Date of Award
Spring 5-22-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA)
Department
Landscape Architecture
First Advisor
Jacob Mitchell
Second Advisor
Laura Gomez
Abstract
Marginal spaces can be found throughout cities, yet they are often ignored and overlooked. Despite this, these areas play a crucial role in urban environments due to their unexpected vitality. The overlapping uses of dominant and marginal actors, including humans and non-human species such as pedestrians, pigeons, and plants, create spatial conflicts within these spaces. How can the existing conditions of marginal spaces be subtly reworked to mediate these tensions without erasing marginality?
This thesis investigates three sites in Providence across different scales, using consistent observation and documentation to understand their marginality. Different actors serve as lenses for analyzing and interpreting these spaces. Through light design interventions inspired by existing site elements, this work proposes a framework to explore possibilities for coexistence in these overlooked spaces.
Recommended Citation
Sun, Zihan, "Margin:Finding Coexistence within the Marginalized Habitats of Cities" (2026). Masters Theses. 1681.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1681
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.