Integrating Wildlife Habitat Into Urban
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THE WILDLIFE GALLERY: INTEGRATING WILDLIFE HABITAT INTO URBAN AREAS USING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL ART by LAUREN A. HOLMER (Under the Direction of Doug Pardue) ABSTRACT Environmental concerns and worldwide population growth demonstrate the need for positive integration of human cultural practices with other ecological processes, including animal life cycles. This thesis proposes that fostering a sense of regional community within citizens for local wildlife will aid in the paradigm shift necessary for effective interspecies habitation in urbanized areas. Land and environmental art acts as a channel for cultural communication, often confronts localized problems which affect wildlife, and has been of interest to landscape architects for decades. With the development of eco-revelatory design practice, the procedural and ideological contributions of these artists remain relevant to our profession. This thesis will examine six case studies from within the outer periphery of Krauss’s 1979 Klein Group Diagram, using an evaluative framework to determine how well they provide for wildlife needs and human awareness of the animals, and then applies the information learned to a site in Charleston, SC. INDEX WORDS: Landscape Architecture, Land Art, Environmental Art, Wildlife Habitat, Anthroecology, Eco-Revelatory Design, Place-Making THE WILDLIFE GALLERY: INTEGRATING WILDLIFE HABITAT INTO URBAN AREAS USING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL ART by LAUREN A. HOLMER AA, Elgin Community College, 2007 BA, Covenant College, 2010 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ATHENS, GEORGIA 2017 © 2017 Lauren A. Holmer All Rights Reserved THE WILDLIFE GALLERY: INTEGRATING WILDLIFE HABITAT INTO URBAN AREAS USING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL ART by LAUREN A. HOLMER Major Professor: Doug Pardue Committee: Georgia Harrison-Hall Mary Engel Jeff Hepinstall-Cymerman Electronic Version Approved: Suzanne Barbour Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia August 2017 iv DEDICATION To Jb, who carried me through graduate school with his love, support, laughter, and mad cooking skills. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank all of my committee members for their time in reading this document and giving me feedback—I am truly thankful that professionals such as yourselves invest in student lives and career paths. We could not become who we are without you. In particular, I would like to thank Doug Pardue for believing in the topic and meeting with me more times than I can remember now to make this thesis better. I would also like to thank my classmates for three years of encouragement, fun, and comradery. I will miss each one of you and wish you the best in your future endeavors. Finally, I would like to thank my husband, without whom my life would have far less joy. He balanced a painting career, house renovation, and driving back and forth between Athens and Charleston so that I could pursue my dream. I am very blessed. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND THESIS PROBLEMATIC ........................................1 Background ..................................................................................................1 Inquiry ..........................................................................................................7 Methods......................................................................................................11 2 THEORETICAL CONTEXT ..........................................................................13 Literature Review.......................................................................................13 Discussion ..................................................................................................27 3 CASE STUDIES ANALYSIS .........................................................................34 Introduction to Case Study Selection and Evaluation................................34 The Intersection of Landscape Architecture, Art, and Ecology .................37 Introduction to the Evaluation Rubric........................................................45 The Case Studies ........................................................................................63 4 FINDINGS FROM CASE STUDIES ANALYSIS .......................................111 Summary of Case Study Scoring .............................................................111 Discussion of Themes Emerging from the Case Studies Analysis ..........117 vii 5 SITE DESIGN FOR BRITTLEBANK PARK, CHARLESTON, SC ...........126 Introduction to the Site.............................................................................126 Analysis of the Site ..................................................................................142 Goals and Design .....................................................................................148 Analysis of Brittlebank Park Proposed ....................................................164 6 CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................170 Discussion of Thesis Inquiry, Methods, and Outcomes ..........................170 Final Thoughts .........................................................................................175 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................177 APPENDICES A ATTRIBUTIONS FOR PHOTOS IN DIGRAMMATIC FIGURES ............186 viii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 3.1: Case Study Analysis of Fair Park Lagoon .......................................................69 Table 3.2: Case Study Analysis of Swamp Garden ...........................................................76 Table 3.3: Case Study Analysis of Amphibious Architecture ............................................84 Table 3.4: Case Study Analysis of Bat House ...................................................................92 Table 3.5: Case Study Analysis of Watershed Sculpture ................................................100 Table 3.6: Case Study Analysis of Owens Lake Trails ....................................................108 Table 4.1: Summary of Case Study Successes for “Good for Wildlife” Criteria ............124 Table 4.2: Summary of Case Study Successes for “Good for People” Criteria ..............125 Table 5.1: Analysis of Brittlebank Park Proposed ...........................................................167 ix LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1.1: Venn Diagram of Thesis Inquiry .....................................................................10 Figure 1.2: Interspecies Space Diagram ............................................................................11 Figure 2.1: Photograph of Carl Andre’s 1977 Secant ........................................................16 Figure 2.2: Klein Group Diagram, Rosalind Krauss, 1979................................................17 Figure 2.3: Photograph of Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels .......................................................19 Figure 2.4: Photograph of Patricia Johanson’s Cyrus Field ..............................................29 Figure 2.5: Approaches to Viewing Wildlife .....................................................................33 Figure 3.1: Venn Diagram of Thesis Inquiry .....................................................................37 Figure 3.2: Landscape Architecture Descriptors ...............................................................39 Figure 3.3: Art Descriptors ................................................................................................41 Figure 3.4: Ecology Descriptors ........................................................................................42 Figure 3.5: Venn Diagram Depicting Overlapping Facets of Landscape Architecture, Art, and Ecology ..............................................................................................45 Figure 3.6: Purpose Criterion .............................................................................................46 Figure 3.7: Effect Criterion ................................................................................................47 Figure 3.8: Adaptivity Criterion ........................................................................................49 Figure 3.9: Scale Criterion .................................................................................................51 Figure 3.10: Ecologically “Optimum” Patch Shape, Wenche E. Dramstad et al., 1996 ...53 Figure 3.11: Interaction Criterion ......................................................................................54 Figure 3.12: Legibility Criterion ........................................................................................57 x Figure 3.13: Engagement Criterion....................................................................................58 Figure 3.14: Framework for Predictors of Preference, Stephen Kaplan, 1987 ..................59 Figure 3.15: Community Criterion ....................................................................................62 Figure 3.16: Fair Park Lagoon on Venn Diagram of Thesis Inquiry ................................63