Frank Sleegers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Frank Sleegers
Phytoremediation, 2014
This article exposes the possibilities of integrating phytoremediation in the larger context of u... more This article exposes the possibilities of integrating phytoremediation in the larger context of urban revitalization strategies and their spatial and cultural context through exemplary case studies in research by design. The findings propose a simultaneous application of multifaceted and overlapping strategies: (1) spatial network strategies combining phytoremediation with water infrastructures and open space on multiple scales; (2) space–time strategies that include different levels of pollution and anticipated cleanup time at a larger scale; (3) capitalizing on the variety of aesthetical values of plants; (4) capitalizing on potentials of architectural heritage with possibilities of adaptive reuses; (5) staged phasing frameworks that integrate cultural, social, and educational processes; (6) interdisciplinary collaborations between scientist and designers; and (7) illustrative and engaging visual communication techniques for staging, design, and implementation. While each of these strategies is not new, they are currently practiced in isolation. A simultaneous application of this palette of strategies may embrace and synergize visual, spatial, scientific, and cultural elements as a multi-scalar and multilayered approach and thus provide a synthesis that is valuable for scientists, designers, planners, and stakeholders on the regional and municipal level. Executed, they will result in the propagation of phytoremediation as a technique to transform derelict urban landscapes.
4D Tájépítészeti és Kertművészeti Folyóirat
University supported community design centers in the United States provide an institutional alter... more University supported community design centers in the United States provide an institutional alternative for urban design and planning. They are a link between the innovative and educational milieu of the university and professional practice. Design centers provide the infrastructure that allows faculty and students’ research opportunities and projects that intersect with the practice of urban design and planning, with the goal of improving the physical and consequently, the social environment. This paper assesses the following goals that nascent community design centers should pursue in the planning and design of greenways: 1. focus on developing a collective vision and a tangible plan through public participation, service learning and visualization, 2. execute interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaboration, 3. establish public-private partnerships, 4. search funds for staffing and implementation with a high proportion from private capital or foundations, 5. pursue a step b...
Journal of community engagement and higher education, 2014
This study investigates the evolution of the urban design curriculum at UMass Amherst from 2008 t... more This study investigates the evolution of the urban design curriculum at UMass Amherst from 2008 to 2013 that was catalyzed through the genesis of a community-based design center in Springfield, MA. Four key areas in the context of community service learning as engaged scholarship are assessed. The findings illustrate 1) a positive evolution of teaching quality as the studios engaged community service learning in urban contexts and 2) measurable physical and planning impacts at the municipal and non-profit level.
This design research project showcases design models and strategies for abandoned, existing, and ... more This design research project showcases design models and strategies for abandoned, existing, and planned gas stations through phytotechnologies as a tool for aesthetic experience, ecological performance, and social resilience in the context of brownfield remediation and adaptive reuse. The project uses an abandoned gas station as an exemplary and typical study object. Pollutants seen at typical gas stations are organic chemicals that are derived from petroleum sources and come in many forms. These are petroleum hydrocarbon compounds that are considered lighter fractions, meaning they have characteristics that allow them to be more easily broken down. The project demonstrates how phytotypologies, as a series of selected phytotechnology planting types, can be used in combinations for varying spatial situations due to their ability to remediate the types of contaminants present at gas stations. They create modules that can be easily combined and expanded through exploration of legible ...
Journal of Landscape Architecture, 2014
… of the Annual International Conference on …, 2010
This Conference Proceeding is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amher... more This Conference Proceeding is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Proceedings of the Annual International Conference on Soils, Sediments, Water and Energy by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@ ...
Phytoremediation, 2014
This article exposes the possibilities of integrating phytoremediation in the larger context of u... more This article exposes the possibilities of integrating phytoremediation in the larger context of urban revitalization strategies and their spatial and cultural context through exemplary case studies in research by design. The findings propose a simultaneous application of multifaceted and overlapping strategies: (1) spatial network strategies combining phytoremediation with water infrastructures and open space on multiple scales; (2) space–time strategies that include different levels of pollution and anticipated cleanup time at a larger scale; (3) capitalizing on the variety of aesthetical values of plants; (4) capitalizing on potentials of architectural heritage with possibilities of adaptive reuses; (5) staged phasing frameworks that integrate cultural, social, and educational processes; (6) interdisciplinary collaborations between scientist and designers; and (7) illustrative and engaging visual communication techniques for staging, design, and implementation. While each of these strategies is not new, they are currently practiced in isolation. A simultaneous application of this palette of strategies may embrace and synergize visual, spatial, scientific, and cultural elements as a multi-scalar and multilayered approach and thus provide a synthesis that is valuable for scientists, designers, planners, and stakeholders on the regional and municipal level. Executed, they will result in the propagation of phytoremediation as a technique to transform derelict urban landscapes.
4D Tájépítészeti és Kertművészeti Folyóirat
University supported community design centers in the United States provide an institutional alter... more University supported community design centers in the United States provide an institutional alternative for urban design and planning. They are a link between the innovative and educational milieu of the university and professional practice. Design centers provide the infrastructure that allows faculty and students’ research opportunities and projects that intersect with the practice of urban design and planning, with the goal of improving the physical and consequently, the social environment. This paper assesses the following goals that nascent community design centers should pursue in the planning and design of greenways: 1. focus on developing a collective vision and a tangible plan through public participation, service learning and visualization, 2. execute interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaboration, 3. establish public-private partnerships, 4. search funds for staffing and implementation with a high proportion from private capital or foundations, 5. pursue a step b...
Journal of community engagement and higher education, 2014
This study investigates the evolution of the urban design curriculum at UMass Amherst from 2008 t... more This study investigates the evolution of the urban design curriculum at UMass Amherst from 2008 to 2013 that was catalyzed through the genesis of a community-based design center in Springfield, MA. Four key areas in the context of community service learning as engaged scholarship are assessed. The findings illustrate 1) a positive evolution of teaching quality as the studios engaged community service learning in urban contexts and 2) measurable physical and planning impacts at the municipal and non-profit level.
This design research project showcases design models and strategies for abandoned, existing, and ... more This design research project showcases design models and strategies for abandoned, existing, and planned gas stations through phytotechnologies as a tool for aesthetic experience, ecological performance, and social resilience in the context of brownfield remediation and adaptive reuse. The project uses an abandoned gas station as an exemplary and typical study object. Pollutants seen at typical gas stations are organic chemicals that are derived from petroleum sources and come in many forms. These are petroleum hydrocarbon compounds that are considered lighter fractions, meaning they have characteristics that allow them to be more easily broken down. The project demonstrates how phytotypologies, as a series of selected phytotechnology planting types, can be used in combinations for varying spatial situations due to their ability to remediate the types of contaminants present at gas stations. They create modules that can be easily combined and expanded through exploration of legible ...
Journal of Landscape Architecture, 2014
… of the Annual International Conference on …, 2010
This Conference Proceeding is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amher... more This Conference Proceeding is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Proceedings of the Annual International Conference on Soils, Sediments, Water and Energy by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@ ...