Portfolio by Kylie Harper

Kylie R. Harper a landscape architecture portfolio

Kylie R. Harper

Fifth Year Non-Baccalaureate Master of Landscape Architecture Graduate Student Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning College of Architecture, Planning & Design Kansas State University krharper@ksu.edu 620.200.4226

Tagged Topography

Manhattan Mennonite Congregation 11

Sunset Zoo Butterfly Garden

Hand Graphics

Table of Contents

Main Plaza Montage, Denver Metropolitan Studio Project, Arapahoe Square, Denver, Colorado

Tagged Topography

Arapahoe Plaza is a design proposal for the intersection of 21st Street and Broadway in the Arapahoe Square district in Denver, Colorado. The plaza design includes a pedestrian bridge that gives an identity to the area and serves as a gateway into Denver’s central business district. The design concept of Arapahoe Plaza draws inspiration from nearby graffiti murals or “tags” that represent the existing culture. A series of earthmounds symbolize this graffiti concept three dimensionally and provide various degrees of spatial enclosure. Orange lighting elements represent the bold colors in graffiti art and create an exciting nightlife experience. Arapahoe Plaza is a spatially diverse design that captures the existing culture while strengthening the future potential growth of the Arapahoe Square district.

street design

existing traffic condition

proposed spacing strategy and pedestrian bridge

land use diagrams Massing Diagram new buildings renovated/repurposed buildings

Civic and Social Services

Mixed Use Development

civic

entertainment

transitional housing

retail, office and residential

low income housing

retail and office

Green Spaces green roofs turf and street trees

22nd street

california street

ch a m pa

arapahoe plaza

stout street

t ee

r st

curtis street

arapahoe street

21st festival street

100

light rail

200

300

illustrative plan The proposed land uses for Arapahoe Square are primarily influenced by the existing site context. The placement of retail, office, and residential buildings is concentrated in the western portion of the district because of the proximity

to Denverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s central business district and Coorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Field. Proposed low income residential and social welfare buildings are located to the east near the existing neighborhoods. Parking is located adjacent to the existing light rail station,

civic buildings, and along the Festival Street. Additionally, green spaces create points of interest that guide visitors along the Festival Street which terminates at Coorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Field. 05

linework overlays

derived forms and program

spatial hierarchy My Inspiration, Photograph of Graffiti, Arapahoe Square, Denver, Colorado final design 06

process

A framework was established by drawing lines that illustrate existing relationships and connections to the site context. The relative size and location of the shapes created by the lines suggest spatial hierarchy and ultimately drove programmatic development. The rapid overlaying of graffiti and brick linework establishes another framework that guides forms.

The forms derived from the graffiti and brick linework overlays were originally envisioned as being raised planters of dense vegetation. However, after considering the pedestrian bridge landing on top of one of these two dimensional forms, the idea of earthmounds seemed more congruent with the plaza design concept, emulating graffiti three dimensionally.

The earthmounds symbolically represent the bold, organic strokes of graffiti and activate the vertical space of the plaza design. However, the “strokes” were lacking vivid colors, which are commonly used in graffiti art. This issue was resolved with the exploration of various lighting features.

With the inclusion of lighting features, a new concept of light and shadow manifested within the plaza. A light wall, inspired by Peter Walker’s Kiel Plaza, separates the main plaza space from a forest of light sticks that represents fragments of color in graffiti. These lighting elements create a “light walk” on the southern half of the site that contrast the shadows on the northern half of the plaza.

Exploration of Lighting Elements

illustrative plan 21st street

amphitheater seating

gh li

Office, Retail, and Residential Buildings

pe lk

elevator

a st

r st

g id

diagrams Circulation

Lighting Elements primary

landforms

secondary

amphitheater

tertiary

light wall

Program

Vegetation light walk

landforms

amphitheater

trees

pedestrian bridge intimate rest area

section illustrating spatial qualities pedestrian bridge

light walk

stage

amphitheater seating

intimate rest area

Irrigation Plan, Manhattan Mennonite Congregation Project, Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas

Manhattan Mennonite Congregation The Manhattan Mennonite Congregation was a planting design project for the proposed Mennonite Church facility to be located on the 800th block of Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas. Given only a building footprint, Angela Mayer and I were required to detemine the most suitable locations for the church facility and other various program elements after a series of site visits. After the site elements were conceptually laid out, plants were then used to define and accentuate the spaces.

illustrative plan

poyntz avenue

law office

church

8th street

ea te

playground

ph it h

9th street

plaza

parking lot bioswale

the great lawn private residence

houston street 0

120

180

seasonal diagrams

winter

spring

summer

autumn

woody plant palette

betula nigra/ river birch juniperus davurica ‘parsonii’/ parson’s juniper acer griseum/ paperbark maple acer freemanii ‘autumn blaze’/ autumn blaze maple thuja occidentalis/ eastern arborvitae

berberis thunbergii ‘crimson pygmy’/ crimson pygmy barberry gleditsia triacanthos/ honeylocust viburnum carlesii/ korean spice viburnum ligustrum vicaryi/ golden privet

zelkova serrata/ zelkova

ostrya virginiana/ american hophornbeam

ginkgo biloba/ maidenhair tree

planting plan

poyntz avenue

law office church

ea te

playground

ph it h

9th street

plaza

parking lot bioswale

private residence

the great lawn

houston street 14

construction documents The Manhattan Mennonite Congregation project was not only my first planting design project, but was also my first construction project as well. The illustrative plan that I made for studio was transcribed into a series of construction documents; the planting and grading plans were drawn first and followed by earthwork estimation. Earthwork estimation was calculated using the Averge Depth, End Area, and Contour Area methods. I also completed dimensioning, construction details, irrigation, and lighting/electrical drawings for the site design.

grading plan

average end area plan

deck detail 15

Terrace Perspective, Sunset Zoo Bioretention Project, Sunset Zoological Park, Manhattan, Kansas

Sunset Zoo Butterfly Garden The Sunset Zoo Butterfly Garden was a design proposal submitted by Katy Molaskey and I for a rain garden project at Sunset Zoological Park in Manhattan, Kansas. During the Spring 2011 semester, zoo officials chose the Butterfly Garden project to be implemented within Sunset Zoo. The design transforms a stretch of several existing parking stalls into a terraced rain garden that captures and cleanses stormwater runoff from the adjacent service street. The planting design consists of native, water tolerant plants that attract butterflies. Additionally, informative signage about native butterfly species, life cycles, and migration patterns is used as an educational tool for zoo visitors.

service street

recycled concrete

limestone check dam

fire hydrant

power line

service area

illustrative plan

2.5

The majority of the materials used in the design, excluding the streambed gravel, are recycled materials from prior sidewalks and other precedent projects in the Sunset Zoological Park. Inspired by the pattern of a butterfly wing, each terrace has a low point in the center which allows shallow pooling of stormwater. The terraces gradually step down half a foot from south to north which directs excess stormwater into the next, lower terrace, essentially creating an appealing effect during rain events.

cross-sectional layers

slope stabilizing gravel service street

existing drain

4 inch soil layer streambed

3 inch gravel layer

sub-soil

longitudinal section layers

4 inch soil layer existing access sidewalk

streambed 3 inch gravel layer

limestone check dam

sub-soil

site photos

Prior Site Conditions

Design Implementation 20

Water Tolerant Plants Placed in Low Point of Terrace

Student Volunteers Helping with Planting 21

Ink and Marker Sketch, Eco-revelatory Project, Wildcat Creek, Manhattan, Kansas 22

Hand Graphics Art is my passion. Growing up, my mother always encouraged me to draw and paint after school rather than watch television or play video games. Being an artist herself, I am inspired by my mother’s creativity. Every time I visit home, I discover something new that she has made, whether it is a clothes dresser covered in papiermâché book pages or a mirror frame crafted from sticks that were collected from the front yard. Because of her, I am constantly searching for new ways to artfully express myself and my studio work.

ink drawing

This ink drawing was my response to the disappearance of the eco-revelatory project that Rachel Barth, Aaron Johnson, and I were supposed to document for the entire Fall 2009 semester. I drew in a comic style because I thought that our misfortune (two weeks into the semester) was rather funny, especially since our professor stated that rebuilding is discouraged. Assuming that flood waters snapped the limb in two, my teammates and I continued to sketch the surrounding context. However, shortly after this drawing, we met an elderly man who, upon our inquiry, informed us that he “deleted” our project from the scenery.

L’Arbre Comic, Eco-revelatory Project, Wildcat Creek, Manhattan, Kansas 24

charcoal sketches

These charcoal sketches were drawn in October 2009 at one of my favorite places, Anneberg Park, which lies on the western fringe of Manhattan, Kansas. Located in the Flint Hills, the park is surrounded by a two mile trail loop that meanders among the rolling cuestas that define the geographical region. Whenever I get a chance to exercise, I enjoy jogging along this trail.

Anneberg Park, Manhattan, Kansas 26

graphite renderings

Entrance into The Big Well Museum 28

These graphite renderings were produced for the Greensburg Identity Project in my Site Design Studio during the Spring 2010 semester. The Greensburg Identity Project involved the redevelopment of the two city blocks that surround the Big Well Museum in Greensburg, Kansas. The final products were given to the City of Greensburg for design inspiration.

AllĂŠe Perspective Greensburg Identity Project, Greensburg, Kansas 29

thank you.

Blake Belanger, rla, asla Assistant Professor Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning College of Architecture, Planning & Design Kansas State University belanger@ksu.edu 785.532.1096

Jessica Canfield Assistant Professor Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning College of Architecture, Planning & Design Kansas State University jesscan@ksu.edu 785.532.7083

Chip Winslow Professor Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning College of Architecture, Planning & Design Kansas State University chipwin@ksu.edu 785.341.0229