From the Field: Onsite at the Frontier Project with CSI's K-State Research Team
By Jessica Canfield, Professor and Elise Fagan, MLA Candidate, Kansas State University
Case Study Investigation (CSI) Research Fellow Jessica Canfield and Research Assistant Elise Fagan recently spent a week onsite at the Frontier Project in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Located east of Los Angeles, in the Inland Empire area of Southern California, the Frontier Project is a non-profit demonstration facility, which showcases a variety of Green technologies and sustainable design practices, including a LEED Platinum building, water-efficient gardens, a green roof, and a rainwater harvesting system.
While on site, Jessica and Elise met with project Landscape Architect Claire Latané from EPTDESIGN, who gave them a guided tour of the Frontier Project’s landscape, explaining in detail all of its sustainable features. Claire also discussed the project’s history, and provided an in-depth overview of the design and implementation process, while illuminating some valuable lessons learned. In collaboration with Shelley Cirrito, the Public Affairs Representative of the Cucamonga Valley Water District, they were able to collect data on the irrigation system, as well as the number of visitors and educational programs offered by the Frontier Project since its opening in 2009.
The researchers also spent a day at the EPTDESIGN office in Pasadena. Claire arranged for team K-State to give a presentation to the in-house studio staff (and remotely to Irvine staff) about LAF’s Landscape Performance Series. Jessica highlighted the Case Study Briefs and CSI program and discussed her methodology for identifying and quantifying landscape performance benefits (developed from her participation in CSI-2011). Many great questions and discussion points came about afterward in a collaborative dialogue, focusing on how landscape performance could and/or should be incorporated into the design process.
While in LA, the K-State team met up with Barry Lehrman, the CSI Research Fellow from Cal Poly Pomona, who took them on a guided tour of the Pomona campus and the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies, as well as to various sites around downtown Los Angeles. It was a great opportunity to exchange stories about landscape performance and to share insights about the Case Study Investigation processes.
The visit to California not only gave the K-State team great clarity about the design and implementation of the Frontier Project, but it offered them an opportunity for an engaging dialogue between practitioners and other academics about the future of landscape performance.
Professor Jessica Canfield and student Research Assistant Elise Fagan are participating in LAF’s 2012 Case Study Investigation (CSI) program and working to quantify the landscape performance benefits at three project sites. Any opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author. Their inclusion in this article does not reflect endorsement by LAF.
