparent people will be forced to establish a hierarchy of roadways in which to focus upon for restoration. This research and corresponding project provides a key transportation format found across the nation which is ideal for retrofitting in a way that improves safety, establishes a more efficient way of getting from place-to-place and invokes aesthetics in a way that accommodates all of the most prominent modes of transportation in an urban area. The degradation of roadways in the United States accompanied by the inability to fix them all have created a perfect scenario in which to rely upon the theory of this project, the retrofitting of specific travel-ways to accommodate contemporary needs which result in a more beneficial way of transportation in urban areas.
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Definition of Terms Contemporary design: design strategies developed within the last twenty years Corridor: a connective route from one place to another that provides habitat along the way Exotic planting: plantings that did not exist in a given region before human intervention Freeway: the travel-way which was developed to accommodate the influx in automobiles by increasing the amount of lanes and reducing obstructions which may slow traffic Genetic movement: the movement of genes through flora and/or fauna populations Green-street: a street that invokes traffic calming principles and implements vegetation for aesthetic and functional reasons Holistic landscape: a landscape in which all of the components work together to define the landscape as a singular entity Invasive planting: exotic plantings incorporated into a region that then became a negative impact on the native ecosystem Landscape mosaic: a composition of landscape features that make up the majority of the regions landscape characteristics Native planting: plantings that could have been found in the given region before human intervention Parkway: a type of travel-way developed in the early 1900s which people could travel from place-to-place in an efficient and leisurely manner Sense-of-place: the subconscious feeling of comfort created by a place Travel-way: any stretch of area for which the main purpose is to get a person, group of people or any other object from one place to another
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Section II Review of Literature
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[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015
Introduction This review of literature examines properties of parkway design on the landscape which must be revisited throughout time to ensure the parkway continues to address the current physiological and sociological needs of the environment and its communities. Parkways have always been designed as means of transportation which promote improvement of urban infrastructure and positive interactions throughout urban communities. Over time the criteria for a successful parkway has changed due to infrastructural, societal and environmental conditions. Although there are many types of parkways each with specific obstacles and needs, this research specifically looks to analyze the methodology of Frederick Law Olmsted in his parkway design systems, how contemporary parkway design is addressed, how ecological diversity can develop along with an urban trail system, native planting effects on fauna ecosystems and the hierarchy of trails. The overlap of these design principles integrated with current practices to promote societal and environmental growth sculpt a plan to reimagine what a parkway system can be to a community.
Body Frederick Law Olmsted’s Design Methodology Section 1 Influence Early in Life From an early childhood Frederick Law Olmsted developed an intricate sense of place concerning the landscape. Throughout his upbringing, education and travel Olmsted developed the idea that people should, and in fact do, intertwine with and experience landscapes at a subconscious level. The idea of a subconscious experience was the foundation for design concepts that he would implement throughout his career along the way focusing on pastoral design, picturesque design and always planning to accomplish function before, yet not in place of, beauty. Long before deeming himself a landscape designer, Frederick Law Olmsted developed a love for the exploration of the outdoors. From a young age Olmsted’s father would take the boy 11 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 for long tours of the landscape seeking out beautiful scenery. Their adventures would lead further into remote landscapes in search of beautiful scenery, a passion that took root in Olmsted and would be personified into his work as a landscape designer (Beveridge). Beveridge quoted Olmsted saying, “The root of all my good work is an early respect for, regard and enjoyment of scenery…and extraordinary opportunities for cultivating susceptibility to the power of scenery.” Olmsted turned from the practice of gardening that was popular in his time. He sought to invoke broad natural landscapes that allowed people to slip into an imaginative state in which their subconscious would take them into beautiful places rather than incorporating flaunting exotic plantings to be admired on a pedestal. He believed that it was not the implementation of showy exotic plants that created successful places; rather it was the mosaic of natural planting sceneries in which together transplanted people into another subconscious place that demonstrated a successful landscape design (Beveridge). Through his own experiences with silent walks through nature accompanied by readings of other scholarly men writing of unconscious communication and perception, Olmsted would eventual deem the act of conveying sense-of-place to people through the subconscious experience they had while moving through the place as the number one priority for a landscape designer. Beveridge goes on to describe Olmsted’s thought on scenery’s effect on people and begins to key in on how Olmsted saw how that can be implemented in an urban setting saying, “Scenery, he decided, worked by an unconscious process to produce relaxing and "unbending" of faculties made tense by the strain noise and artificial surroundings of urban life. The necessary condition for such an experience was the absence of distractions and demands on the conscious mind.” Those founding principles would later lead Olmsted to create “unbending” escapes such as Central Park in New York City. Section 2 A Subconscious Experience Accompanied by Function Although Olmsted focused on the need for landscape art to effect people at a much deeper level, Beveridge clearly explained how Olmsted also held the idea of holistic functionality near to his heart and at the foundation of his design principles. Olmsted not only believed that it took a large composition to target the subconscious but also that all entities of the mosaic should work towards the perception and use of people in more ways than one. Beveridge quoted Olmsted in saying, “service must precede art.” Olmsted did not mean to say that a
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[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 designer must replace art with service, rather a design principle should develop art through the use of serviceable entities and that to ignore that principle could itself not be art. Olmsted would invoke principles of organizing compositions of landscape plantings and patterns that fell into design styles described as Pastoral and Picturesque. The designs stemmed from Olmsted’s rendition of English style landscape design combined with his new principle of subconscious experience. Among all aspects of Olmsted’s great works he always held fast to two primary design principles; to achieve a subconscious feeling through a design in which the place did not have before and to never compromise the overall flow and feel of a site through detailing discrepancies (Beveridge). Frederick Law Olmsted believed in the ability of sceneries in the landscape to affect people in a deeper way through the subconscious. As a designer he believed that a designer cannot achieve such a deep feeling by avoiding a holistic landscape design and introducing out of place, showy details such as exotic plantings. Beveridge clearly stated the principles at the foundation of great Park and Parkway design from Frederick Law Olmsted; the contemporary take-away is to remember that Olmsted believed in a system that accomplished two things, a subconscious connection to people while serving their current needs in a functional way. Olmsted’s desire to create vast functional landscapes was continuously portrayed in his parkway designs. In chapter five of Francis Kowsky’s The Best Planned City In The World, it is evident that Olmsted had a strong respect for the consideration of functional space, the positive effects a well-designed parkway can have on communities, and that he also understood that designs can be built upon over time. The Best Planned City In The World refers to Buffalo, New York where Olmsted and Vaux designed arguably the greatest city plan to-date. Chapter five of the literature (Kowsky) discussed parkways, circles and squares and what made them successful. Kowsky first began with describing how Olmsted decided to develop a plan for Buffalo, his opinions on the previously designed layout of the city and what key principles should shape future design. Joseph Ellicott was the original design planner for the city and Olmsted expressed great satisfaction with Ellicott’s decision to develop very wide thoroughfares. Nearly all of Olmsted’s intended amenities of the new parkway directly depended on having enough expanses within the thoroughfare. When Olmsted described outcomes of his parkway design in Buffalo it 13 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 is evident what his principles were based upon; functionality and public well-being. Olmsted commented in Kowsky’s chapter five declaring that the large thoroughfares would be excellent for allowing emergency response vehicles to move about the city (Kowsky 107). During that period outbreaks of fire were of high concern within urban areas because they could spread so quickly and be so detrimental. Olmsted proposed the parkways to help alleviate such issues within buffalo. Olmsted would further comment upon functionality when describing his intent to use construction of the parkway to be an opportunity to improve the sewer system, lighting and other infrastructural entities. Section 3 Observing Travel-Ways Through pages 113-116 Kowsky described parkways which had incredible success within communities and how they would later fail in the era of the automobile. Richmond Avenue in Buffalo, New York was a pedestrian friendly corridor which promoted healthy societal activity. Kowsky described in page 114 how the street would morph throughout seasons to accompany the community’s recreational time, specifically horse-drawn sled races in the winter. As Kowsky continues he describes Frederick Law Olmsted’s opinions on several street-scapes within communities and what characteristics made them usable for members of the community. Many of the later failures of parkways approaching the mid to late 1900s were due to a mismatch in arrangement of paths for separate modes of transportation and the abrupt arrival of the automobile. Within this section of literature specific communities through history have shown how scale, function and arrangement of parkways must coordinate with the changes that come with time to remain successful. Section 4 Design Methods Then and Now Kowsky uses chapter five to describe several different streets, avenues and other transit routes and details spatial characteristics of each and the response Olmsted had towards them. Many of the reasons for spatial separations and scale defining patterns were successful and their success still holds true today. Olmsted commented that parkways should be given a minimum two hundred foot allowance through urban areas (Kowsky 111). Olmsted would add that homes on either side should have a fifty foot set-back to allow a total of three hundred feet from door to
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[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 door. Within parkway allowances Olmsted designated pathways separated for different modes of transportation; central carriageway, bridle path and a bicycle path (Kowsky 116). In Kowsky’s description of Frederick Law Olmsted’s design principles for parkways it is evident that Olmsted was very attuned to what parkways must have to facilitate efficient movement throughout communities and other urban spaces. Olmsted’s parkway designs reflected passageways that met dimensional standards for such transportation as horse-drawn buggies. Olmsted’s detailed attention to the times say two things; first that the driving principle for design should be kept in a redevelopment of Olmsted parkways and second that Olmsted parkways should be reformatted for the current time to continue to meet design principle standards. Pathways should be rescaled to meet current successful standards and paths should also become more segregated to meet the larger array of modes for transportation now seen in urban communities. Kowsky described one characteristic of parkway design that Olmsted and Vaux commonly practiced and for which they received much praise from other critics of the time that should not be practiced currently, monocultures. Olmsted was known for using monocultures of trees in urban design throughout projects described in chapter five of the literature. The fields concerning landscape design today now know that monocultures may result in devastating negative impacts on the landscape of cities. Another characteristic of Olmsted’s monocultures that were detrimental was his use of American Elm in many designs for their form and size. The American Elm has been devastated time and time again in North American by insect damage and blight. Monoculture was chosen for uniformity which Olmsted required to develop his large landscape mosaics that allowed people to reach a subconscious level of interaction. The principle can still be met by common mosaics but the actual trees used to convey the mosaic should not be hampered by simple genetic diversity. From Beveridge and Kowsky it is obvious that Olmsted’s guiding principles have stood the test of time and should still be closely related to design standards for most parkway design. The need for complete mosaics in the landscape and functionality within dense places is a must for contemporary design. What has also become evident is a need to refresh many attributes of historical parkways to meet functionality in the present. Over the past one hundred years many
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[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 new ways of moving through a space have developed and certain design standards have failed and been adapted. It is clear through this literature that values can persist through redevelopment. Contemporary Parkway Design (2000-2015) Section 1 Bridging the Gap In the chapter A Road as a Route and Place from California History (Loukaitou-Sideris, Gottlieb et. Al), the authors make the historical transition from the success and design methods for parkways in the late 1800s through early 1900s, to the characteristics which led to their fall in efficiency, thoroughness to hold to initial design principle, and finally suggestions for future redevelopment of parkways. The literature describes a clear and concise timeline to explain why parkways were first introduced, why they began to fail around the world and finishes by leading into possible scenarios in which parkways could become assets again. This literature provides the general information for the direction contemporary parkways should go in transitioning to service the community. Creating Green Roadways (Sipes & Sipes), Designing Greenways (Hellmund & Smith) and Urban Transformation (Bosselmann) go into much further detail in describing the characteristics of successful contemporary urban trail design. In the beginning of A Road as a Route and Place the authors set up a conversation on whether or not parkways have become obsolete. The literature begins with a broad review of the beginning of parkway design, then specifically discusses the Arroyo Seco Parkway in California and finishes by once again broadly discussing what should be done about parkways to help them avoid remaining obsolete. The chapter begins with the review of the creation of the term parkway and its creators, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. The authors give their interpretation for the landscape architects intents when designing parkways. Their interpretation appeals to one category that Olmsted designed for, which is mentioned in further detail in the previous section of this literature review, which was creating pleasurable functionality in parkway design. The authors describe Olmsted’s parkway designs as pleasurable alternatives for carriage rides to and from parks within the city that simultaneously disconnected from surrounding communities and the distractions that came from them (Loukaitou-Sideris, Gottlieb 30). The chapter continues to describe Olmsted’s design intention with parkways to become long travel routes with open park16 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 like characteristics which made them leisurely enjoyable travel ways. The authors stated, “Inspired by the celebrated landscaped boulevards of Paris and Berlin, Olmsted and Vaux viewed parkways as carriageways, surrounded and contained by the park and designed for pleasure riding”(Loukaitou-Sideris, Gottlieb 30). This reading strongly coincides with the previous section in this review of Olmsted’s methodology by also describing how Olmsted believed the parkways to be more than just a travel route; they were more of an underlying asset to people’s well-being and the well-being of their communities. After mentioning the precursors to parkway design the authors go into quick time-hops showing the evolution in parkway design and how it was revived then reversely outdated by the automobile. The chapter began to describe how in the 1930s the parkway design started to evolve around the needs of the automobile and the associated pleasure driving (Loukaitou-Sideris, Gottlieb 31). From that point the chapter goes through the transition of thinking that designers such as Olmsted had during the early 1900s and how designers began to look at parkways in the 1930s moving with the times. The literature makes it clear how quickly a parkway can often need to change to facilitate the changing era and what comes with it, such as the automobile. The chapter continues to build on the change in programming for parkways through time by describing the new goals and design characteristics of parkways that were starting to be geared towards the scenic drive. The authors describe the new goals of those scenic parkways as, “following aspects of pleasure driving, visual connection and efficiency (moving large numbers of cars at a continuous speed)” (Loukaitou-Sideris, Gottlieb 31). Those principles, although designed for different modes of transportation then Olmsted dealt with were still striving to attain the same results, pleasurable functionality in transportation. After describing the intentions of the new view on parkways, the chapter specifically uses the Arroyo Seco Parkway developed in the late 1930s-early 1940s to describe the process of creation and outcomes of the new parkway concept. The authors describe the goals of the new parkway design as dependent on the park-like beauty of the travel corridor, the regional location of the parkway and the materials/site amenities seen along the way. The authors describe the new ideal parkway as, “nothing less than the display of the physical and historic landscape of the region through the windshield” (Loukaitou-Sideris, Gottlieb 31). The goals of parkway design were purely to create pleasurable driving opportunities for people at a time where traffic 17 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 congestion was not yet at a problematic level. The article goes on to describe how the idea of parkways as scenic routes quickly crumbled under the pressure of congestion from the enormous influx in vehicle transportation in the United States. Parkways were quickly turned into Freeways where over-crowding and over-use destroyed the physical infrastructure, trampled design principles of the parkways as scenic routes and compromised human safety. The chapter describes what design criteria was implemented in the early 20th century and how changing society and infrastructure quickly put an end to the design of the parkways as successful. Creating Green Roadways (Sipes & Sipes), Designing Greenways (Hellmund & Smith) and Urban Transformation (Bosselmann) go through the specific design implementation to accommodate outdated parkways to serve such changes that have developed over time. The authors described the destruction of the parkways as a combination of the demand for efficiency in transportation of people and goods supported by the necessary funds to do so created by the Highway Act of 1956 (Loukaitou-Sideris, Gottlieb 34). The chapter describes how the need to move goods more efficiently and the major influx in personal vehicle use led to the quickest development of road infrastructure as possible which neglected aesthetics in favor of function. Another major reason for the support of the transition aside from efficiency of transportation was a lack of funding for leisure parkways versus the major federal support for standardized freeways through the Highway Act (Loukaitou-Sideris, Gottlieb 35). The movement led to a destruction of design principles laid down by Olmsted and a major increase in roadway infrastructure. The transition left parkways as dysfunctional travel-routes and miles of new freeways which would eventually reach such high numbers in linear miles that maintenance for all the routes were impossible to keep up with financially. The cause and effect once again points towards the need for renovation techniques mentioned in Creating Green Roads (Sipes & Sipes). The authors described in further detail the specific characteristics of parkways that have changed over time to create destructive consequences. They use the Arroyo Seco Parkway as an example when giving supporting data to explain the negative consequences. The Arroyo Seco Parkway was developed originally with the same guiding principles as most other parkways in the early 1900s which suggests that data from the Arroyo Seco Parkway is a guiding statute to base general evidence from many parkways designed from that era and how they interact with 18 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 society today. The primary factors discussed that creates the most issues is the amount of vehicles using the parkway far supersedes what the parkway was designed for and the vehicles themselves are traveling substantially faster than intended as well; leading to accidents, injuries and a lack of enjoyment of the route itself (Loukaitou-Sideris, Gottlieb 36). In the literature the section titled ‘Contemporary Issues and Problems’ gives data comparing numbers from the creation of the Arroyo Seco Parkway to what is being imposed at the current time and draws out the consequences in the discrepancy in data results. The chapter strongly points toward the idea of traffic-calming design principles as a way to eliminate several of the negative effects of the over-use on parkways that degrades their intended function of scenic beauty. The authors quoted a parkway user saying, “The elements of parkway design such as graceful turns following the natural topography, generous vistas, decorative bridges and greenery make for a distinct driving experience, if one could drive at a lower speed to enjoy it” (Loukaitou-Sideris, Gottlieb 36). The authors further describe how design details and use of material have been ignored in the parkway design such as concrete median barriers rather than more interesting materials and the un-kept appearance of vegetation has led to a loss of scenic views. Olmsted strongly outlined and repeated the need for parkways to work as a holistic, continuous mosaic and how unruly details would lead to a failure in the parkway itself (Beveridge). The Arroyo Seco Parkway acts as an example of how such crucial details have been lost over the past century in favor of quickly engineered landscapes which serve function while ignoring beauty, purpose and often resulting in lack of safety. The final sections of the chapter A Road as a Route and Place discussed strategies that the California Department of Transportation (DOT) suggested be used to overcome issues with their parkways. Attempts to re-establish the parkway as a high-speed freeway were impossible due to the protecting agents of surrounding parks and historically significant amenities. Similar issues would be met by attempting to develop the parkways in Louisville, Kentucky as a freeway because it also weaves in and out of several historic Olmsted parks. The DOT decided to focus on two categories in which to improve the parkway; establishing it as a historical entity and/or incorporating traffic-calming techniques into the parkway itself to get back to its original goals as a parkway (Loukaitou-Sideris, Gottlieb 37). This literature review will further focus on the second suggestion by examining methods for traffic-calming and other contemporary implementations for green roadways. Integrating green street methods, traffic calming principles 19 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 and native planting into the Louisville, Kentucky parkway system are the best methods for redeveloping the Olmsted plan. Over the past century urban transportation in the form of parkways has gone from ideal travel-ways for carriages, to scenic routes for automobiles, to high-speed efficient freeways and finally into congested roadways falling apart in their infrastructural and moral character. The drastic changes in transportation techniques over such a short span of time show that urban transportation must continue to morph with the demands of society, technology and functional demands of people. People no longer want more roadways interfering and disconnecting communities and the government cannot afford to maintain the entire transportation infrastructure that already exists (Loukaitou-Sideris, Gottlieb 38-40). All of the debilitating factors of transportation infrastructure suggest the re-development of key travel-ways to implement efficient, pleasurable, multi-modal and environmentally contextual systems in which people may once again get from place to place through an enjoyable, timely, safe experience which also reflects attention to design detail and current environmental obstacles. Section 2 Designing Greenways In Designing Greenways the literature as a whole describes how to make the connection and bridge the gap between science and design practice to develop Greenway corridors. The book states that its two primary objectives are to explain how Greenway design must be a holistic endeavor addressing the natural and societal obstacles in contemporary issues and secondly to provide strategies for combining the advanced theories in conservation and landscape design practice further providing examples and strategies to design Greenways based on the connection of those two fields of information (Hellmund and Smith XII). Hellmund and Smith describe Designing Greenways broad aim to, “illuminate the intersections of science and design and to find ways of effectively communicating scientific information to greenway designers and greenway objectives to scientists.� The literature covers a broad spectrum of Greenway design and theory from history through contemporary works yet the book is more geared towards providing ideas on how to design Greenways on a blank canvas. There are also many sections dedicated to retro-fitting degraded transportation trails such as parkways as well. The book is organized by first starting with a history of trail design related to 20 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 Greenway development and uses key figures and governmental actions to organize the series of changes in the field. After the historical identification the literature moves into first describing the significance of corridors as a whole, then moves into further detail describing the significance of greenways for wildlife, aspects of water resources, the social implications of greenways and finally provides design strategies that incorporate all of those considerations (Hellmund and Smith XI-XIV). When Hellmund and Smith give the history of Greenway development and ideology they trace back to Olmsted and Vaux with their Parkway design principles. This literature agrees with all others mentioned in this review giving Olmsted credit for being the first to successful establish design principles that are still influential and foundational today. However Hellmund and Smith focus on Olmsted’s thought to make physical connections through urban spaces as his triumph rather than Olmsted’s focus on the well-being of people and the communities (Hellmund and Smith 26). The authors describe Olmsted’s vast carriageway roads as design triumph while it was actually Olmsted’s consideration of the subconscious well-being of people and the ability for people to get from place to place that made his design theories great. Successful contemporary design focuses on the efficiency of the space within a corridor more so then it was historically, such as more appropriate lane sizes for designated means of travel and preferred native planting. Hellmund and Smith do briefly mention Olmsted’s focus to be on societal issues of the time which more closely relates to his success as a designer (Hellmund and Smith 26). From the initial history on Olmsted’s parkway designs Hellmund and Smith go on to give a more in-depth historical account of the Greenway’s development. The authors summarize major figures and acts that established foundation blocks for Greenway development over the past one hundred years. The introduction successfully gives a broad understanding of how Greenway design has manifested as a major topic in contemporary landscape design (Hellmund and Smith 26-34). Unlike previous sources in this review Hellmund and Smith give accounts of significant figures in the time between Frederick Law Olmsted and present designers accounting for the integration of ecological considerations in Greenway design. The history accounted for in this literature goes beyond the initial principles in parkway design and describe the introduction of considering ecological principles such as the need for wildlife connections, aquifer recharge and storm-water management (Hellmund and Smith 29-34). The authors then delve into each 21 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 consideration for Greenway design such as wildlife corridors, water resources and societal factors in greater depth before providing design strategies for the contemporary designer. Hellmund and Smith describe Greenway design as complicated because it must deal with so many categories and successfully consider them all to create a cohesive system. The authors describe the major issues in Greenway design as originating from compartmental programs. So many issues have evolved over the past century that organizations of developed dealing with nearly all obstacles and have created a distance in objectives and a lack of transparency that often creates difficulty in addressing all obstacles when planning Greenways (Hellmund and Smith 2223). Due to the difficulty to bridge those gaps, the authors suggest that landscape designers must be the one to reach out to all fields and ensure a strategy for accommodating as many of the obstacles as possible. Hellmund and Smith provide a five-step framework plan to address Greenway design. They strongly describe their five-step plan as merely a framework foundation that should morph into a unique plan that deals with specific contextual issues (Hellmund and Smith 215). Hellmund and Smith describe their framework plan as involving five stages; (1) identifying potential issues, stakeholders and preliminary goals, (2) defining a broad region to study, (3) selecting nodes and swaths, (4) selecting alternative alignments and setting widths, and (5) implementing and managing (Hellmund and Smith 217). Identifying potential issues, stakeholders and preliminary goals The authors describe the first stage in their Greenway Design Method as determining what are the broad issues that the Greenway must deal with who may be involved. The first stage strongly suggests taking a step back from the project and looking at the issues as a whole and not getting stuck in a narrow frame of vision when problem solving. It is crucial to determine who the designer will be designing for (Hellmund and Smith 222). Defining a broad region to study The authors describe the second stage as building off of stage one. In stage two it should be evident who the stakeholders are and stage two looks to build goals for design and determine the physical region of the project (Hellmund and Smith 232). 22 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 Selecting nodes and swaths Stage three is about narrowing down the region to a specific swath or swaths. The authors define a swath as, “a wide sweep of land that includes elements of interest about which information is gathered (Hellmund and Smith 241). Stage three is a filtering system to focus in on areas which detailed research can be conducted. The authors describe the nodes as needing to have strong significance and some swaths may not be dealt with due to lack of significance. Selecting alternative alignments and setting widths Stage four is about setting widths of swaths along the projected Greenway. This stage may involve more stakeholders as a Greenway may encroach into new properties and corresponding owners (Hellmund and Smith 242). This stage does not pertain to the Louisville Parkway Re-development because the parkway has already established widths within a dense urban setting. Although a hybrid of this stage may be considered when detailing travel-ways designated to specific functions within the redeveloped parkway itself. Implementing and managing The authors describe the fifth stage of the Greenway Design Method as the step where the Greenway itself is first taking root. Stage five is where assets need to be collected to begin design of the project and later development itself. The authors describe this stage as the most flexible because where funds come from and what necessary steps are involved varies from region to region (Hellmund and Smith 251). Hellmund and Smith’s Greenway Design Method was created to look at beginning large Greenway projects, often times from a blank canvas. Although the original intent for their method was for greenways, the principles within their suggested steps can be implemented when re-developing urban infrastructure such as parkways. Hellmund and Smith offer a contemporary approach when designing for societal and environmental communities and are experts on describing how to organize all the pieces of the puzzle to support successful projects. Designing Greenways is an overarching look into contemporary thought processes that have developed since the time of design mentioned at the beginning of this literature review. Now this review
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[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 will build upon the general guidelines for design by looking into Creating Green Roadways approach to designing for the present, specifically urban transit. Section 3 Creating Green Roadways In Creating Green Roadways James and Matthew Sipes differ from Hellmund and Smith in the physical scale of their topic of discussion. Both pieces of literature delve into history, examples and theory for creating and re-developing transportation systems yet Sipes and Sipes focus on roadways specifically, although the literature covers all forms of roadways and all possible phases of a roadway’s life in which green development may be implemented. Creating Green Roadways serves as a ‘How-To’ handbook for successfully understanding, creating and retrofitting roadways to have a more positive impact on society and the environment. James and Matthew Sipes state that Creating Green Roadways, “is about how to integrate roads, bridges, trails, walkways and other transportation elements in such a way that they become assets, not liabilities” (Sipes and Sipes 7). By chapter the authors first give an introduction to roadways which is more focused on an acute topic range then the previous literature. Following an introduction the authors highlight transportation policies over the past century and how they affect people and place including chronological listings and descriptions of all major governmental acts. In chapter three the authors delve into all of the key components that go into decision making concerning transportation decisions with the ideal that there is a greater chance for finding avenues in which to improve roadways when the designer understands all facets of the roadways themselves. After the literature provides an understanding for roadways it describes design and planning theories for improving roadways. After introducing design strategies the book refers to ways in which funding can be found to move a project from design to reality. Chapters six and seven separate roadways by geographical reference and examine how each has their own strategies for green roadways based on different characteristics. Chapters eight and nine look at how green roadway implementation can consider cultural/historical attributes and environmental needs respectively. Chapters ten and eleven look into the economics and financing of creating green roadways and how design can lead to longer life expectancy of roadways. In concluding the literature looks into the future for Green roadways and how it will affect future generations and future generations can affect Green roadways (Sipes and Sipes 7-8). 24 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 Sipes and Sipes agree with Hellmund, Smith Loukaitou-Sideris and Gottlieb describing the issue with roadways as there are too many, their infrastructure is failing, they are being overused and that they will soon need to be updated as they near the end of their accelerated life expectancy (Sipes and Sipes 4-5). Creating Green Roadways specifically looks at all roadway systems and thusly they believe that the end of the highway boom stemming from the Highway Act of 1956 is opening a door for mass implementation of Green Roadway infrastructure in the United States. Sipes and Sipes repeat what Hellmund and Smith stated in that as a nation the United States can no longer afford to maintain its entire roadway infrastructure and that improvements will have to be made soon and thusly key places should receive maintenance. Both pieces of literature agree also in that improvements should involve green infrastructure that lowers damage to roadways while improving function and quality of life, the guiding principles that Frederick Law Olmsted also once built parkways upon. This literature review has made it evident that the guiding principles in design for Frederick Law Olmsted’s parkways still remains the design principle, it is in how that principle is met that has changed and should be implemented. Sipes and Sipes state that a Green Roadway should transform a roadway from a liability to an asset and to do that a Green Roadway must enhance the quality of life (Sipes and Sipes 45). The authors go on to describe how quality of life can be met by Green Roadways by describing the six things a Green Roadway must protect; “(1) natural resources by minimizing the impact of the road, reducing our carbon footprint, preserving trees and managing water resources, (2) human-made resources by respecting cultural values, (3) creatures large and small by preserving habitats and ensuring that animals can cross the road safely, (4) motorists by creating the safest, most functional road possible, (5) open space and the existing landscape character by minimizing the road footprint and incorporating parks and conservation areas into transportation projects and (6) the future of our children by being energy efficient and using resources wisely”(Sipes and Sipes 5-6). The aspects the authors require to be protected directly reflect a more detailed hybrid of what Hellmund and Smith required to be addressed in their framework plan of a successful Greenway. In chapter three of Creating Green Roadways Sipes and Sipes go through all of the forms of roadways and define them. They define a parkway as being, “typically located within parks, or 25 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 parklike settings that place an emphasis on natural resources, visual quality and recreational opportunities.” They go on to describe parkways and their potential by saying, “parkways often have wider rights-of-ways than other roads; this provides opportunities for preserving existing natural resources as well as adding landscaping and other amenities”(Sipes and Sipes 24). The authors definition of parkways aligns precisely with the definition of a parkway that the Louisville Parkway Re-Development project uses and clearly supports the potential of such a parkway as a candidate for Greenway retrofitting. Sipes and Sipes go on to further support parkways such as those in Louisville, Kentucky as candidates for reform by describing such urban areas as being significantly affected by transportation degradation. They describe urban areas as significantly in need of re-development and the reason being that roadways in urban settings are deteriorating communities and quality of life (Sipes and Sipes 122). In chapter four Sipes and Sipes define an overview process for planning and designing a Green Road. They describe how there are many ways to go about designing a project but any process should be able break down to four major steps; research, inventory/analysis, synthesis and implementation (Sipes and Sipes 79). Research The authors describe this initial step as taking a step back, much like Hellmund and Smith suggest and looking at the region and methods already implemented for transportation. The reason for the step back in scope is to get an idea of the patterns and framework context in the area (Sipes and Sipes 79). Inventory/Analysis In the second phase the authors describe gathering key information of the surrounding area for the intended roadway design. Information includes physical, environmental, cultural and historical information. Once the information is gathered then all decisions from that point on in the design should in some way correspond with the findings (Sipes and Sipes 80). Synthesis The third phase is when designers come into play making decisions based on the information gathered in the inventory/analysis phase. Context information will help to guide 26 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 design decisions dealing with the new roadway. It is common for the designers to develop a master plan showing the decisions graphically while also taking into account stake-holders input (Sipes and Sipes 80). Implementation The fourth phase is where design should actually be implemented into the site. According to the authors it is critical that the design takes into account as many categories as possible when implementing quality change such as societal, economical, environmental and historical impacts (Sipes and Sipes 80). In chapter six the authors discuss how the nation’s roadways are in general nearing the end of their life expectancy and how it is a time for retrofitting existing streets. The author’s state that is has come to the moment in time where government agencies must decide whether they will redevelop existing roadways or create more. They go on to say that the progress will be in retrofitting rather than creation and that the Complete Streets program is a strong indicator of that theory (Sipes and Sipes 110). The authors emphasize that the demand in action due to failing infrastructure has created an ideal scenario to begin implementing Green Roadway principles; an idea that Hellmund and Smith also predicted. Section 4 Urban Transformation Peter Bosselmann’s Urban Transformation discusses the separate characteristics of a city that are being or should be considered in the re-development of cities. Bosselmann describes the literature as, “focused on the transformation of cities, the knowledge of the changing form of cities and how cities compare with each other” (Bosselmann XIX). The author states that the one perspective missing from the literature is the input from the professional practice yet the literature itself is choreographed as professional designers themselves would address the ideal of urban transformation. The seven steps Bosselmann suggest are (1) to compare: cities, size, scale and form, (2) to observe: some observations of Copenhagen’s city form at the time of global change, (3) to measure: vitality, livability and sense of place, (4) to transform: rebuilding the structure of the inner city, (5) to define: urban design principles for city streets, (6) to model: authenticity, modeling and entitlement and (7) to interpret: a canvas for an emerging commons (Bosselmann X). 27 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 In chapter five the literature speaks to the same discussion as the previous books as it discusses defining rules for city development and how streets are integral in the welfare of a city. Bosselmann first discusses principle in street design by highlighting the faults in designs within San Francisco, California in which there are no pedestrian paths constructed on the park-side of streets. The result is an abrupt and often fearful thrust into the park itself from the urban surroundings. The literature suggests that walkways and cycle-paths should be incorporated at the perimeter of such parks (Bosselmann 232-233). Further into the chapter Bosselmann refers to parkways as successful high-capacity travel routes for automobiles that were the successful predecessors of the freeway and that the changes necessary to re-development the parkways to accommodate contemporary issues are minimal (Bosselmann 233). Although Bosselmann’s description of pioneer parkways is poorly said he shows that he also agrees with previously mentioned authors in this review that change is necessary for the well-being of the community by suggesting that parkways and freeways should incorporate design principles that lower noise pollution and improve functionality for community members. Throughout the chapter Bosselmann gives more suggestions for what makes a street successful and what should be retrofitted in San Francisco streets such as re-developing streets as ecological assets that improve biodiversity in flora/fauna and also provide microclimate for the comfort of people while reducing urban heat-island effects (Bosselmann 235-236). The chapter is focused more on microclimate then previous literature but still reflects a desire to retrofit parkways and freeways from the early 20th century corresponding with Hellmund, Smith, James Sipes and Matthew Sipes. Native Planting Section 1 Bringing Nature Home In Bringing Nature Home Douglas Tallamy discusses the vital role that plants and insects play in sustaining diversity and nature as a whole. The literature specifically discusses how plants are a necessity of life and that insects are the number one source for moving energy from flora to fauna (Tallamy 21). Aside from the overwhelming significance plants and insects play in the environment, many insects are very dependent on certain species of plants because they are specialists and can often times not even consume any other plant material (Tallamy 48-53). Tallamy describes how using native plants is the only logical way to ensure satisfying the needs of native insects and other organisms higher on the food chain. 28 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 Tallamy first describes the vital role of plants as the foundation for all ecosystems and how vital insects are as the number one transfer source of energy from plants to animals. Once that relationship has been honored Tallamy continues by adding that diversity must also be allowed to flourish and that local extinction is the number one inhibitor of that. Genes within plants and animals must be allowed to move throughout different local populations to increase diversity which promotes genetic strength against disease and overall health and well-being in plants, insects and so on up the food chain (Tallamy 28-30). Separation of local populations is a direct result of fragmentation and corridors that plants and animals can move through genetically and physically are essential to avoid local extinction. Re-development of parkways can play a major role in establishing corridors for local populations of plants and animals, especially when native plantings are implemented. In the literature Tallamy gives figures to clearly explain the break-down of how plant numbers translate into numbers of insects, how numbers of insects support certain numbers of birds and so on in many scenarios throughout different food-chains. The literature provides species and numbers that support the use of native plantings in suburban design and any other planting/gardening scenario. The use of native plantings should be a design standard in contemporary landscape design, especially with the major push for greenway design in transit systems. Section 2 Olmsted Parks: A Botanical Field Guide The literature begins with a brief description of Frederick Law Olmsted’s attraction to the state of Kentucky and gives accounts of how he felt about the native landscape. The introduction further gives a brief description of Frederick Law Olmsted’s plan for the Louisville parks and parkways (Haragan 1-4). The literature then describes the five major Olmsted Parks; Cherokee, Seneca, Iroquois, Shawnee and Chickasaw. From there the entire book is a field guide for identifying the 384 most common plants found throughout the Olmsted Parks and key information about them. The guide is an excellent filter for the vast expanse of plants native to the Ohio River Valley and can be used as a foundation block for developing a plant palette of natives to use when implementing Green design in the Louisville Parkway Re-Development.
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Conclusion This review of literature has given a sequence of informative research describing how design principles were once developed for parkway design by Frederick Law Olmsted and that the principles through strength of value have persisted throughout time even as the criteria for successful parkways has dramatically evolved. Olmsted based his design decisions upon ways for creating functional beauty in broad landscapes throughout urban spaces known as parkways. He sought to reach community members at a subconscious level of enjoyment while visiting his parkways. Although, over time parkways degraded through the introduction of the automobile, the influx of automobiles using parkways and the degradation of the parkway infrastructure itself. Contemporary design has developed many methods for retrofitting dated parkways to help those over-come obstacles and restore them as community assets rather than liabilities. Through several design implementations such as traffic-calming and native plantings, parkways can now be retrofitted to accommodate the demands to over-come todays obstacles and once again return to the spotlight as quality design standards in public transportation methods. In further research I hope to further investigate in what ways hierarchy is developed in trail systems in nature; such as with plants, animals and even insects. I also hope to discover creative ways for small organisms to safely move across urban roadways and throughout urban developments.
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Works Cited Beveridge, Charles E. "Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. - National Association for Olmsted Parks." Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. - National Association for Olmsted Parks. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2015. http://www.olmsted.org/the-olmsted-legacy/olmsted-theory-and-designprinciples/ Bosselmann, Peter. Urban Transformation: Understanding City Design and Form. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2008. Web. Hellmund, Paul Cawood, and Daniel S. Smith. Designing Greenways: Sustainable Landscapes for Nature and People. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2006. Web. Haragan, Patricia Dalton. The Olmsted Parks of Louisville: A Botanical Field Guide. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2014. Kowsky, Francis R., 1943, and Library of American Landscape History. The Best Planned City in the World: Olmsted, Vaux, and the Buffalo Park System. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2013. Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia, and Robert Gottlieb. "A Road as a Route and Place: The Evolution and Transformation of the Arroyo Seco Parkway." California History 83.1 (2005): 28-40. Web. Sipes, James L., and Matthew L. Sipes. Creating Green Roadways: Integrating Cultural, Natural, and Visual Resources into Transportation. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2013. Web. Tallamy, Douglas W. Bringing Nature Home: How you can sustain wildlife with native plants. Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2007.
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Section III Methodology
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Introduction The methodology implemented throughout the research of this proposal and continuing on into project design is made up of three primary methods of gathering the necessary information to make informed design decisions, which will lead to a holistic design. The three primary methods of gathering information are (1) review of literature, (2) physical site assessment and (3) interviews with professionals and organizations. The methods for gathering information have been in effect since October 2015, and will continue through the end of the year into the spring of 2016.
Review of Literature A review of literature was conducted in October 2015, which focused on three key components; Frederick Law Olmsted’s design methodology, contemporary green-street design and the use of native plantings in landscape design. The information was gathered from several sources which elaborated on what credentials Frederick Law Olmsted demanded for success in landscape design and what professionals since the year 2000, have deemed as appropriate for successful design. Moving forward into the design development phase of this project, further reading will be done on design practice and case studies found within James and Matthew Sipes book, Creating Green Roadways. The literature was given an abstract and assessment in the literature review. However the book acts as a designated ‘How-To’ handbook for successful contemporary Green Roadway design and will be further investigated and continuously referenced as design progresses throughout this project. Along with giving detailed information on essentially every facet of designing Green Roadways, Creating Green Roadways (Sipes & Sipes) provides several case studies in which exemplify implementation for many of the proposed design decisions within the literature. The case studies from chapters 6-8-9 will be further investigated as they relate to this project. As this project reaches the level of detail that pertains to planting design, resources from the previous literature will once again be looked upon into further detail. Bringing Nature Home (Tallamy) will provide further information when it is necessary for configuring mosaics of native plantings, which act with the most success as a whole. Within the literature review of October 34 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 2015, it was said by Beveridge that Frederick Law Olmsted understood the importance of native plantings and also enforced the practice of using natives in order to create ‘unbending’ mosaics with the landscape. Tallamy offers a contemporary consensus to the benefit of natives on the environment, further investigation into his book will further describe the best manner in which to apply native plantings to an urban setting. A resource from the literature review that will come into effect once again at the latest of all the literature review resources will be The Olmsted Parks of Louisville (Wilson & Bidwell). The literature is a field guide which provides an extensive list of plantings found throughout the Olmsted Parks and Parkways and as this project moves into site detailing and planting design the literature will act as a reference for plantings common to the local native mosaic. Plantings drawn from the field guide will be constructed into a table or series of tables to be attached in the appendices later in the project.
Physical Site Assessment Personal site visits will be conducted throughout December 201,5 into January 2015, to gather information as for specific site details. The visits will be conducted throughout each parkway system and the larger Olmsted Parks in which they pass through such as Cherokee Park. The physical investigation will provide insight into which sections are most heavily used, which parkway sections require the most re-development in infrastructure and site images for further descriptions of the site to audiences in presentations/descriptions. A follow-up site visitation will be conducted in March 2016, to further gather information on areas that will be later chosen as key areas of interest for specific site design. Also the follow-up visitation will provide site photos during a separate season of the year further providing information as to what sections are more heavily used.
Interviews Interviews will be conducted with two separate parties; the Olmsted Conservancy and a landscape architecture firm in Louisville, Rundell Ernstberger Associates. The interview will be in the order of an introductory phone call followed by an emailed hard copy interview. The interview template will be constructed during December 2015 and phone calls will be made in 35 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015 the middle of January 2016. The interview will vary between each party as the desired information varies. The Olmsted Conservancy will be inquired as to what past projects have occurred along the parkway systems and interest for potential future development. Tricia McClellan from Rundell Ernstberger Associates will be contacted via phone call in the middle of January. The interview with Miss McClellan will involve insight into the public interest in the Olmsted Parks and Parkways. Miss McClellan is an ideal source for such information as she has been a practicing landscape designer in the Louisville Metropolitan area for over ten years which has involved Olmsted Parks such as Victory Park. The development for the interview template given to Miss McClellan will also be completed in December of 2015.
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Appendices
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Appendix I Project Mission, Goals and Objectives [Mission Statement] The mission of this project is to collect data which provides the adequate information to become knowledgeable in the design principles of Frederick Law Olmsted, the design principles of contemporary Green Street design and how native plantings can impact an environment. Once the project has developed a working forum of knowledge from research a design master plan for the Olmsted Parkways in Louisville, Kentucky, shall be developed. From the master plan, key typologies for each parkway will be designed to establish a working palette of design principles throughout the parkway system along with the site design for key points of interest throughout the Olmsted Parkways as they move through the Louisville Metropolitan. The Louisville Parkway Re-Development will encourage the use of pedestrian transportation such as walking and cycling through the Louisville downtown, lower the amount of vehicular traffic, and provide an iconic national feature for the city of Louisville using aesthetic and functional design. Goal I: Implement Frederick Law Olmsted’s Design Principles into Contemporary Design Objective: Develop the parkway system as a holistic mosaic Objective: Establish functional lanes for all major modes of transportation Objective: Provoke a subconscious sense-of-place for those using the parkway Goal II: Structure the Louisville Parkway system to Contemporary Green Street Design Objective: Implement traffic-calming design features into the parkway Objective: Immerse vegetation into all aspects of the parkway for microclimate Objective: Choreograph parkway dimensions to meet suggested Green Street design scale Goal III: Enhance the Parkway’s value in the Environment Objective: Incorporate storm-water management planting design Objective: Furnish site with native plantings to promote native ecosystems 38 | P a g e
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Appendix II Site Summary and Overview
Louisville, Kentucky is the largest city in Kentucky with 600,000 citizens as of 2015. The nearest three major cities to Louisville are Cincinnati, Ohio, (96 miles) Indianapolis, Indiana, (112 miles) and Nashville, Tennessee, (176 miles). Louisville is one of the major Ohio River Valley cities situated on the banks of the Ohio River. The city was given birth by the trade commerce along the Ohio River. The Falls of the Ohio, which is now a state park, were once a major obstacle for barges and ferries traveling down the Ohio River. The falls were a series of small water fall-like drop-offs along the current Louisville Metropolitan shore line. The falls were made up of shallow waters and jagged rocks and traveling captains of ferries and barges would hand off command to local men to navigate the treacherous section of river. Later Louisville would develop a canal and lock system to maneuver the falls more effectively. Louisville is also home to the Kentucky derby, the largest horse race, which welcomes around 150,000 attendees each year and holds the title for the longest duration for a sporting event to take place in a particular arena, Churchill Downs. Louisville is also home to the University of Louisville and Bellarmine University. 39 | P a g e
[LOUISVILLE PARKWAY RE-DEVELOPMENT] Petty 2015
Figure 2 Frederick Law Olmsted’s Parkways
Image courtesy of the Olmsted Conservancy The above image highlights the six Olmsted parkways in Louisville, Kentucky; Algonquin, Cherokee, Eastern, Northwestern, Southern and Southwestern. In total the parkways make up nearly 15 miles of thoroughfare and are one of four parkway systems completed by Frederick Law Olmsted’s designs. The parkways are made up of wide thoroughfares and strictly aligned Bosque’s of large shade trees flanked by sidewalks.
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Appendix III Project Timeline Week 1 Task: Inventory/Analysis Site Visit Site Photos Olmsted Conservancy Interview REA Interview: Tricia McClellan Task: Design In-Depth Data Analysis Goals and Objectives Concepts Framework Plan Master Plan Extension Section Typologies Focus Area Site Design Perspectives Details Supplementary Diagrams Board Layout Text Holidays Christmas Break Martin Luther King Jr. Day Spring Break Easter
December 2 3 4
1
January 2 3 4
1
February 2 3 4
1
March 2 3
4
1
April 2 3
4
1
May 2 3
4
The given timeline is subject to change, especially after the initial start of the Spring 2016 semester in which a timeline will be given by new studio mentors.
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Appendix IV Bibliography Beveridge, Charles E. "Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. - National Association for Olmsted Parks." Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. - National Association for Olmsted Parks. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2015. http://www.olmsted.org/the-olmsted-legacy/olmsted-theory-and-designprinciples/ Bosselmann, Peter. Urban Transformation: Understanding City Design and Form. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2008. Web. Hellmund, Paul Cawood, and Daniel S. Smith. Designing Greenways: Sustainable Landscapes for Nature and People. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2006. Web. Haragan, Patricia Dalton. The Olmsted Parks of Louisville: A Botanical Field Guide. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2014. Kowsky, Francis R., 1943, and Library of American Landscape History. The Best Planned City in the World: Olmsted, Vaux, and the Buffalo Park System. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2013. Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia, and Robert Gottlieb. "A Road as a Route and Place: The Evolution and Transformation of the Arroyo Seco Parkway." California History 83.1 (2005): 28-40. Web. "Olmsted Parkways | Frederick Law Olmsted Parks." Frederick Law Olmsted Parks Olmsted Parkways Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2015. Sipes, James L., and Matthew L. Sipes. Creating Green Roadways: Integrating Cultural, Natural, and Visual Resources into Transportation. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2013. Web. Tallamy, Douglas W. Bringing Nature Home: How you can sustain wildlife with native plants. Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2007.
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