hort 499 aditi kambuj project v2

8/3/2019 HORT 499 Aditi Kambuj Project v2

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Designing an Outdoor, Universally Accessible,

Recreational Space for North Champaign

Aditi Kambuj, HORT499, Summer 2011

Images Sourced from the Natural Learning Iniave


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Designing an Outdoor, Universally Accessible, Recreaonal Space for North Champaign

Index

Introducon + Design Progran

Part I: Kindergarten + Pre-kindergarten

Part II: Fragrance garden + Transion garden

Part III: Acve Play + Nature space

Part IV: Community Garden + Main play area

Part V: Family Picnic Area

Part VI: Games Area

3

5

8

9

10

11

12

Ladder of Environmental Responsibility

Plants and Materials

Developmental Outcomes

References + Maintenance

13

14

15

16


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Introducon

Designing an Outdoor, Universally Accessible, Recreaonal Space for North ChampaignDesigning an Outdoor, Universally Accessible, Recreaonal Space for North Champaign

Image 1: Locaon Map of proposed recreaon area in North Champaign

School Motherlands Culture Club Randolph Street Community Garden

This project explores the potenal of

the parks, located around the Straon

Elementary School, Hazel Park and the

Randolph Street Community Garden in

North Champaign.

The project recognizes that the green

spaces surrounding the numerous

educaonal instuons in this area are

severely lacking in quality of natural

environment. Based on research on the

posive aect of exposure to nature

on childrens aenon spans as well as

social and emoonal development, it is

crical that the plain green expanses inthis park are studied and redesigned.

Given more me, I would have liked to

involve a few of the stakeholders in the

design of the project. The park runs

North - South. It is divided into several

smaller secons, either by exisng roads

or parking spaces and buildings. Ideally,

trac on the stretch cung through the

green spaces must be slowed down bynarrowing the street width. The pedes-

trian and in parcular the young pedes-

trian should be given priority in the new

design.

The audience for the project are the

residents of the neighborhood, the Park

District, the City of Champaign and the

Champaign Unit 4 School District.


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Exisng Site and Programming


Part I: Kindergarten and

pre-kindergarten

Part II: Transion Space

Part III: Elementary School

Acve Play Space

Part IV: Main Play Area

Part V: Family Area

Part VI: Games Area

50 m 100 m0 m

N


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Part I : Kindergarten / Pre-kindergarten (layout)

Key

50 m25 m0 m

N

Pathways

- smulates coopera-

on and interacon

Mound of green

Support hide and seek and

chasing games, rolling and

make gathering spaceSeasonal beaucaon area

Sand area with mini water

pump nearby, accessed through

transion spaces

Play area with stepping stones

and jumping rocks

improves balance and sense

of discovery. Making avail-

able materials and natural

elements that children can get

creave with combining them

to build shapes, shelters and

other play elements from.

Shrubbery with prairie owers

and nave grasses

Tree to play hide and

Entrance Arch

Creates a welcoming

atmosphere

Quiet Flower nook

with bird feeder for rest

and color

Hedge Planng for

shade

Fantasy Play area

encourages role play

and social interacon

Open Hut Structure

4m x 4m

Acve Play area(integrated with exist-

ing play structures)



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50 m25 m0 m

N

Part I : Kindergarten / Pre-kindergarten (planng)

Flowering and colorful

planng along edges- Grape hyacinth

- Eastern redbud

- Japanese Quince

- Rhododendron

- Echnicea

- Cornelian Cherry

- Vernal Witch Hazel

Flowering and colorful

planng along edges

(as above)

Physical barriers

- Five-leafed Aralia- Rugosa Rose

Exisng tree

(species TBC)

Gold ame honneysuck-

le on transion pergolas

Play Props

Feather reed grass

Prairie Cord

Fragrance

Fringe Tree (male)Viburnum Judd alond

edge

Play Props

- Feather reed grass

- Prairie Cord

Weeping Willow

created spaces to hide

and play in



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Part I : Kindergarten / Pre-kindergarten (materials)

Key

50 m25 m0 m

N

Pea gravel

Grass

pavers on concrete

wood chips



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50 m25 m0 m

N

Part II: Fragrance garden / Transion garden

Fragrance garden

with bridge and bench-

es restoraon space

- Sweet woodru- Fragrant Plantain Lily

- Pink coage

- Fringe Tree

- Chinese Witch Hazel

Wood Deck

Loose Gravel

Pavers on concrete



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Part III: Acve Play + Nature space

Key

50 m25 m0 m

N

Area with mild slope

for running and

chasing games

Play area for younger

children ( 6-9 yrs)

Exisng basketball

courts

lambs ear/ grasses

exisng

trees

Exisng acve play

area incorporated

with pathway

Tall tree area (for

climbing and swing-

ing) with benches,bird

feeders and loose ob-

jects for fantasy play

Nave Prairie Cord

exisng parking area

Wood chips

Grass

Pea Gravel

Pavers on concrete

Play Props

Feather reed grass

Prairie Cord

Yellowwood grove/

weeping willows

grove

Play Props

Feather reed grass

Prairie Cord



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Part IV: Community Garden + Main play area

Key

50 m25 m0 m

N

Randolph Street

Community Garden

Entrance arches

Outdoor classroom

Exisng trees

Prairie grasses

Exisng trees with

outdoor study (picnic)

tables

Wildlife enhances

Buery bush, owering

dogwood, abelia

Sun dial and

bird feeders

Mound

Recycling Center

Loose play area

(fantasy play)

Bridge

Amphitheater stage

Sloped seang

Climate changeand

Weather Staon

and sound garden

Wood chips

Grass Brick Pavers on concrete

Granite pavers on concrete



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Part V: Family Picnic Area

50 m25 m0 m

N

Wood chips

Grass

Granite pavers on concrete

Japanese Maple

White Ash



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Part VI: Games Area

50 m25 m0 m

N

Exisng playing eld

Exisng playing eldExisng playing eld

Proposed skate

boarding area

low mound

moundbike path

Wood chips

Grass

Pavers on concrete



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Implemenng Sobbels Ladder of Environmental Responsibility


K: Seasonal beaucaon area2: Schoolyard vegetable gardens

4, 5: Recycling and Composng

program

6: Climate Change Staon

3: Main-

taining the

schoolyard

1: Flower Garden Maintenance

Sobel, D. (2008). Childhood and Nature: Design Principles

for Educators. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

50 m 100 m0 m

N


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Plants and Materials

Wood chips

Grass

Pavers on concrete

Brick Pavers on concrete

Pea gravel

Wood Deck

Loose Gravel

Grape hyacinth

Eastern redbud

Japanese Quince

Rhododendron

Echnicea

Cornelian Cherry

Vernal Witch Hazel

Japanese Barberry

Rugosa Rose

Gold ame honneysuckleFeather reed grass

Prairie Cord

Japanese MapleWhite Ash

Five-leafed Aralia

Buery bush

Flowering dogwood

Abelia

Yellowwood

Weeping willow

Sweet woodru

Fragrant Plantain Lily

Pink coage

Fringe Tree

Chinese Witch Hazel

Lonicera X heckroi

Arrhenatherum elaus

Sparna pecnataGalium odoratum

Hosta

Chionanthus virginica

Hamamelis mollis

Buddleia davidii

Cornus orida

Abelia

Cladrass kentuckea

Salix babylonicaMuscari lafolium

Cercis canadensis

Chaenomeles speciosa

Echinacea purpurea

Cornus mas

Hamamelis vernalis

Berberis thunbergii

Rosa rugosa

Acer palmatum

Fraxinus Americana

Acanthopanax sieboldianus

Designing an Outdoor, Universally Accessible, Recreaonal Space for North ChampaignDesigning an Outdoor, Universally Accessible, Recreaonal Space for North Champaign


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Developmental Outcomes1. Pathways

Pathways are useful to smulate cooperave

behavior, interacon and decision making.

They support both interpreve and mobile

games (Moore et al, 1987).

2. Enclosures, hedges and low walls

Create inmate spaces and protect from run-

ning through behavior. They can dene gather-

ing spaces. Small, inmate gathering spaces

are conducing to social behavior.

3. Manufactured play equipment

Universally accessible and integrated with

pathways and green spaces to ensure engage-

ment and interest.

4. Mulpurpose game sengs

Exisng facilies on site were integrated into

design to maintain economy. Furthermore,

tradional sports encourage team cooperaon

and athlec ability.

5. Changes in landform and topography

Helps to develop ne and gross motor skills,

children help one another and this enhances

cooperave behavior and interacon. Children

enjoy running up and down slopes areas and

parcularly enjoy hide and seek and chasing

games in these areas. Running up and down

hills is also a great way to encourage kids to get

acve and have fun while doing so.

6. Wildlife enhancers

To encourage exposure and interacon with

other life forms so that the natural fascinaon

children feel is sased and encouraged.

7. Sun Dial and bird feeder area

To encourage children to make connecons

between nature and human life.

8. Family area

To encourage outdoor acvity for the whole

family and foster an atude to a healthier

lifestyle throughout the family.

9. Playing mounds near games area

As a vantage point to see the games in prog-

ress and also as a spot from which younger

children may observe older children playing.

10. Flower garden and fragrance garden

To encourage and promote curiosity through

senses other than sight and touch and to be-come in tune with changing seasons.

11. Sand areas and water spouts

To promote the loose parts approach to play

area design to encourage creavity and imagi-

nave play. To acvely encourage role play

and fantasy play as a way to make sense of the

complex environment in which children live.

12. The potenal to create dens and forts

To provide opportunies where children can

create resul, personal getaways. Sobel (1993)

argues that the creaon of these personalspaces are important for children as a way to

negoate and cope with a large and un-con-

trollable world. Creang personalized natural

spaces assists in the development of a sense

of personal order and is one of the vehicles

by which the self is shaped (Sobel, 1993).

13. Introducing the ladder of environmental

responsibility to foster empathy for nature

and promote acon and understanding of cli-

mate change and envrionmental conservaon

Research indicates that developing a sense of

agency is the important link between knowl-

edge and acon, parcularly with respect to

developing a behavior of environmental stew-

ardship. Each garden provides an opportunity

to introduce a step from Sobels ladder of

Environmental Responsibility (p. 150) into theteaching curriculum of the surrounding schools

(Sobel, 2008).


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The areas that are likely to need regular upkeep and maintenance include:

Pathways and tracks

SignageClimbing areas

Infant and pre-kindergarten areas (for droppings, harmful substances)

Fantasy play area : grasses will need trimming

Sand Play area : stray sand dusted o

Play mound : check for erosion

Stage area : for leaf debris

Planng : regular pruning and upkeep

Play equipment : monthly checks

Parts of the play area would be protected from the public, potenally keeping the park closed during the night me and having security do a checkevery morning to ensure safety and prevent harmful acvity and substances from being used in the area. Neighbors should be encourages to keep

an eye and perhaps a neighborhood watch may be iniated. Street lights and lights in the garden area should be bright and up to standard.

Sources

Management and Maintenance

Chawla, L. (2007). Childhood Experiences Associated with Care for the Natural World: A theorecal Framework for Empirical Results. Children,

Youth and Environments, 144-170.

Greenman, J. (1998). Caring Spaces, Learning Places: Childrens environments that work. Redmond: Exchange Press.

Hendricks, B. (2001). Designing for Play. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Company.

Kaplan, R., Kaplan, S., & Ryan, R. (1998). Designing with People in Mind. Washington DC: Island Press.

Moore, R. (1993). Plants for Play. Berkeley: MIG Communicaons.

Moore, R., Goltsman, S., & Iacofano, D. (1992). Play for All. Berkeley: MIG Communicaons.

Nicholson, S. (1972). The Theory of Loose Parts. Studies in Design Educaon Cra & Technology, 5-14.

North Carolina State University, School of Design. (n.d.). Retrieved July 20, 2011, from Natural Learning Iniave: hp://www.naturalearning.org/

Sobel, D. (1993). Childrens Special Places: Exploring the role of Forts, Dens, and Bush Houses in Middle Childhood. New York.

Sobel, D. (2008). Childhood and Nature: Design Principles for Educators. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.



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hort 499 aditi kambuj project v2

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