Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning 702-003 / 999-001
Landscape Planning and Design Studio
on
Interacting Networks in the
Rain Forest of Puerto Rico
SCHEDULING
Spring Semester 2006;
Thursdays from 9 a.m. until Noon with additional hours TBA
FACULTY
Dr. Dana Tomlin,
Professor of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning
phone:
(978) 724-3352
e-mail:
tomlin.dana@verizon.net
in collabpration with
Dr. Fred Scatena
Professor of Earth and Environmental Science
phone:
(215) 898-6907
e-mail:
fns@sas.upenn.edu
OBJECTIVES
The primary objective of this course is to relate the academic experience of students at the
School of Design (PennDesign) to professional challenges in landscape planning and design
like those they may soon face in practice. It is a capstone course intended to integrate
concepts and capabilities from several PennDesign curricula and to apply them in a real(istic)
setting. The course seeks to refine skills in regional site analysis, land allocation, physical
planning, and plan evaluation with particular emphasis on project organization and
management, presentation technique, and the use of information-processing technology.
METHODS
The course is conducted in a studio format with weekly briefings, discussions, and critiques.
It is managed, however, much like a small professional office with students bearing
responsibility not only for production but also for direction, scheduling, budget, consultants,
media, etc. The course is organized as a series of problem sets addressing different aspects of
a single, semester-long project in regional landscape planning and design.
Past projects in this studio have involved
- the investigation of a suspected pre-Columbian Celtic settlement in New England (2004),
- the establishment of a U.N. world heritage site for the government of Bolivia (2003),
- the development of a national archaeological park for the government of Costa Rica (2002),
- preservation planning for a famous cemetery in New Orleans (2001),
- the analysis of historic viewsheds in Philadelphia (2000),
- the creation of a statewide open space plan for Connecticut (1999),
- the introduction of digital cartography to Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park (1997),
- an assessment of development trends for a Philadelphia real estate company (1996), and
- the extension of a state highway for the New Jersey Department of Transportation (1995).
These projects have generated professional-caliber products ranging from traditional graphics to
web sites, compact disks, digital videos and animations, original artwork, postcards, musical
accompaniments, television spots, newspaper pieces, conference presentations, and refereed
journal articles, as well as briefings at the highest levels of national government. Several
examples can be seen in the project areas > GIS studios section of www.cml.upenn.edu .
1
PROJECT
For the spring of 2006, this project will focus on a site in the Luquillo Mountains of northeastern
Puerto Rico, about 20 miles to the east-southeast of San Juan. It is here that El Yunque stands as
one of the most readily-accessible tropical rain forests in the world.
As part of the Caribbean National Forest, El Yunque is managed by the USDA Forest Service
for its diverse vegetation, soils, water, fish and wildlife; its scenic quality and recreational
potential, particularly in terms of eco-tourism; its cultural heritage; and its value to research
and education. As such, decisions affecting this landscape are complicated not only by the
landscape itself but also by the bureaucratic setting in which those decisions must be made.
These decisions are affected as well by the nature of El Yunque’s surroundings. Caribbean
National Forest Supervisor Pablo Cruz has describes the situation as follows.
Because of the rapid onset of urban development in many of the areas surrounding the
forest, we face many challenges in the immediate future. Our focus will be on ensuring
the sustainability of the forest, its urban interface and associated ecosystems. I solicit
your involvement and support and ask for your comments on this important issue.
The spring studio effort will respond to this challenge at several levels. Most specifically, we
will develop proposals to accommodate visitors within the National Forest. More generally
and more significantly, however, we will cast these proposals within the broader framework
of El Yunque’s complex environmental conditions, its distinctive institutional setting, and its
demanding regional context.
Importantly, the studio effort will also be affected by a rather different kind of influence.
For just over two years now, El Yunque has been the site of a scientific research project
[http://biocomplexity.warnercnr.colostate.edu/index.htm] sponsored by the US National Science
Foundation (NSF) to examine issues of biocomplexity associated with the interaction of
hydrological and transportation networks. Major project participants include Colorado State
University, the University of Georgia, the University of Puerto Rico, and Utah State
University, as well as (Professors Scatena and Tomlin at) the University of Pennsylvania.
The studio effort will coordinate with this project several specific ways. First, it will seek to
incorporate the NSF project’s descriptive findings into its own prescriptive recommendations
to the Caribbean National Forest. Second, it will attempt to utilize some of the NSF project’s
computational methods in developing landscape plans. In particular, it will combine the use
of geographic information system (GIS) technology with tools for dynamic, “agent-based”
simulation. And third, the studio will address a component of the NSF project that calls for
educational outreach. This will also involve digital media and may well be in collaboration
with a high school in Colorado.
.
TRAVEL
While no class trip per se is planned, it is expected that individuals and/or small groups of
students will be traveling to Puerto Rico as necessary throughout the semester. Travel costs
will be largely subsidized and local accommodations provided.
GRADING
Letter grades are assigned on the basis of reports, presentations, and class participation.
ENROLLMENT
Enrollment in this course is anticipated at approximately 12 students. No previous experience
in GIS or digital media is required, and students throughout the University are welcome to
participate. To facilitate this participation, the course can be taken as either
- LARP 999-001 for the credit equivalent of a normal elective course, or
- LARP 702-003 for the credit equivalent of two such courses).
Photography 2005
by Catherine L. Hein
Utah State University
2