Topographic Literacy: Developing Online Tools & Content for Grading & Drainage Design as a Fundamental Skill in the Built Environment

TitleTopographic Literacy: Developing Online Tools & Content for Grading & Drainage Design as a Fundamental Skill in the Built Environment
Faculty/College/UnitApplied Science
StatusCompleted
Duration1 Year
Initiation04/01/2019
Completion05/31/2020
Project Summary

Grading and drainage — designing and shaping earth & land, layering materials, and working with storm-water — is a fundamental skill for nearly every intervention in the built environment. The knowledgeable practice of grading and drainage has benefits for improving public and environmental health, safety, and welfare. As the renowned landscape architect, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander asserts, “. . . grading is the landscape architect’s most powerful tool.” Simultaneously, the scale and complexity of grading design makes it a challenging subject for any student. Additionally, the relatively limited exposure of landscape architecture prohibits a wider audience from making use of and contributing to disciplinary knowledge. The “Topographic Literacy” project addresses these issues by developing internationally-accessible web content including innovative visualization, presentation, fabrication, analysis, and computation tools integrated with existing courses in multiple departments, and the creation of a new interdisciplinary outreach course.

Funding Details
Year 1: Project YearYear 1
Year 1: Funding Year2019/2020
Year 1: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 1: Principal InvestigatorDavid Zielnicki
Year 1: Funded Amount21,907
Year 1: Team Members

David Zielnicki, Instructor, Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Applied Science
Daniel Roehr, Associate Professor, Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Applied Science