This paper examines the topic of memorial design and experiential landscapes, emphasizing the role of memorials as spatial expressions of culture, history, memory, life, and death. Memorials have traditionally been monumental in form, but there is a growing shift in landscape architecture towards designing experiential memorial landscapes that allow for healing, reflection, and active participation. This progression in design highlights the landscape's role in preserving memories of tragedy and fostering a deeper connection between users and the land. This project focuses on the design of a memorial for the St. Francis Dam Disaster, a catastrophic event in California that reshaped the landscape and the lives of those affected. This project explores how a post-disaster site can be transformed into an experiential memorial landscape that tells the story of the past, present, and future landscape, creates a site pilgrimage through strategic memorial design, and reveals the profound impact of the tragedy on the land. Studies of memorial design principles and case studies focused on trail systems, site programming, and landscape aesthetics guided the design work. Design guidelines and design study processes developed through this research exemplify how to approach an experiential memorial design and challenge designers to approach and adapt their designs to complement existing landscape conditions. / Master of Landscape Architecture / This paper explores how to design a memorial for the St. Francis Dam Disaster, a catastrophic event in California that altered both the land and the lives of those affected. A memorial is different from a monument because it focuses more on the visitor's experience within the space. Drawing on established memorial design guidelines and similar landscape architecture projects, this project creates a memorial that enhances the visitor's experience and educates the visitor on existing elements in the surrounding landscape. This project engages with existing research and establishes a way of approaching a large-scale memorial design that will be beneficial to the field of landscape architecture.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Huston Gibson / The research conducted in this thesis explores the relationship between high school campus planning and the potential for high school sites to be used as outdoor classrooms. A review of the design of school buildings and the educational pedagogy that has influenced campus planning and design is presented before exploring current design practices. Precedent studies are offered as examples of exemplary design strategies for multi-use campuses. This leads to the question, “What variables allow future outdoor based education opportunities to be anticipated by site designers of high school campuses?” Four units of analysis and their relationship with site planning will be addressed in this research: environmental factors, space requirements, building proximity, and activity type. A case study based on these units of analysis is used in a multiple case study investigation of three school campuses in the Wichita, Kansas area: Goddard High School, Eisenhower High School, and Maize High School. The methodologies of organization, implementation and analysis of the variables are presented. The patterns found from the multiple case study and the variables developed in response to these findings are offered and discussed. Finally design alternatives for the three case study sites and future research opportunities are provided.