Landscape Architecture & Urban Renovation Portfolio 2018

YANHUA LU - PORTFOLIO LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE and URBAN RENOVATION

ABOUT COVER PAGE: This photo was taken in 2017 on top of a garage located in downtown Springfield, towards the Connecticut River, all by accident. When I climbed up there to take photos for a project site nearby, I was so marveled at the great scene that I thought I have to record and share it to people for better understanding the city of Springfield.

Dividing Springfield and West Springfield, the Connecticut River had provided great river view and waterfront space, until the highway I-91 was built in 1950s.

From a survey I did in 2016, more than 3/4 of people in downtown Springfield did not know that the river was within 5 or 10 minutes walk from where they worked, parked, or had lunch, the major reason was the river not visually accessible because of the elevated highway. It is a pity not able to include the river view to daily life in Springfield, and so unawareness of the river so close.

PAGE 2-21

1

PAGE 22-25

2

There are many issues in Springfield, and a large number of legacy cities which declined after World War II just like Springfield, in United States and around the world as well. In another way, these cities have great potential to be more livable and can be renovated and reactivated, by emphasizing compact, walkable, diverse, and connected neighborhood and community.

My goal is to renovate these declining post-war legacy cities by encouraging walking, biking, and all types of transit; promoting self-sufficient neighborhood; and providing housing, working, shopping, recreation, and civic use.

SPRINGFIELD RENOVATION PLAN 2015-2018

TABLE OF CONTENTS

AMHERST GATEWAY IMAGINATION

PAGE 26-27

3

URBAN OASIS

PAGE 28

4

RESILIENCE GARDEN

PAGE 29-30

5

SAVING CHINA’S ‘SCRAP VILLAGE’

1

SPRINGFIELD RENOVATION PLAN 2015-2018

Located on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River in the southwest portion of Massachusetts, Springfield’s Metro Center is the urban core of the western half of the state. Its industrial legacy made it a notable center of growth at the turn of the twentieth century. However, after World War II the city’s downtown declined rapidly.

Recent interest in revitalizing this area has brought attention back to the Metro Center.

This renovation plan focuses on using tactical urbanism to engage Springfield’s Metro Center neighborhood with visions to revitalize the downtown core of this legacy city.

STEARNS SQUARE WORTHINGTON STREET

2

The plan will help reinvigorating this post-industrial New England city through improvements to the city’s “downtown experience” for residents, workers, students, and visitors by setting a network of pedestrian friendly streets within vacant lots and historic and cultural character, for advancing social equity, promoting economic development, and improving opportunities for healthy living and access to green space.

Springfield Renovation Plan Framework Working Innovating

Visiting

Creating

Dining & Shopping

Explore Downtown Springfield

Recreation

Multi-model Transportation

Living

Growing Up & Growing Old

Goals and Objectives

Walkability Improvement

RESIDENTIAL BUSINESS Vacant Lot Occupancy

BUSINESS

Branding Local Business

OFFICE OFFICE BUSINESS

Springfield Renovation Master Plan Complete Street

Public Engagement

3

1-0 PILOT PLAN ON WORTHINGTON ST Planning Program

Voids Transformation Strategies

farmers market

WORTHINGTON STREET

urban edge

gathering

event and celebrate space

concerts

gateway kiosk

lunch

open lawn plaza

playground

festivals

frisbee

Parking Space

Parklet

Solar Parking Lot

Automated Car Parking System (APS)

Street Space

Sidewalk Extension

Street Park

Shared Street/Woonerf

Residual Space

Plaza

Urban Farming

Sports Field/Playground

public art

people watching summer shade

cafe

pavilions

civic stage

walking

exhibition

running winter run event

biking study

connective corridor

4

Proposed Streetscape

Detailed Design Projects on Worthington Street 4

2 STEARNS SQUARE

3

6

WORTHINGTON STREET

8

15’

9’

2’

8’

10’

10’

8’

5

16’

Detailed Design

7

10’

8’

10’

10’

8’

2’

9’

10’

1

Walk! Springfield

2

Market Place Signage Design

3

Dining District Renovation

4

Historic Building Preservation

5

Mobile Parklet

6

Stearns Square

7

Connecting Downtown to Waterfront

8

Make-It Springfield 5

1-1 WALK! SPRINGFIELD UMASS DESIGN CENTER 2016-2018

How walking Benefits the City

The overall aim of this project is to use the experience gained as part of an actual project in Springfield to make recommendations and provide guidance to other cities and towns considering new wayfinding systems.

We Can Explore Downtown Springfield by WALKING

A walkable neighborhood reduces motorized trips and promotes the encounter of people and ideas.

& KE BI

BU

S

Invent Create Work

ABLE ALK W

Meet Event

PLAY

COLLABORATE

ENGAGE

Eat Drink Shop

Live Work

5 min walking = 1/4 mile Walkable communal amenities improve well being and foster community buildings.

PLAY

RELAX

COLLABORATE

10 min walking = 1/2 mile ENGAGE

20 min walking = 1 mile Activate street edges and mix of uses create safe and vivid neighborhood.

GREEN WALL MURAL/GRAFFITI

AC TIV AT E

OUTDOOR SEATING

AC TIV AT E

TRANSPARENT FRONTAGE

6

Proposed Pedestrian Wayfinding System

Informational Signage Front and Back

Directional Signage

7

1-2 VISIONS OF BRANDING MARKET PLACE UMASS DESIGN CENTER 2018 This project provides different types of signage to brand “The Shops” at Market Place in downtown Springfield, claiming Market Place as a destination for residents, employees, and visitors through creation of an active and diverse space that contributes to the positive future of the City of Springfield.

8

Market Place Signage Design Vision 1

Market Place Signage Design Vision 2

9 9

1-3 DINING DISTRICT RENOVATION UMASS DESIGN CENTER 2017-2018

OUTDOOR DINING

10

The project is a proposed renovation plan to an existing building in Springfield’s Dining District. The design includes new streetscape improvements: new signage, awnings and a new outdoor dining seating area with new lighting and umbrellas. The overall plan calls for additional improvements to public spaces and restaurants in the neighborhood.

SEE-THROUGH FENCE MULTI-TRANSPORTATION FOR FOOD/DRINK

Stormwater Proposed Outdoor Management Dining Strategies Area

Residential

Section W-E

1111

1-4 HISTORIC BUILDING PRESERVATION UMASS DESIGN CENTER 2018

The “Underwood Building” located in downtown Springfield has over a hundred year history, and now at a risk of demolition. There are only a handful of building exists with two excellent ground level facades in downtown Springfield.

This rendering saved the historic Underwood Building from demolition by demonstrating a vision of how the building suited to a walkable street regarding to historic preservation.

Renovation Elements: • Underwood Building Storefront • Underwood Building Windows • Sidewalk • Crosswalk • On-Street Parking Space

12

Proposed Renovation Design

1313

1-5 MOBILE PARKLET UMASS DESIGN CENTER 2016

14

A parklet is a sidewalk extension that provides more space and amenities for people using the street. Parklets typically extend out from sidewalk to the width of the adjacent parking space, and more details are required in case of safety.

This parklet will be built in front of the Cafe Du Jour, in dining district in downtown Springfield. For sustainability, the parklet is made of wood. The parklet is composed with four parts, any two or three parts can be combined into a new parklet based on site condition. Wheels will be placed at the bottom of each part, and the parklet will be placed on a wood deck.

Construction Details

15

1-6 STEARNS SQUARE REDESIGN UMASS DESIGN CENTER 2017

Proposed Vision 1

16

Stearns Square is a historic public space located in downtown Springfield. It was designed by prominent architect Stanford White and sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, in 1887. Outdoor concerts and live shows take place in Stearns Square every summer.

The renovation is intended as a tactical installation to “test” the proposed renovation concept.

Proposed Vision 2

1717

1-7 CONNECT DOWNTOWN TO WATERFRONT URBAN DESIGN STUDIO 2015

The 14-week studio emphasized the role that tactical urbanism (small-scale, urban design interventions) can play in the revitalization of public space. Particular attention was paid to the reuse of “residual space”, the underused and vacant spaces found in the downtowns of many legacy cities. The short-term project was designed to be the basis for a longer-term vision for successful public space in the city’s downtown.

Waterfront Connection and Improvement Strategy: Tactical Intervention

5-M

18

IN WA LKING DISTANCE

Underpass Space Long-term Plan

1919

1-8 MAKE-IT SPRINGFIELD UMASS DESIGN CENTER 2016-present http://www.makeitspringfield.org/ https://www.facebook.com/MakeItSpringfield/

Doodle It Up Yoga

Health & Wellness

Open Mic

Intro to Essential Oils

Young Gentlemen’ Society

Arts

Community Guitar Program

Sewing

Discover Downtown Springfield Make Your Own Herbal Tea Public Art Process for Artists Training

Make-It Springfield is a pop-up “maker space” presented by UMass Design Center and MassDevelopment. It takes

DIY Bike

Digital Photo

over a vacant storefront at 168 Worthington Street, Springfield, MA.

Make-It Springfield is a community workshop space for local makers, artists, entrepreneurs, programmers, students and enthusiasts to make, create & share their skills and tools. Make-It provides a platform for community members of all backgrounds to learn new skills, build relationships, launch businesses & inspire one another. It started as an idea of how to revitalize vacant space, it has host a series of workshops, lectures, hands-on demonstrations, clinics and other events.

Make-It strive for a community and city where everyone is inspired and empowered to make & create. It brings new also love showcasing the many creative and innovative projects and people in the City of Springfield.

20

life and energy to a previously vacant downtown storefront on Worthington Street.

We

Meditation

Community Meeting Repair

An Intro to Italian Language & Culture

Scrapbooking Fun

Decoupage Cinco De Mayo Style

Design Thinking & Prototyping

3d Printing

Drone

Drawing & Crafts Poetic Recovery

ography Boot Camp

Video Production: How to Green Screen

Intro to Bomba

DIY Mother’s Day Card

Creation Station

Group Bike Ride

Watercolor Painting Acrylic Painting

Writing Workshop

Visual Arts, Fashion & Rhythmic Poetry

Origami Make Your Own Head Wrap

Michael DiPasquale, UMass LARP Extension Assistant Professor was awarded $50,000 in funding in October, 2017 to support the growth of “Make-It Springfield” the downtown Springfield collaborative design and maker space he founded in June 2016. The funding includes $25,000 from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts “Collaborative Workspace Program” administered by MassDevelopment and a matching grant of $25,000 provided by the MassMutual Foundation.

The grant awards were announced by Massachusetts Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash at a ceremony at Gateway City Arts in Holyoke on Tuesday October 24, 2017. Secretary Ash said the Collaborative Workspace grant program “will help advance community-based innovation and collaboration throughout the Commonwealth” including cities like Springfield.

“Make-It Springfield”, co-founded by Professor DiPasquale and Laura Masulis, Springfield’s “Transformative Development Fellow” in a vacant downtown storefront, offers dozens of free or low-cost workshops to hundreds of Springfield residents each month. The maker space is supported by staff that includes LARP doctoral student Lara Furtado, and recent LARP graduate, Yanhua Lu.

21

2

AMHERST GATEWAY IMAGINATION AMHERST, MA 2015

22

Located on North Pleasant Street, which is the major street connecting downtown Amherst and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, this adjacent lot has been witnessing high density of pedestrian, traffic, students, residents, groups, and communities.

The goal of the project is making connection between town and the university, ensure safety neighborhood, and meeting the needs of local community. (Architect: Ĺ ukasz Czarniecki)

Stormwater Management Strategies

Porous Sidewalk

10’X10’ Fill

Cut >4’ 4’ 3’ 2’ 1’

0

Rain Garden

Existing Retaining Wall

Infiltration Plants

Curb Cut

Perforated Pipe

Ponding Area Mulch

1’ 2’ 3’ 4’ >4’

Soil Mix Gravel Uncompacted Soil

Street

Green Corridor

Residential

Open Space

Remain Existing

Planting Cell

Porous Sidewalk Infiltration Plants

Curb Cut

Perforated Pipe

Erosion Control Blanket Ponding Area Mulch Soil Mix

Bioswale

Bioswale

Rain Garden

Bioswale

Section W-E

Interactive Rain Garden

Existing Retaining Wall

Gravel Uncompacted Soil

Bioswale 23

Buildings rendered by Ĺ ukasz Czarniecki

24

1. All steel members coated w/zinc rich epoxy then finished with black polyester powder coating.

2. Dumor product or equivalent.

1

2. See specifications for further requirements related to this detail.

3

Artect: Łukasz Czarniecki Instructors: Mark Lindhult, Kathleen Lugosch

1. Shrubs shall be of quality prescribed in the root observations detail and specifications.

NOTES:

Sustainable Community Design

NOTES:

YANHUA LU Amherst Gateway

Construction Details

TYPICAL SHRUB PLANTING SCALE: NTS

BENCHES DETAIL

Landscape Architect Project Manager Drawn by Checked by Job No. Date

SCALE: NTS

Revisions: 1 2 3 4 No.

3/1/2016 4/3/2016 4/11/2016 4/22/2016 Date

by

NOT FOR CONSTRUCTION

4/3/2016 NOTES: 1. Concrete finish to be medium texture broom finish perpendicular to direction of walk with 3” trowelled edges .

2. Walkways: scoring every walkway, expansion joints every 20’ unless otherwise indicated on plan; provide expansion joints at all vertical walls and isolation joints at all footings.

3. Scoring lines to be at least 1/4 thickness of sidewalk.

2

SEAT WALL DETAIL SCALE: NTS

NOTES: 1. Trees shall be of quality prescribed in crown observations and root observations details and specifications.

2. See specifications for further requirements related to this detail.

4

TYPICAL TREE PLANTING SCALE: NTS

SITE DETAIL

L4.00

25

3

URBAN OASIS AMHERST, MA 2015 This narrow vacant lot is located in downtown Amherst, next to the Amherst Fire Department, which will be moving to a new place soon.

The design is focusing on enhancing the human experience of landscape space. The goal of the project is to strengthen a more walkable community to increase social and economic vitality of the Business Improvement District for the citizens of Amherst. Objectives of the project including: accommodate human activities of arriving, walking, looking, seeing, gathering, sitting, meeting, eating, talking; reveal rainwater management; nightlighting; universal ramp requirements.

WINTER PATH

SUMMER PATH

WINTER WIND

SUMMER BREEZE

26

DINING

5% SLOPE WOODEN RAMP

SITTING AREA

GATHERING SPACE

PERMEABLE SURFACE

NORTH PLEASANT STREET

27

4

5

RESILIENCE GARDEN ZHENGZHOU, CHINA 2017 Landscape Architect: Jack Ahern 11th China (Zhengzhou) Garden Expo

FOREST GARDEN Resilience can be defined as the capacity of a system, city or landscape to recover from disturbance without changing its fundamental state. The resilience concept is directly relevant to the design of cities and urban landscapes because cities are increasingly facing severe disturbances in a context of environmental stress and increasing pollution. Cities seek to survive and retain their form and identity.

GARDEN OF DISTURBANCE

This garden will interpret and explain the concept of resilience in an expo garden where it can be experienced and understood by visitors through a sequence of four designed landscape spaces. The garden will tell the story of resilience by showing, and explaining, how a landscape can sequentially: grow and develop, achieve maturity and stability, experience a change or disturbance and finally to recover to an emergent state – guided and aided by living plants and innovative landscape practices.

The Resilience Garden design will employ the “lemniscate” or “infinity” “figure 8” symbol as the organizing garden form and idea. The infinity symbol will serve as the circulation system and as a metaphor for the resilience concept. Resilience is often explained with this ancient symbol that expresses endlessness. The Zhengzhou Expo Resilience garden will take visitors through the four phases, or stages of resilience – entering the garden at the stage of rapid growth and development “Garden of Emergence” , taking the visitor to a stable and mature landscape “v”, then presenting a shocking environment of disturbance “Garden of Disturbance” and finishing with a powerful and hopeful “Regeneration Garden” where resilient landscape techniques restore health, stability, productivity and vitality to the landscape.

28

GARDEN OF EMERGENCE

REGENERATION GARDEN

ENTRANCE

EXIT

5

SAVING CHINA’S ‘SCRAP VILLAGE’ BEIJING, CHINA 2013

Waste-to-Energy Strategy PHASE 1 Waste sorting incorporate with landscape element.

Precedent: Bryant Park, NYC

PHASE 2 Dong Xiao Kou Village, also known as China’s “scrap village”, is located in northern Beijing.1/4 of the trash in Beijing would convey to this town for further disposal, which makes local ecological environment worse and worse.

Processing waste at preliminary level and collecting energy. Placing processing facilities, such as natural gas system at urban open spaces. Decorating these facilities to fit them into local environment.

This project aims to come up with solutions to improve trash recycling management by using biochemistry strategies.

PHASE 3 Collecting solid and liquid waste from phase 2, and further processing them with biological method. Create biological park and use algae to degrade toxins from trash.

Fine filtration & Absorption

Place meter to inspect water quality

Removal of solid trash

Improve water by using biological organism

29