Program Overview

Program Overview

The Sustainability in the Urban Environment program is designed to explore design approaches related to sustainable managing soil and water, in the context of adaptation to climate changes and sea level rise.

Program Details

Description

This is a lecture course with field applications, exploring ancient and contemporary approaches to manipulating soil and water in building human communities that conserve and sustain local resources over long periods of time. It is primarily for Landscape Architects, Architects, and Sustainability students, and includes practical applications of principles and theory in realistic projects in NYC.

Objectives

1. Understand how soil and water conditions drive urban development decisions, architecture, and landscape architectural design.
2. Understand basic geology and hydrology principles related to surface and groundwater, sediment transport, and coastal dynamics.
3. Practice assessing a variety of typical urban soil and water conditions and diagnosing problems.
4. Competence in choosing, adapting, and designing nature-based and/or bioengineered solutions for water and soil management.

Topics Covered

• Ancient and modern soil and water management techniques
• Soil ecology/biology of soil microorganisms/living aspects of soil
• Water movement in built environments
• Inward migration of salt marshes during periods of sea level rise
• Coastal dynamics and development - context and responses
• Desertification - context and responses
• Urban agricultural soil - character, concerns, and techniques for improvement
• “Nature-based infrastructure” storm water and erosion management
• Addressing novel, man-made “emerging” pollutants such as pharmaceuticals and microplastics in water and soil

Basis of Grades

Grades in this course will be based on a series of assignments including one-week design or research problems and a 3-4 week project with a written report, a midterm and final exam. Attendance is mandatory for all sessions.

Grading Criteria

• 2 short assignments on topical issues: 20%
• Midterm exam on readings and lectures: 30%
• Final exam on readings and lectures: 30%
• Final project: research, conceptual design, presentation: 20%

Required Texts

• Sustainable Landscape Construction: A Guide To Green Building Outdoors, William Thompson and Kim Sorvig, Island Press, 2018
• Healthy Soils for Sustainable Gardens, Brooklyn Botanical Garden All-Region Guide Handbook #192, Niall Dunne, Ed. 2009
• Climate-Wise Landscaping, Practical Actions for a Sustainable Future, Sue Reed and Ginny Stibolt, New Society Publishers, 2018

Recommended Texts

• Design for Flooding: Architecture, Landscape, and Urban Design for Resilience to Climate Change, Watson, Donald; Adams, Michele, John Wiley & Sons, 2011

Schedule

The course schedule includes:

1. Overview of the semester
2. Library Research workshop
3. Discussion of BBG Water Conservation Projects
4. Overview of Hudson R. Estuary/NYNJ Harbor
5. SITE VISIT TO Brooklyn Botanical Garden
6. Soil formation and ecology
7. Surface water + ground water interactions
8. Midterm
9. Water and soil interface with social/cultural issues
10. Nature-based technologies for brownfields
11. COASTAL CONSERVATION
12. Presentations of Assign 2- part 2
13. Final exam

Course Format

The course combines lecture format, reporting on related research and activities, field methods for understanding soil and groundwater, and design exercises applying student research on living filtration systems, porous pavement, bioengineering, and/or other ground-water interactions.