In an era of dawning anthropogenic climate change, people of atoll nations face grievous threats to their future. Rising sea levels, warming oceans, and changing weather patterns conspire with economic isolation, rapidly growing populations, and the loss of traditional livelihoods to perpetuate conditions of dependence and wardship which threaten the very existence of their island homes. This project examines an atoll nation of the equatorial Pacific, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, where the outward appearance of pristine tropical paradise belies a tragic history of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile testing at the hands of the US military. While the islands have been consistently framed in rhetoric which stresses vulnerability, smallness and unsustainability, this project contests the limited scope of the regimes of power in Oceania by considering how the independent, grassroots actions of local groups of islanders have achieved surprising and dramatic results in defiance of the policies and planners at the top. In developing a design proposal for the contemporary condition, this thesis examines the persistent ways in which the islands and people are framed by outsiders. This project engages with the social, political and natural history of the atolls: common tropes are challenged by the actions and agency of a people who have dealt with imperialist outsiders in sophisticated and conscious ways. It explores the traditional cultural practices which enabled the ancestors of the Marshallese people to flourish, and suggests that it is at the level of actions by ordinary people that the most fertile potentials lie, and are in fact already being played out. What forms of urbanism might be appropriate in this environment? How can islanders effectively manage their landscape and engage with the natural processes - as their ancestors once did to a remarkable degree? By pairing traditional techniques with modern technologies, a proposal is synthesized which could empower the contemporary Marshallese to transform their landscape and develop sustainable livelihoods in this extreme and dynamic environmental condition: to build a future which offers the best aspects of both traditional and contemporary ways of life.

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture

Though Hong Kong has considerable green spaces, the enclosed, nice urban landscape is usually too symbolic for deep rest while the joyful natural park lacks setting for people to have long stay and deep enjoyment. I would like to take the opportunity of the thesis to research and discuss of a place where the landscape could be blurred with human intervention providing space for people to sustainable stay, enjoy nature and relax from the high density, high speed, and high-pressured urban life. Meanwhile, the local setting will be blurred in to the landscape as a feature that enhance the interaction between human and nature as well. It will be a space for people frequently and easier to be back to nature, a place for people to calm, clear, and pure their minds and heart, and a location to build a sustainable and harmonious relationship between people and nature. A meditation field is defined as such a place in my design. Blurring landscape is a new approach in this design where the blurring landscape layer turns the original site constrains into opportunity and sustainable human stay, and on the other hand, it enhances the interactive landscape feature for deep relax and completion through five senses. / published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture

This thesis explores the use of collective memory in the practice of landscape architecture, specifically the use of 'memory mapping' as an imaging technique. The specific site chosen is Shaniwarwada, a fortified royal complex dating from the eighteenth century, in the city of Pune, India. In order to gain an insider's perspective of the site, written questionnaires were distributed and interviews were given. The findings of these inquiries coupled with an understanding of contemporary theories concerning memory mapping guided the development of programs and physical interventions. It is hoped that these undertakings will enhance the role of Shaniwarwada as an historical site and a community place in the future.

This project is submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Masters Degree in Landscape Architecture at Ball State University. It involves the creation of a Concept Master Plan for a 16-acre parcel of privately owned land located in the northern Hoosier National Forest (the "Project Site"). The Project Site includes about eight acres of wooded hills and approximately eight acres of gently sloping cleared area, which had been previously farmed, two creeks and a one-acre pond.The Concept Plan presented in this paper attempts to achieve the clients' program, i.e., enhancing the aesthetics of the Project Site and enriching the environmental complexity of its ecosystem through an integrated set of interventions that have as their focus maintaining a clearing in the woods.The design process includes a historical and contextual analysis of the Project Site and the region; identifying strong points, opportunities for enhancement and problems to be solved. Various alternatives to address issues are evaluated; and specific projects are then integrated into the Concept Plan.The two key dualities of the Project Site from which all else flows are: (i) hills/valley and (ii) clearing/forest. Enhancing and articulating these two pairs of complementary elements are the core opportunities at the Project Site. All other problems and opportunities are subordinate to these two unifying elements. Among the key near-term problems to be solved are: (1) stabilizing the pond; (2) minimizing the presence of alien invasives and opportunistic native species; (3) introducing appropriate native plant species which encourage a more varied fauna; (4) enhancing the functionality and aesthetics of wetlands; (5) developing naturalistic vistas based on existing topography; and (6) providing for an enriched diverse environment that requires a minimum of ongoing maintenance and intervention.The Concept Plan is composed of two elements:1.Description of specific "capital" projects which were selected during the evaluation process described above; and2.Management/maintenance plan, which is programmatic in nature and deals with ongoing activities such as monitoring, managing the growth of alien invasives and opportunistic natives, replacement and augmenting planting, etc.Measures proposed in the Concept Plan will arrest succession at the savanna stage to maintain a continuous, layered forest edge. New native plant species will be introduced, generating a more diverse landscape than would otherwise exist. Man-made elements such as a shelter and bridge will meet the clients' functional needs and serve as focal points and aesthetic elements. / Department of Landscape Architecture

In an era of dawning anthropogenic climate change, people of atoll nations face grievous threats to their future. Rising sea levels, warming oceans, and changing weather patterns conspire with economic isolation, rapidly growing populations, and the loss of traditional livelihoods to perpetuate conditions of dependence and wardship which threaten the very existence of their island homes. This project examines an atoll nation of the equatorial Pacific, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, where the outward appearance of pristine tropical paradise belies a tragic history of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile testing at the hands of the US military. While the islands have been consistently framed in rhetoric which stresses vulnerability, smallness and unsustainability, this project contests the limited scope of the regimes of power in Oceania by considering how the independent, grassroots actions of local groups of islanders have achieved surprising and dramatic results in defiance of the policies and planners at the top. In developing a design proposal for the contemporary condition, this thesis examines the persistent ways in which the islands and people are framed by outsiders. This project engages with the social, political and natural history of the atolls: common tropes are challenged by the actions and agency of a people who have dealt with imperialist outsiders in sophisticated and conscious ways. It explores the traditional cultural practices which enabled the ancestors of the Marshallese people to flourish, and suggests that it is at the level of actions by ordinary people that the most fertile potentials lie, and are in fact already being played out. What forms of urbanism might be appropriate in this environment? How can islanders effectively manage their landscape and engage with the natural processes - as their ancestors once did to a remarkable degree? By pairing traditional techniques with modern technologies, a proposal is synthesized which could empower the contemporary Marshallese to transform their landscape and develop sustainable livelihoods in this extreme and dynamic environmental condition: to build a future which offers the best aspects of both traditional and contemporary ways of life.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Carleton University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 106-108). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

The cultural landscape has long been the indigenous language of man and the original inhabitancy of all living things. Humans evolved amongst animals, under the sky, upon the earth and near water resources. We have touched, saw, heard, smelled, tasted, lived in, and shaped the landscape before the spaces had words to describe what it did. Inhabited landscapes were the first human texts, read before the invention of other signs and symbols. This legacy of ‘native identity’ and cultural process makes a connection in each one, physically and mentally. Landscape thus provides the social milieu of our lives and even though we consist of multi-layered knowledge of the ethnographic landscape which is dependent on personal background, traditions, education and character, we should be collectively and individually aware of changes in our cultural landscape and or heritage (Swaffield 2005: 17). The following dissertation attempts to present an approach that might inform landscape design strategies or principles as a basis to the reclamation and/or conservation of redundant cultural heritage places. Along with theory, this paper will also investigate precedential studies to gain knowledge on how to efficiently redevelop a cultural landscape. Key Words: Cultural landscape, heritage, landscape design, reclamation, conservation / Dissertation ML(Prof)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Architecture / ML(Prof) / Unrestricted

This thesis explores the use of collective memory in the practice of landscape architecture, specifically the use of 'memory mapping' as an imaging technique. The specific site chosen is Shaniwarwada, a fortified royal complex dating from the eighteenth century, in the city of Pune, India. In order to gain an insider's perspective of the site, written questionnaires were distributed and interviews were given. The findings of these inquiries coupled with an understanding of contemporary theories concerning memory mapping guided the development of programs and physical interventions. It is hoped that these undertakings will enhance the role of Shaniwarwada as an historical site and a community place in the future. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate