A NATIONAL STUDIO PROJECT | UN PROJET NATIONAL D'ATELIERS
Dalhousie University
Rick leBrasseur, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture
FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE
BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
LARC 4001 | LANDSCAPE STUDIO 1
FALL 2019
Dr. Rick leBrasseur is an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at Dalhousie University.
A licensed landscape architect, environmental psychologist, researcher, and peri-urbanist, he is the Director of the interdisciplinary Green Infrastructure Performance Lab applying investigative knowledge towards climate adaptive reorganization of multifunctional landscapes. His research encourages designers to to think about complex landscape-individual processes in relational terms, whereby integrative urbanisms can apply diverse frameworks to understand built and natural morphologies of people and place. Rick has received research grants from the Canadian Tri-Council and the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Prior to his academic appointment, Rick worked at Hargreaves Associates, Charles Anderson Atelier, SWA Group, EDAW, and contributed to multi-scale projects including the award-winning Olympic Sculpture Park. His collaborative designs and research has been, published, reviewed, and featured in Landscape Journal, Journal of Landscape Architecture, The Royal Institute of British Architects, Landscape Architecture Magazine, Urban Land, among others.
Rick’s current researches peri-rural green infrastructure and the impacts of development upon human-based ecosystem services in order to create physically, psychologically and socially meaningful descriptions of the environments in which we live and interact.
STUDIO BRIEF
Landscape Studio I focuses on regional scale analysis and site-specific design development. We will explore the relationship between people and abandoned landscapes with a focus on green infrastructural planning and design. This project will require you to critically examine the larger Nova Scotia landscape and its multiple interconnections to a remnant wetland pond and the small community which receives an influx of tourists in the summer.
Is a neglected pond currently undergoing successional ecosystem change a good thing for the region and the landscape? Or are there opportunities to enhance its multifaceted ecosystem services?
What are the indigenous, socio-cultural and historical influences within the region in which to generate design ideas?
How can your design reactivate this important component of the town’s hydrological system and serve as a greenspace asset to the local community?
