Brian Main

Academic Design Portfolio

A New Approach to Schoolyard Design

East Washington AcademyMuncie, Indiana2012

There exists a great opportunity to provide children with a school landscape that allows them to create their own preferences for built or natural landscapes through juxtaposing the contrasts of natural and unnatural play areas. Blending strategies and techniques from both psychology and landscape architecture, this study explores the ways contrast can be applied at Muncie, Indiana’s, East Washington Academy to provide children with opportunities to develop their own preference for either natural areas or unnatural ones.

After analyzing the best way to provide opportunities for the formation and development of these preferences and the existing site conditions, a comprehensive master plan was developed for the schoolyard. As a result of this project, school offi cials at East Washington Academy gain a schoolyard plan that facilitates the already-accepted benefi ts of nature play while also affording the children the opportunity to develop their own environmental preferences.

FocusSchoolyard DesignGuiding ProfessorSusan TomizawaClientEast Washington AcademyContactScott Blakely, Principal

Site Area10 AcresContextBlighted Urban NeighborhoodsProject StatusDesign Completed

Residential Design

Systems Diagram

Schoolyard Looking EastS iPath PathEphemeral Wetland

EdgePlantings Short Prairie Tall Prairie

EdgePlantings Asphalt Play Area

RaisedButterflyGardens S

choo

l Bui

ldin

g

Physical Education Hills

Wetland’s EdgePergola and Exercise Stations

School Garden Plots

Residential Design

Entry Pergola

Raised Native Flower Plantings Entry Gathering Plaza Bus Drop-Off Visitor Drop-Off Wooded School EntrySchool Building Flagpole

Main Entrance Looking East

Site Plan EnlargementWayfi nding

Recreation Experience

Purdue CrossingMuncie, Indiana2010

Purdue Crossing aspires to demonstrate the potential for a low-impact community in Muncie, Indiana. As the majority of Muncie is based on traditional design principles, Purdue Crossing shows how prospective developments can be forward-thinking while respecting surrounding municipal infrastructure. With expectations of replication, Purdue Crossing aims to enliven, encourage, and inspire both The Muncie Indiana Sanitary District and local residents alike.

In coordination with Professor Leslie Smith and other advisors the project took on three major goals:

To minimize the community’s impact on natural ecosystems and processes through implementation of rainwater fi ltration swales, gardens and, and park systems and though on-site production of food and energy.

To encourage community interaction by creating a delicate mix of public and private green spaces and by fostering a dialogue between adjacent properties.

To maximize navigability to and from surrounding neighborhoods and within the community by connecting to the surrounding street grid at strategic points and by providing two locations for convenient access to local bus routes.

ClientMuncie Indiana Sanitary DistrictSite Area80 AcresProject Status:Design Completed

FocusLow-Impact DevelopmentGuiding ProfessorLeslie SmithSoftwareAdobe Illustrator, Photoshop

Low-Impact Community Design

Site Master Plan

Typical Lot LayoutSingle-unit Streetview

Nature Trail Adventures

Residential Design

Street Intersection Gardening Model

Neighborly Interactions

Site Area120 AcresContextMulti-ethnic Urban and Downtown NeighborhoodsProject StatusDesign Completed

FocusSchoolyard DesignGuiding ProfessorSimon BussiereClientWest Indianapolis Development CorporationContactBeth Gibson

Former General Motors PlantIndianapolis, Indiana2012

Most great cities in the United States have large green spaces or public parks near their downtown centers. Indianapolis, however, is not one of these cities. Once termed “Nap-town“ for its lack of activities in the city, Indianapolis has a unique opportunity to develop a vacated General Motors Stamping Plant into one of the greatest natural areas in the Midwest.

Chicago has Millennium Park, Boston has Boston Commons, New York has Central Park. Soon Indianapolis will have General Motors Nature Park. While economists and developers are interested in adding mixed use neighborhoods, high rise complexes, and new infrastructure in the area, (all dollar driven) this project seeks its value differently. Based off the Philadelphia Parks and other research monetizing the dollar value of park space and urban trees, this park’s estimated annual benefi t to Indianapolis is over 12 million dollars, in addition to a one-time property value increase of adjacent properties of roughly 11 million dollars.

Urban Design: A Greener Way

Residential Design

Pond Area

Wooded Area Existing Skywalk Re-use

Access Bridge

Fire Tower Overlook

Meadow

Woodland Opening

Woodland Paths

White River GreenwayExtention

Oliver Street Bus Stops

Meadow Paths

Washington Street Bus Stops

River’s EdgeClearing

Site Master Plan

3/8 MILE

3/8 MILE

1/2

MILE

1 MILE

Access Bridge View East

Chicago

New York

Boston

Indianapolis

Residential Design

Fire Tower City View

4.30.2012