Precedented

Here I cite the main references for my design work previously presented in MUSE, to give credit where credit is due.

Mirror Park – Design for Change
Eugene, Oregon

Panarchy – I adapted and applied the basic ideas of Panarchy theory (Panarchy 101/ Understanding the Complexity of Economic, Ecological, and Social Systems by C.S. Holling), i.e. that small frequent adjustments and adaptations moderate (manage) change and evolution, by providing stability and permitting continuity (but also minimizing creation, invention, origination), while rare larger corrections foment catastrophic destruction and revolution (necessitating re-creation, invention, origination).
Kit of Parts – This is a pedagogical practice in schools of architecture meant to focus students on syntactical and phenomenal concerns, rather than the (upper middle class) architectural semantics of amenities that they presume. Its primary exercise is the spatial arrangement of modular elements. Most famously introduced by John Hejduk at the University of Texas in the 1950’s.
Kit of Parks – I borrowed a modular set of building elements encountered in a Swedish park as an example of a flexible, adaptable building kit.
Mirrors in the Garden: There is a long history of mirrors in the garden, dating from at least the eighteenth century. Robert Smithson’s Chalk Mirror Displacement (Oxted Quarry), Study for Glacial Mirror, Ithaca Mirror Trail, and Yucatan Mirror Displacements are contemporary examples.

Riverbend Assisted Living Center
Springfield, Oregon

Building as both ground and figure – This is a well-established tradition in architecture. Most inspirational in this regard were the works of Louis Kahn (Salk Institute), Frank Lloyd Wright (Prairie Style buildings), Alvar Aalto (for the play of natural light), and Luís Barragán’s designs (nature and the manmade as point/counterpoint),.
I found Kahn’s and Aalto’s forms a good starting point too, and also those of James Stirling.
Ecotone theory – This is an ecological principle I applied to the man-made. It delineates middling zones where creatures adapted to different environments nonetheless co-exist and thrive.
Eden Alternative – This practice of elder care was the basis for the project; I adapted it and improved upon it with my design that included the larger community, welcoming it into the facility.

Isla Vista Revitalization
Santa Barbara, California

Landscape ecology – The Isla Vista competition entry for an urban re-design was based on the tools and protocols outlined in Landscape Ecology Principles in Landscape Architecture and Land-Use Planning (W. E. Dramstad, J. D. Olson, and R. T. T. Forman, 1996 Island Press, Washington D.C.).
New Urbanism and Traditional Neighborhood Development – Many ideas from these practices are incorporated into the design. See Towns and Town-making Principles, edited by Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk (1991 Rizzoli, New York) and TND Ordinance of Bedford, New Hampshire.

Public Space in the New American City
Atlanta, Georgia

This landscape proposal was my first ever; I submitted as an amateur (before any formal architectural training) and anonymously. So it is unprecedented. Nevertheless it has aspects in common with the land art movement of the 1960’s, e.g. scale and social commentary [links]. It also presents the ideal of living with history, continuing a long tradition of monuments, memorials, and ruins in the landscape, and foreshadows participatory art projects centered on local history (which I encountered much later), notably Irish artist Deirdre O’Mahoney’s X PO.
Also see The Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Washington Mall by Charles Griswold, in Critical Issues in Public Art (1992, Iconeditions, New York); and The Necessity for Ruins, by J. B. Jackson (1980 University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst).

Belchertown State School Development
Belchertown, Massachusetts

Here the precedents are my previous work – Riverbend ALC, Bay City (to include their precedents), and Traditional Neighborhood Development. I also found much inspiration in Colin Rowe’s essay (with Robert Sluzky) Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal, in Mathematics of the Ideal Villa (1976 MIT Press, Cambridge Massachusetts).

Bay City Town Design
Bay City, Oregon

There is a long landscape tradition that recalls a Clearing in the Forest, and Bay City’s proposed central Green does just this. Celebrating seasonal changes intentionally with plantings is another ancient garden tradition. Of greatest influence is the vernacular forms and building arrangements found in small towns in New England (and the Midwest), where I have lived most of my life. Other formal architectural ideas such as multi-function spaces – a Commons, for example – are incorporated into the design too.

Springfield Visioning
Springfield, Massachusetts

The idea I drew on for this proposal was that of art intervention, although I modified it to be a constructive force, rather than simply a critique or provocation. See Claire Bishop’s comprehensive book Participation (Whitechapel Gallery, London and MIT Press, Cambridge) for the many forms of engaged art.

Eld Street Revitalization
New Haven, Connecticut

My work here drew on many schools of thought, namely Broken Windows theory, environmentalism, and community design. Our triple purposes of attending to derelict infrastructure, property maintenance, and green space creation and enhancement in order to protect our neighborhood from crime are presented as new insights/strategies in a very recent article in The New Yorker: The Other Side of Broken Windows, by Eric Klinenberg (Aug 23, 2018). Our primary weapon was a cohesive community of residents, landlords, and businesses, which we deliberately and painstakingly built and strengthened. Grass roots organizing like this is, of course, an established practice.