Presidio Fort Scott Creek + Historic Garden_EDAW_Felson

8/14/2019 Presidio Fort Scott Creek + Historic Garden_EDAW_Felson

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Presidio Fort Scott Creek + Historic Garden

Design + EcologyIn Practice

Presidio

FortScottCreek+HistoricGarden

2008

2008


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Presidio Fort Scott Creek + Historic Garden

Design + EcologyIn Practice

Produced by EDAW New York Oce


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32

ForewordOn behal o the Presidio Trust, I would l ike to express our gratitude or EDAW's

excellent work on the Fort Scott Creek & Historic Gardens project. We were thrilled to

have the Presidio selected as the ocus o EDAW's "usion" initiative or this year, and our

expectations or both the design process and end product were more than exceeded.

As managers o an incredibly complex landscape, we are continually challenged to strike

a balance between competing demands -- rom ensuring that the park's environmental

and historic treasures endure to providing memorable opportunities or the public

experience [o] the Presidio. It was rereshing to have such a talented and dedicate d

team come to the park and help us creatively explore new opportunities to balance

and achieve these various mandates. It was a rigorous week, and we were all very

impressed by the process and the outcome.

In particular, I want to acknowledge the exceptional team that EDAW sent to the

Presidio including Alma Du Solier, Alex Felson, Leo Edson, Debra Bishop, and Dawn

Cunningham. They were an extremely dedicated and talented group o proessionals.

We very much enjoyed working [with] them and I continue to receive positive eedback

rom the many people who engaged with them over the course o the week.

We deeply appreciate the contribution EDAW made in helping progress plans or the

Presidio's uture, and we look orward to working with your talented sta again.

Sincerely,

Micheal Boland

Director o Planning and Park Projects

Presidio Trust


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4 5

Acknowledgements

Workshop -

EDAW Multiple Oce Participation

Preparation and implementation o the

workshop held at the Presidio occurred

through a multi-oce collaboration with

the Ecology and Design team including:

Alex Felson (ecologist and landscape

architect, EDAW New York); Alma Du

Solier (landscape architect, EDAW San

Francisco); Leo Edson (wildlie biologist,

EDAW Sacramento); Debra Bishop

(environmental planning and restoration

ecologist, EDAW Sacramento); and

Dawn Cunningham (ecologist, EDAW

Sacramento). Other participants included:

Paul Tuttle, Aki Omi, Michelle Dubin, Curtis

Alling, David Blau, Steven Hanson, Chris

Fitzer, David Lloyd, and Dixi Carillo.

Thanks to the Presidio Trust

The Team would like to express their

appreciation to the Presidio Trust or the

opportunity to work together to explore

the integration o ecology and design.

We are especially grateul to Michael

Boland (Chie o Planning and Design

at the Presidio Trust) and Allison Stone

(senior environmental planner at Presidio

Trust) as well as all o the workshop

participants. The time dedicated by the

Presidio Trust sta was critical in helping

us understand the value o the existing

resources and the complexity o the

project site.

Analysis and Book Production -

New York Oce

An interdisciplinary team in the EDAW

New York oce completed the post-

workshop analysis and book production.

Alex Felson led the overall eort and

content development, working alongsideenvironmental planner Brian Goldberg

with contributions rom Renee Kauman

(designer). Anthony Blanco (graphic

designer), led the book layout and graphic

design along with designers Hye Young

Choi, Sean C heng, Tim Terway, and Jaman

Pablo. C aitrin Higgins (designer) and

Aaron Menkin (economic analyst) provided

additional research support.

Analysis and Book Production -

Other Oces

Fran Hegeler (Development Manager)

provided critical support and ongoing

unding or the production. We wish to

thank the C + P Initiative within EDAW

or selecting our proposal and undingthis project. Other contributors to

the post-workshop analysis and book

production included Leo Edson, Alma du

Solier, Debra Bishop, Curtis Alling, and

Liz Batchelder.


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6 7

Introduction

1.

Table o Contents

Client + Practice Initiative: Design and Ecologyp.12-p.27

Setting up the Client + Practice Initiative with the Presidio

Benets and Possible Outcomes o a Design + Ecology Practice Initiative

Integrating Design and Ecology

Contrasts between the Ecological Science and Design Proessions

Integrated Ecology and Design Approach: Opportunities or Fusion


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8 9

The Presidio: A Case Study in Integrating

Ecology and Designp.28-p.75

Presidio as a Pilot Study or Ecology and Design

Understanding the Presidio at Multiple Scales

Interpreting the Presidio Trust Mission

Timeline Illustrating Evolving Land Use

Existing Conditions: Community Gardens Applying Historical Methods to Secure New Land Uses

Existing Conditions: Restoration Ecology Providing a Way to Align Stakeholders

Existing Conditions: Historic Forest an Ecological and Cultural Conundrum

EDAW-Presidio Trust Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Understanding the Stakeholders

Day by Day Schedule

Day by Day Overview

Lessons Learned: Site Visit

Lessons Learned: Stakeholder Dialogue

Lessons Learned: Design Charrette

Lessons Learned: Design Process

Lessons Learned: Presentation

Insights into Setting Up the Workshop

2.

Finding a Middle Ground: Discoveries and Broader

Implications rom the Presidio Workshopp.76-p.108

Constructing a Middle Ground

Alternative Scenarios: Determining a Happy Medium

Alternative Scenarios: Access: Wildlie Habitat and Public Use

Taking Advantage o the Multi-layered Park to Overlap Program and Activities

Alternative Scenarios: Public Access

Alternative Scenarios: Habitat Fragmentation/Wildlie Viewing

Alternative Scenarios: Riparian Corridor

Alternative Scenarios: Ecological Restoration

Rendered Conceptual Plan

Rendered Conceptual Section

Conclusion: Facilitating Collaboration between Designers and Ecologists

3.


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In November 2006, a week-long workshop ocusing on both ecology and landscape

design was conducted at the Presidio o San Francisco. The goal o the workshop

was to develop conceptual design plans or the Fort Scott Creek + Historic Gardens

project that would bridge the divide between ecology and design, and identiy applied

techniques or this approach in the uture. We started with the assumption that

designers and ecologists working together could produce better design solutions

than those resulting rom more independent work patterns. We discovered that ourunderlying disciplinary assumptions, the tendency to rely on what we do best, and

limited opportunities or ecologists to participate in the design process, all create

challenges or usion among disciplines. At the conclusion o the workshop, the

team was able to identiy moments o successul integration as well as missed

opportunities or collaboration and develop a diagram depicting the dynamic. This

book presents ndings about ways to acilitate interdisciplinary design and ecology

work, describes the workshop collaboration and outcomes, and analyzes the process

o designers and ecologists working together.

Introduction

What is more valuable in an urban park setting: public access to water or riparian

wildlie habitat preservation and enhancement?

Can public use and recreation be integrated with both habitat enhancement and

controlled visitation?

What takes precedence in a historic national park: ecosystem unction or

historic preservation?

Key Questions

How can one ensure that opposing stakeholders reach a winning consensus rather

than everyone eeling that they have given up too much?


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1. Client + Practice Initiative:

Design + Ecology

EDAWs Client + Practice Initiative on Design and Ecology ocused on building a

dialogue between practitioners o dierent disciplines within the rm. Ater extensive

discussions on how ecology and design might be integrated (Fig. 1-1), the team

sought either a client or a project that provided the right blend o circumstances to

apply an integrative design approach. The team ound this blend with the Presidio.

SUSTAINABILITY

PHENOLOGY/SUCCESSION

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

DISTURBANCE

LEGACY

SUCCESSION

WILDLIFE CORRIDORS

ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION

NATIVE COMMUNITY

NICHESGARDEN

REAL ESTATE

RECREATION

LONG TERM PLANNING

MULTI USE

HISTORIC FEATURE

FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION

MAINTENANCE

SCENERYPERCEIVED NATURE

LAND USE

HISTORY

BIODIVERSITY

HETEROGENEITY

ECOLOGY DESIGN

Figure 1-1

ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT

TEMPORALITY SEASONALITY

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION

AESTHETIC

PATCH DYNAMICS

GEOLOGYSITE FEATURES

OPERATIONS

PUBLIC USE

NATURAL HISTORY

METRICS

BRIDGING CONCEPTS


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In the summer o 2006, two landscape

architects, a wildlie biologist, and a

restoration ecologist rom EDAW teamed

together to orm an initiative exploring

the usion o ecology and design. The

EDAW team approached the Presidio Trust

in search o a pilot project or the rmsEcology and Design Initiative. EDAW has

viewed the usion o ecology and design

as a undamental aspect o its work or

decades. This unded eort emerged rom

conversations between EDAW ecologists

and designers seeking to elevate ecological

design to a higher level throughout the

rm a level where meaningul ecological

unction and value is incorporated into the

design on multiple projects.

The Presidio Trusts commitment to

achieving a balance between the parks

environmental and historic treasures, and

its past success in completing projects that

incorporate meaningul restoration ecologywith public use and design elements. This

bridging o ecology and design indicated

a natural t or the initiatives pilot project.

For the ocus o the workshop, Presidio

Trust sta proposed the Fort Scott Creek +

Historic Gardens site. The site is slated to

become a uture Center o Engagement

ocused on sustainability.

With the goal o exploring the dilemmas

and opportunities o interdisciplinary

design, the team participated in a

one-week site-based visionary and

consensus-building workshop or the

Fort Scott Creek + Historic Gardens.

Collaborating with the Presidio Trust,EDAW sought to achieve a balance

between enhancing public uses

and conserving the parks valuable

environmental and historic resources.

This partnership with the Presidio Trust

enabled EDAW to explore the intricacies

o stakeholder dierences and site

constraints. Applying ecological and

design lenses to the Presidio, the EDAW

team exposed a number o key challenges

in the integration o these two disciplines,

and acilitated a process o exploration or

resolving these conficts.

A key goal on our part was to acilitatecommunication and idea exchange

through planned discussions and

inormal interactions such as site walks.

We organized the week's schedule to

oster a continual dialogue between

the designers and ecologists (Fig. 1-2,

Weekly Plan Chart).

Setting up the Client

+ Practice Initiative

with the Presidio

DESIGNER

ECOLOGIST

Figure 1-2

Kick o Discussion

Inormal Site Visit

Landuse Analysis

StakeholdersMeeting

DeneOpportunities

+Constraints

Design/Ecology

Charrette

Visioning

Discussion

Key Initial

Discussions

Ecology/Design

Scales o Thinking

Discussions

Discussions

Eco-restoration:

To what point in

time? Naturalistic?

Discussions

Ecological

Vision and

Design Vision

Overlaps and

Conficts

Final Presentation

Collect Feedback

OVERVIEW

ECOLOGY/DESIGN

SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI

SCALE RESTORATION SITE / VISION DESIGN PROCESS SYNTHESIS

How should

ecologists

contribute?

Lessons

Learned


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Benefts and Possible

Outcomes o a Design +

Ecology Practice Initiative

EDAWs Client + Practice Initiative

on Design and Ecology provided an

opportunity or employees to work

towards excellence through innovation,

creativity and collaboration across

disciplines. The EDAW C+P Initiative

identied the ollowing as goals o theincreased integration o the design and

ecology practices at EDAW.

1

5

3

7

6

2

4

Develop a proposal that responds

best to the many stakeholders, site

constraints, and client demands

Produce a case study exploring

usion o ecology and design into

a specialized niche that positionsEDAW as a leader in providing

integrated services

Initiate relationships with the

Presidio Trust to develop the

proposal as a built project

Add value to landscape solutions

such that the whole inter-disciplinary

collaboration is greater than the sum

o the individual eorts

Further rene our understanding

and application o sustainability on

large park projects

Learn about the Presidio's land

use history and current land

management practices

Initiate an interdisciplinary team

eort to cross-ertilize design with

ecology and lead to integrated

and comprehensive land-

based solutions

Create a orum or discovering

obstacles and opportunities

or acilitating interdisciplinary

communication

Flag moments where usion

could occur

Meld science and design to develop

solutions that are educational and

reintegrate ecological processes

into urbanized parkland

8

9

10


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18 19

Integrating Design

and Ecology

The increasing demand or sustainable

urban designs, green building, and

green inrastructure requires a deeper

ecological understanding o urban

environments. While ecologists currently

contribute to the design and construction

o cities as consultants on design teams,urban ecology remains a fedgling eld

with weak theoretical underpinnings and

a limited shared vocabulary.

Most ecologists today avoid human-

dominated environments, ocusing

instead on sites that are not primarily or

human use. Ecologists are happy i they

understand a system, while designers

aim to invent something new. When

ecologists do get involved in design,

such as through restoration ecology,

they typically employ a naturalistic design

aesthetic and work toward hiding any

evidence o the human hand. This

contrasts with the goal o designers, who

oten want to make a project visible.

One key issue to address in dening

urban ecology is what role people,

technology, and the political and socio-

economic aspects o human society play.

Most existing quantitative research

investigates ecology in cities, ocusing

primarily on plant, animal, water and

nutrient fows occurring in urban

settings, while avoiding the challenge

o translating political, cultural, social

and economic actions into ecological

terms. People and the city are viewed in

these cases as external orces aectingbiological conditions.

Ecology o cities takes a more holistic

view o human society and its interace

with biological processes, looking at the

ecological implications o socio-cultural,

political, and economic urban patterns.

Various methods used to measure inputs

and outputs o a city include system

metabolism at a variety o scales:

building, neighborhood, watershed, city,

or region. Urban ecology also examines

the spatial distribution o these scales and

the circulation o people and materials

(Spirn 1984).

Unraveling the ecology o urban

environments and translating people

and culture into ecological terms may

not be so easy. Unlike more natural

environments, cities are the result o

human design rather than the product

o millions o years o evolutionary and

biogeograph ic processes. EcologistsFigure1-3 Human-Nature Diagrams

H

H

H

H

N

N

N

N

investigating cities ace the dicult task

o incorporating the physical, cultural,

economic, and political urban terrain

into their research and analysis. This

requires not only grappling with a number

o variables never beore dealt with in

ecological research, but also developing aposition on what urban ecology includes

and excludes, and understanding to what

degree human patterns are ecological

(see Fig. 1-3, Human-Nature Diagrams).

Fundamental conceptual questions

remain. Should humans be thought

o (like other biological organisms)

as ecological actors? I so, can we

consider our manuactured systems

(such as HVAC or zoning) ecological?

What weight or value should human

and biological infuences that shape

urban spaces be given (see g 1-4

-- Mapping Urban Ecology)? Can natural

areas remain unctional as healthy

ecosystems while also allowing

human uses?

Without understanding interactions

and eedbacks between human and

ecological systems, our view o

ecosystem dynamics both at local and

global scales will be limited as will be

our ability to apply these insights to public

policy and land management.

(Grimm et al., 2000).

The ambiguity o "ecology" as it occurs

in human-populated environments, and

the lack o terminology or ecological datadescribing the ecology o buildings, urban

space, and other human constructed

landscapes thwarts eorts to bridge

disciplines. To help dene this usion

zone, a new vocabulary along with a

series o metrics based on viable empirical

data needs to be developed. Pre sently,

the lack o denition or documentation

o the new ecological conditions created

in urban environments make it dicult

or designers to absorb ecological

understanding into the design process.

In order to access a greater range o

ecological approaches, designers need

to go beyond environmentalism and

prescriptive design techniques, and take

greater advantage o ecological science.

While green design is becoming

increasingly important to government

agencies, clients, investors, developers, and

designers, all parties are still working with

limited knowledge o what actions will


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lead to sustainable development. Once

implemented, questions still remain on

how to maintain and operate the systems

to provide prolonged sustainability.

Ecologists also lack extensive, rigorously

tested research about the unction

o urban ecosystems -- includingdense urban, suburban, exurban, and

browneld sites. Oten, in the absence

o sucient inormation, designers must

make educated guesses. Given the

uncertainty and diculty o predicting

uture outcomes o dierent strategies,

developing eective sustainable practices

requires testing and monitoring to ensure

accurate inormation about the success

o systems being implemented. More

rigorous and long-term research o urban

ecological processes and patterns is

necessary to evaluate the ecological

impacts o the various developments

occurring in managed sites.

Ecologists have the potential to make

signicant contributions to urban

design practices. They have already been

contributing to the design and construction

o cities through their roles as consultants

(applied or restoration ecologists and

ecological engineers) on design teams.

Still, addressing urban ecology remains a

new rontier, not least because current

theories that dene cities and human

activities in ecological terms are relatively

rare. Today, ecologists and designers

have an opportunity to bridge the gap

between ecological analysis and urban

design to reorient society towards a moresustainable uture.

Incorporating ecological research

components into urban development is

a crucial part o advancing sustainability.

Not only will it provide opportunities or

a growing population o ecologists to

establish research sites.

A key goal to this usion eort is to

develop enduring solutions. These

vibrant and long-lasting designs could be

evaluated or perormance and adapted

overtime or eciency.

Figure1-4 Mapping Urban Ecology


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Contrasts between the

Ecological Science and

Design Proessions

While there is growing interest in

bridging the gap between practices

to acilitate green design and urban

ecology, designers and ecologists dier

in signicant ways that could slow the

process. Designers and ecologists rely

on dierent skill sets, approaches, andtechniques to explore and comprehend

complex sites. The se dierences lead to

a lack o dialogue or to communication

breakdowns. While designers direct a

creative energy towards realizing human

experiences o a landscape, ecologists

typically use a quantitative process or

understanding specic environmental

processes and patterns (Fig. 1-5).

Despite the unique paradigms o these

two distinct proessions, todays land-

based challenges require integrated

approaches and inputs to solve complex

problems. Solutions need to arise not

only rom an overlapping o disciplines,

but rom a consistently integrated

dialogue between ecologists and

designers. This broadening scope o

opportunities demands new approaches

and input provided by interdisciplinary

teams. In particular, the study o

urban areas and other human-modied

landscapes requires knowledge o

ecosystem processes as well as o the

physical, cultural, economic, political, and

ecological complexities o urban systems.

Fig. 1-4 conceptually illustrates how high

design and rigorous science might overlap

to provide a usion zone. Integration

o these approaches requires a candiddialogue where dierences are exposed

and goals are revealed at the start.

Collaboration and commitment to dialogue

are essential. The usion zone represents

synergy, wherein all parties participate and

are prepared to discuss concerns or ideas

reely at any point.

Recognizing the need or an understanding

o how to acilitate design and ecology

collaboration, EDAWs Client + Practice

Initiative has provided support or a

multidisciplinary group to team with a

client and explore novel situations. The

Presidio Trusts need or consensus-

building among stakeholders provided

a perect partnership opportunity or

exploring how the synergy o design and

ecology could help overcome obstacles to

achieving interdisciplinary solutions.

Ecologists have traditionally avoided

human-inhabited environments.

Designers modiy the environment to

cater to human needs.

Figure 1-5


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Applied Ecologists Approach

Process

Grounded in Scientic Method: A s a

science-based practice, ecologists attempt

to adhere to a more objective approach,

combining statistics, math, and computermodeling with biology, natural history,

experimental research, and observation.

Scale

Individuals to Population or System:

From micro-organisms to populations,

communities, and landscapes, ecologists

work at a broad range o scales in seeking

to understand ecological dynamics.

Scales are in part determined by where

ecologists can identiy and interpret

boundaries. The ecologists scale o work

has traditionally been limited to the extent

o the system or population studied. In

addition, ecologists are oten nancially

constrained or limited by the logistics o

setting up large-scale experiments.

Product

Findings/Conclusions: The output o the

scientic method is ndings or conclusions

which negate or support a hypothesis

based on the initial research question.

Researchers conclusions are generally

stated to specically answer the question

and address the hypothesis. Interpretation

and applicability o these ndings to other

scenarios requires scientists to step outside

o replicating experiments and to accept a

level o uncertainty. Due to the unding and

time constraints o conducting research,

ecologists must oten predict and render

judgment about likely outcomes

and conclusions.

Form

Driven by Science: Form is based on

statistical data and eciency. Experimental

strategies developed over time that identiy

boundaries raming complex systems, such

as watersheds. Experiments typically use

inexpensive materials with the simplest

processes or capturing desired data.

Restoration ecology is one o the ew

examples where ecologists make design

decisions. Oten the deault approach is to

design in a naturalistic manner. Designers

tend to view the naturalistic design and

strong environmental stances as obstaclesto bridging the divide between the practices.

Also, understanding the latest ecological

theories and nding ways o integrating

the scientic objective into design can be

complicated (Fig. 1-6A).

Function

Ecosystem Health: Applied ecologistsFigure 1-6A

Designers

Environ-

mentalism

Ecology

Scientic

Objective

Ecologist

Aesthetics

Language

subjectivity

Design

Process

and environmental scientists are generally

interested in maintaining ecosystem

unction and processes. Traditionally,

ecosystem health and sustained operation

o plant, wildlie, water, and atmospheric

systems has been a dening goal o

ecological eorts. Increas ingly, human

systems and behaviors are being integrated

into the ecology process.

Designers Approach

Process

Making Concepts a Reality: Designs

emerge through a process o understanding

the site. Through a creative exploration o

potential site experiences, constraints, and

opportunities, designers produce solutions

that are realized in drawings, images, and

montages. Many scientists have diculty

understanding the value behind these

design methods, due to the use o

subjective language, a ocus on aesthetics,

and the design process (Fig. 1-6B).

Scale

A Parcel, Building, Park, or Regional Area:

The land-based, surcial scale o work is

dependent on the size and dened boundary

o land to be planned or designed. The

scales at which applied ecologists work

can dier widely rom the scales at which

designers work. A large project or a

landscape architect may a large-scale project

or an ecologist (Fig. 1-7).

Product

Representation: Design is a representation-

based approach, where designers utilize

various orms o diagramming, sections,

plans, computer modeling, and model-

making to analyze, explore, develop, and

build human-related spaces and buildings.

The exact and denite concept evolves

through the design process into a real orm.

A designers ability to adapt a concept to

meet the applied challenge is essential.

Form

Art/Design/Dialogue: Form captures

representative and symbolic interventions

infuenced by culture, history, politics,

environment, and social elements o a

site. Form is also driven by a designers

education and mentors as well as

interaction with various design dialogues.

Function

User Experience: Designers bring a

creative energy that is generally directed

towards achieving a desired human

experience o a particular landscape.

Landscapes can also be designed to

encourage particular processes.Figure 1-6B

Designers Ecologist


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Integrated Ecology and

Design Approach:

Opportunities or Fusion

Constraints are very oten the impetus

or innovation. Obstacles provide

opportunities or designers to acilitate

the progress o a team through design

challenges. Thus, designers ulll a

undamental role in building research into

urban sites and into social consciousness.

Scale

As cities become the subject o ecological

research, more opportunities arise or

designers and ecologists to communicate.

There is an increasing need or designers

and ecologists to work at multiple scales

to address the zone o usion between

their disciplines. Ecologists understand

complex systems, and can provide

multiple levels o analysis or designers.

Practitioners should search or scales that

complement one another.

Product

Integrated projects that incorporate design

and ecology will be long-lasting, dynamic,

and intimately tied to human society.

Form

A designers creativity and exploration

plays a unique and critical role in situating

ecological research and analysis within a

Process

Ecologists are increasingly interested

in experimentation, conservation, and

restoration on urban sites, expanding rom

their traditional presence in less human-

dominated landscapes.

Ecologists are broadening denitions

o ecosystems, and (recognizing that

ecological systems are continually being

infuenced by disturbances) revising

traditional vegetation theory to include

multiple processes, human infuences,

and spatial heterogeneity. Ecologists have

also moved rom considering populations

and ecosystems as relatively closed or

autonomous systems, independent o their

surroundings, to viewing both populations

and ecosystems as open and strongly

infuenced by input and output o material

and individuals across system borders.

Landscape architects have begun to take

on a larger role in understanding and

developing urban ecological systems.

They are beginning to appreciate an

ecological process-based understanding

o landscapes and environmental concerns,

and learning to access and incorporate

ecological knowledge into their design

processes (See Fig. 1-8).Figure 1-7

S

M

L

S

M

L

Designer

Ecologist

Function

Utilizing designers creativity and

understanding o city composition,

evolution, orm, and unction, ecologists

could begin to grapple with the ecological

implications o urban space and culture

in their research. By uniying traditional

ecological research methods with urban

design, ecologists could take advantage

o designers ability to synthesize

multiple complex actors into cohesive

physical orms. This could in turn make

ecological research more public, visible,

and aesthetically ambitious, inusing

experiments with cultural meaning.

design world ecology worldhigh

designfusionzone

highscience

- art driven aesthetic appeal people- metrics = use and enjoyment

- site interpretation- site design

- grading anddrainage

- planting plan

- visualization- engineering- plans and specs

- cost estimates-constructionmanagement

KEY EDAW VALUES

create enduring solutionsseek cultural and environmental fit

foster positive changeadvocate collaborative exchange of ideas

- soils- hydrology

- water quality- geomorphology- plant ecology

- wildlife ecology- human ecology

restorationregenerationrehabilitationenhancement

preservationmanagement

- science driven ecological health of

- metrics = natural ecosystemsustainability

success is being provocative,profound, memorable

success is when the hand of

man is not evident

?innovationidentityusability

adaptability

formfunction

?

Adapted rom David Blau, 2001

cultural, unctional, and aesthetic urban

ramework. Rest oration projects could

benet rom ecologists questioning the

naturalistic design orms that are the

deault in most scenarios. Desi gners

have an opportunity to explore new

orms or research projects, and to

establish diverse aesthetic approaches

to urban environments.

Figure 1-8


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2. The Presidio: A Case Study in

Integrating Ecology and Design

Through a combination o presentations and site visits, the workshop began with a crash

course in the history and existing conditi ons o the site. The oundation being set, the

workshop progressed quickly rom discussions o interdisciplinary work, site analysis,

visioning with stakeholders, and design charrettes, to the creation o a conceptual

plan. Along the way lessons were learned about the integration o design and ecology,

although some were only apparent with the benet o hindsight. This chapter seeks to

take readers on our design and ecology integration journey.


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30 31

Presidio as a Pilot Study

or Ecology and Design

The Presidio o San Francisco, a 1,490-acre

park located at the Golden Gate Bridge,

provides a rich context or exploring the

collaboration between designers and

ecologists. The Presidio is a distinct park

site located at the center o the world's

largest urban national park, Golden Gate

National Recreation Area (75,500 acres).

The Presidios mixture o land uses and

competing stakeholder demands within

an urban area has created a variety o

obstacles to reaching consensus on land

use decisions.

In use as an active military post rom

1776 to 1994, the Presidio was olded into

the boundaries o Golden Gate National

Recreation Area in 1972 ater being

designated a National Historic Landmark

District in 1962. Congress established The

Presidio Trust in 1996 as a leadership body,

and charged the Trust with preserving and

enhancing the Presidio as an "enduring

resource or the American public."

The parks 300-acre Historic Forest is a

designated historic landmark. The orest is

recognized by many as a cultural landscape,

shaped by the U.S. Army more than 100

years ago, that signicantly contributes to

the Presidios historic identity. Others view

the orest as a created, articial community

with limited diversity that replaced native

dunes, coastal prairie, and coastal scrub

communities. A highly charged discussion

on this topic has been ongoing or years.

Located in a highly urbanized center, the

vast green spaces at the Presidio seem to

be prime opportunities or diverse public

uses. However, historic designations

and stakeholders' interests oten create

opposing demands. For example, the

Presidio's buildings encompass 6 million

square eet. Many o the houses that

were once occupied by military amilies

are now occupied by civilian amilies; there

are nearly 3,000 people currently living in

these homes. These long-term site users

comprise a group o private stakeholders

inhabiting space within a public park.

Additional issues at the Presidio arise in

relation to other land management visions,

such as environmental restoration. These

projects prompt a series o questions.

What is the goal o restoration projects in

an urban context? Which is more important:

to restore a lands native ecosystem, or to

cater to human needs and try to allow or

some environmental value as well? In the

case o the Presidio, there are a number o

examples where restoration ecology proved

a useul tool in bringing dissenting voices

DESIGN

PUBLIC USE

PUBLIC USE

ECOLOGY

DESIGN HISTORY

ECOLOGY

A. Initial Framework

B. Outcomes: History emerges

as a Key Component.

Figure 2-1

together towards a common cause.

The Presidio Trust envisions the project

site becoming an important destination or

park visitors. Ultimately, the nearby historic

buildings may be used or conerences

and other events that could draw people

with a common interest in addressing

environmental and social issues. Historic

structures and artiacts, many o which

are yet to be restored, are common in and

around adjacent historic gardens. From

the gardens, a small spring-ed creek

emerges and meanders along a valley that

is itsel being restored to provide important

ecological unctions and values. Planned

native plant restoration will enhance

opportunities or park visitors to view

wildlie along Fort Scott Creek.

The Presidio Trust challenged EDAW to work

in a collaborative ashion with their technical

experts to develop a conceptual design

plan, which enhances, interprets, and

integrates the unique eatures o the projectsite. The initiative was originally ocused on

developing designs that incorporate ecology

and design into public use, education

and interpretation (Fig. 2-1A). As EDAW

prepared and participated in the charrette,

it became increasingly apparent that

historic actors were a major infuence. The

working model was expanded to integrate

ecology, design, and history with public

space (Fig. 2-1B).

Key Requests rom Client:

1. Develop a 21st-century approach that

is sustainable, integrates state-o-the-art

technology, and is respectul o the sites

historic character.

2. Develop the restoration o Fort Scott

Creek and determine what role it might

play in relation to other riparian corridors,

as well as the historic landscapes.

3. Knit the district together, and tie the

historic garden and community garden to

the ideas o sustainability and stewardship.

4. Create an educational landscape with

evolving experiences.

5. Develop a landscape design that solves

issues and creates opportunities or

people moving through the site.

6. Childrens activities are key. Make this

a place where children in the Bay Area can

enjoy a meaningul outdoor experience.

7. Get people close to natural resources

throughout the site to provide a sense o

contact and intimacy with nature.


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32 33

San Francisco

Park connection

High-end real estate users

Population o 12 million in Bay Area

Linkages rom park to city

Golden Gate National

Recreation Area

Historic sites

Tying the San Francisco Bay together

World's largest national park in an

urban area

Regional Scale City Scale

Understanding the

Presidio at Multiple Scales

The Presidio unctions at multiple scales:

as part o Golden Gate National Recreation

Area, and as a local park or San

Francisco urbanites.

Figure 2-2

Overall Site Scale Detailed Site Scale Detailed Site Scale

Dragonfy Creek

Stewardship and sustainability Center

o Engagement

Pre-existing reshwater creek

Historic orest and historic garden

Fort Scott

Former ocers quarters

Existing plant nursery

Future tactical retreat center

Historic buildings and landscapes

The Presidio

1,490 acre urban parkland combines a mix

o land uses typical to a public park in a

small city

Long history o military use

Native American inhabitation

Land use plan

Historic orest


19/55

34 35

Created by Congress in 1996, the Presidio

Trusts mission is to preserve and enhance

the Presidio as an enduring resource or

the American people. Six presidential

appointees and the Secretary o the

Interior, or his/her designee, sit on the

Board o Directors and set the direction

and policies or the ongoing transormation

o this historic military post.

The Trust is charged with making the

Presidio nancially sel-sustaining. Ater

2012, the Trust will not receive annual

appropriations, and is required to und the

Presidios operations, maintenance, and

ongoing upgrades with income earned

rom rehabilitating and reusing the parks

buildings. The Presidio is sustaining itsel

like every healthy community earning,

saving, and investing in the uture. This

simple economy generates the capital

that is making the Presidio a great national

park and will ensure its preservation.

As the largest urban national park in

the world, nested within the Bay Area

(population 12 million), the Presidio

requires a unique resource management

model, which blends competing local

interests and needs with the broader,

national constituencies supporting

Interpreting the

Presidio Trust Mission

historic preservation, recreation, and

environmental restoration.

The Presidio Trusts mission (Fig . 2-3)

illustrates the inherent challenges o

planning, programming, and designing the

site. Natural areas, wildlie, and native

habitat are identied as key resources

o the site which should be preserved

and enhanced or public use. Historic

structures and designed landscapes

are also considered key resources to be

preserved or the public. Ideally there

will be diversity in the types o locations

preserved at Presidio: both natural areas

and designed landscapes. However, a

process or reaching consensus is required

or to achieve this delicate balance.

Given site constraints, accommodating

stakeholder demands will be challenging.

Figure 2-4 illustrates the overlapping and

competing interests in the Presidio as a

national urban park. In particular, the role

o preservation is embedded.

To preserve and enhance

the natural, cultural, scenic,

and recreational resources othe Presidio or public use.

These eorts encompass the

natural areas, wildlie, and

native habitats o the park, as

well as the historic structures

and designed landscapes

that make the park a National

Historic Landmark District. The

Presidio Trust is dedicated to

ensuring that visitors to this

spectacular place will have the

opportunity to gain a broader

understanding o the Presidio,

its place in American history,

and the plants and wildlie

which once thrived throughoutthe regio n.

Figure 2-3

PARK

PRESERVE NATURAL AREAS HISTORIC STRUCTURE

MAINTAIN WILDLIFE DESIGNED LANDSCAPES

ENHANCE NATIVE HABITATS + PLANTS RECREATIONAL

EDUCATIONALSCENERY

CULTURAL

HISTORIC FOREST

PU

BLIC

USE

Figure 2-4

ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGNED

PR

ESER

VATION

AN

DENH

ANCEM

ENT


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36 37

Native Condition o Coastal Scrub

Dune Scrub and Serpentine

Grassland with early inhabitants

including Native Americans

c.700

President Millard Fillmore reserves

the Presidio or the U.S. Army .

Mexican rontier outpostSpanish colonists rom northern

Mexican rontier outpost Mexico

establish El Presidio, a rontier ort,

and build the rst structure on the

site o the Ocers Club.

Spanish Army Mexican Army U.S. Army

18501822 18461776

Timeline Illustrating

Evolving Land Use

A military presence can be traced to the

Presidio as early as 1776. In spite o this

human occupation o the site, until the

early 1800s the Presidio eatured extensive

sand dunes and coastal scrub extending

across the coastal blus (see Fig. 2-5).

Parts o the Presidio were also grazed

especially during the Spanish occupation,

leading to erosion and wind-blown sand,

which was carried and deposited across

the site. The US Army established a

military post at the Presidio in 1846.

In the 1890s, a decision was made to

modiy the existing landscape in order to

mitigate harsh winds, stabilize shiting

sands, and complement the natural

beauty o the land.

Over time, the demands on the land have

evolved with the sites transormation

rom a military base into a public national

Figure 2-5

Forested

Large variety o evergreen and

deciduous trees and shrubs.

Blue gum eucalyptus, Monterey pine,

Monterey cypress, and blackwood

acacia are planted as part o the

management plan.

1883

Designated as a National Historic

Landmark District

Incorporated within the Golden Gate

National Recreation Area

The U.S. Sixth Army

departs and the Presidio

ocially transers to the

National Park Service (NPS).

Congress mandates that

The Presidio Trust manage

the site.

1962 1972 1994

New Forest

ManagementPlan

is adopted by

The Presidio Trust

2002

parkland with non-military residents. These

changes have had proound eects on the

types o uses stakeholders seek rom the

Presidio Land.

In particular, the transer o the Presidio

rom military to public parkland

management has led to an increased

demand rom Presidio residents and

adjacent homeowners or access to

lands or gardening.


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38 39

Community Gardens: Applying

Historical Methods to Secure

New Land Uses

The debates surrounding community

gardens at the Presidio are an apt

illustration o the conficting demands and

expectations placed on the land.

The Presidios role as a community where

people live and work, as a national park

at the edge o a highly urbanized area,

and its designation as a National Historic

Landmark District lead to inevitable

conficts. While community gardens are

uncommon in national parks, they are a

wonderul public use component o many

urban parklands. They provide a venue

or community members to invest in the

land, they create habitat or insects and

birds, and they can provide a means or

maintaining the land (although management

requirements may increase). The Nation al

Park System acts as a stakeholder at the

Presidio, oten nding its agenda in confict

with the surrounding homeowners, Presidio

inhabitants, and historic preservationists.

Historically, the site was established

as a pleasure garden or ocers and

their wives along with the Fort Scott

Creek area. Other gardens existed at

the Presidio during its military period,

including a victory garden and agricultural

gardens used to grow ood or the war

eort. The community gardens available

at the Presidio today include one historic

garden covering roughly a one-acre parcel

o land. The well-established Presidio

Native Plant Nursery also employs a

signicant number o volunteers, providing

avenue or community members to work

the land. The limited community garden

space at the Presidio does not satisy

existing public demand. There is a long

waiting list or users seeking garden plots.

Opportunities to expand the amount

o space or cultivation by community

gardeners are constrained by strict

guidelines and controls on the number o

gardens allowed to ensure maintenance o

an historic character. A variety o actors

including the Presidios historic district

designation which governs landscape

changes contribute to the limited gardens.

Competing land uses and the limited

availability o non-orested level land are

also actors.

Figure 2-6 Aerial Photographs, 1948

o the historic garden which has been

transormed into a community garden

Existing Conditions:

Community Gardens


22/55

40 41

In spite o these constraints, the

development o the current community

garden in the mid 1990s is a great

example o a way to move orward in

spite o stakeholder confict. Eager to

establish garden plots, the community

gardeners became historians by digging

out old aerials and images rom the

historical library to identiy possible

locations across the Presidio that had

once been used as pleasure gardens.

The original gardens within Fort Scott

were identied so that they could be

revived as gardens or the public.

Historic preservation o the landscape

makes increased public access and

public gardening interests dicult to

achieve. Some might view the lack o

community gardens as a lost public

benet. Histori c preservation limits

the realization o what many view as

an optimal land use allocation or public

involvement. The Presidio Native Plant

Nursery does provide some volunteer

opportunities to actively restore sites.

In several cases, the restoration

approaches may circumnavigate historic

preservation in order to both satisy

recreational needs and achieve a

beautiul landscape. The nurserys role

in providing land use opportunities,

which satisy urban residents demands

or community gardening while meeting

historic preservation constraints, is an

example o programming that can enable

additional public accessibility to the site.

Figure 2-7A (right): historical garden at Fort

Scott Creek, circa 1944.

Figure 2-7B-D (below): historical

photograph with bridge, current garden.

Crissy Field Marsh

Fort Scott Creek


23/55

42 43

Restoration Ecology: Providing a Way

to Align Stakeholders

Multiple restoration projects have been

undertaken since the U.S. Armys

closure o the Presidio base in 1994. A

review o these projects reveals the

planning and design challenges posed by

conficting and incompatible land uses,

precedent land management decisions,

evolving disciplinary, preservation, and

conservation approaches.

In 1994, The Army transerred the land

to the National Park Service, and with its

mission o preserving unimpaired the

natural and cultural resources and values

o the National Park System, the Park

Service began a airly broad restoration

eort (Fig. 2-8). In 1996, approximately

80% o the Presidio was transerred

to the Presidio Trust. Restoration can

be viewed as a undamental tool or

satisying both the National Park Systems

and the Presidios mission o enhancing

natural areas as enduring resources or

the public. The Natural Areas Program is

a program designed to preserve, restore,

and enhance San Franciscos natural

ecology and to develop community-

based site stewardship. The purposes o

Natural Areas stewardship are ecological,

historical, educational, aesthetic,

and spiritual.

Restoration ecology at the Presidio reveals

the challenges posed by conficting

interests and incompatible uses. It

raises the question: how can ecologically

appropriate restoration be compatible with

cultural and historic preservation interests?

In addition, it can be dicult to change

prevailing public perceptions o ecological

restoration. The public oten views

restoration as replacing a park-like setting

with a less user-riendly environment.

Mature trees are understandably a much-

loved component o parks, and restoring

areas o mature parkland to coast scrub or

grasslands, or example, may not always

mesh with the desires o urban residents in

need o respite.

The establishment o the Presidio Native

Plant Nursery provides a way or Presidio

Trust, community volunteer and ecological

goals to align. The Presidio Native Plant

Nursery supports habitat restoration,

creates a connection between the

park and the community, and helps

people understand the importance o

environmental sustainability, restoration,

and parklands stewardship. Sta and

Existing Conditions:

Restoration Ecology

0 50 0 10 00 15 00 2 000

Scale 1:12000

Crissy Field is a ormer salt marsh and subsequent

military aireld/Restoration Background:

Extensive debates on the importance o public access versus

habitat value related to marsh creation

Tennessee Hollow

The Hollow is the largest

watershed in the Presidio,

supporting a valuable

wildlie habitat

Restoration initiatives

have included:

Daylighting the buried creek

Creating a new

creek-side trail

Inspiration Point

Site consists o rare native serpentine grassland. Inthe 1880s the Army planted, adjacent to this blu,

non-native Monterey pines as a windbreak

Used restoration as a tool to convince public to

support the removal o the pines and the

reintroduction o historically dominant

serpentine grasslands

Restored Lake

Restoration initiatives have included:

Development as a passive recreation area

Site o Chinese religious ceremony -- release o invasive Asian turtles,

resulting in carp die-out; outcry and response with restoration

Removal o trail down to the water to reduce oot trac

Public participation in restoration eort, more than 2,000 volunteer hours

spent in 2005 or removal o non-native plants and underbrush clearance

Coastal

20 miles o

social trails

Restoration

initiative to replace

these with one

beautiul public trail

The creek is a natural spring

targeted or restoration

Initiatives:

Riparian initiative

Site o native plant center

Planned sustainability center

Figure 2-8 Background on ecological restoration projects at the Presidio

NeighborhoodRestoration

Restoration

initiatives have

included:

Replacing lawnw/ native habitat

Phasing plan w/

buildings to be

removed


24/55

44 45

volunteers grow 60,000 native plants

annually or habitat and orest restoration

projects throughout the Presidio, collect

seeds, care or plants, and construct

compost piles. There also exists in our

society a general lack o public knowledge

about the ecological merit o various

landscapes. Together these historic and

cultural actors position some stakeholders

against ecological restoration. The Presidios

highly urban context results in signicant

social demands on the land: or example,

residents want jogging trails and desirable

views rom houses. From a dierent

perspective, historians value the Presidio

landscape as historical documentation o

the past military presence.

Still, many environmentalists are calling

or the complete removal o the non-

native Historic Forest planted on site and

its replacement with what was originally

there, including sand dunes, coastal scrub

communities, and riparian habitats. The

riparian habitat restoration has more

easily garnered public acceptance, and

indeed there are now several successul

examples o Presidio restoration projects

that include coastal wetlands and creek

daylighting. The Presidio Trust also sees

value in ecological restoration as a strategy

restore a lands native ecosystem? Or

is it more essential to cater to human

needs, and allow or some environmental

value gained through public access to

natural areas? In the case o the Presidio,

there are a number o examples where

restoration ecology brought dissenting

voices together towards a common cause.

Establishing restoration projects on-site

attracts a substantial volunteer contingent

to help demolish, grade, and re-plant the

landscape. Public acceptance o and

participation in restoration projects can also

generate a sense o community ownership

and investment. While many restoratio n

projects at the Presidio have concentrated

on providing habitat or endangered plant

species such as Clarkia franciscanaand

Arabis blepharophylla, provisions have also

been made or public use, access, and

viewsheds. Thus, restoration has beneted

diverse interests, including historic

preservation, the natural environment, and

public access.

There are a number o concerns about

restoration ecology as an applied science.

How does a practitioner decide which

historical landscape is most appropriate

to reconstruct? The goals o restoration

to uphold its mission o providing resources

or public use. Extensive participation

by volunteers in restoration projects is

urther evidence o public acceptance o

ecological restoration.

Restoration at the Presidio provides an

interesting case study o the intersection o

planning, design, public use, ecology, and

history. In several cases at the Presidio,

ecological restoration circumnavigated

historic preservation to satisy recreational

criteria and public use. For the community

garden and other restoration sites,

gardeners and ecologists act as historians

or geographers, teasing apart the history

o the site through local knowledge, old

photographs, maps and knowledge o

what was once in the area. Ecologists

mine the evolutionary past to identiy

a prior landscape condition deemed

appropriate or restoration. Because o

the urban nature o the park, the resultant

built product may be a compromise

between an early landscape condition

and the needs o the present.

The battles at the Presidio reveal a larger

issue linked to environmental restoration:

what is the goal o a restoration project

in an urban context? Shoul d one aim to

such projects more dicult to und.

Additionally, because much o the projects'

systems are hidden, opportunities to

educate the public about the site

are curtailed.

Because this approach minimizes the role

o visible design, it discourages many

designers rom exploring congurations

and approaches that might have greater

ecosystem unction. An approach to the

built orms o restoration ecology that does

not always deault to the naturalistic would

promote a more dynamic relationship

between designers and ecologists.

maintained are naturalistic as opposed to

geometric in orm.

Somewhat predictably, ecologists and

designers have divergent views on

the orms that restoration should take.

Generally, ecologists want to create

something that looks like nature and does

not stand out, whereas designers want

to reveal the human hand. Naturalistic

design, by denition, brings little attention

to itsel. As a result, the public tends not

to recognize restoration projects, and

not to understand their place in human-

constructed environments. This can make

can oten be driven more by a desire

to establish historical conditions than to

instate a biological system that unctions

under current conditions. What orm

should a restoration project take?

Ecologists typically view nature as a model

or developing restoration projects, and yet

the process o construction, maintenance,

and even the locations o many o these

projects are ar rom natural. Natural istic

design approaches may also be more

expensive. Many building materials are

sold in geometric units; construction and

maintenance can consume more time and

money when the orms to be created and


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46 47

The Historic Forest: an Ecological and

Cultural Conundrum

The 300-acre Historic Forest is composed

primarily o single-species groves

(eucalyptus trees, Monterey cypress,

and Monterey pine) planted in regiments

across the landscape. Today, this planted

orest has matured, creating a dense

canopy that inhibits the emergence o

understory vegetation.

A deeper understanding o the orest and its

history illustrates how it has been shaped

by preceding land management decisions

and historical preservation. New ecological

ideas are being explored and tested to

possibly retrot or enhance the Historic

Forest or improved ecosystem unction.

Major William A. Jones Plan or the

Cultivation o Trees upon the Presidio

Reservation (1883), one o the largest

landscape plans o its time, called or

thousands o eucalyptus, pine, andcypress groves to be planted in rows,

representative o military order. The

plantings were envisioned to accentuate

the posts size and create a clear visual

distinction rom the surrounding city. The

plan, based on contemporary ecological

understanding, called or a mixture

Existing Condition:Historic Forest

o species with the planned thinning

o stands to encourage diversity and

re-growth. Unortunately, this ollow-up

did not occur, and the orest matured

0 500 1000 1500 2000

Scale 1:12000

Foredune

Dune Scrub

Blu Scrub, Coastal Scrub,

and Serpentine Scrub

Coastal Prairie and Coastal Scrub

Coastal Prairie

Coastal Salt Marsh

Serpentine Grassland

and Serpentine Scrub

Freshwater

Marsh

Arroyo Willow Riparian Forest

and Live Oak Riparian Forest

Live Oak Woodland and Coastal Scrub

Open Water

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

Figure 2-9 ecosystems at Presidio

C

A

A

C

B

B

D

DD

D

D

E

E

F

G

G

G

H

I

I

J

K


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48 49

Figure 2-10 Landscape Management

20000 500 1000 1500

Scale 1:12000

HISTORIC FOREST

(18% o total area

approx. 247 acres)

Preserve and rehabilitate the historicorest to the historic boundary

Remove nonnative plants and

restore native vegetation

LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT ZONES

(46% o total area

approx. 652 acres)

Preserve and rehabilitate

historic landscape vegetation

Ensure conormance o new plantings

NATIVE PLANT COMMUNITIES

ZONE

(36% o total area

approx. 501 acres)

Preserve and enhance existing native

plant communities

Remove nonnative plants and restore

native vegetation

SPECIAL MANAGEMENT ZONES

(4% o total area

approx. 56 acres)

Areas requiring urther assessment.Area is under consideration or

designation by the USFWS

Boundary

into a dense canopy with little sunlight or

space or understory vegetation -- Jones

original vision never ully materialized.

Forest plantings were initiated on the

dunes in the 1890s and mostly completed

by 1906, but continued sporadically

over a 55-year period, ending in the early

1940s. The straight rows o trees planted

in groups have created a unique orest

o mature single-species growth with

a high canopy and minimal understory.

This planted orest is celebrated as a

cultural symbol o the Presidios military

past. The high canopy, which allows

extended views across the shaded orest

loor, is championed by pedestrians,

recreationists, and dog-walkers. Even

some environmentalists view the orest

as a special place, a green respite within

the city. The National Historic Landmark

District designation granted to the Presidio

in 1996 solidied the Historic Forest as a

key landscape eature.

Despite the intentions o the Army and

Major Jones to use the orest plantation as

an environmental management technique,

many ecologists and environmentalists

currently argue that the orest is a symbol

o an invasive and manipulated Presidio

landscape that has supplanted the native

habitats. They note that any ecological

value the Historic Forest might have is

diminished by the act that only 10 percent

o the Presidios land supports the native

plant community that existed prior to

landscape modications. Over time, the

planting o non-native, limited-species tree

stands has resulted in signicant native

habitat and wildlie losses. Consequently,

many ecologists and environmentalists are

calling or portions o the Historic Forest to

be modied and converted into a

native landscape.

Nonetheless, the existing orest does

have some signicant ecological merit,

as it supports nearly 200 bird species and

contains a ew mixed tree species stands.

It is also notable that a signicant portion

o public users view this orest as a natural

respite in the city. This perception, and the

value that people nd within the woods as

a natural amenity, gives the Historic Forestinherent worth regardless o its actual value

as an ecosystem.

A 2001 vegetation management plan called

or changes to portions o the Forest by

removing some mature stands in danger

o wind-all and replacing the stands with

native, diverse plantings (see Fig. 2-10).

Further discussion o reorestation can

be ound in the Restoration Ecology

section o Chapter 3.

EDAW - Presidio Trust


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50 51

EDAW - Presidio Trust

Interdisciplinary

Collaboration

EDAW teamed with the Presidio

Trust in a collaborative workshop to

repurpose the Presidios Fort Scott Creek

Area. The interdisciplinar y exchange

brought together EDAW's technical

experts with multiple stakeholders

working with and/or within the

Presidio Trust. As the diagram (Fig.

2-11) illustrates, there were several

exchanges required or successul

collaboration. First, the EDAW team

members needed to communicate

internally; second, the Presidio Trust

and EDAW team needed to work

together; and third, this larger team

needed to understand and respond

to stakeholder viewpoints and concerns.

The EDAW team built an initial

relationship with the Presidio Trust

through conerence calls and planning.

Together, EDAW and the Presidio Trust

devised the workshop schedule. This

initial collaboration led to discussingand highlighting shared goals. The

resultant shared goals helped build

trust, and led to an exchange o critical

inormation. The Presidio Trust provided

guidance throughout the event, helping to

orient the team and enhance the results.

The week-long workshop was

organized as an ongoing dialogue

between the designers and ecologists.

Facilitating exchange, both in planned

discussions and through inormal

interactions such as site walks, was a

key goal. We created many situations

or interdisciplinary communication,

including evening events, lunchtime

discussions, and hands-on activities

to promote dialogue and to reveal the

underlying goals and intentions o the

individual group members.

Figure 2-11

EDAWDESIGNER

EDAW

ECOLOGIST DE SIGN ER E CO LOGI STPRESIDIO

TRUST

DESIGNER

C

A

ECOLOGIST

D

B

PRESIDIO

TRUST


28/55

52 53

Understanding the

Stakeholders

Figure 2-12

PUBLIC-USE /

HISTORY

HISTORY

NATURAL AREAS /

RESTORATION

NP

H

PRESIDIO

TRUST

design at Presidio. Throughout the sites

history, there have been times when

the needs o historic preservationists,

restoration ecologists, and the public

have opposed each other; yet on

occasion, these interests have allen

into alignment.

At the heart o this challenge is the

need to explore how these dierent

interests can be brought together. I n

addition to the multiple stakeholder

views, the designers and ecologists also

bring varying perspectives to the table.

To create meaningul urban spaces,

designers, ecologists, the client, and the

stakeholders need to understand that

P N H

VISITORS

(TOURISTS)

RESTORATION

ECOLOGISTSSCHOOL GROUPS

HISTORIC

LANDSCAPE

RECREATIONISTS HISTORIANS

REAL ESTATE

(INHABITANTS)HISTORIC

STRUCTURES

ADJACENT

LANDOWNERSARCHAEOLOGISTS

SCHOOL GROUPS

BIRDERS

OUTDOOR

ENTHUSIASTS

NATURALISTS

RESEARCHERS

public use, natural areas, and historic

designs need not be physically separate.

In act, the meaning o space intensies

as its layers o use increase. An urban

park is the apotheosis o this synergy.

The Presidio is exactly this type o space,

combining ecological systems o plants,

water cycles, and nutrient exchanges with

the human ramework o walking trails,

historic preservation, community gardens,

playing elds, and picnic areas.

Our hope was that collaboration between

stakeholders could be used as a catalyst

or integrating the public use o natural

areas into an urbanized setting.

The Presidio Trusts practice o planning and

design strives to balance the competing

interests o public use and access (P),

natural areas/restoration needs (N), and

historical preservation (H). (see Fig.

2-12). The se three types o land uses are

essential to the Presidio Trusts mission, its

cultural identity, and its role as a public

parkland within an urban area. Each o

these drivers has shaped the Presidio up

until the present day.

Figure 2-13 illustrates the diversity o

stakeholders that one might nd within

each category. This variety o users

presents a primary challenge in reaching

decisions on planning, programming, and

Figure 2-13


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Tuesday Day 2 11.28.06

Kick-O,Days Agenda

Review Day 1 Results

Stakeholder Groups Interview

GROUP 1: Historic Preservation

GROUP 2: Volunteer Groups

GROUP 3: Ecological Restoration

LUNCH

GROUP 4: Architects present site models

or the Sustainability Center.

GROUP 5: Maintenance and Operations

Discussion

Scale/Areas o overlap and issues rom

the day

DINNER

Monday Day 1 11.27.06

Welcome + Introductions

Landscape History Slide Show

Site Tour:Visit other key sites throughout

the Presidio including Inspiration Point, a

restored pond, neighborhoods, Nursery,

and the blus.

Site Tour:Fort Scott and Fort Scott Creek

LUNCH

Site Tour:Continue site tour at Fort Scott

and develop mapping exercises.

Site Visits Download

(Pictures + Notes)

Discussion

First Impressions, Ecological / Design

DINNER

Time

800 AM

900 AM

1000 AM

1100 AM

1200 PM

100 PM

200 PM

300 PM

400 PM

500 PM

600 PM

700 PM

Day by Day Schedule

Site Visit Stakeholder Interviews

Figure 2-14

Friday Day 5 12.01.06

Welcome

Project Presentation

Q+A

Feedback Session, Group Discussion

Wrap-Up+ Next Steps

Adjourn-END OF WORKSHOP

LUNCH

EDAWCoordination +

Initiatives Next Steps Meeting

Wednesday Day 3 11.29.06

Kick-O, Days Agenda

Review Day 2 Results

Initial Visioning

(Facilitated Session, Full Group)

Break Out Sessions

1) Ecology 2) Historic Restoration

3) Recreation 4) Education

LUNCH

Present/Discuss

Design Proposals

Initial Visioning(Facilitated Session, Full Group)

Wrap-Up

DINNER and Discussion with Client

Going over the process so ar and our

observations or concerns

Thursday Day 4 11.30.06

Rene Proposal(s)

Ecologists - designers

internal discussion and design

charette

Developing nal plan proposal

LUNCHwith client

sharing integrated concepts

Presentation Preparation

continued dialogue and eort

towards usion

DINNER

Ecology and Design Charrette Design Process, Plan Development Final Presentation


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Intent

Our goal or the site visit was to interpret

the land rom an integrated ecological

and design angle. The team intended to

discuss and plan the visit thoroughly with

an eort to integrate typical site analysis

strategies that ecologists use with designer

approaches. A brie initial slide show on

land-use history and site conditions helped

establish a shared baseline understanding.

A visit to key locations across the Presidio

allowed the team to experience the

landscape and assess its ecological

unctioning. We planned to document the

site together through mapping and analysis.

Intent

The convening o stakeholders was

intended as a rapid outreach approach to

understand constraints, learn about site

uses, and discuss potential opportunities.

The team hoped to appreciate the

stakeholders' multiple viewpoints and

develop a deeper understanding o

stakeholder needs. By the end o the

day, we planned to generate a list o

stakeholder goals and objectives or Fort

Scott Creek and synthesize these goals

into an overall approach.

Day 2

Stakeholder Interviews

Day by Day Overview

Day 1

Site Visit

Intent

We planned to bring in a large group o

stakeholders or a second day to conduct

a ull-day charrette, with the intention o

bringing conficting desires to the surace.

The goal o this session was to begin to

translate goals and visions into a physical

layout plan. Ideally, we would develop

some alternative approaches and acilitate

discussion to identiy key problems and

their potential.

Day 3

Design Charrette

Intent

The day was planned as a collaborative

work session to clariy a ew options

and then rene the vision concepts

into a proposal or Fort Scott Creek and

Fort Scott. Beorehand, we discussed

ways o working together to develop a

process to complete the work tasks.

The goal o the process was to acilitate

the development o a nal presentation

to the public that would capture the

experiences o the week, laying out the

solutions and compromises.

Day 4

Conceptual Plan Development

and Summary

Day 5

Final Presentation

Intent

Our goal here was to present our process,

conceptual plan, and ecological design

strategies. We attempted to get eedback

rom the invited guests on how they elt

the process went and the quality o the

outcomes produced. We tried to evaluate

how the public stakeholders responded

to the nal product o a collaborative

process. We wanted to hear concerns

expressed and alternative ideas oered.

L L d


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Lessons Learned

rom the Presidio

The Presidio workshop yielded many

lessons about the viability o combining

ecology, public use, and history through

design. The process also exposed

the multitude o planning and design

challenges in addressing the Historic

Forest, community gardens, and

ecological restoration activities. Adeeper exploration o these challenges,

presented in the ollowing pages o

analysis, reveals a number o themes

infuencing planning and design at the

Presidio. These included: conficting

and incompatible land uses; precedent

land management decisions; evolving

ecological and historical disciplinary

approaches; and various preservation and

conservation approaches. The ollowing

pages aim to introduce the Presidio

site studied within the C + P Initiative,

and to educate ecology and design

practitioners about the challenges

o moving toward consensus or land

planning in an urban park.


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60 61

Outcome

Participants learned about the larger vision

o the Presidio and saw examples o other

projects that had successully navigated

politics and ound solutions through

compromise. The tour o the Presidio

was especially useul because questions

came rom space ecological and designperspectives, so the team became more

educated as a whole.

The visit to Fort Scott Creek allowed us to

amiliarize ourselves with the site and to

document it through hand mapping and GIS.

The high points were the moments when

an ecologist and designer walked together

and discussed ideas rom both perspectives

about that particular area.

While executing the site visit with a mix o

ecologists and designers generated trust

across disciplines, the site visit needed

more direction, with specic activities

to acilitate communication. An early

concept that we explored in depth was

to develop a physical intervention as an

artistic gesture and scientic experiment

(see Fig. 2-17). For example. we discussed

ways o mapping ecology physically on the

landscape to make it more visible.

Objective

Our goal was to work collaboratively,

utilizing skills as designers and ecologists to

analyze the Presidio and to experience and

interpret the Fort Scott Creek project area.

Process

The group toured the Presidio with multipleexperts to understand existing land use

patterns and to see rsthand how the

Presidio Trust has been i mplementing

its missions o land stewardship. Michael

Boland and Allison Stone o the Presidio

Trust led the tour, which included a number

o destinations exhibiting site restoration or

native habitats. These included Inspiration

Point; the Mountain Lake restoration;

multiple neighborhoods; coastal blus;

a plant nursery; historic and community

gardens; Fort Scott; and the Creek. Other

participants included Betty Young, Mark Frey,

Laura Castellini, Damien Raa, Barb Co;

Johna Maeck, and Jean Koch.

Ater a long debate, we voted to rely on our

individual expertise and typical practices as

designers and ecologists. This diered rom

our original idea to pair an ecologist with a

designer in the eld and encourage dialogue

on-site. The idea was that using the methods

we would employ on any other project would

give the client the best results.

Site Visit

View o Bioswale at the Botanical Garden

View o Parking Lot and Pollarded Trees by Old Ocers Club

Historical Forest with Hi ghway 101 in Background

Historic Garden

Nursery Shade Structures at the Botanical Gardens

View o Fort Scott Parade Ground

View o Community Gardens on Historic Garden Site

Nursery, Historic Forest + Fort Scott CreekCoastal Blu and Golden Gate Bridge Highway 101

WPA Steps Leading Down to Historic Gardens

View Looking Down on Fort Scott Creek and Forest

Historic Forest By Fort Scott Creek

Historic Palms as Seen From Warehouses

WPA Staircase in Historic Garden Adjacent to Tennis Courts


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Objective

The goal o the stakeholder meetings

was to learn about the various visions

or the Fort Scott area and creek. This

was achieved through a process o public

engagement that ocused on stewardship

and sustainability. The team interacted

with the volunteer groups, historicpreservationists, restoration ecologists,

the maintenance and operations group,

and the architects working on the

sustainability building or the cen ter.

Process

The EDAW/Presidio Trust team worked

together to establish a clear workshop

schedule (Fig. 2-14).

The Presidio Trust organized stakeholder

groups or the EDAW team to intervi ew.

Each group met independently with

the EDAW team, allowing the team to

eciently and concisely understand

the concerns and desires expressed byeach group (Fig. 2-14). Key players rom

each stakeholder group were invited to

participate in a wrap-up strategy session

to develop goals and objectives.

Outcome

The stakeholder meetings were a

ormative part o the workshop. The

perspectives shared during the meetings

exposed the dynamic, complex, and

pluralistic nature o the Presidio. The all-

day dialogue proved to be a tremendous

success or both the EDAW team and thePresidio. The EDAW Team built trust with

stakeholder groups through the dialogue

process, and claried a working set o

goals and objectives.

In part, this exercise was valuable or

the stakeholder groups and Presidio

Trust because the workshop brought

some stakeholders together or the

rst time. This event gave them an

opportunity to learn more about each

other, to recognize opposing positions,

and to conceive o ways to move

orward in alignment.

The multidisciplinary discussion steeredthe energy o all participants toward a

common vision. The goals articulated and

agreed to by the stakeholder groups built

on the Presidio Trusts mission: to balance

historic preservation with sustained

ecological systems while ostering public

engagement. It is this attempt to satisy

Stakeholder Dialogue

Figure 2-15

CULTURAL/HISTORICRESOURCES

STEWARDSHIP/PUBLICUSE/SUSTAINABILITY

MAINTENANCE +OPERATIONS

CREEK RESTORATION

Cultural Historic Resources

Preservation o Landscape

Architectural and Military History

Limit change to landscape identity

Respect the past

Stewardship/Public Use/sustainability

Public Access

Programming Activities

Education and Demonstration

Creek Restoration

Ecological Habitat Value

Wildlie Corridor/Reuge

Watershed Planning

Maintenance and Operations

Reduce maintenance requirements

Allow vehicular/re truck access

Keep it simple no complicated parts

THE PRESIDIO TRUST

Michael Boland; Allison Stone

ECOLOGICAL DESIGN TEAMAlma Du Solier; Leo Edson;

Alex Felson; Debra Bishop


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previously expressed. The disclosure o

contradictory perspectives enriched the

dialogues by revealing the site's core

planning challenges.

The pre-workshop planning served us well

in ensuring that every stakeholder voice

was represented within the design team.It proved important to have someone

on the team that people elt "carried

Presidio Fort Scott Creek + Historic Garden_EDAW_Felson

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