University of Idaho

Departments of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
Larc 356-357 – Community Planning and Design - Fall 2004 

Gary Austin 
Office hours Monday, 10:30-12:30 Tuesday and Thursday, or by appointment. 
Phone:  310-9507 cell phone (home an)d work  
Email: gaustin@uidaho.edu

Wendy McClure
Office hours:  Tues, Thursday 10:30 - 12:00
Phone: 885-6473
Email: wmcclure@uidaho.edu

Index
Course Syllabus forLarc 356
Project One Assignment
Project 2 Assignment for Larc 357
Course Schedule
Calendar
Grades

Course Syllabus  

Course Description and Goals:

This studio will address community planning and design as well as high density mixed use development in the urban context.  The first project will involve landscape architecture while in the second project we we be joined by Professor Wendy McClure and her fourth year architecture students. The projects will enable students to share their design expertise and vision to demonstrate alternative planning and design models for the future of towns and cities in Idaho.

The goals of this studio addresses the challenge of better preparing  students for community involvement and a more proactive role in community planning and design. The second project requires that you work effectively in a multidisciplinary team.  This configuration models professional practice and is an opportunity for you to practice your communication, organization and productions skills.

Required Reading

This web site and handouts as supplied throughout the semester.

Resources

R.Arendt. Rural By Design

R. Arendt. Conservation Design for Subdivisions

Burayidi, Michael. Downtowns: Revitalizing the Centers of Small Urban Communities

Calthorpe, Peter.  Regional City

P. Condon.  Sustainable Urban Design

Gehl, Jan. Life Between Buildings

Katz, Peter.  New Urbanism

Kunstler, James Howard. The Geography of Nowhere

McClure, Wendy. The Rural Town: Designing for Growth and Sustainability

D. Porter.  Managing Growth in American Communities.

Reps, John. The Making of Urban America

G. Thompson; F. Steiner.  Ecological Design and Planning.

Grading Criteria

Students will be evaluated according to the following criteria for each studio project:

• Quality and Appropriateness of Concept

• Technical Integration

• Degree of Completeness

• Quality of Presentation

• Degree of interdisciplinary collaboration as evidenced in design

In addition, students will be evaluated throughout the course on:

• Individual Participation

• Performance on objective exams on readings

Project #1

Sub-total

Participation: Although each team will earn a single project grade for group projects final personal grades will reflect each individual’s level of participation and contribution to the project as a whole. Subsequently your personal level of participation (or lack there of) will impact your final grade. Your participation will be evaluated according to our observations as professors and the individual and collective evaluations of your team members. Although evaluations by your team members will remain anonymous, they will factor into your grade. 

Project One: Community Revitalization (August 23-Oct. 15)

Introduction

Project #1 will address issues of community urban revitalization and place-making in Lewiston Idaho. An important dimension of this projects is to demonstrate how in-fill development can accommodate residential and commercial growth without repositioning city growth boundaries and without non-agricultural development in the county.  The kind of growth you will demonstrate should be enhance community amenities and prosperity, as well as provide developer opportunities within the city limits.

 pressure for development in the county  design can be used as a tool to fortify community identity and prosperity in small towns.  An additional project is located in the city of Lewiston, Idaho and involves the Lewiston Port and a private developer.  A proposed technology park, library, community park, housing and commercial uses make this project valuable as a smart growth prototype for the community.

Harrison is a small historic town and the site of the original capital of Idaho . The com principal highway corridor leading to Glacier Park . It is a popular weekend destination for Missoula residents who have second homes or weekend cabins along the lake. Primary sources of employment for year round residents include the timber industry, home construction and US Forest Service. Seeley Lake is trying to attract retirees to the town.  

Lewiston, Idaho

Lewiston is located at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers.  It is a rapidly developing community that is attracting national retailing and entertainment companies.  The mild climate of the town and Lewis and Clark College attract retirement, student and other residents.  A large tract of developable land are available near the main commercial street and along the east waterfront.  The Port of Lewiston owns properties on both side of the Clearwater River and the Potlatch Corp. has a manufacturing plant on the river at the eastern end of the project area.

Site Visits

Students and faculty will collect information about the community and design sites. The first field trip to Lewiston is scheduled for Wednesday Aug. 25.  You are to assemble in Lewiston at 2:30 at the Port Authority building.  We will prepare a site analysis as a class.

Research and Field Documentation Phases

The class will be divided into several teams to conduct community planning and design research.  Each team is to present the results of the research and field documentation as a web site presentation.  The research will become part of the knowledge  base for the course and available to the public.

• Planning information (railroad maps, Metzker maps, assessor’s maps, DOT maps, USGS maps, Township-Range system, aerial photos, web resources)
• Profiles of commercial adaptive use and facade rehabilitation
• Street landscaping and new mixed use development
• Waterfront development
• Pedestrian oriented commercial development
• Restoration of industrial sites

Master Plan Presentation Requirements

The intent of the master plan is to enhance the ecological integrity of the site and provide for sustainable human activity.  The master plan is an individual effort and should express a vision of a unified development to be executed over time.  The master plan phase of the project should include the following:

• Design concept (philosophy, goals and objectives), program of activities and facilities

• Site inventory and analysis

• Schematic design alternatives, and evaluation

• Illustrative master plan

• Site model or perspective drawings

The list below is provided as a starting point for your master planning and design process.  Use and expand it to identify all of the site and design issues to be addressed.

• Economic Development

• Town History and interpretation of existing planning morphologies

• Ecological planning principles

• Open and recreational public space uses and locations

•  Road ROW, speeds, scale, configurations, and character

•  Parking schemes

•  Building uses and locations and the interaction of buildings and landscape

•  Concepts for phasing

Focus Projects

This phase of the project requires more detailed designs for a portion of the master plan (this is an individual effort).  You may redefine the concept, program and preliminary design established by the master plan. Create design standards, building designs, and site designs that integrate the architectural and landscape architectural issues.  Specific requirements for the Design Development Phase will be partly dependent upon which portion of the site you select for detailed consideration.  Your professor will help you establish project requirements.

Important Dates                     

Course Standards  

Late Work.  Late work may be penalized 10% for each 48 hours after the due date and time.  There are valid reasons that a project might be late.  Consult me before the due date if there are circumstances that prevent timely completion of a project.  

Course Participation.  Each student is expected to actively participate in their education by requesting critiques in every studio period dedicated to them.  The student is expected to ask questions or offer comments that increase understanding of the material during class discussions.  Time has been set aside outside of the regular class hours for discussion or additional help from the professor.  Please use this opportunity to clarify points that you don't understand, locate information on areas of particular interest, or discuss personal problems affecting your performance in this class. 

Absence from more that three class meetings (including critique sessions)  during the semester may result in a 10% reduction in your course grade. 

Incomplete Grades.  Medical as well as some family or personal circumstances are grounds for an incomplete grade in this course.  To be awarded an incomplete you must have completed 60% of the course with a grade of 60% or better.  You must resolve an incomplete within six weeks after the beginning of the subsequent semester.  Failure to do so (or to apply for an extension) automatically results in an F on your transcript.

Retention of Student Work.  The professor may retain student projects as documentation of the course or as examples for future students.  You may photograph or otherwise copy retained material by making an appointment with your professor.

Disability Support Services.  Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have a documented disability. Please notify the instructor during the first week of class of any accommodation(s) needed for the course. Late notification may mean that requested accommodations might not be available. All accommodations must be approved through Disability Support Services located in the Idaho Commons Building, Rm. 333.  885-7200.  email at dss@uidaho.edu”

Instructors Experience. I have masters degree in landscape architecture from Cal Poly, Pomona.  I worked as an landscape architecture consultant to engineers, architects and other landscape architects.  I have owned and operated my own landscape architecture firm and worked for the US Army Corps of Engineers. I have taught the junior studio for several years at the University of Idaho.