Emily Louise Allen Portfolio / Landscape Architecture + Urban Planning Work Samples by Emily Louise Allen

EMILY LOUSE ALLEN

PHONE 831.588.3964 / EMAIL EMILYLOUISEALLEN@GMAIL.COM MAIL-MAIL 619 SHOTWELL ST. #3 SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110

EDUCATION

SELECTED WORK EXPERIENCE

Graduate Studies Master of Landscape Architecture, 2017 Harvard University / Cambridge, MA Graduate School of Design

Teaching Assistant / Harvard GSD / Cambridge, MA / 09.2016 - 12.2016 • Used background in both Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning to assist the professors of GSD’s only interdisciplinary options studio (offered jointly by both departments). • Produced base maps and graphic templates in ArcGIS and Adobe Creative Suite. • Served as point of contact with Sponsors of the Malaysian Studio and other stakeholders. • Technical support via office hours and workshops in Rhino, Grasshoppper, and ArcGIS.

Undergraduate Studies Bachelor of Arts Cum Laude, 2010 New York University / New York, NY Gallatin School of Individualized Study Study Area: Urban Planning + Design Awards + Appointments Student Forum Class Rep., 2013 - 2016 NYU Founders’ Day Award, 2010 Dean’s List Distinction, 2009 Edward Bergman Fellow for Social Entrepreneurship, 2008

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEED AP Certified, USGBC, 2008 Member, ASLA, 2013 - currently

TECHNICAL SKILLS Apple OS X Windows 10 3DS Max After Effects ArcGIS AutoCAD Cinema 4D Excel Grasshopper HTML/CSS InDesign Illustrator JavaScript Mastercam Photoshop Premiere Pro Processing Powerpoint Rhino 3D Sketch-Up V-Ray Unity Word

04.2008 09.2007 08.2007

Principal / BICI Planning & Design / Brooklyn, NY / 03.2009 - 01.2013 • Co-founded BICI Planning & Design, a multidisciplinary bicycle-oriented firm with expertise in master planning, infrastructure design, web-app development, community engagement, research, public awareness campaigns, bicycle education materials, and feasibility studies. • Grew the firm in 18 months to a staff of six; managed four direct reports and three associates. • Won juried national design competition for street furniture designs. • Submitted winning proposals for bicycle planning efforts throughout the United States; • Selected as a top 3 finalist for more than 70 percent of submissions; our emphasis on new technology as a tool for community planning and engagement resonated with governments and foundations. Selected clients and partners: The Alliance for Biking & Walking; The City of Westminster, CO; The City of Fayetteville, AR; The City of St. Louis, MO; Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Goodmorning Technology; New York University; The New School; NR2154; The Open Planning Project; Princeton University; SoBi Bicycle Share; St. Ann’s School; The Street Plans Collaborative; Tomorrow Lab; Virginia Commonwealth University. Transportation Intern / Dept. of City Planning / New York, NY / 01.2009 - 09.2009 • Contributed to a variety of research-based reports and studies about the future of New York. • Managed the publication of “Bike Lane Profiles” from pre-development to distribution. • Assembled, analyzed, and quantified eight years of bicycle infrastructure and cyclist count data, and comprehensively cataloged NYC’s bicycle infrastructure to provide substantial support for further installation of bike facilities. • Researched, wrote, and fact-checked sections of additional department publications. • Participated in site surveying and community outreach survey efforts. • Designed layout and graphics for published reports and materials.

PUBLICATIONS + PRESS 04.2016 04.2015 10.2010

Landscape Designer / Bionic / San Francisco, CA / 06.2016 - 09.2016 • Campus Master Plan / Silicon Valley Technology Firm: produced a ten-year 200-page Campus Master Plan to guide campus development and expansion on a neighborhood scale for one of the largest technology corporations in Silicon Valley; worked with a multidisciplinary team including urban designers, architects, community ecologists, and specialized planners to create a realistic design vision that fit site constraints and city regulations; reviewed and revised draft construction documents for the implementation of the first phase of the plan; translated second phase CDs into illustrative slide decks for client presentations. • India Basin / City of San Francisco: researched plant species selection and siting for a coastal bay development; curated project materials and site furnishings palettes; provided expertise in designing public spaces for bicyclists and pedestrians. • Design Proposals / Various Clients: crafted pitch decks and supporting materials for design proposals, including building digital site models and producing illustrative renderings.

Mas Context. “Exposed Urbanity.” Platform 7. Landscape Core I. Ink! Magazine. “Eco-Friendly Entrepreneur,” by Natty Hawley. NYU Alumni Magazine. “On the Road Again,” by Suzanne Krause. ABC News. “Eyesores into Pedal Power.” NY Times. “Giving Abandoned Bikes New Life,” by Colin Moynihan.

Project Lead, Bike to School / Green Grants / New York, NY / 05.2007 - 09.2008 • Conceived of, proposed, and received competitive funding from the NYU Green Grants Fund. • Orchestrated an abandoned bicycle recycling program. • Wrote “Bicycling at New York University,” a study of existing infrastructure and programs, featuring recommendations and supporting research for the expansion of bicycling on campus; • Adopted by the Sustainability Task Force as part of NYU’s Transportation Master Plan. Volunteer Coordinator / Time’s Up! Bike Co-op / New York, NY / 12.2006 - 06.2009 • Restructured the organization’s business model to help close the non-profit’s funding gap. • Implemented a new attendance databasing system and expanded membership benefits; • Increased co-op membership by more than five percent. • Oversaw wholesale purchasing and ordering, leading to increased sales.

SELECTED PROJECTS + WORK SAMPLES

LANDSCAPE / ACADEMIC WORK Boston 2060: Landscape Tactics for Carbon-Neutral Futures

The Boston Seaport

Scales of Projection: Urban Biodiversity in Malaysia Vision Valley

Playground / Groundplay: The Franklin Park Playstead

Exposed Urbanity: The Hidden Value of Non-Places

The Sound Mound: Fisher Hill Reservoir

City Hall Plaza

PLANNING / PROFESSIONAL WORK The NYCityBike Project

Street Furniture for the City of Fayetteville, AR

Selected Planning Reports + Studies

TECHNIQUES Hand Drafting + Technical Drawings

Illustrative Modeling

Sketchbook: New Mexico Vegetation

BOSTON 2060: LANDSCAPE TACTICS FOR CARBON-NEUTRAL FUTURES

Context map of Study Area 5 within the City of Boston. Historic coastline indicated by color overlay on top of aerial image. Current political boundaries indicated by solid black line, while historic boundaries of the City of Roxbury are overlaid with a dashed line. Study Area 5 shown with hatching overlay.

Introduction. This project explores what a city can do to tackle global warming at an urban scale by lowering the heat-island effect and sequestering as much CO2 as possible. How can investment in natural and artificial systems be integrated into our urban environments so to provide the benefits we need to survive a warming earth? Using the city of Boston as a case study, four intervention prototypes demonstrate how natural systems, as well as man-made solutions, can be inserted into the fabric of a city so to help reduce both CO2 and the heat island effect. The “Forest as Infrastructure” Scenario, developed by researchers at the Harvard Forest (in Petersham, MA), provides a set of baseline assumptions for

2060. This scenario envisions a future in which policies, markets, state and local planning, and incentives focus on growing the Commonwealth’s living “infrastructure,” its forests. The project builds on CO2 sequestration techniques such as forestation, bio-char and soil absorption, and adapts these concepts to an urban context where space is limited. The goal is to study the city and make suggestions for the insertions of natural and man-made systems that will make the region more self-reliant, while also reducing CO2 and cooling the environment.

Canopy + Vegetation

Road Network

Topography + Hydrology

Open Space: Existing + Found

Neighborhood Typologies

Study Area 5 looks at 42.8 square kilometers across four neighborhoods within the City of Boston: Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, Hyde Park, and West Roxbury. These neighborhoods are situated inland from the coast, south of the downtown core, and east of neighboring Brookline. The existing land use patterns can be traced to the area’s early settlement as the gateway to the City of Boston proper before Boston’s major land reclamation efforts and annexation of surrounding townships.

The following proposals engage with the past to reveal and capitalize on latent opportunities in the present as a strategy to generate emerging future scenarios.

Area 5 Analysis Mapping

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

Aerial Context

LANDSCAPE + DESIGN RESEARCH / BOSTON 2060

LANDSCAPE + DESIGN RESEARCH / ACADEMIC / SIXTH SEMESTER / HARVARD GSD WITH PROFESSORS MARTHA SCHWARTZ AND DR. MARKUS JATSCH IN CONJUNCTION WITH HARVARD FOREST

Above. Proposed intervention illustrative section with below grade detail. Dashed lines indicate property lines and public right-of-way.

Left. Existing conditions diagnostic section. With the greater road-capacity efficiency of self-driving vehicles in 2060, two lanes of traffic have been removed entirely and the remaining lanes have a narrower right-of-way.

Proposal A. Veterans of Foreign Wars Parkway—part of Boston’s on-street network to connect the system of urban parks and public reservations and designed by design by Charles Eliot and Olmsted Brothers—retains the design’s two red oak allées, but removes the two southbound travel lanes. Successional shadetolerant tree species are planted within the voids of the existing formal planting geometry, while new layers of groundcovers and shrubs are introduced. Over time, as the red oak population reaches the end of its lifespan, the new vegetation will generate an emergent planting pattern.

Left (bottom). Intervention suitability map: Study Area 5 has 25 kilometers of boulevards and parkways. While these roads account for less than five percent of the area’s 538 km network, they are wider than average and account for nearly 13 percent of the total surface area. Opposite page. Illustrative plan of proposed intervention. Existing red oaks shown without foliage. New plantings illustrated with canopy and color to reveal the new planting pattern that will emerge.

LANDSCAPE + DESIGN RESEARCH / BOSTON 2060

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

Opposite page. Proposed intervention illustrative section with below grade detail.

LANDSCAPE + DESIGN RESEARCH / BOSTON 2060

Proposal B. Commercial land use is distributed along a handful of roads that connect the four neighborhoods, including Centre Street. These commercial streets provide the most direct—or even the only—connections through or between neighborhoods. As such, the primary design priority should be to accommodate a variety of road users, including pedestrians and bicyclists. Unfortunately, many of these thoroughfares are located along former waterways or in topographic low points, making them vulnerable to future flooding even with the use of permeable hardscape. Commercial buildings, broadly, have large footprints, parcel coverage, and flat roofs, making them the most cost effective candidates for green roof installation, reducing adjacent run-off and generating added ecological benefits, including the creation of pollinator corridors.

Far left. Illustrative plan of proposed intervention. Near left. Intervention suitability map: Commercial, industrial, and mixed commercial-residential land uses are clustered along a small number of long thoroughfares. Proposal B seeks to capitalize on this existing development pattern.

Proposal C. Nearly 400 kilometers of the 538 kilometers of roads in Study Area 5 are residential. Furthermore, residential “T” and “H” roads— dead ends and single block non-through streets, respectively—represent more than 100 kilometers, or more than 25 percent of residential streets. Without any through connections, these low traffic streets, like Montebello Road, become shared-use public spaces with a single surface treatment that creates flexible and open-ended programs. Instead, the vegetation creates the necessary spatial definition to loosely define vehicle travel lane(s), parking and loading areas, and create traffic calming barriers.

Opposite page. Proposed intervention illustrative section with below grade detail. Far left. Illustrative plan of proposed intervention.

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

Near left. Intervention suitability map: Study Area 5 has nearly 100 kilometers of “T” and “H” streets. Original code (written in javascript and with Grasshopper) used to perform intersection analysis and to isolate deadend and non-through streets from the road network.

LANDSCAPE + DESIGN RESEARCH / BOSTON 2060

Left. Aerial oblique concept for a riparian greenbelt and buffer.

Confluence. Where the Charles River diversion meets the Neponset River.

Reclaimed edge lands. A major assumption of Proposal D is that technological changes will render some land uses within the city of Boston obsolete by 2060. The surface area of parking lots, for example, will be reduced by 30 percent with the rise of self-driving cars. Likewise, as delivery and logistics services improve in efficiency, manufacturing and warehouse spaces will move outside of urban boundaries. Edge expansion. Diagrammatic plan of introduction of topographic patterning to produce micro-climates and micro-habitats along the Charles River diversion.

Locks. The locks along the Charles River control water height as well as the width of the waterway, preventing it from flooding adjacent parcels. Climate change will increase pressure on these engineered systems; restoration of landscape systems can relieve this pressure.

Above. Tiled high-resolution aerial images of the Charles River diversion between the main branch of the Charles and point of confluence with the Neponset River.

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

Diversion point. Locks control the volume and flow from the main branch of the Charles River toward the Neponset River.

Proposal D. While Interstate 95 and 495 form loose boundaries around the metropolitan area, Boston’s rivers and waterways form an additional inner ring. Because Study Area 5 possesses a robust network of open spaces, this proposal seeks define areas of additional density for development by expanding the buffer of vegetation along riparian corridors—specifically between where the Charles and Neponset Rivers meet—to create a greenbelt/border. This segment of the river is characterized by a series of locks that create ponds and constricted channelized areas. To expand the edge, obsolete land uses will be restored to habitat. Some locks will be removed in order to create continuous corridors of habitat, and a series of overflow bowls creates a secondary system to accommodate additional precipitation and generate new microhabitats. While it is not feasible to remove all of the locks—and they do provide some benefits—their removal would aid in creating a more resilient environment through soft engineering and system redundancies.

THE BOSTON SEAPORT

The Boston Seaport project re-conceptualizes the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s historical attitude toward its waterfront. Like many urban areas at the time, Boston expanded largely by filling in the low-lying areas, including the surrounding rivers and bay edges. As a result, the relationship between the land and the water has been characterized by hard, engineered edges that create and reinforce these artificial boundaries. By contrast, the new Boston Seaport embraces and exploits the indefinite, moving edge between land and water.

Above: perspective toward the urban edge. Opposite page: seasonal detail illustrative plans. From top to bottom, summer at the waterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s edge, the upper tidal zone in spring, and fall shadows across the urban plaza.

LANDSCAPE / THE BOSTON SEAPORT

LANDSCAPE / ACADEMIC / FIRST SEMESTER / HARVARD GSD WITH PROFESSORS GARY HILDERBRAND, MICHAEL VAN VALKENBURGH AND ZANETA HONG

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN 10

LANDSCAPE / THE BOSTON SEAPORT The project proposes a series of overlapping surfaces that stretch from the existing (+5.0 m) elevation to below the mean low water level (0.0 m elevation). These surfaces are punctuated by artificial pools, and are accessible via ADA compliant ramps. The design creates two distinct ecologies: one dominated by grasses in the inter-tidal zone, and the second dominated by salt-tolerant trees, shrubs, and perennials in the upland zones (+4.0 m elevation).

Left. Site plans with vegetation and occupation detail analysis.

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

Above. Section perspective facing east toward the Institute of Contemporary Art, with tidal fluctuation gradient.

SCALES OF PROJECTION: URBAN BIODIVERSITY IN MALAYSIA VISION VALLEY

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Malaysia Vision Valley (MVV) is a new economic growth area announced by the Malaysian Government in 2015. Comprising of 108,000 hectares of decommissioned palm plantation land on the western edge of Negeri Sembilan, the development site is 30 miles southeast of Kuala Lumpur and adjacent to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. 1 0 7of the 27,300 Responding to a master plan acre site, Scales of Projection begins with the understanding that natural systems operate on a global scale, and that the biodiversity can be read as a gradient with a high-concentration band around the equator. Zooming in—successively by the power of ten—the patterning becomes more granular and fragmented, but some of that systems understanding is still retained. Scales of Projection explores the relationship between larger ecological systems and individual urban plantings, seeking to establish planting strategies that function within multiple scales. At the national scale (106), Malaysia reads as a patchwork of biodiversity that is 010000000

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clustered around the mountainous region in the center of the country. The capital city, Kuala Lumpur, becomes visible as a series of gaps in the biodiversity grid—which at the global and continental scale appeared continuous. As we continue to zoom in, however, this previous understanding begins to fall apart. The resolution of the available data does not allow us to continue to make scalar comparisons and inquiries. To quantify the gap between Malaysia’s megadiversity and urban ecological conditions, digital images are analyzed by the color values embedded within each pixel. This method makes ground-level comparisons possible, both between scales (as a perspective and an aerial, for example) and across different sites. As a process, it begins to bridge the gap in understanding between regional and human scales and it provides a platform to work simultaneously across those scales. 050000000

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L o c a t e d w i t h i n 5 d e g r e e s o f t h e e q u a t o r, M a l a y s i a ’s l o c a t i o n p l a c e s i t h i g h o n t h e l a t i t u d i n a l diversity gradient (LDG). Malaysia and neighboring Indonesia are both recognized as “megadiverse”. E a c h c o u n t r y h a s m o r e t h a n 5 , 0 0 0 e n d e m i c p l a n t s p e c i e s . H o w e v e r, b o t h c o u n t r i e s a r e a l s o categorized as “biodiversity hotspots”, where ≥ 70% of original native habitat has been lost.

I N T E R FA C E : C o n s t r u c t i n g t h e E d g e o f M a l a y s i a V i s i o n Va l l e y Southeast Asia Regional Context | 0°1’2.44” N, 155°0’50.81” E

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Emily Louise Allen

Maps, top row first, then 105 Regional Scale / bottom row left to right. MVV Through a Global 108 Global Scale / Framework. At the regional Biodiversity Banding. scale, additional parameters Biodiversity indicators are added to the previous aggregated and compared as methodology begin to densities. Species richness and speculate about the ground biodiversity increase 1 0 5 R e gfrom i o n a l U nthe d e r s t a n d i nlevel g t h r o u conditions g h G l o b a l F r a m ethat w o r k exist on poles to the equator. the site. Measurements of 107 Continental Scale / canopy cover and change, Megadiversity. Located within and extents of regional 5 degrees of the equator, plantations are given weight Malaysia is recognized as in the calculation. “megadiverse,” with more than 5,000 endemic plant species. 106 National Scale / Peninsular Malaysia. Malaysia is also categorized as a “biodiversity hotspot,” where ≥ 70 percent of native habitat has been lost. At the regional scale, additional parameters are added to the previous methodology in order to begin to speculate about the ground level conditions that exist on the site. In addition to biodiversity indicators, measurements of canopy cover and change and extents of regional plantations are given weight in the calculation.

I N T E R FA C E : C o n s t r u c t i n g t h e E d g e o f M a l a y s i a V i s i o n Va l l e y MVV Region | 2°41’36.46”N, 101°48’32.33”E

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MVV Aerial Oblique (above). The pattern of urban development and landscape preservation has a deterministic topographic relationship. Built up areas form along the low points, in valleys where water accumulates into rivers and streams. The surrounding high points—peaks and ridges— are preserved as landscape conservation or open space features. In developed areas, the site plan is projected onto the ground itself. The result is the patterning—the horizontal stamping—of a limited set of objects across the horizon. The perspective reveals recent urban development as homogeneous and acontextual. The urban pattern increasingly seems to be a matrix of single-use islands, separated by infrastructure and offsets.

Urban Diversity as Fraction (left). Number of documented tree species growing in public spaces in Kuala Lumpur: 20 to 30. Each square represents a distinct tree species. Of these, the four most widely planted

species account for more than 70 percent of the capital’s urban forest.

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

Malaysian Megadiversity Grid (far left). Malaysia’s biodiversity is widely recognized as a “mega-diverse” country, with more species per hectare than almost anywhere on the planet, and more than 2,000 known tree species. Each square in this matrix represents an individual tree species. The code to create the Malaysian Megadiversity Grid was written in Processing (programming language). Photographs of vegetation coverage or canopy are rearranged into a grid of sorted pixel color values. These gradients reveal the variety of values that exist in a seemingly homogeneous image, and they begin to speak to the density of species diversity and proportional distribution of species across a measurable area.

LANDSCAPE + DESIGN RESEARCH / SCALES OF PROJECTION

LANDSCAPE + DESIGN RESEARCH / ACADEMIC / FIFTH SEMESTER / HARVARD GSD WITH PROFESSORS ZANETA HONG AND STEPHEN GRAY

Image Processing + Analysis: Understanding Biodiversity as Hue Range Source code (full) written in processing (programming language) The code pulls the color value from individual pixels in aerial satellite imagery and ground-level photographs in order to amplify the saturation and brightness of green pixels, and reduce the saturation and brightness of pixels outside of the defined range. Narrower hue ranges can be used to approximate the coverage of a specific plant species, for example. PImage landPhoto; //declare a variable of PImage class PFont whitney; //declare a variable of PFont class int col; //image width int row; //image height float newSat; //new pixel saturation value float newBright; //new pixel brightness value

This methodology also creates a metric that can be used to compare ground-level experience across different sites, including the three planting typologies that dominate the landscape of MVV. The first is urban planting in new development. The spatial pattern of current development follows logic of ownership and economics. The second is palm plantation. Most of the plantations will be developed, but any remaining areas—like those indicated by the open space plan—of monoculture should be diversified. The third, and most biodiverse, typology is the intact (or semi-intact) forest landscape.

void setup() { landPhoto=loadImage(“originals/google earth 01.jpg”); //make a new instance of PImage by loading the file col=landPhoto.width; //initialize width variable, set to width of image loaded row=landPhoto.height; //initialize height variable, set to height of image loaded size(col,row); //set canvas size to the width and height of the image colorMode(HSB, 360, 100, 100); //set color calculations to Hue Saturation Brightness, set maximum parameters whitney=createFont(“WhitneyHTF-Bold.otf”, 120); //set typeface } void draw() { background(0,0,0); loadPixels(); landPhoto.loadPixels(); textFont(whitney); float pixcountA=0; //number of pixels that meet initial “if” criteria (hue outside range of interest) float pixcountB=0; //number of pixels that meet “else if” criteria (saturation threshold) float pixcountC=0; //number of pixels that do not fit either criteria (within hue range + saturation cutoff) //loop through the two dimensional array of pixel values for (int y=0; y<height; y++) { for (int x=0; x<width; x++) { int loc=x+y*width; float h=hue(landPhoto.pixels[loc]); //calculate the hue of each pixel float s=saturation(landPhoto.pixels[loc]); //calculate the saturation of each pixel float b=brightness(landPhoto.pixels[loc]); //calculate the brightness of each pixel if ((h<90) || (h>120)) { //if the hue is greater than the first number OR smaller than the second newSat=s*.2; //reduce saturation by 80% newBright=b*.8; //reduce brightness by 20% pixcountA++; //add +1 for each pixel that meets these criteria } else if (s<10) { //if the saturation is less than 10% newSat=s*.2; //reduce saturation by 80% newBright=b*.8; //reduce brightness by 20% pixcountB++; //add +1 for each pixel that meets this criteria } else { //for all the remaining pixels newSat=s+25; //increase saturation by 25 newBright=b*2; //double brightness value pixcountC++; //add +1 for each remaining pixel } color newColor=color(h,newSat,newBright); //declare a new color from the changed HSB values pixels[loc]=color(newColor); //change the pixel color value to the new color value } }

float pixcountABC=pixcountA+pixcountB+pixcountC; //calculate the total num of pixels processed in the image float pixpercent=pixcountC/pixcountABC*100; //calculate percentage of the pixels that fell within hue range of interest int roundpercent=round(pixpercent); //round the percentage to nearest whole number println(pixpercent); updatePixels(); //update the pixels, draw new color values to processing canvas text(roundpercent + “%”, 250, 250); //write the percentage value on the image save(“new/processed image 01.tif”); //save the new image to the sketch folder noLoop(); //do not re-run the algorithm }

Opposite page, top. Planting Typologies Analysis. The use of processing allowed for the direct comparison of sites from aerial images and ground-level perspective photographs. Opposite page, bottom. Ground-level Urban Ecological Analysis Series, clockwise from top left. Port Dickson; new development street tree planting; typical Kampong (village) home, surrounded by palm plantations; public park in Sendayan, a recent nearby development; along the river’s edge in Kuala Lumpur; and recreational green spaces in a traditional Kampong.

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Ty p e 0 1 : N e w D e v e l o p m e n t

Ty p e 0 2 : P a l m P l a n t a t i o n

Ty p e 0 3 : I n t a c t o r S e m i - I n t a c t F o r e s t C o m m u n i t y

Cleared palm plantations and major infrastructure, but few structures.

The dominant existing land use will soon be replaced.

Reduced to patches, the MVV landscape strategy should protect existing areas of biodiversity and should connect these islands through an urban planting network. These strategies will create benefits for the future inhabitants in the form of ecosystem services.

I N T E R FA C E : C o n s t r u c t i n g t h e E d g e o f M a l a y s i a V i s i o n Va l l e y Google Earth Site Photograph

Emily Louise Allen

LANDSCAPE + DESIGN RESEARCH / SCALES OF PROJECTION

New Development

Planting Typologies

Emily Louise Allen

Ground-Level Urban Ecology Analysis Under Development

Palm Plantation

Potential Diversity

The house on this lot is identical to the house next to it and the house next to that one. The driveway gates make each dwelling an island within an island.

The perspective suggests that the understory growth here is more prolific than the stands of trees that dominate the landscape.

At the edges of an intact (or semi-intact) forest landscape, half of the pixel values in the frame are within the green hue range. Although the overstory from this vantage point seems d o m i n a t e d b y o n e s p e c i e s , t h e u n d e r - a n d m i d - s t o r y r e v e a l a m o r e c o m p l e t e c o m m u n i t y.

I N T E R FA C E : C o n s t r u c t i n g t h e E d g e o f M a l a y s i a V i s i o n Va l l e y Google Earth Site Photograph

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Scenic Port Dickson Stop

Replanting Strategy

Kampung Palms + Pots

Shrubs and corporate America in Malaysia.

The rogue proliferators at the foot of the wall contribute more to this imageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hue count (of less than half a percent) than the tree in the foreground does.

W h i l e o n e m i g h t e x p e c t t h e v i l l a g e s t o h a v e m o r e d i v e r s i t y, t h e p e r s p e c t i v e f r o m t h e g r o u n d reveals that the only two planting typologies represented are cultivation and beautification. In fact, most of the decorative shrubs are not even planted in the ground.

I N T E R FA C E : C o n s t r u c t i n g t h e E d g e o f M a l a y s i a V i s i o n Va l l e y Google Earth Site Photograph

Emily Louise Allen

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

Emily Louise Allen

PLAYGROUND / GROUNDPLAY: THE FRANKLIN PARK PLAYSTEAD

Aerial perspective of the proposed Playstead.

“Things like taking risks, learning to fail, learning to master something, to plan ahead, to develop deep friendships... none of those could take place on most playgrounds today.” - Susan Solomon, architectural historian and author of The Science of Play: How to Build Playgrounds that Enhance Children’s Development. Playgrounds are dominated by architectural objects. But the materials of landscape are ideally suited to play. What arises from the inversion of play and ground? Playground Groundplay proposes a new kind of recreational space for children in Boston’s Franklin Park Playstead. A series of overlapping mounds create micro-topographic conditions

that support different ecological habitats and provide spaces for open-ended exploration. The configuration provides corridors of activity, as well as secluded nooks for quiet and contemplative play. The planting palette provides materials for exploration, including fruit trees (to climb), willow thickets (to build forts), and butterfly-attracting meadows (to chase). The landforms and the planting palette both possess built-in opportunities for children to experience risk and challenge. Unlike static, standardized plastic and metal structures, the messy materials of landscape change and evolve, providing new and different opportunities with each visit.

Above. The typical “playshed” of a 9-year-old American has shrunk from many miles to about one city block. From the outside, each ring represents playsheds in the early 1900s, the 1950s, the 1980s, and in the last decade.

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Above. Section perspective of the proposed Playstead, illustrating a variety of risk-taking activities.

LANDSCAPE / PLAYGROUND / GROUNDPLAY

LANDSCAPE / ACADEMIC / SECOND SEMESTER / HARVARD GSD WITH PROFESSORS ANITA BERRIZBEITIA AND LUIS CALLEJAS

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Silver Dollar Feather Reed Grass Fountain Grass Blueberry Maiden Grass Japanese Fern Pussy Willow

Lamb’s Ear Russian Sage Knautia Mint Black Eyed Susan Corkscrew Witchhazel White Willow

Cherry Peach Pear Mulberry Apple 1 Apple 2 Living Wall

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A Brief History of Play 1890s: first known playground, a pile of sand in Boston’s East End 1920s: playgrounds are built to thrilling heights, suspended 20’ in the air 1970s: lawsuits result in the proliferation of the “McDonald” playground 2010s: playscapes are digital games

EXPOSED URBANITY: THE HIDDEN VALUE OF NON-PLACES

This project was originally published in the “Hidden” Issue of Mas Context (Spring 2016). With project partner: Leandro Couto de Almeida. In the urban context, emptiness is seen as the absence of value. Those with a political or capital stake in urban decisions embrace the articulation of planned, predictable future scenarios. However, because these leftover lands operate outside of the confines of the neoliberal city structure, they harbor social and ecological potential that does not—and cannot—exist elsewhere. This proposal asserts and embraces the hidden value of these spaces and subtracts, scrapes, and excavates from the ground plane as a mechanism for revealing aspects of the site and the violence of urbanization processes.

Urban designs that embraces the potential embedded within abandoned sites must reject the contemporary narrative of “improvement,” relinquish this position of power, and instead establish conditions for a fuller urbanism to reveal itself. Cultivating the growth of these latent social and ecological potentials requires the intentional construction of identity-less space, upon which any multitude of interpretations may be projected. The erasure of excess of design, composition, or representation on the production of cities and landscapes offers an opportunity to a more democratic and honest urbanity, without the designer’s concerns of formality and completion. Urbanism is an inherently violent proposition. The rigidity of highly-designed, overly-controlled urban spaces inhibit individual

desires and social spontaneity, and cannot adapt to the messiness of open-ended systems. This disruption of social and ecological possibilities deprives us of discoveries and surprises and impedes novel futures. Urban development hides its brutality through a shiny, sophisticated veneer—one so far removed from the reality of development processes that any connection between the two is nearly invisible. Through subtraction, excavation, and scraping, the proposed scheme exposes raw earth—the primary ground condition of urban development. These earthmoving methodologies are strategically intermixed within the proposal’s polished surfaces to highlight the tension between urbanism’s two paradigms.

Grid overlay

Primary voids

LANDSCAPE + URBAN DESIGN / EXPOSED URBANITY

LANDSCAPE + URBAN DESIGN / ACADEMIC / THIRD SEMESTER / HARVARD GSD WITH PROFESSORS CHRIS REED AND SERGIO LOPEZ-PINEIRO

Secondary voids

Object/Void emergent system

Opposite page. “Rawness” concept collage.

1. We assert that urban voids perform social and ecological functions & we reject the concept of leftover land 2. We seek to preserve and expand upon these functions 3. We acknowledge that exchange value will inevitably conquer these use values 4. We propose the project of urbanism is inherently violent, from the founding of Rome to contemporary redevelopment 5. We believe, in the words of Marshall Berman, “stability can only mean entropy, slow death” for urbanism 6. We refuse to conceal this brutality 7. We must embrace these paradoxes of modernity; they cannot be addressed otherwise

Right. Landscape and urban design systems concept plan. Like the Jeffersonian grid, the system is superimposed upon the ground plane to provide the foundation for future development.

A STATEMENT ON THE VALUE OF NOTHINGNESS /

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

Above. Existing conditions site photographs. The design proposal seeks to preserve the qualities of rawness, spontaneity, and vastness.

Current Sytem

Super surface. Platform and buildings.

Current Sytem

Excavation

Existing surface. Elements for preservation.

Excavated surface. Revealing historical ground conditions.

Top. Site plan surface levels exploded axonometric. Left. Temporal site plan. Acknowledging that urban forms are not static, the plan illustrates the development during different moments.

LANDSCAPE + URBAN DESIGN / EXPOSED URBANITY 22

Bottom. Site model. Museum board, acrylic, and bristol. 24” diameter.

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

Top. Temporal site study models. “Preservation” (left). “Excavation” (right). Museum board, acrylic, and bristol. 12” diameter.

“Scrape” void detail section and plan.

LANDSCAPE + URBAN DESIGN / EXPOSED URBANITY

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

“Excavate” void detail section and plan.

THE SOUND MOUND: FISHER HILL RESERVOIR

“Our problems are man-made. Therefore, they can be solved by man. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man’s reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable— and we believe they can do it again.” -John F. Kennedy American University Speech June 10, 1963

Top. Kennedy concept collage and mood board. Second row, left. Site context map as potential target. Second row, right. Dominant wind vectors by season.

The Sound Mound proposes that climate change is the new Cold War. It uses historical military technology to amplify ambient atmospheric and anthropogenic sound, generating a sensory registration of climate change that challenges the discipline’s emphasis on visual experiences. The project speculates that Fisher Hill Reservoir was a Cold War target, taken off-line just as the US and the USSR embark on a year-long cooperative effort to collect climate data—ultimately, forming the foundation for our current understanding of climate change. HISTORICAL PROJECT BACKGROUND 1947 The Cold War begins 1950s Nike missiles ring the Boston Area for defense 1972 Operation Foot uncovers intelligence suggesting that American drinking water supplies may be targeted by the Soviet Union 1978 Fisher Hill Reservoir goes off-line 1978 The International Year of Science 2008 An unexploded bomb is found in another of Boston’s reservoirs

Right. Site plan.

LANDSCAPE / THE SOUND MOUND

LANDSCAPE / ACADEMIC / SECOND SEMESTER / HARVARD GSD WITH PROFESSORS ANITA BERRIZBEITIA AND LUIS CALLEJAS

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

Middle row. Site concept study model (first) and sectional detail (second). Plastilina modeling clay, canvas, paper, birch twigs.

Sound mound detail model, scaled to provide acoustic proof of concept (three through five). Chipboard.

Bottom. Section perspective of wildlife and ambient sounds amplification.

Top. Section perspective of norâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;easter acoustics amplification.

CITY HALL PLAZA

Boston City Hall lies at the crossroads between the city’s downtown— the Financial District, and the historic neighborhoods of the North End and Beacon Hill. City Hall Plaza, however, is devoid of the public life and activity that is found in the surrounding areas. The proposed plaza maintains a flexible layout to accommodate large events and public programming, while sheltering and creating more intimate spaces for everyday public use. 0’

10’

25’

SITE PLAN

50’

100’

SCALE 1” = 40’

CITY HALL PLAZA BOSTON, MA

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

Top row. Plaza detail plans at different times of day. Bottom row. Site plan with grading details and planting concept. Site model, as viewed from Congress Street.

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

Above. City Hall Plaza topographic site model with tree planting locations. Bristol, acrylic, and styrene rods.

LANDSCAPE / CITY HALL PLAZA

LANDSCAPE / ACADEMIC / SECOND SEMESTER / HARVARD GSD WITH PROFESSORS MARTHA SCHWARTZ, ANITA BERRIZBEITIA AND LUIS CALLEJAS

THE NYCITYBIKE PROJECT

The NYCityBike Project was a proposal for a crowd-sourced, open platform bicycle share for New York City. This methodology would have maximized mode share by customizing the program to best meet the needs of the end users. As part of a team project, Emily served as an advisor to the industrial design team on all aspects of the bicycle design to tailor it to the context of New York City. Additionally, Emily conducted street interviews and public outreach to gather input from the end users: everyday New Yorkers and the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s many visitors.

When the City of New York put out the RFP for a bicycle sharing program, the team was not prepared to make a bid or handle the transition from prototype to full scale, so the team shared the information they had gathered with the winning team, Alta Bicycle Share. Emily continued to contribute to the future of bicycle sharing in New York City by working with The Street Plans Collaborative, one of Altaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s planning partners

Right: Renderings of initial concept bike design at night and detail of front cargo basket, pages from the NYCityBike Project website and bike design application, and the public participation process in actionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Emily works with the public to gather station location information and bicycle design ideas.

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

Above: Rendering of a man riding a NYCityBike in Astor Square (lower Manhattan).

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN + PLANNING / THE NYCITYBIKE PROJECT

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN + PLANNING / PROFESSIONAL / 2009 TO 2011 / BICI PLANNING + DESIGN WITH COLLABORATORS DILLER SCOFIDIO + RENFRO, GOODMORNING TECHNOLOGY AND NR2154

STREET FURNITURE FOR THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, AR

Emily’s designs at BICI Planning & Design won a national juried competition to design and fabricate street furniture for the new county courthouse. The City of Fayetteville, Arkansas held an open-invitation bicycle rack design competition in the summer of 2009. Two of BICI’s designs were chosen for fabrication and installation in front of the new District County Courthouse. “Bench/Rack” combines seating and bicycle parking, while “Scale Rack” takes its form from the scales of justice, echoing the building’s use. Emily and BICI partner Mark Simpson collaborated on the designs, and produced the racks by hand with welder, Thomas Callahan.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN / STREET FURNITURE

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN / PROFESSIONAL / 2009 / BICI PLANNING + DESIGN WITH COLLABORATOR HORSE CYCLES

Clockwise, from top left: Bench/Rack, Steel & Plastic Wood (72” L x 40” W x 34” H); Detail of Scale Rack; Detail of Bench/Rack; Bench/Rack; Scale Rack, Steel (40” L x 10” W x 48” H); Emily fabricating the racks in the studio; Emily and partner Mark Simpson in the studio.

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN 32

SELECTED PLANNING REPORTS + STUDIES

The Open Streets Guide

R E T S N I M T ES CLE Y C I B TER S A M N A L P

Opening Streets to People || Sharing Resources || Transforming Communities

WORLD CITIES BEST PRACTICES I N N OVAT I O N S I N T R A N S P O R TAT I O N

NYC Dept. City Planning | Transportation Division | February 2010

The Open Streets Guide Professional, 2012 Client: Alliance for Biking & Walking The first comprehensive report on “cyclovias” or car free street days. It functions as a printed and online tool for cities who have already or would like to implement similar programs. Emily worked as part of The Street Plans Collaborative, and provided research assistance, data aggregation, data visualization, graphic design, and layout.

WESTMINSTER 2030 BICYCLE MASTER PLAN FOR PRINTING.indb 1

Westminster Bicycle Master Plan Professional, 2011 Client: City of Westminster, CO BICI and Street Plans Collaborative were hired to complete the first Bicycle Master Plan for Westminster, a community of 100,000 between Denver and Boulder. The plan calls for 121 miles of new on-street bicycle facilities to complement the existing off-street recreational trail network. As part of a three person team, Emily was involved in all facets of the plan. Her responsibilities included the graphic design; public outreach, including on-site surveying and leading community design charrettes; mapping and analysis of existing conditions, with an eye to potential treatment proposals.

World Cities, Best Practices 2 Professional, 2009 The City of New York As an intern at the NYC Department of City Planning’s Transportation Division, Emily oversaw the completion of World Cities, Best Practices 2. Though some research had been completed previously, the project needed a strong coordinator to step in and pull these separate pieces together into a cohesive 100+ page document. Emily acted as a contributing writer and editor; conceived of the layout and graphic design; and executed the first draft of the document during her tenure at DCP.

3/23/11 12:51 PM

Bike Facilities Profile Academic, 2009 The City of New York As an intern at the NYC Department of City Planning’s Transportation Division, Emily was asked to use her background in statistics for social sciences to analyze eight years of bicycle count data. Emily was the primary writer of the document, completing all of the data analysis on her own. Emily designed the layout, created all the graphics, went into the field to photograph existing conditions, and received accolades from the department’s director for “taking ownership” of such a larger project.

BICYCLES AT PRINCETON

STATION

A Bike Center & Bike Share Feasibility Study

BICI

NI NG PL AN SIGN & DE

BIK

CY C SU LING RV EY

MANHATTAN CORE

bike facilities profile 20012008

NYC Dept of City Planning | Transportation Division

State of Cycling Report

@ Virginia Commonwealth University

August 2010

! ! ! ! ! ! ! Bicycling at New York University ! ! ! Emily Allen ! A study of NYU!s bicycle infrastructure and programs, featuring recommendations and supporting research for the improvement and expansion of bicycling on campus.!

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

A MUCOM NIT Y

PLANNING / SELECTED REPORTS + STUDIES

URBAN PLANNING / PROFESSIONAL / 2008 TO 2013

Public Parking Study

BIKE-SHARE OPPORTUNITIES IN NEW YORK CITY

NYC Department of City Planning Transportation Division December 2011

! September 2008

! ! ! NYC Dept. City Planning | Spring 2009

Bicycles at Princeton Station Professional, 2011 Client: Princeton University Princeton University commissioned this report to outline a bicycle share and commuter center for a future multi-modal transit hub adjacent to campus. Based on survey data and case study research, the visually engaging report communicates the project findings and recommendations. Emily participated in all aspects of the report development, including online and physical surveying of Princeton residents, data analysis, recommendation creation, and report layout and design.

VCU State of Cycling Report Professional, 2011 Client: VCU Virginia Commonwealth University hired BICI to analyze its existing conditions for cyclists, and make recommendations for improved programs and infrastructure. Currently, VCU is working with the City of Richmond to implement BICI’s bike route recommendations, and is testing a pilot bicycle share program for affiliates.

Reports & Studies Not Pictured

Scottsdale, AZ Public Art Master Plan Professional, 2011 - 2012 Client: The City of Scottsdale Working with the Cultural Planning Group, Emily’s primary responsibilities included coordination and preparation for public meetings; proofreading and editing final document; and document layout.

St. Louis Bicycle Commuting Campaign Professional, 2012 - 2013 Client: Trailnet Emily worked as part of TSPC to create graphics for a bicycle commuting promotion campaign.

Bike! New School Professional, 2011 Client: TNS The New School sought BICI to survey its students, faculty, and staff to better understand what types of infrastructure and programs would most encourage cycling on campus. The resulting State of Cycling Report highlighted how the university could best use its resources to meet its GHG reduction goals.

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

Bicycling at New York University Professional, 2008 Client: Jeremy Friedman, Office of Sustainability at NYU As a part of NYU’s commitment to reduce their greenhouse gases by 30 percent by 2017, Emily was contracted to survey existing cycling conditions and the analyze the attitudes and beliefs of the student body about biking. In addition, she conducted comprehensive research regarding other university situations and issued a series of specific recommendations for the improvement and expansion of bicycling on campus.

HAND DRAFTING + TECHNICAL DRAWINGS

Above. Precedent Study: Donnell Garden in Sonoma, California, designed by Thomas Church. Top rows: sectional studies (micron pen on mylar). Bottom row: site plan construction lines study, hand drafted site plan, and digital site plan (AutoCAD).

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

Opposite page. Circulation, paving, and canopy plan studies (graphite on paper).

TECHNIQUES / HAND DRAFTING + TECHNICAL DRAWINGS

TECHNIQUES / ACADEMIC / VARIOUS SEMESTERS / HARVARD GSD

TECHNIQUES / HAND DRAFTING + TECHNICAL DRAWINGS EMILY LOUISE ALLEN 38

Opposite page. Construction documents, life sciences building plaza. GSD 7241 with professors Niall Kirkwood and Tom Ryan. AutoCAD drawings.

Top row. Diagnostic sections, stair riser construction isometric diagram. GSD 6242 with professors Niall Kirkwood and Alistair McIntosh. Scale 1” = 1’. Graphite on paper. Left. Diagnostic section, measured and sketched on site and translated into digital drawing.

Metal Cording

Granite T Retaining Wall Weatherproofing & Filter Fabric Planting Soil Metal Screen Fence Post

Granite Seat Wall & Back, with wooden slatted seats Weeping Hole (as needed)

Concrete Foundation Drainage Crushed Rock Aggregate

Soil Subgrade

Top left. Boston’s Revere Plaza site photograph; section drawing of existing bench and wall design and construction. Right. Bench and wall proposed redesign for Boston’s Revere Plaza. Isometric construction diagram. GSD 6242 with professors Niall Kirkwood and Alistair McIntosh. Scale 1” = 1’ - 0”. Sketched on site and translated into digital drawing.

Metal Cording Tensioning Turnbuckle

End Anchor, runs through frame and threads to end of cable Metal Framing

TECHNIQUES / HAND DRAFTING + TECHNICAL DRAWINGS

Screening Fence Assembly Detail

Granite Seat Assembly Detail

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN 40

Construction assembly details for bench and wall proposal. Exploded axonometric construction diagram. Scale 1” = 0’ 2”. Drawn in Rhino.

ILLUSTRATIVE MODELING

Top. Land Form Urban Form final model. Laser cut contours with coded engravings. GSD 1211 (Module 04) with professors Chris Reed and Fionn Byrne. Bristol paper base with museum board architectural massing.

Second row. Contour study models. GSD 1201 (Modules 01 and 02) with professors Gary Hilderbrand and Jane Hutton. Bristol and museum board.

Opposite page. Clockwise from top left. Massing study model. Surface materials and plant communities indicated by hatching patterns. GSD 1201 (Module 01) with professors Gary Hilderbrand and Jane Hutton. Acrylic. Design concept model illustrating ground surface, framework overlay, and modular landscape systems. GSD 1211 (Module 02) with professors Chris Reed and Javier Arpa Fernández.

Museum board, wooden dowels, and acrylic on wood base.

High density foam (wire cut), acrylic paint, and museum board on a white foam base.

Landscape intervention temporal model, with diagrammatic overlay hatching. GSD 1212 with Pierre Bélanger and Fionn Byrne. Milled white foam.

Speculative geography: wandering topographic model. Where do we go when we’re “going nowhere”? And who might we bump into along the way? GSD 6322 with professor Bobby Pietrusko. Acrylic and paper on wood base with LED lights.

Urban design massing, shadow, and land use study model. GSD 1211 (Module 03) with professors Chris Reed and Fionn Byrne.

TECHNIQUES / ILLUSTRATIVE MODELING

TECHNIQUES / ACADEMIC / VARIOUS SEMESTERS / HARVARD GSD

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN 42

SKETCHBOOK: NEW MEXICO VEGETATION

Opposite page: Cactus grouping Above: Individual high desert species illustrations

EMILY LOUISE ALLEN

New Mexico Plant Series (Autumn). Drawn from observation in the field. Pencil, pen, and water-soluble crayon on paper.

TECHNIQUES / SKETCHBOOK: NEW MEXICO VEGETATION

TECHNIQUES / PERSONAL / 2012