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NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY B.S. IN URBAN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE BLA LARC where Design meets Ecology Instructor and coordinator: Brad Goetz Booklet Compilation & Copy Editing: Brad Goetz Cover Image:

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The Urban Wilds Studio

LARC2130 SUSTAINABLE URBAN SITE DESIGN

Urban Landscape I focuses on site planning and design with an emphasis on parks and open-space systems in the adaptive reuse of urban sites. Projects focus on the creation and cultivation of public space, transformation of site conditions, and development of sustainable site materials. Emphasizes site analysis, development of an individual design process, and design communication strategies. This studio course introduces students to urban design precedents, site research, and remediation methods through case studies, lectures, site visits, and workshops.

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Introduction

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Arnold Arboretum, 1900

Charles River Boston Common

The Meadow Commonwealth Mall Riverway

North Woods

Back Bay Fens

Bussey Hill

Olmstead Park

Forest Hills Station

Jamaica Pond Central Woods Bussey Brook Meadow Arnold Arboretum

Hemlock Hill

Franklin Park

Weld Hill Peters Hill

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Forest Hills Cemetary

Arnold Arboretum

Emerald Necklace

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Arboreta and the Urban Wild Positioned within Arnold Arboretum, Urban Landscape I: Sustainable Urban Site Design introduces students to the metrics and mapping of today’s complex, multi-layered urban environment. Students are re-introduced to landscape as a construct of interdependent systems and a means to connect organizational structure and pattern with ecological process and ecosystem service. UL I emphasizes the discovery of these processes, the investigation of spatiotemporal patterns, and the relationship between the two via the ground plane.

Urban Landscape Conceived as a collection of trees cultivated for their scientific interest, arboreta are often remnants of natural landscapes and embody a confluence of urban morphological attributes, ecological processes, and horticultural practices.

Management regimes seesaw between preservation and adaptation -yielding various stages of succession or wildness. In this environment, students learn to see landscape as a sequence of stages, a series of processes, spectrum of phenomena, and as an instrument of design; where design is derived from a landscape’s structure, function, performance,

and spatial implication.

Recording and Representing Agile Territories Appointed with fundamental techniques of site survey, analysis, and reconnaissance; students are tasked to traverse a vector in the landscape.

Triangulation, transecting, and sectioning are employed to register changes in scale, document patterns, visualize transformation, and define project scope.

As the magnitude: the size, extent, and dimension of one’s concept changes, so does the project’s scope. Concept mapping, or the visualization of systemic relationships between concepts, documents one’s knowledge and project organization as it evolves in complexity and in correspondence with scope. Students must navigate through a diverse set of site conditions, engage in generative tactics (both graphic and formal), and conduct further research to augment the design process.

Course Objectives A. Articulate and represent spatial literacy and critical design thinking; Incorporate research to develop your design as an iterative design

process, and design as a means to further your research; Demonstrate representation not only to illustrate existing conditions or communicate design intent, but more importantly, draw (use representation) as a means to interpret Causal Relationships.

B. Work with three dimensional modeling and orthographic projection: plan, section, and elevation; apply methods of recording and representing topography, socio-ecological processes, and atmospheric phenomena; proficient use of digital media software such as: AutoCad, Rhino, and Adobe Illustrator, and drawing techniques such as line, value, shade, texture, mass, form, depth, and gesture.

C. Recognize landscape as a series of patterns, adaptations, processes, and durations. Apply the basic principals and typologies of urban public landscapes, and address complex ecological and social forces that constitute and affect urban landscapes.

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Marion Thurston

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FLOW ATTNEUATION

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Marion Thurston FLOW ATTENUATION

CHARLES RIVER WATERHSED BASIN

Attenuation is the process of water retention on site and slowly releasing it in a controlled discharge to a surface water or combined drain or watercourse

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Charles River Watershed Basin

This site is the Arnold Arboretum portion of Bussey Brook, a now annual stream that runs east from West Roxbury towards Forest Hills Station.

Charles Riverline

The Bussey Brook Drainage Basin is approximately bounded by Allendale Rd., the VFW Parkway and the Forest Hills station. It covers about 977 acres of land and urban areas.

Culverted stream

Sub-drainage basin ok Bussey Bro

The open-channel streams seen here are some of the last remaining un-cluverted streams in the city of Boston.

Canterbury Brook

West Roxbury Mattapan

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Open-channel stream

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1. Watershed Drainage Basin 2. Plan 3. Detail Plan 4. Model

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High Marsh

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Swale

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High MarshWedges Forebay

Broad Crested Weir Micropool

High MarshWedges

Low Marsh Wedges

Micropool

Broad Crested Weir

Broad Crested Weir

Micropool

Low Marsh Wedges Low Marsh Wedges

Micropool

High Marsh Wedges High Marsh Wedges

Forebay

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Forebay

High marsh zone Ranges from the normal pool elevation to 6” below normal pool elevation. This zone supports a greater density and diversity of emergent wetland species than the low marsh zone.

Broad Crested Weir

Low Marsh Wedges

Swale

Low marsh zone Ranges from 6” to 18“ below the normal pool elevation. This area is suitable for growing several emergent wetland plant species.

Forebay Swale

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Swale

Extended Detention Wetland Extended detention wetlands provide downstream channel protection. These systems operate on the idea of temporary vertical storage, which provides extra runoff detention above normal elevations.

Water levels in the extended `detention wetlands may increase by as much as three feet after a storm, and return gradually to normal within 24 hours of the rain event.

Water Level

Water Level

1. Attenuation Prototype: Extended Detention Wetland Plan 2. Prototype Section 3. Attenuation + Ecology Plan Diagram 4. Intervention Study: Divert 5. Intervention Study: Fan 6. Analytical Diagram

BUILDING GROUND

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Drawings

F Hemlock Hill Rd.

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Wet Meadow

F FAN: Wet Meadow M MEANDER: Semi-wet Zone/High Marsh D DELAY: High/Low Marsh

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Diversion Prototype Diversion Prototype

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Fan Prototype

Fan Prototype

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Fan

10% Runoff

20% Runoff

30% Runoff

Water inflitrates into soil

Increase of impervious surfaces

Increased surface runoff

Plant and tree roots anchor soil

Tree removal causes soil to loosen

Loosened soil causes erosion

Water pools in indentation then filters into soil

Increased number of impervious surfaces with storm drains

Storm drains deliver water directly to waterways

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Stormwater Discharge

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Attenuation Prototypes The Diversion Prototype and the Fan Prototype were designed as basic methods to disperse water in order to slow it down.

Reducing the rate of water flow decreases the impacts of erosion and scouring.

Pre Urban Condition

Urban

High Water Sewer Line

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Hemlock Hill

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Zoe Hochstein-Morran

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URBAN NATURES

Zoe Hochstein-Morran

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URBAN NATURES The main thesis of my project was finding a way to direct the future of a changing landscape. The area of Hemlock Hill at the Arnold Arboretum had previously been heavily forested with hemlock trees, but in more recent decades, the population has become infected with a pest called the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. Currently, the trees are being treated with imidacloprid, which is a pesticide injected in the soil around the tree every 5 years. This is one method of dealing with the infestation, but in the long run is not very sustainable.

There is no way that all of the trees will get treated, meaning there will inevitably be some die off. That being said, leaving all of the hemlocks to die would be a major loss to the arboretum, especially since it houses some prime specimens. The path I chose to implement would allow most of the hemlock trees to die off, while a few choice trees would be preserved and treated so that the arboretum would still have a viable collection.

Management Strategies This introduces the second component of my project: how to address the changes that will occur. As the untreated hemlocks begin to die off and are removed, there will be gaps emerging in the canopy. These gaps would allow light into a previously shadowed area, creating new conditions that would allow for new types of growth.

To help foster the colonization of new species, I designed 3 different prototypes that could be implemented which would create even more nuanced conditions. The were designed to be circular interventions, with a diameter of roughly 20 to 25 feet, mimicking the spread of the hemlock that it would be replacing. The three prototypes are excavation, infiltration, and addition as well as a fourth, larger prototype aggregating multiple microprototypes together.

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Drawings 1. Hemlock Woolly Adelgid 2. Management Stategies 3. Canopy Gaps 4. Aggregate Flow

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These interventions will help give some structure and direction to the future of hemlock hill, while also remaining ambiguous enough to allow for a natural and organic succession to occur. It is my hope that this intervention would act something like a petri dish to see what new things will grow in these unprecedented conditions. I would want the intervention to be open for the general public to traverse and explore independently, so that they too could see the landscape in the act of transition, and ultimately return over time to see how it continues to change and evolve.

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Prototypes The excavation prototype is a subtractive intervention that creates a crater with some areas of raised earth. It is meant to create a more sheltered, shadowed, moist environment that would attract understory species. The infiltration prototype is a textured plane meant to slow and retain water that flows off the hill. This allows the water to settle into the soil, creating a sunny but moist climate that would also attract understory species, but ones that prefer more sun than those attracted to the excavation prototype. The addition prototype is a textured hill or mound, designed to also help catch and retain water, while also providing a more elevated, drained condition. This prototype would attract understory species that like sun and well drained soil. The larger, aggregate prototype has a combination of these conditions, as well as the added space, would foster growth of larger, colonizing canopy species, most likely birch based off of the colonization of other areas in the arboretum.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) IPM is not a single pest control method but, rather, a series of pest management evaluations, decisions and controls. In practicing IPM, growers who are aware of the potential for pest infestation follow a four-tiered approach. The four steps include:

Set Action Thresholds Before taking any pest control action, IPM first sets an action threshold, a point at which pest populations or environmental conditions indicate that pest control action must be taken. Sighting a single pest does not always mean control is needed. The level at which pests will either become an economic threat is critical to guide future pest control decisions.

Drawings

Tectonic Plate Movement

1. Concept Map

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Continental Glacial Advance

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Erosional Landforms Roxbury Conglomerate

4 BYA 3.8 BYA

3 BYA

Sea Floor Marine Basin Sedimentary Basin Deep Sea Fan

Glacial Recession Drumlin Axis Water Runoff Drainage Erosion

20,000 YA

Depositinal Landforms

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Arnold Arboretum

12,000 YA 1872 1907 1997

2014 2020

SoilHorizon O + A Horizon

1 BYA 600 MYA 570 MYA

Monitor and Identify Pests Not all insects, weeds, and other living organisms require control.

Many organisms are innocuous, and some are even beneficial. IPM programs work to monitor for pests and identify them accurately, so that appropriate control decisions can be made in conjunction with action thresholds. This monitoring and identification removes the possibility that pesticides will be used when they are not really needed or that the wrong kind of pesticide will be used.

Prevention As a first line of pest control, IPM programs work to manage the crop, lawn, or indoor space to prevent pests from becoming a threat. In an agricultural crop, this may mean using cultural methods, such as rotating between different crops, selecting pest-resistant varieties, and planting pestfree rootstock. These control methods can be very effective and cost-efficient and present little to no risk to people or the environment.

MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Management Strategies

Grey Birch Stands

Imidacloprid Treatment

Imidacloprid Treatment

5yrs

10yrs

REMOVAL > ADAPTATION

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Removal of Diseased Hemlock

Control Once monitoring, identification, and action thresholds indicate that pest control is required, and preventive methods are no longer effective or available, IPM programs then evaluate the proper control method both for effectiveness and risk. Effective, less risky pest controls are chosen first, including highly targeted chemicals, such as pheromones to disrupt pest mating, or mechanical control, such as trapping or weeding. If further monitoring, identifications and action thresholds indicate that less risky controls are not working, then additional pest control methods would be employed, such as targeted spraying of pesticides. Broadcast spraying of non-specific pesticides is a last resort.

SYSTEMIC INSECTCIDE > PRESERVATION

Death

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DISEASE INTRODUCTION > SUCCESSION 100%

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Cinnamon Fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum) Moist Woodland Toothwort (Cardimine diphylla) Woodland Edges

Shrub

Rhododendron (Rhododendron fortunei) Acidic Soil Leatherwood (Dirca palustris) Forest Understory

Midstory

Grey Birch (Betula populifolia) Forested Slope Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) Mixed Hardwood Forest

Canopy

Red Oak (Quercus rubra) Mixed Hardwood Forest White Ash (Fraxinus americana) Mixed Hardwood Forest Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) Mixed Hardwood Forest

Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Death Canopy Gaps

Succession New Growth

Sun Species Colonizer Species

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Understory: Moisture + Shade This prototype fosters understory plant growth that prefers a more shaded, moist environment with occasional sun exposure.

INFILTRATION INFILTRATION INFILTRATION INFILTRATION

Infiltration

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Understory: Moisture + Sun This prototype fosters understory plant growth that prefers moist soil and sun exposure.

ADDITION ADDITION ADDITION ADDITION

Addition

ADAPTATION ADAPTATION ADAPTATION ADAPTATION

Adaptation

Understory: Drained + Sun This prototype fosters understory plant growth that prefers a slightly drier, well drained soil with sun exposure.

Canopy: Mixed Conditions This prototype fosters the growth of large stands of successional species, most likely birch.

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HEMLOCK HILL

INTERGRATED MANAGEMENT

TRANSECT

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Drawings 1. Model 2. Sections 3. Axonometrics 4. Analytical Diagrams 5. Plan

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Danielle Roberts

NATIVES, WEEDS & EXOTICS

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Danielle Roberts

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NATIVES, WEEDS & EXOTICS

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The project site is in the Bussey Brook Meadow in the Arnold Arboretum, located primarily in the area Peter del Tredici calls “Hobo Hollow.” Upon visiting the site it is immediately noted that the site is used for ‘undesirable’ activities, such as partying and drug use, as well as shelter for the homeless. The Project seeks to find a way not to eliminate these activities, as they are a component of urban life, and as such it is important there are areas for those activities. Instead, the project seeks to introduce additional demographics and uses into the site in order to also make it more desirable for your average Arboretum visitor to use.

Retention, Berm, Plank To do this the site implements three strategies: retention, berms, and planking.

The retention units serve to both mitigate erosion of natural slopes and also provide amphitheater –like seating for visitors in addition to the pre-existing fire pit seating.

The meadow was previously the location of the willow and poplar collection, and the berms echo a particular instance of a willow being located on a solitary berm.

As such, each berm will be planted with a species of interest. The final strategy is the use of planking to introduce a new use for the low-lying spot that is currently used primarily for trash.

2 Retention RETENTION

Berm

Mitigates slope erosion while simultaneously creating ampitheatre-like seating for visitors.

Plank

B E RM

O C C UP Y

Echoes the Willow Burm in the wet meadow and creates plantings of special interest.

Multiple performances: Platform Floor Mat

BERM

O C C UP Y

Aster divaricatus (White Wood Aster) Cinna arundinacea (Stout Wood Reedgrass) Gravel fill performances: Multiple Soil fill

Echoes the Willow Burm in the wet meadow and creates plantings of special Halesia tetraptera (Carolinainterest.

Silverbell) Clethra alnifolia (Summersweet) Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)

Platform Floor Mat

Carex stipata (Wrinkle-sheathed Sedge) Phlox divaricata (Wild blue Phlox) Carex stricta (Tussock Sedge) Caltha palustris (Marsh Marigold)

Aster divaricatus (White Wood Aster) Cinna arundinacea (Stout Wood Reedgrass) Gravel fill Soil fill

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Halesia tetraptera (Carolina Silverbell) Clethra alnifolia (Summersweet) Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)

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Drawings 1. Model 2. Prototypes 3. Plan

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Danielle Roberts, Memory Perspective

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About the Program

The Urban Landscape Program offers a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, a Half Major in Urban Landscape, a Minor in Urban Landscape Studies and a Master of Design for Sustainable Urban Environments. The curriculum combines systems-scale research and analysis with local-scale synthesis and intervention and reflects the field’s deep roots in design, ecology, planning and aesthetics. The program offers an outstanding faculty who bring their research and real-world expertise into the classroom. Students are immersed in learning opportunities that are design based, research driven and interdisciplinary in nature both on and off campus through course work, co-op and study abroad programs.

For more information, please visit us at www.northeastern.edu/camd/architecture/ academic-programs/architecture-urbanlandscape/

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The Urban Landscape Program at Northeastern offers a unique program of study in which urban design, urban ecology, landscape architecture, planning and policy dovetail with environmental science, art, emerging media and visualization. The program prepares students to be entrepreneurial designers of next-generation public spaces.

Boston’s history of innovation in urban environmental design, its coastal location, and its legacy of redevelopment provide a rich backdrop and laboratory of urban, infrastructural and ecological prototypes to creatively and critically explore local issues with global significance.

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Urban Landscape at Northeastern As economic and environmental paradigms continue to shift toward new forms of urbanization, experts in urban landscape are increasingly in demand— and in response, the Urban Landscape Program at Northeastern University focuses specifically on design frameworks for cultural and biophysical environments that are sustainable, resilient, and adaptive.

Stemming from the study of coupled human and natural systems, our work engages interdisciplinary research, experiential practice and innovative pedagogy.