The presented master study is focused on sustainable rain water management with emphasis on proper use of plants in the process. This thesis connects information from foreign countries and puts them into context of Czechclimatic conditions and Czechlegal and technical standards. It defines term “dešťový záhon“ (rain flower bed) as a landscape element for rainwater infiltration that combines aesthetical, ecological and water management functions. Technical aspect and assortment of usable plant species is critically evaluated. Suitable technical variants are “vsakovací průleh” (rain garden), “vsakovací průleh s rýhou” (bioretencion system) a “vsakovací průleh s rýhou a regulovaným odtokem” (bioretencion system). The study includes also few examples of realized rain water management solutions. Drought tolerant species looks surprisingly as most promising for use in “rain flower beds“. Combination of annual, biennial etc. plants is possible; however perennials are most promising, while shrubs and trees usage is limited. “Rain flower bed“ can be established by plantingor sowing. Both having its pros and cons the combination of these two approaches is apparently best, because sowing allows reduce initial costs of new greenery, while planted perennials prevents erosion and operate as structural plants. Additionally 30 plant species were tested, whether they are usable for direct sowing. Experiment was established within the grant project IGA - ZF/2018 - AP001 on April 2018 in Mendeleum grounds of Faculty of Horticulture, Lednice. Preliminary results show low germination rates that are significantly dependent on climatic conditions. Of the 30 only six can recommend for now: Achillea ptarmica, Asclepias tuberosa, Cichorium intybus, Coreopsis lanceolata ´Sterntaller´, Phuopsis stylosa, Oenothera biennis. Better results can be probably achieved by sowing plants in autumn, however results of the autumn part of the experiment will be known after submission of this work.

The Garden Spa explores the healing and sensual qualities of a space. It offers a place of relaxation for the body to be restored through an atmosphere of tranquility. The spa rooms are an intimate place of rest, and the garden is a place to wander through sculptural forms. Curvilinear forms are used to bring pleasure to the eye and touch, creating harmonies with the body / Master of Architecture

INTRODUCTION: The Charlestown Sprouts Community Garden, one of Bostonʼs largest community gardens, comprises 105 plots--all producing food--located in the historic neighborhood of Charlestown. It serves mainly minority and recent immigrant member households who rely on the land as a source of fresh produce. To ensure the safety of food production at the garden, the coordinators sought assistance from the Department of Environmental Health at the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) to: 1. conduct a historical survey identifying past land uses, 2. characterize potential contaminant exposures to gardeners, and 3. furnish health-protective recommendations to minimize gardener hazard exposures. In the process of meeting these aims, broader dimensions of food production in the urban environment emerged from the literature: soil safety for urban agriculture, environmental justice, food security, determining “safe” levels of contaminants in urban soil, and the expansive policy implications that these issues engendered. For the work presented in this thesis project, the scope of interrelated topics were refined and lended contextual structure for a semi-quantitative characterization of human health risk from potential soil lead (Pb) exposures. This was accomplished by employing probabilistic modeling with the USEPA's Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic Model for Lead in Children (IEUBK) (2010). Under specified assumptions of multimedia Pb exposures, the model predicts a theoretical young childʼs probability of his or her lead blood concentrationʼs (PbB) exceeding a PbB cutoff. For this analysis, the recently promulgated CDC reference value of 5 μg/dL was used as a cutoff in addition to the model default of 10 μg/dL. The IEUBK was also employed to approximate a range of soil Pb concentrations that could be considered “acceptable,” based on a health-protective approach; that is, to estimate a soil Pb concentration that would not significantly contribute to the exceedance of PbB > 5 μg/dL as a result of exposures to lead in soil. In this evaluation, an acceptable soil Pb concentration is defined as a mean soil Pb concentration that is determined by consideration of minimizing human health risk and maximizing practicability of the means to achieve the soil criterion—a level that could be reasonably achieved and be safe for urban agriculture. METHODS: Research for the historical survey included, but was not limited to, consulting historical fire insurance maps, archived municipal and county records, environmental databases, geographic information systems (GIS), and gathering accounts from local community members, historical societies, and multiple Boston city agencies to build a historical narrative about the garden land and the adjacent properties. For the IEUBK model runs, multimedia exposure parameter values from Boston environmental data (air, water, and soil) were used as inputs for the IEUBK modeling runs in the absence of suitable site-specific data. Comparison runs were executed with soil Pb concentration data from compost sourced from the City of Boston Department of Public Works Leaf and Yard Waste composting program and from Boston-area private compost facilities. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The garden was established at a site with a varied history of land uses from rail yard, to salt plant, to unknown activities. Community-member accounts, corroborated by photointerpretation data, suggest that the site was possibly an dumping grounds in the 1970ʼs-80ʼs. Based on the findings of the survey, it is likely that a number of potential contaminants exist at the garden, including lead, arsenic and/or polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Based on visual inspection, point-source contamination of the soil is likely to be occurring at the garden, stemming from the treated rail ties that compose a majority of the garden plot constructions and of the plots inspected, the timbers appeared to be CCA-treated wood. The accumulation of site-specific knowledge gained through historical research, (GIS), and anecdotal evidence aided in determining what historical hazards were likely to pose a current risk to gardeners through gardening activities. The IEUBK model predicted a geometric mean blood value of 2.73 μg/dL with an associated risk of a young childʼs PbB exceeding 5 ug/dL as 9.9% using default parameter values. In comparison, to achieve a goal of less than 5% risk, the IEUBK modeling indicated that soil Pb would have to be less than 153 mg/kg. Under the guidance of BUSPH faculty, the findings and consequent recommendations, differing in remediation technique and resource-intensiveness, were summarized in a document for the garden steering committeeʼs development of imminent renovation plans.

The Lower Ordovician Garden City Formation is part of the thick sequence of Lower Paleozoic limestones, dolostones, and minor siliciclastic sedimentary rocks of the western United States. The carbonate rocks were formed predominantly by shallow water deposition in tropical, passive-margin epeiric seas. The Garden City Formation is composed of nine lithotypes which represent the various environments. The formation is a storm-influenced transgressive sequence which may be divided into innershelf shallow subtidal and outer-shelf deep subtidal environments separated by a skeletal accumulation. The skeletal accumulation, formed by storm initiation, was a submerged topographic high, below normal wave base. The inner shelf includes the initial peritidal transgressive and shoreface material, which was extensively reworked by storm action, and a patchy distribution of shallow subtidal deposits. It is characterized by shoreward fossil banks and mud mounds, a restricted fauna, large amounts of terrigenous material and repeated occurrences of storm-created intraclastic layers within a nodular limestone. The outer shelf sediments have a diverse fauna, are extensively burrowed and bioturbated, and have significant amounts of chert. Uncommon intraformational conglomerate layers signify deposition below mean storm-wave base. The Garden City Limestone facies were deposited in broad, energy-related zones parallel to the ancient shoreline. These facies were compared to the model of epeiric sea deposition presented by Shaw (1964) and Irwin (1965). There was a lack of evidence within the Garden City sediments to support the existence of an extensive, shoreward, tideless low-energy zone as predicted by the model. The inner shallow subtidal environments remained near normal marine conditions, with water circulation provided by tidal action. Early diagenetic features of the Garden City Formation include compaction, micritization, cementation and neomorphism. Chert formation preceded pressure solution and probably represents silicification of burrows. Dolomitizing fluids moved along faults, unconformities, and bedding planes to selectively dolomitize the formation. Near-surface weathering resulted in dedolomitization and the oxidation of pyrite to hematite.

Background: Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has been recommended as an effective approach to engage communities in implementing research projects relevant to their needs and interests.  Following this approach, the Dan River Partnership for a Healthy Community was formed to address regional obesity concerns in the Dan River Region, a health disparate area located in south central Virginia and north central North Carolina.  Community gardens were identified as a priority, and the development and implementation of this study continues previous collaborative efforts in evaluating the effectiveness of community gardens within this region. Objectives: The primary aim of this study was to determine if applying the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) to an adapted curriculum throughout a 10-week gardening and nutrition education intervention would increase youths' willingness to try fruits and vegetables (FV), self-efficacy for eating and asking for FV and gardening, knowledge of nutrition and gardening, and outcome expectations for FV.  Secondary aims were to determine if age groups or attendance rates would positively influence outcome measures and to qualitatively evaluate youths' perceptions about their experiences and opinions about the program. Methods: Utilizing a pre-post design, researchers delivered this program once weekly with 60 minutes of interactive nutrition or gardening education and 30 minutes of experiential gardening.  Questionnaires included validated and novel measures.  Repeated measure ANOVA analyses were used to determine changes in outcome measures.  Post-program interviews were conducted with youth and qualitative data was coded and analyzed. Results: Of the 43 enrolled youth, 42 were African American.  Although willing to try FV did not change significantly, there were significant improvements in self-efficacy for asking for FV from 1.70 (0.34) to 1.83 (0.29) (F=7.07; p=.013) and overall gardening knowledge from 14.53 (3.45) to 15.74 (3.90) (F=7.67; p=.01).  There were also significant improvements in some of the knowledge subcategories for gardening and nutrition, including plant parts and my plate (p<0.05).  Qualitative findings indicated the majority of the participants expressed positive perceptions of the program with the most liked components including food sampling, games and gardening experiences. Discussion and Implications: Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of developing and implementing an adapted theory-driven community gardening and nutrition education program for low socioeconomic youth in public housing.  It implicates the need for future research on youth community gardens using the CBPR approach.  Findings were shared with community partners and future efforts will expand this program. / Master of Science

New City Baths in Brno The form follows its program and location. Mutual shift of both buildings creates garden's intimate atmosphere. Baths and winter garden are situated in building's upper part, services like hairdresser's, cosmetics and restaurants are available on the ground floor. Car parking lot is underground.

A new multipurpose town house has been designed into a vacant lot on Křížová street in Brno. Currently, Staré Brno is a territory without a clear concept, with high traffic load, and fragmented and often unsatisfactory development. The project therefore assumes and takes into account urban adjustments in this locality; in particular it anticipates traffic reduction in close proximity of the building and also decrease in noise load. The given location has some special features – its vastness allows it to form a whole street front; it shapes and closes a block which has a long history, its position is exceptional considering its closeness to Mendel square. The proposed building helps shape the appearance of Křížová street into which it opens with an urban-shaping facade. On the other hand, it distances itself from the inside yard which is unusable due to its unsatisfactory technical and aesthetic state. The building thus bears, within its own capacity, all the functional and spatial variety that the relation to the inside yard could offer. The result is a self-sufficient urban balcony-type building with a parquet circle designated to business and higher floors to living. There are 35 smaller flats projected for living, intended esp. for young families, couples or singles. The project assumes that the tenants will lead active and social lives, so it offers flexible outdoor areas that are both covered and open, surfaces that are both green and cemented and spaces that are both private and common.

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