• Springfield Medical District Tree Canopy Mitigation
Addressing Environmental Justice
Neighborly, Social Health Active, Physical Health
Emotional Health
Planning Comprehension and Integration
Planning + “Kick the Can”
An instilled part of the work I take on is integrating all the work that has come before hand. Every project starts with a first step, but rarely is that first step uninformed by the work that has come before. No project exists in a vacuum, money has already been spent; outreach has already been conducted; and goals, solutions and milestones have already been expressed by communities and professionals alike. A crucial aspect of my role is to further that pre-existing work and turn it into tangible achievements. My mater’s thesis project is an example of integrating decades of planning into a comprehensive design.
This is the city I grew up in. It has experienced over 50-years of disinvestment that soon followed with community erosion. Though the cross-pollination and engagement process, we narrowed our focus down to environmental public health both physically and mentally to build the proposed design.
Cross-Pollination
INFORMED
The development of my Thesis Project relied heavily on the cross-pollination of existing work done by others including:
My career at OLIN began with picking up on-going project tasks in construction documentation and refining design processes for three major projects. I got to influence the majority of the aspects of the design in coordination with architects, engineers, clients, and other stakeholders. Though the project was near its completion before bid, it was still undergoing revisions in 3d modeling, LEED evaluation, planting shifts, and those reflecting into the details
The bulk of my contributions were made in the planting plans, soils, materials, and construction details. Not in the documentation, but still vital in the design development, was the LEED evaluation that I completed in coordination with a third party. Also documenting important details such as number of trees, shrubs, furniture, ratio of hardscape, etc. Planting plans were ran through an iTree study to forecast its mitigation to air pollutants for the neighborhood. I’ve also contributed to various other projects such as the Desert Storm Memorial with their site sustainable development.
3d Modeling in Rhino
11th Street Bridge- Render w/ Rhino, Lumion, Adobe
Desert Storm Memorial- Site Sustainability Study
Site Detail: Steel Retaining Wall Over Structure
Site Detail: Paver and Planting Edge Over Structure
Site Detail: Tree Pit And Amphitheater Seating
Construction Documentation + Professional Work
Regenerative Design Group
Production Specialist, 2024-
Regenerative Design Group is an agricultural and site design firm in Greenfield, Massachusetts. My main role is producing drawings in CAD for CD sets, with 3d modeling to support design decisions, renders, and concept work. Our small team struck a balance producing gorgeous landscapes from school campuses, to high end residential design, and to community centers with integrating up-todate research on making a positive ecological impact.
Residential Landscape Digital Renderings
Residential Landscape Design CD Sets
Clarksburg, MA Municpal Vulnerability Plan Section
Elisabeth Morrow School Campus Concept
Construction Documentation + Professional Work .
Along with my main duties as a production specialist, my role evolved to include more than site design. I was brought on to help with office talent development, research papers, landscape studies, ASLA presentation work, and community planning projects. Some highlights include: -Massachusetts Healthy Soils Guide (TBD) -Clarksburg, Ma Municipal Vulnerability Planning (2025) -An Agrivoltaic Landscape Study (2025) -Climate Positive Project Studies using PathFinder - ASLA Presentation Graphics on Healthy Soils
Clarksburg, MA Municipal Vulnerability Plan
Conventional Orchard
Conventional Solar Array
Agri-Voltaic Landscape
Spaces as Narratives: South Holyoke Urban Design
Master’s Thesis Project Holyoke MA 2020
WIND TUNNEL FUNNEL
MAINSTREET-DowntownCommercial
CABOTSTREET-NeighborhoodConnector
CANALSTREET-HeavyTrafficReroutedHere_BikeLoop
Clemente Cultureway
South Holyoke has been a long under served neighborhood with a rich history of industrialization, immigration, booms and busts. We discovered in the community engagement process that not only is this one of the poorest neighborhoods in the state, but highest rates of asthma in a very vulnerable population of elderly and young migrants from Puerto Rico.
The catalyst of reinvigorating the neighborhood was utilizing an existing one-way 50’ wide street. Many of the green spaces here were tiny and inflexible pocket parks, so we proposed a connecting linear park with murals, sculptural lighting, and amenities create a large green network. Careful placement of trees to create a wind tunnel compliments the complete streets component to move poor air out rather than trapping them in.
Graduate Projects .
Proposed Redesign and Expansion
Celebrations play a significant role in Holyoke. Holyoke In-Company Park proposes an inclusive sequence of spaces that allow for creative forms of theater and utilizing trauma-informed design. The plan proposes a series of spaces for different scales of festivities. The plan also adds informal education spaces, indoor recreation, police alternative safety elements, a multi-seasonal, and biodiverse vegetation.
Graduate Projects
Spaces for Biodiversity:
Foster Community + Habitat
Biodiversity By Design Studio, 2019
Mill River Greenway Canopy Walk Northampton, MA 2019
The Mill River Greenway Canopy Walk is an extension of the existing Mill River Greenway. Overall as a class, we explored concepts such as target species, fragmentation, biomapping, and adaptive landscapes. The Dwarf Wedge Mussel became the target species of the landscape rehabilitation being along the Mill River. The main threat towards this endangered freshwater bivalve was sedimentation, and agricultural runoff. A new proposal would protect the Mill River by creating new backwater sloughs that act as an intercept for runoff, as well as a sponge during flooding events. The forest buffer is also threatened with invasive plant encroachment, and losing northern tree species through heat stress and introduced disease. We proposed selective clearing, girdling, and grading to create new pockets of Miyawaki style forests planted with southern species to protect the ecological functions of the site. Such as tupelo, sweetbays, cypress, sweetgum, willow oak, and southern sugar maples. Outside of its ecological role, this is a part of the greenway and deserves sensitive but innovative ideas for people to get behind. Amenities such as kayak launches, a canopy walk, cargo net hammocks, and bird blinds offer diverse use along a beloved river.
Environmental restoration was my entry point into landscape design. I’m passionate about adapting ecological based solutions into our built environment compared to our gray infrastructure. The Twin Lake study was a look into remediation of a polluted body of water but couldn’t physical alter. A floating wetland could deflect excess heat, provide habitat, and remove pollutants. Another example was a degraded stream by restoring the in-stream structures and allow for universal access.
Block Brook Today
Block Brook Proposal
Twin Lake Before
BALD CYPRESS SWAMP
Stabilization + Carbon Capture + Analog Swamp
SLUICE GATE Sediment Movement
Littoral Shelf Habitat Improvement + Carbon Capture + Erosion Control
Outfall Intercept Water Filtration
Habitat Structures Improved Shelters
Floating Wetland Phyto Remediation + Water Quality
One of my challenges while pursuing my Master’s in Landscape Architecture was the amount of ideas I wanted to explore but never had time or the opportunity for. They were never forgotten but just shelved. One of these ideas was a climate adaptive Miyawaki Forest.
Climate change is here and while there is still time to mitigate the worst of it, we also need to be prepared for what is to come. The main idea here is to create two Miyawaki forests that reference forests of the locations of similar climates Northampton, Massachusetts will be experiencing by 2060. By referencing those forests and replicating those species composition, we may be able to bolster our forests for the incoming changes. Assisted migration is a debated topic but the fact is that our current forests are in changing. By using regionally native trees of the southern regions, and coupling that with the technique of the Miyawaki Method, we may be able to mitigate some of the loss of our mature tree stands here in New England.
Excerpts of the Proposal
The Proposal
Assisted Migration
• Southern native tree species are already adapted to the anticipated climate
• Act as a surrogate to declining tree species environmental services (cold waterways remain cold thanks to southern conifers as hemlocks decline)
• Southern variates of locally native trees bolster the genetic diversity of the forests and recruit adaptive saplings in the future Climate Adaptive Miyawaki Forests
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Miyawaki Forests
Source: fitzlab.shinyapps.io/cityapp/
Ecosystem Functions Preservation
Miyawaki Forest Planting
Understanding Our Impacts
From Concept to Construct
Collecting, evaluating and interpreting data is a means for me to help determine design decisions as well as act a means to inform ourselves, clients, and the general public. I want to make positive ecological impacts, and support the people that live in these communities we work in. Making sure we are collecting the right information and responding to it I have learned to be a key piece in a successful design. For example, understanding the pedestrian corridors to help determine street safety efforts.
LThe data collection doesn’t end with site analysis and conceptual design. Follow up studies post-construction are also documented to measure our carbon impact. At Regenerative Design Group, I was charged in integrating PathFinder and Carbon Conscience to evaluate our carbon impact in our built projects. From there, we note where we can best edit out designs to be less harmful. Clients and contractors have also responded positively to this information and opted to use more sustainable materials.
Understanding Our Impacts
Remediation Through Plants
A study conducted for a water body determined that floating wetland a feasible tactic in mitigating urban environmental pollutants, specifically phosphorus. We took in the available water quality reports, water volume, site use, and the wetland capabilities to appropriately size the floats. We took it a step further and chose plants to phytoremediate other difficult pollutants such as metals. To the right is a study of what impacts tree planting could have in a neighborhood project and interpreting those numbers.
Michael Taurean Gagnon
Landscape Designer
Email: Taureanmg@gmail.com
Experience
Regenerative Design Group
Production Specialist
Phone: (413)285-4442
REFERENCES
05/2024- Present Greenfield, MA
• As a production specialist, it is my responsibility to push design development from ideas into tangible drawings, and into construction documentation. I assist in the design development with 3d modeling support, renderings, and GIS. Since starting, my role has also expanded to include research reports, ASLA graphic production for presentations, and embodied carbon studies.
• Small Scale Site Design for Residents and Non-Profits/ Design Development + Construction Documentation
• In-House Office Talent Development/ Graphic Production + Software Training
• Research and Implementation/ Embodied Carbon Studies + Healthy Soil Action Plan Research
OLIN
Landscape Designer II
06/2021- 05/2023 Philadelphia, PA
• My career at OLIN began with picking up on-going project tasks in construction documentation concept development, and refining design processes. After promotion, my responsibilities expanded to more design development, and working on multiple projects concurrently.
• Department of Homeland Security Campus/ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Building / Design + Construction Documentation
• Building Bridges Across the River/11th Street Bridge Park / Design + Construction Documentation
• University of Pittsburgh Medical Center/Presbyterian Tower Expansion / Construction Documentation
• National Park Service/ Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial / Sustainable Site Development
• The New York Botanical Gardens/ 25-Year Master Plan / Concept Develop.
CLC Landscape Design
Landscape Designer Assistant
• Residential Properties/ 20+ Homes in Northern New Jersey.
Education
Master of Landscape Architecture
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Master of Ecological Design and Planning
The Conway School
Bachelor in Sustainable Community Development
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Associates in Liberal Arts
Holyoke Community College
Rachel Lindsay- Regenerative Design Group RachelL@rdgland.com
Max Dickson- OLIN maxwellrdickson@gmail.com
Kona A. Gray- EDSA kgray@edsaplan.com
SKILLS
Landscape Design, Sustainable Site Development, Construction Documentation, Light Project Mgmt
AutoCad, Land F/X
GIS Web Soil Survey, Code Review
Plant I.D., Ecology Research
3d Modeling w/ Rhino and Sketchup
Adobe Suite Rendering, InDesign, Lumion
05/2020- 06/2021 Ringwood, NJ
09/2018 - 05/2020 Amherst, MA
08/2017 - 06/2018 Northampton MA
01/2015 - 05/2016 Amherst, MA
09/2013 - 05/2015 Holyoke, MA
Climate Change Hazard Mitigation and Green Infrastructure Planning University of Massachusetts Amherst
