Date of Award
Spring 5-31-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA)
Department
Landscape Architecture
First Advisor
Joanna Barthmaier-Payne
Second Advisor
Tom Weis
Third Advisor
Laura Gomez
Abstract
As individuals many facets of our lives do not offer us significant control over our impact on the environment around us. We are limited by access, time, and information- funneled into making less than sustainable choices. To live sustainably we must have opportunities to strike a balance between what we extract and what we produce. Through our consumption of resources this balance is achieved when we take only what we need and can replace while fostering a cultural appreciation of the extracted materials that we utilize.
Material Values Investigates how we can approach utilizing materials in landscape construction that are non-traditional and have the ability to subvert existing highly extractive supply chains. The material I investigate in my thesis is black locust, a tree with an aggressive growth rate, the ability to thrive in disturbed conditions, dense rot resistant lumber, and otherworldly fluorescence. By utilizing this material in a way informed by its attributes and understanding it’s potential as a part of our rapidly changing ecology and economical system I hope to express the range of possibilities material alternatives could bring to our built environment.
Recommended Citation
Riley, Benjamin N., "Material Values Black Locust Exploration" (2025). Masters Theses. 1363.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1363
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