Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Geography / Jeffrey S. Smith / India is a country rich in religious beliefs, with a cultural landscape infused with symbolic meaning. The nation is currently experiencing great advances in development, standard of living, and connectedness to global markets and cultures. For remote communities, the spread of global ideas can significantly impact traditional customs and distinctive landscapes. Vernacular houses, meaning those particular to a region and culture, and built with local ingenuity, are vital contributors to sense of place and cultural identity. India’s remote mountainous regions in particular, are at a threshold of change in the vernacular landscape. Therefore, my dissertation focuses on Kinnaur district, of Himachal Pradesh, a remote folk region of the Indian Himalaya with a strong vernacular heritage and potential for great change in its cultural landscape. Because architecture is culturally significant and provides a clear medium in which to see changes in the landscape, the purpose of this research is (1) to determine the characteristic features of the Kinnauri vernacular house, (2) to identify the reasons for and process of vernacular landscape change, and (3) to illustrate the potential of decorative or small-scale features as significant components of place-making and enduring vernacular landscapes. My methods consisted of historical archives, landscape analysis (direct observation, photography, and drawings), and open-ended in-depth interviews with homeowners, builders, and officials. Through these methods, I distilled the characteristics of the Kinnauri vernacular house to eight distinguishing architectural features and determined the three most influential agents that directly impact landscape change and the vernacular house. My final conclusions recognize a paradox in landscape identity and that small-scale features are significant components in place-making. Furthermore, my research highlights the crucial role of ensembles and adaptability in enduring vernacular landscapes. Although homogenization of landscapes is evident across the globe, many places still exhibit individualized characteristics and cultural identity. I contend that the increased ability of small-scale architectural features to adapt to new settings, allows a modernizing landscape to preserve aspects of the vernacular architecture.

La tesi analizza il lirismo melanconico di Gianni Celati nella sua produzione narrative e documentaristica che spazia in un arco di temporale che va dagli anni Ottanta ai giorni nostri. In queste opere, di ambientazione prevalentemente padana, l’autore utilizza, con notevole maestria, immagini e brevi impressioni altamente evocative, in modo tale da lasciar trasparire le proprie emozioni. Con questa operazione egli aspira a ridurre al minimo l’affiorare della propria soggettività come dimostra il largo impiego di dettagliate descrizioni, in cui abbondano simboli e metafore, riconducibili a oggetti, paesaggi e persone che sono oggetto della sua osservazione. Nel primo capitolo si mostra come, fin dalle prime fasi della sua carriera di scrittore e di studioso, Celati si serve della scrittura come strumento terapeutico, al fine di alleviare l’inquietudine con cui convive da sempre. Del resto, lo conferma la presenza nelle sue opere di modalità espressive tipiche del genere della caricatura. Nell’ambito di questo discorso si fa riferimento al pensiero del filosofo e psicanalista americano James Hillman, come, ad esempio, alla sua idea di poiesis relativa alla tendenza della nostra mente a produrre immagini come avviene nell’atto narrativo e avente su di noi analoghi effetti terapeutici. Alla luce di ciò, sono state esaminate alcune delle traduzioni poetiche compiute da Celati, mettendole in parallelo ad una selezione di sue poesie e racconti. Il secondo capitolo è volto ad indagare le modalità con cui Celati ha trattato il tema tradizionale del viaggio. Si mostra come i suoi vagabondaggi e quelli dei suoi personaggi non siano altro che una metafora della vana ricerca del senso da attribuire alla loro esistenza. Nella trattazione di questo aspetto la narrativa celatiana viene messa a confronto con l’arte di Alberto Giacometti e di Mario Sironi, che hanno trattato i temi della solitudine e dello smarrimento esistenziale. Analogo è il senso di desolazione che affiora dai documentari girati da Celati, servendosi delle immagini per svolgere un’indagine su come percepiamo il modo esterno. Tale approccio è riconducibile all’influsso che la fotografia del suo amico Luigi Ghirri ha esercitato sull’opera celatiana. Quest’ultimo si è a sua volta ispirato a quella di Cesare Zavattini, che costituisce un punto di riferimento fondamentale anche per Celati. Questo aspetto è stato approfondito nell’ultima sezione del secondo ed ultimo capitolo, incentrata sull’analisi del racconto “Non c’è più paradiso”, da cui emerge l’importanza che Celati, come Zavattini, attribuisce all’immaginazione e alla narrazione come componenti essenziali alla nostra esistenza.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Mary Catherine (Katie) Kingery-Page / This project explores the potential of gardens as specific physical places where humans cultivate vegetation. Humans are increasingly separated from natural systems, particularly vegetation, in their daily lives. Such a disconnect results in a failure to build emotional ties to and deep care for the natural world. To address this disconnect, landscape architects and planting designers need to understand how to design public gardens as ambiguous landscapes, landscapes that refer to natural ecosystems while also clearly revealing the human role in their design and care. Design choices involve environmental components and their articulation. Designers currently lack a vocabulary to identify the components of transformative experiences between people and plants. They also lack a visual understanding of how relationships between components can be articulated to establish ambiguity in specific sites. Synthesis of literature in experiential learning, dynamic vegetation, and planting design establishes a vocabulary of component cues to set up conditions for transformative experience in public gardens. Critical drawing of ambiguous landscapes by contemporary planting designers augments the researcher’s understanding of experiential cues. In order to explore the potential formal impact of designing for ambiguity throughout the design process, this project’s design application spans two sites: Chapman Botanical Garden in Apalachicola, Florida, and the Meadow on the Kansas State University campus, Manhattan, Kansas. Designing Chapman Botanical Garden offers the potential to be involved with the conceptual phases of site design: site planning, programming, and planting design. Designing at the Meadow offers the opportunity to be involved in the implementation phase of design: stakeholder involvement, selection and growing of plants, and design interpretation. Together, the two planting design explorations represent a complete design process for transformative experience.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Richard H. Forsyth / Low Impact Development (LID) is an emerging ecological method for planning and designing stormwater management. The main goal of LID is that post development hydrology mimic predevelopment hydrology or that of the natural land pattern. The difference between LID and conventional end of pipe engineering is that LID is designed for on-site infiltration. LID was developed in Maryland and has since been adapted to other ecoregions. The introduction and background offer a review of the importance of ecological stormwater management and the basic principles and techniques of LID. Ecological stormwater management involves understanding and applying ecoregion factors such as: climate, physiography/ landform, geology, soils, and plant associations. This thesis begins with a brief overview of the ecoregional factors associated with the Topeka, Kansas (KS) area. Two case studies of LID type stormwater structures are investigated. The case studies, Jackson Street and Hillcrest, are projects of the City of Topeka Water Pollution Control Division (Topeka, KS). The primary topics investigated include: background, political approval process, condition of site before implementation, general project design, stormwater design, soil, plants, LID principles and techniques used, lessons learned, and a critique of each project. Investigation methods include: personal communication with key individuals involved, and a review of site visits, drawings, specifications, and other projects documents.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Stephanie A. Rolley / Equestrian Communities are platted housing developments that include amenities suited for horse boarding and riding. Since the mid 1970s, this particular sector of amenity community development has become an increasing trend. This study was designed to take a look at the way these communities are designed; where they are located; how they are managed; and, to whom they are marketed. Designing equestrian communities requires knowledge of how these communities are designed, where the land comes from, why people are buying into them and who those people are. Case study methodology was used to gather data on 22 communities across the US. Data sources included review of the marketing websites belonging to the communities; a literature review; and, interviews conducted with individuals responsible for the design and sales of the communities' lots or the management of the equestrian facilities. Statistics and images of the communities, including plats where available, were compiled into community "cut sheets" which are single-page synopses of each community.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Blake M. Belanger / The main streets of the Rocky Mountain West are the social, economic, and cultural centers of their respective communities. Often, these main streets may deteriorate or become abandoned as a result of edge shopping malls and strip style economic development. Thus, a downtown or main street redevelopment effort by the community can help to ensure these economic centers remain. Yet, too often, the redevelopment efforts are oversimplified and fail to integrate the most current street development principles and design initiatives that can benefit not only the community but also the surrounding environment. I n the modern American city, almost half of all daily trips are less than three miles and a third are under one mile. (McCann 2010) “These are distances easily traversed by foot or bicycle, yet 65 percent of trips under one mile are made by automobile.” (McCann 2010) This mobility trend has led to the foundation of programs and organizations that try to promote non-motorized travel. Although these initiatives respond to the human/physical environment, they are far from comprehensive. Today, an integration of smart ecological ideals is essential. How can the revitalization efforts of Rocky Mountain communities be guided to ensure they consider not only the built environment; but also the natural environment? The face of the future main street will be multi-modal and ecologically responsible. Yet, there is presently no clear method of combining the two. A union of the multi-modal principles behind Complete Streets and the ecologically responsible ideals green infrastructure can provide a framework for a new and more inclusive redevelopment approach. The merging of modern ecological and street design principles can lead to a comprehensive Main Street redevelopment program and therefore successfully guide the revitalization efforts of small Rocky Mountain communities in a way that is responsive to future development needs as well as the cultural and ecological aspects of the region. Main Street Evolved will provide a set of tools to guide Colorado Rocky Mountain Main Street redevelopment efforts by providing strategies and implementation guidelines that focus on balancing multi-modal ideals and ecological stormwater management techniques within a small-town mountain context.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Laurence A. Clement / The word “equestrian” is generally not known to be synonymous with sustainability. Although there is a small progressive movement, sustainable design is currently not common practice in the horse industry and desperately needs promoting. Horsemen and women need to be made aware that these techniques exist as well as more information on how to implement them into the facilities that they own and manage. The Colorado Horse Park (CHP), one of the largest equestrian event venues in the nation, has great potential to become an example of successful sustainable design. As host to dozens of events and hundreds of visitors each year, the CHP presents the perfect opportunity to educate the horse community on sustainable practices. Using the Audubon Lifestyles Program and Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) as guides, I will promote the sustainable equestrian movement through the implementation of sustainable elements and an interpretive landscape at the CHP. The goal of this new design will be to educate site users on sustainable practices as well as motivate and inspire them to make changes to their own lifestyles and facilities. Using the theories established through research and precedent studies, a new design for the CHP was developed. There are three principles to this design: using circulation systems to make the facility more functional, implementing sustainable elements into the facility to serve as examples, and providing the visitors with educational opportunities in the form of interpretive exhibits. Function and safety are two major concerns at this type of venue, and are addressed through the re-organization of site elements and the establishment of a circulation system which creates separation between differing traffic types. Sustainable practices are applied in the forms of vegetated drainage ways, protection of riparian areas, xeric plantings, habitat restoration, and a manure composting operation. An interpretive landscape of signage and displays highlights each sustainable element and relates information on how visitors can incorporate sustainable techniques in their own facilities.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Mary C. Kingery-Page / Rural Kansas communities are almost entirely dependent on large energy corporations. These corporations, in turn, are almost completely dependent on fossil fuels for energy production. Three major implications exist within these dependencies: 1) the dependence of rural communities on large corporations reduces the potential of a local economy to support itself; 2) the dependence on fossil fuels has severe environmental impacts; and 3) fossil fuels are non-renewable resources and will inevitably be exhausted. A rural Kansas community has resources necessary to achieve and maintain energy independence in a renewable manner. The design of these systems in regard to economy, society, aesthetics, technology, and ecology will play a key role in sustaining these resources into the future. The intent of the project is to create a tool for rural communities to evaluate localized renewable energy potential using Washington, Kansas as an example. Several questions were addressed to determine the capacity and feasibility of each local energy resource: What renewable energy resources are available to a rural Kansas community and are they sufficient for the community to achieve energy independence? How can the resource or its production be designed and maintained in regard to its environmental impact and long-term viability? What are the implications of energy independence for the community’s identity? Because each question is dependent upon the answer to a previous question, a decision tree was the most viable method for the project’s analysis and development. Research into the technology and science associated with each resource provided a general knowledge of the definitions associated with and processes necessary to determine the feasibility of the resource. For resources receiving a positive feasibility rating, analysis continued with a basic cost/benefit analysis that compares potential costs involving implementation and maintenance with the payback, offsets, and incentives involved in utilizing each resource. Analysis of each feasible resource continued with site suitability analysis. The analysis of each resource resulted in resource maps showing potential implementation locations for three renewable resources studied: hydro, wind, and solar. The maps and accompanying graphics communicate the integration of renewable energy technologies into the existing community’s identity.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Lee R. Skabelund / Hurricane Katrina displaced many New Orleans residents, leaving in its wake tens of thousands of vacant lots and buildings. In 2010, estimates show that over 57,000 properties lay empty in the city, especially in the poorer neighborhoods. These properties are not contributing to the fabric of the city; in most places, they are a sign of defeat, an eyesore, or a haven for crime. The neighborhood of St. Roch is experiencing the negative effects of these properties day in and day out and from year to year. Almost a quarter of the lots are vacant in the St. Roch neighborhood, leading to crime and creating a nuisance and a blemish on the community. Coupled with the lack of ownership there is an ailing stormwater management infrastructure leading to areas of flooding after routine storms. In addition to these concerns, there is a lack of fresh, inexpensive and accessible food throughout the area. Although St. Roch’s vacant lots have a negative effect on the community, they present a tremendous opportunity. Their dispersal around the neighborhood presents the opportunity to connect them to churches, schools, retail outlets, as well as providing other uses and services to the neighborhood. The thoughtful design of these locations will demonstrate a site-sensitive approach to the local ecology, culture, and economy of the neighborhood. Such design includes the community throughout the entire lifecycle of each site from its planning phase to the end of its use. The primary goal throughout the planning and design process is to foster stewardship for both the landscape and the community as a whole by means of collaborative planning, direct interaction with each site during implementation, and the observation and monitoring of crucial processes throughout a site’s lifecycle. The intent of this project is to apply a participatory framework to the site design process in order to rejuvenate critical areas of the St. Roch neighborhood. This project seeks to demonstrate the need for a collaborative process while allowing for a balance between the experts who help design each site and the community members who take ownership of the renewed parcels.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Eric A. Bernard / The sub-rural Kansas community of Winona stands at a critical crossroad. The dilemma of rural population decline, fueled largely by technological advances in communication, transportation, and agriculture is devastating rural economies and the centers of community social life – namely the local school(s) and main street(s). The physical infrastructure, spatial character and unique identity of rural places is slowly diminished in the process. While great potential exists for the landscape architecture and planning professions to address the patterns of rural decline, the limited market for such services and the lack of regulations requiring those services precludes their effective implementation within rural communities. Within Winona, a long-standing stormwater problem provides an opportunity to address both the stormwater problem and the larger dilemma in a holistic landscape architecture approach. How can contemporary landscape architecture engage rural communities in planning and design solutions aimed at mitigating stormwater issues while addressing community identity loss resulting from population and economic decline? The Place, Space, Community (PSC) Framework developed can determine distinctive qualities and characteristics and illuminate community identity which serves as the creative genesis for stormwater mitigation, and more importantly, the development of social capital critical to economic and population stability and growth. Successful development of social capital and enhanced community identity is dependent on design solutions anchored in the sense of place inherent in the residents of Winona. Landscape architects are uniquely qualified to provide solutions to the stormwater problem which respond to place in ways influencing the identity and social capital of Winona’s residents in dramatically positive ways. This initial focus on a holistic, place-based approach to increased social capital provides a strong foundation for future economic, social and environmental stability and growth into the future. Winona can indeed enjoy a bright and prosperous future with a Place, Space, Community approach.