Landscape Architecture Master's Projects
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Browsing Landscape Architecture Master's Projects by Subject "algorithmic modeling"
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Item Open Access DYNAMIC DITCHES: An Algorithmic Modeling Approach to Site-Scale Stormwater Solutions(2019-06-18) Weaver, Christopher GThis project sought to explore ways in which algorithmic modeling may lend a methodology to the landscape architecture design process. Specifically, a computational design framework originating from industrial engineering was applied to the problem of siting and sizing bioretention facilities—a type of stormwater infiltration facility—on a site-scale. The primary task was in developing the algorithm in Rhino+Grasshopper to automate the logic sequence and calculations of the standard multi-step stormwater design procedure. There were several essential goals in this research project: 1) broaden the range of stormwater solution options for landscape architects, 2) develop the capability to optimize design solutions for low-cost and localized impact, 3) create an algorithmic workflow that may be expanded upon to encode additional landscape design variables. As a measure of validity, the completed algorithm was tested against a professional design for the 0.8 acre LaTourette Park in Oregon City, OR. Both were evaluated based on their performance in a 10-year design storm. Compared with the professional stormwater scheme, the algorithmic model resulted in more efficiency in terms of lowering construction costs, percentage of runoff reduction, and in intercepting surface flow near its source. These are ostensibly favorable results, although the utility of the algorithmic model is debatable. Being a simulation narrowly geared toward a single type of solution, the model does not offer solution alternatives that may involve a broader stormwater management scheme. However, it may serve as a tool in informing decisions of that kind.