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Vassar College
Landscape Master Plan
Vassar College
Landscape Master Plan
Poughkeepsie, New York
January 2011
Landscape Architecture (Team lead):
Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc.
Landscape Architects, PC
16 Court Street, 11th Floor
Brooklyn, New York 11241
t. 718.243.2044
f. 718.243.1293
www.mvvainc.com
Signing and Wayfinding:
h plus inc.
42 Wheeler Avenue, 2nd Floor
Pleasantville, NY 10570
t. 914.769.2500
f. 914.769.6336
www.hplusinc.com
Landscape Management:
ecological landscape management, INC.
40 Austin Boulevard
Commack, NY 11725
t. 631.484.1979
www.elmscapes.com
Contributors
Campus Master Planning Committee
Thomas Allen, Executive Director of Buildings and Grounds Services, Facilities Planning and Construction
Marianne Begemann, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Associate Dean of the Faculty
Colleen Cohen, Professor of Anthropology and Women’s Studies (08/09)
Brian Daly, Assistant Professor of Physics
Naomi Davies, Director of Capital Projects & Facility Planning (08/09)
Elizabeth Eismeier, Vice President for Finance and Administration and Committee Chair
Ethan Fischer, Class of ’11
Belinda Guthrie, Associate Dean of the College and Director of Disability and Support Services (09/10)
Bret Ingerman, Vice President for Computing and Information Services
Luis Inoa, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life
Paul Johnson, Professor of Economics (09/10)
Nathanial Kimball, Class of ’09 (08/09)
Benjamin Lotto, Professor of Mathematics and Director of Academic Facilities Development
James Merrell, Professor of History (08/09)
Michael Mestitz, Class of ’12
Thomas Porcello, Associate Dean of Planning and Academic Affairs (09/10)
Christopher Roellke, Professor of Education and Dean of the College (08/09)
Taylor Stewart, Class of ’09 (08/09)
Kathleen Susman, Professor of Biology (08/09)
Andrew Tallon, Assistant Professor of Art
Silke von der Emde, Associate Professor of German Studies (08/09)
Jeffrey Walker, Professor of Earth Science and Sustainability Coordinator
William Nyasha Zichawo, Class of ’10
Michael Zipp, Class of ’11 (08/09)
Other Participants/Contributors from the Vassar Community
Nicholas Adams, Professor of Art
Tobias Armborst, Assistant Professor of Art
Catherine Baer, Vice President for Development
Andrew Bennett, Class of ’09
Martha Barry, Alumnae House Manager
David Borus, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid
Laurel Brooks, Associate Director of Admission
David Brown, Dean of Students
Jonathan Chenette, Dean of the Faculty
Mary Ann Cunningham, Associate Professor of Geography
Jennifer Dahnert, Director of Development for Principal Gifts
Elizabeth A. Daniels, College Historian and Professor Emeritus of English
Susan DeKrey, Vice President for College Relations
John Feroe, Assistant to the President
Ryan Hart, Director of Individual Giving
Catharine Hill, President
Jeffrey Horst, Director of Faculty Housing and Special Projects
Lucille Johnson, Professor of Anthropology and Sustainability Coordinator (07/08)
James Kelly, Director of Environmental Health and Safety
Rachel Kitzinger, Dean of Planning and Academic Affairs
George Laws, Publications Director and Graphic Designer
Patricia Lichtenberg, Executive Director, AAVC
Joanne Long, Dean of Studies
Donald Marsala, Director of Security
Kirsten Menking, Associate Professor of Earth Science
Jannay Morrow, Associate Professor of Psychology
Mary Raymond, Director of Career Development
Margaret Ronsheim, Associate Professor of Biology
Harry Roseman, Professor of Art
Mark Schlessman, Professor of Biology
Sam Speers, Director of Religious and Spiritual Life
Kim Squillace, Associate Director of Security
Kiki Williams, Director of Facility Operations and Grounds
2
Table of Contents
Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
The “Vassarness” of Vassar ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 7
1.0 Summary Observations and Recommendations ................................................................................................................................ 8
Circulation
Parking
Wayfinding and Signage
Ecology, Horticulture, and Experiencing the Vassar Landscape
Stormwater Management
*2011 Vassar Campus Diagram
*Vassar Campus Long-Term Vision Diagram
2.0 Circulation Systems: Reestablishing Pedestrian Sovereignty ............................................................................................. 16
1.1 A Neighborhood Concept for Wayfinding
1.2 Vehicular Network
1.3 Pedestrian Network
1.4 The Expanded Core
1.5 Wayfinding
*Campus Gate Strategies
*Vehicular Networks
*Pedestrian Networks
3.0 Planting Systems: Planting an Ecologically Healthy Campus ................................................................................................ 32
2.1 Unity, Variety, and Harmony: Planting the Large-Scale Picturesque Landscape
2.2 Vassar’s Tradition of Flowers and the Small-Scale Landscape
2.3 Ecological Health
4.0 Water Systems: Water as Landscape Experience and Program ............................................................................................40
3.1 Campus Water Systems
3.2 Potential for an Improved Site Hydrology
3.3 Experiencing Vassar’s Water Systems
3.4 Planning for a Regional Approach to Hydrologic Health
3.5 Stormwater Management: A Three-Part Approach
3.6 Recommendations: Stormwater Practices Toward Ecological Health
5.0 Landscape Projects: Implementation of a Long-Term Vision .................................................................................................. 48
*Areas of Focus
Blodgett/Wimpfheimer/Kenyon Courtyard
Central Campus Landscape
Kenyon Drive Circulation and Planting
Residential Quad Circulation and Planting
Recommended Planting and Remediation Projects
Sunset Lake
Sciences Landscape
Footbridge Over Vassar Lake
South Campus Parking Landscape
North Campus Parking Landscape
Reoriented Collegeview Gate
Alternate Tennis Court Location
6.0 Campus Standards ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 62
Circulation: Signage—Kit of Parts
Circulation: Wayfinding—Trip Chart
*Circulation: Campus Road Names
Circulation: Road/Path Types
*Circulation: Parking Counts—Existing
*Circulation: Parking Counts—Proposed
Planting: Standard Planting Details
Sculpture in the Landscape: Siting Strategies
Miscellaneous: Furnishings
*Denotes pages containing diagrams of existing or proposed campus conditions
3
1880
1930
1970
FIGURE 1
Vassar’s expansion over the last 130 years
from a small centralized institution into
an active contemporary campus has meant
that all landscape systems—including
circulation, wayfinding, planting, water
bodies, and drainage—have become
increasingly complex. Economically
optimizing the integration of these systems
as opportunities arise will contribute to
improved environmental performance,
reinvigorated beauty, greater landscape
resilience, and a reduction of maintenance,
while enhancing the overall campus
experience.
4
2011
Executive Summary
The elegance of Vassar’s buildings and courtyards is
supported by a picturesque landscape of trees, lakes, and
streams, making it a quintessentially American campus.
Revered by students, faculty, and alumnae/i, the Vassar
landscape cultivates connections to nature that contribute
as much to the college’s “power of place” as its venerable
buildings do. But this cherished historic landscape needs
to evolve in the face of systemwide challenges to its
functional, horticultural, social, and environmental health,
including degraded water systems, an aging tree canopy,
a lack of direct accessible routes through the campus and
into historic buildings, and a circulation system that has
become confusing as the campus has grown.
The central goal of the 2011 Vassar College
Landscape Master Plan is to use fundamental landscape
principles to develop a series of high-priority initiatives
that can be realized incrementally and with parsimony. As
the Master Plan is implemented over several years, the
Vassar campus will take on renewed experiential richness,
pedagogical relevance, ecological health, and economic
resourcefulness, all without sacrificing its heterogeneous,
organically developed character.
While the individual recommended projects are
designed to be of manageable size and scope, they are
underwritten by holistic analysis of sitewide landscape
systems and carefully calibrated so that their individual
implementation will contribute to a coherent revitalization
of the whole landscape system, rather than of discrete
and disconnected parts. Broadly conceived, the landscape
systems considered in the Master Plan are circulation,
planting, and water.
Circulation is a broad category that includes
pedestrian and vehicular traffic patterns, parking,
wayfinding, and signage. Improving the functionality and
appearance of these interrelated systems is crucial both
for preserving the historic campus and for allowing the
college to grow. As originally intended, Main Building
houses a broad range of campus programming, including
residential, academic, administrative, and communal
social space, and continues to serve as a home base for
most campus users. The Master Plan calls for a total
reconsideration of the parking, roadways, pathways,
accessible routes, and signage in the area around Main
Building, a place whose role as symbolic and social
keystone makes it the logical first step toward a new
campuswide circulation system. This improvement to
the campus core will be supported by initiatives that
make campus parking peripheral, reestablish pedestrian
supremacy, and establish stronger campus “neighborhood”
identities for the major centers of activity outside the Main
Building area.
The planting category includes recommendations
for species selection, installation, maintenance, and the
overall aesthetic and ecological health of Vassar’s richly
planted landscape. Plants are a primary factor in the
pedestrian experience of the Vassar campus, and the
activity of planting has traditionally played an important
role in the lives of Vassar students. The Master Plan
recommends restoring and expanding these crucial roles.
Vassar’s soils drain well, and the campus boasts many
magnificent specimen trees, but the trees and shrubs
planted in recent decades often suffer because of the
way they were installed or are maintained. There is an
urgent need to remove trees that are in irreversible decline
and to replace them to ensure the long-term health and
effectiveness of the tree canopy. The initial capital cost of
installing a tree is minimal as compared to the expense of
maintaining its long-term health, and so the Master Plan
recommends that all planting decisions be grounded in
environmentally responsible soil science, best-practice
planting techniques, sustainable approaches to plant
maintenance, and attention to the compatibility of site
and species. A new comprehensive approach to the health
of Vassar’s plants will reduce the amount of time that
Buildings and Grounds staff spend in ecological triage,
allowing them to focus instead on proactive measures
(such as invasive species control) that are now largely
neglected.
Another urgent issue facing the Vassar campus
is the need to improve the ecological health of Vassar’s
water systems, including both its engineered stormwater
management system and the natural system of lakes and
kills that run through it. Vassar’s traditional piped drainage
system now channels warm, sediment- and pollutant-filled
hardscape runoff into the site’s natural bodies of water.
This contributes to the erosion of stream banks and to
the proliferation of sediment and invasive species. Based
on data gathered in several recent campus projects, as
well as the Casperkill Assessment Project and interviews
with members of the college’s science faculty, the Master
Plan calls for the development of an integrated approach
to stormwater collection and management. This includes
creating wetland areas to help filter runoff and recharge
the water table, and using plant-based bioengineering
techniques to help lake and stream edges withstand the
impact of heavy storms.
Each landscape project recommended by the
Master Plan is centered on site-specific implementations
of these systemwide landscape principles, resulting
in a realization strategy that is flexible and feasible,
addressing urgent problems but also contributing at
every step to a comprehensive program of renewal
and repair. Wherever possible, individual projects will
synthesize improvements across multiple systems. Any
changes to pathways or parking areas, for instance, will
be taken as occasion to concurrently improve stormwater
management. The Master Plan lists the recommended
landscape projects in order of urgency, short-term
feasibility, and potential environmental and economic
benefit. The renewed Vassar landscape will emerge
gradually as successive projects are executed, enhancing
campus life and creating a resilient academic setting
positioned to thrive for generations.
5
FIGURE 2
The landscape and architecture of
the Vassar campus are harmoniously
heterogeneous. In this photo of Cushing
Hall, built in 1927, evergreen and deciduous
trees and shrubs shape an indirect approach
to the building, creating the opportunity for
the campus experience to evolve as linked
landscape episodes rather than as a series of
paths and open spaces whose primary role is
to connect architectural destinations.
6
The “Vassarness” of Vassar
While developing the 2011 Vassar College Landscape
Master Plan, the MVVA team came to use the expression
“the Vassar-ness of Vassar” to describe playfully something
that is actually quite serious and that gives the campus a
truly distinctive feel. The Vassar-ness of Vassar stems from
the campus’ enchanting feel and the beauty that results
from its unique spatial organization, all evolving from a
rich history in which picturesque aesthetics and innovative
pedagogy for educating students have been interwoven.
As the Master Plan is completed for the improvement and
refurbishing of the campus, the MVVA team reveres the
idea of restoring the genius of the campus’ roots while
establishing a complementary agenda for reinventing these
founding concepts in the 21st century.
The genius of the Vassar College landscape began
with Matthew Vassar’s admiration for the pre-existing
terrain and landscape designer Andrew Jackson Downing’s
fervently romantic landscape ideology. Vassar’s vision
and the Downing-esque landscape aesthetic have helped
make the Vassar campus a place of unrivaled beauty. The
charm and flowing grace of the Vassar grounds—laid out
with meandering paths and a circulation plan designed for
horse-drawn carriages—combined with the harmonious
relationship of buildings to landscape, have come to be
key influences on daily life at Vassar. (The later impact of
automobiles on circulation is a central focus of the Master
Plan.)
Vassar College’s early recognition and use of the
landscape as a place of study and research is equally
relevant to the role of the campus in the decades ahead.
More than a century before environmental studies became
popular in other colleges across the United States, Vassar
incorporated its campus into the curriculum as an object
of study. MVVA and the faculty of Vassar are committed
to using the Master Plan as a means of reinvigorating this
practice.
As Vassar College continuously seeks ways to make
the most of its legacy, the 2011 Landscape Master Plan
lays out ways to complement and build on these exceptional
traditions while identifying and addressing instances in
which recent unfortunate “improvements,” particularly in
accommodating the automobile, work against the principles
of the initial vision.
Organization of the Campus Landscape,
Circulation, and Architecture
In its early years, Vassar College was housed primarily in
Main Building. This made the initial landscape planning
relatively simple: it was limited to planting trees, modifying
Vassar Lake, and establishing a main gate and entry loop.
The centrality of Main Building to the life of the campus
persisted as new buildings of varied architectural styles
proliferated. Landscapes associated with these new
structures, as well as stand-alone landscapes like Athletic
Circle, developed in a piecemeal fashion, resulting in a
notably diverse landscape.
The historic core of the campus, originally centered
on Main Building, was a flat and empty plateau that used
to be a racetrack. The buildings’ orientation in the cardinal
directions established the axes on which subsequent
buildings, including the Library and the Residential Quad
dormitories, were situated. As Vassar’s building program
expanded beyond this initial core, however, the varied
character of the architecture nurtured a parallel diversity
in the campus landscape palette. This constellation of
quite different buildings in close proximity has resulted
in a core campus characterized by landscape episodes
of varying density punctuated by architectural moments
rather than by a landscape of uniform character. Located
in this gradually unfolding landscape are moments of
neighborhood-scale vignettes: the Residential Quad, the
Academic Quad (Sanders Classroom, Sanders Physics,
Mudd Chemistry Building, and New England Building), and
Library Lawn, each of which has its own internal logic.
Matthew Vassar’s consolidation of the college
under a single roof was typical for an institution of this
type founded in the second half of the 19th century.
Less common were his efforts to create a landscape that
embodies many of the ideas and values of the picturesque,
as is clear in the design of his own estate (Springside)
by Andrew Jackson Downing. While Main Building is
an unambiguous center and Main Drive supports this
hierarchy through axial symmetry, elsewhere on campus
several evergreens planted by Vassar and others have
helped create a varied landscape experience revealed
through movement and exploration rather than a consistent
relationship of parts or privileged vantage points.
Elements of the picturesque at Vassar include a
strong preference for variety and intricacy, curvilinear
pathways, and an overlapping of heterogeneous yet
harmonious compositions of foreground, middle ground,
and background. A general sense of naturalism, also
encouraged by Downing, is supported by the great variety
of informal landscape spaces, open lawns, wooded areas,
uplands and valleys, and streams, as well as engineered
features such as the lakes. Vassar’s campus structure
forms an interesting contrast to that of other American
campuses of the era, which were derived from English
precedents and featured more traditional formal spaces
based on consistent standards of symmetry, axiality, and
hierarchy in both architecture and landscape.
Embracing this unique combination of centrality
and heterogeneity has been the starting point for our
envisioning of the future of the campus. The current master
planning process has focused on understanding how careful
recalibrations of the historic balance—including additions,
subtractions, and augmentations—can enhance core
campus as a carefully choreographed series of spaces not
only episodic and intrinsically varied but also connected,
accessible, and experientially rich.
7
1.0 Summary
Observations &
Recommendations
s
Circulation
OBSERVATIONS
The most important arrival space is the ceremonial entrance of Main Drive on
axis with Main Building.
2. Circulation is an integral component in the beauty, function, safety, and clarity
of the Vassar campus.
3. As one traverses the campus as a pedestrian, the landscape reveals itself in
distinct episodes.
4. Impromptu use of the landscape for outdoor classrooms and social enjoyment
results from a circulation network that encourages engagement and
appreciation.
5. There is room to improve campus circulation and building entry for persons
with disabilities.
1.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Create circulation routes that better serve the spirit of Vassar’s picturesque
landscape.
2. Improve the pedestrian experience of the Central Campus by removing all
vehicular traffic, with the exception of necessary maintenance, service, and
emergency vehicles.
3. Create clear points of entry into the basic structures of the campus.
4. Rethink pedestrian circulation: Eliminate redundant paths and widen paths
(where doing so is appropriate) to serve diverse modes of circulation on
campus.
5. Use durable chip and seal paving on campus pathways and roads to
distinguish them from typical asphalt roadways.
6. Continue to improve the accessibility and experience of the campus for people
with disabilities by sensitively reconfiguring historic buildings and landscapes,
particularly between significant areas of campus, such as connections
between Central Campus and South Campus.
1.
Vehicular Priority
Pedestrian-Focused Core
Removed
Roadways
FIGURES 3 & 4
Campus diagram showing existing
(L) and proposed (R) roadways.
Summary Observations and Recommendations
9
Parking
OBSERVATIONS
Pedestrians are the largest and thus most important user group on campus.
The redistribution of parking to the periphery is still incomplete.
Parked cars have a disruptive ecological and aesthetic impact on the campus
landscape, particularly in the historic core, which was designed prior to the
invention of the automobile.
4. Vehicular traffic on campus is frequently in conflict with pedestrian safety.
1.
2.
3.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Reduce the presence of cars in the campus landscape in general and
especially in the historic core.
2. Reinforce the principle of pedestrian primacy through parking policies,
including the storage of vehicles mostly at the periphery of campus.
3. Create direct and safe links between parking areas and major campus
neighborhoods.
4. Discourage parking where parked cars create dangerous environments for
pedestrians by obstructing sightlines.
5. Improve the relationship between parking and wayfinding amenities in the
areas of campus where the public is regularly invited.
6. Maintain handicapped and visitor-only parking in front of Main Building.
7. Eliminate daily traffic and parking on non-essential thoroughfares, but
maintain sufficient width and appropriate paving so that they can be used for
emergency vehicles and special-events access for persons with disabilities.
8. Eliminate parking along the edges of Main Drive.
9. Compensate for the removal of parking along Main Drive through the
introduction of a second small-scale visitor lot near Main Gate.
1.
Accumulation of Small
Parking Areas
Consolidated Parking at
the Periphery
Existing Parking
Removed Parking
Proposed Parking
FIGURES 5 & 6
Campus diagram showing many
existing smaller lots in the campus
core (L) and fewer larger proposed
lots at the campus edges (R).
10
Wayfinding and Signage
OBSERVATIONS
The Vassar campus could be understood as a small town of loosely defined
neighborhoods without agreed-on names.
2. The current gate alignment is potentially confusing for visitors and
prospective students; since there is no one central gate used for both entering
and exiting, visitors and prospective students could become disoriented.
3. Over time, Vassar’s signage program has shifted to focus largely on vehicular
issues (traffic regulation, parking, and traffic conflicts).
4. In the absence of a pedestrian wayfinding program, visitors are often left to
walk on roads along the perimeter of campus landscapes.
1.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Conceive of wayfinding in the broadest possible way, seeking opportunities
to employ non-sign elements (landscape, lighting, publications, and visitor
services) to reduce the needs for signs on campus.
2. Reorient campus gates so that each serves a specific area of campus and
allows entry and exit from the same gate
3. Address both vehicular and pedestrian wayfinding through a new signage
program.
4. Encourage and support the pedestrian experience through a new wayfinding
program.
5. Acknowledge the need for new signage elements and hardware but make
them as modest as possible.
6. Develop wayfinding standards that integrate landscape, roadway, and path
design with sign messages and campus maps.
7. Develop a “kit of parts” that defines terms and messages, sign graphics, sign
hardware, and standards for sign locations and mounts.
8. Develop a phased program of signage and wayfinding improvements, building
incrementally and strategically toward a campuswide program that reflects
Vassar’s varied and eclectic campus.
1.
Multiple Access Points,
Restricted Movements
Fewer Gates,
Facilitated Movements
Existing Gate
Proposed Gate
FIGURES 7 & 8
Campus diagram showing
existing (L) and proposed (R)
major entrances.
Summary Observations and Recommendations
11
Ecology, Horticulture, and Experiencing
the Vassar Landscape
OBSERVATIONS
The Vassar landscape is as important as its architecture in creating the spatial experience of the
campus.
2. Many of Vassar’s most beloved traditions are centered on plants and trees.
3. The Vassar landscape is an important pedagogical tool and has always been used as such.
4. In the picturesque landscape tradition that shaped Vassar’s campus, evergreens play an
important role in shaping the space.
5. Vassar’s horticultural health is in decline and needs to be reinvigorated in ways that will improve
its long-term self-sufficiency.
6. The strongest elements of the campus landscape legacy are largely the products of its origins in
theories of the landscape picturesque.
7. The weakest points in the experience of the campus landscape are those where short-term
decision-making has eroded the original picturesque structure of the campus or where
horticultural health suffers from poor installation or maintenance.
8. Since the campus’ original plantings play an important role as landscape connectors, their erosion
has resulted in disjointed spaces.
1.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Reassert the fundamental importance of Vassar’s campus as a picturesque landscape that uses
plants to shape space, frame views, and guide pedestrian circulation.
2. Recognize the role that campus planting plays in interpreting Vassar’s history, supporting
its educational mission, and addressing its practical concerns as a contemporary institution
committed to developing a more sustainable campus.
3. Develop a connective network of landscape spaces through coordinated improvements to
planting and circulation.
4. Develop a strategy for identifying and prioritizing the eventual replanting of the existing mature
tree canopy.
5. Reinvigorate the evergreen allée along Main Drive.
6. Identify and prioritize zones that require comprehensive planting and soil remediation efforts.
7. Revive the horticultural health of campus through a rigorous landscape management plan that
includes planting protocols for correct species selection, planting techniques, and maintenance.
8. Identify areas of campus that are currently lawn and could be transformed into unmown
wildflower meadows to reduce maintenance burden and increase ecological diversity.
9. Create short- and long-term frameworks for planting that reinforce the historic structural and
spatial characteristics of the campus.
10. Create and maintain a rich array of plant ecosystems, teaching gardens, and water systems as
part of the college’s educational program.
11. Consult a landscape architect when making decisions regarding the addition or removal of
plantings as described above.
1.
Isolated Landscapes
FIGURES 9 & 10
Campus diagram showing
disjointed landscapes around the
campus core (L) and the proposed
landscape network (R).
12
Network of Landscapes
Stormwater Management
OBSERVATIONS
Vassar’s water systems, including Sunset Lake, Vassar Lake, Fonteyn
Kill, and Casperkill, are unhealthy and unsustainable without remedial
maintenance.
2. Past projects have addressed stormwater initiatives as isolated events
rather than as parts of a comprehensive whole.
3. Vassar has made recent efforts to promote natural drainage strategies
that are preferable for filtering sediment and pollution before it reaches
the water systems.
4. Natural drainage strategies are more effective at recharging groundwater.
5. Vassar is a largely permeable campus, with only a relatively small
percentage of its larger land holdings dedicated to impervious roadways
and parking lots.
1.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Consider potential impact to the ecological soundness of the landscape
and the health of campus hydrologic systems as new development and
maintenance strategies are considered.
2. Develop comprehensive plans for managing stormwater, including
treatment of surface runoff prior to discharge into campus water systems.
3. Implement natural drainage strategies wherever possible.
4. Rethink the area around Sunset Lake to better incorporate shade-giving
plants and riparian edge conditions in conjunction with natural drainage
strategies to significantly improve water quality and reduce maintenance
burdens.
5. Use standard paving systems that drain to permeable areas rather than
employing permeable paving, which is more expensive to maintain and less
functional in the long run.
1.
Faltering Stream Health
Improved Water Quality
Existing Direct
Discharge Points
Reduced Flow at
Discharge Point
Treatment
Landscape
FIGURES 11 & 12
Campus diagram showing
existing drainage discharge to
the campus water bodies (L) and
proposed reduction of discharge
quantities (R).
Summary Observations and Recommendations
13
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FIGURE 13
400’
KEY
Vehicular Network
Pedestrian Network
THE VASSAR CAMPUS TODAY
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200’
Alumnae House
Williams House
Bennett Gate
Josselyn House
North Parking Lot
Chicago Hall
Residential Quadrangle
Rockefeller Hall
Thompson Library
Main Gate
Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center
Chapel
Olmsted Hall
Shakespeare Garden
Academic Quad
Graduation Lawn
Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film
Frances D. Fergusson Quadrangle
Kautz Admission House
Main Building and College Center
Maria Mitchell Observatory
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Pinetum
Noyes Circle
Noyes House
Students’ Building
North Gate
Kenyon Hall
Wimpfheimer Nursery School
Blodgett Hall
Casperkill
Terrace Apartments
Ballentine Field
Walker Field House
Athletic and Fitness Center
Vassar Golf Course
Class of 1951 Observatory
Sunset Lake
Fonteyn Kill
Priscilla Bullitt Collins ‘42 Trail
Skinner Hall of Music
Greenhouses
South Parking Lot
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Buildings and Grounds
South Commons
New Hackensack
To Vassar Farm
Watson Houses
South Gate
Vassar Lake
Prentiss Fields
J.L. Weinberg Sports Pavilion
Town Houses
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19
20
45
17
16
61
53
44
15
43
39
u
e
14
e
n
8
56
5
38
40
v
e
60
C
3
26
6
55
11
9
59
g
l l
e
41
12
i e
w
A
v
7
4
o
42
13
48
10
u e
e n
A v
d
o n
y m
R a
46
57
47
49
58
58
v e
n u
e
2
e
n
50
A
v
52
r
51
H
o
o
k
e
C
o l
l e
g e
u
e
A
1
N
0’
FIGURE 14
400’
KEY
Vehicular Network
Pedestrian Network
THE VASSAR CAMPUS LONG­TERM VISION
1.
2.
3.
4.
5
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
200’
Alumnae House
Williams House
Bennett Gate
Josselyn House
North Parking Lot
Chicago Hall
Residential Quadrangle
Rockefeller Hall
Thompson Library
Main Gate
Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center
Chapel
Olmsted Hall
Shakespeare Garden
Academic Quad
Graduation Lawn
Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film
Frances D. Fergusson Quadrangle
Kautz Admission House
Main Building and College Center
Maria Mitchell Observatory
22.
23.
24.
25.
26
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
Pinetum
Noyes Circle
Noyes House
Students’ Building
North Gate
Kenyon Hall
Wimpfheimer Nursery School
Blodgett Hall
Casperkill
Terrace Apartments
Ballentine Field
Walker Field House
Athletic and Fitness Center
Vassar Golf Course
Class of 1951 Observatory
Sunset Lake
Fonteyn Kill
Priscilla Bullitt Collins ‘42 Trail
Skinner Hall of Music
Greenhouses
South Parking Lot
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53
53.
54
54.
55
55.
56
56.
57.
57
58.
58
59.
59
60.
60
61.
61
Buildings and Grounds
South Commons
New Hackensack
To Vassar Farm
Watson Houses
Chapel Gate
Vassar Lake
Prentiss Fields
J.L. Weinberg Sports Pavilion
Town Houses
Core Campus Pedestrian Zone
Blodgett Courtyard
Sciences Landscape
Sciences Building (Future)
South Gate
West Campus Connection
Kenyon Drive
Tennis Courts
Mudd Chemistry (Planned
Demolition)
62 Collegeview Gate
62.
2.0 Circulation
Systems
Reestablishing Pedestrian
Sovereignty
Like most American colleges founded before the automobile era,
the pedestrian-scaled Vassar campus has been gradually adapted
to the demands of vehicular access. The result has been a radical
transformation in which an extensive vehicular circulation system,
including a profusion of roadways and parking lots, has been forced
into a site originally meant to be a naturalistic, pedestrian-focused
landscape.
Almost a century after the introduction of the automobile
into American culture, it is clear that Vassar’s overall goal should be
to carefully accommodate the automobile in a pedestrian-oriented
campus, not vice versa. The numerous efficiencies of vehicular
transport do not compensate for the decline of the quality of life
on campus that results from an overly generous accommodation of
cars through the creation of roadways and associated hardscapes,
including parking lots, screening, turnarounds, and service areas.
The Master Plan critically examines the issues that pertain to
the efficient functioning of the campus circulation system and
proposes several recommendations that increase the efficiency of
the vehicular circulation on campus for staff, visitors, and students,
while simultaneously reasserting pedestrian sovereignty over
campus space.
17
1.1
A NEIGHBORHOOD CONCEPT FOR
WAYFINDING
The physical arrangement of the Vassar campus
resembles a small town composed of several very loosely
defined “neighborhoods.” Building on this nascent social
and physical structure, the Master Plan proposes to attach
names to each zone as a way of making the campus easier
to understand, describe, and navigate.
The “neighborhood” names offer three key benefits:
•
Existing landscape and use patterns are reinforced
by attaching names to areas that are already
intuitively understood to have common conditions,
access, and/or services.
•
Rather than a building-by-building approach to
wayfinding, the campus can first be understood
with respect to a set of “macro” destinations
that simplify maps, sign messages, and campus
directions.
•
Neighborhoods can be associated with related
entrances, parking, and destinations (e.g.,
the South Gate with the South Campus and
its parking). This naming system supports the
circulation goals envisioned by the Master Plan,
helping to direct cars to the north and south
parking areas and thereby reducing vehicular
traffic in the central campus.
1.2 VEHICULAR NETWORK
A. EXISTING CONDITIONS
Vehicles access the Vassar campus mainly from Raymond
Avenue and through Main Gate. Once through the gate,
visitors, staff, and students are directed to parking
areas located primarily on the periphery of the core
campus. The network of roadways on the campus is nonhierarchical, making all roads open to all types of means
of transportation (cars, delivery, service, and emergency
vehicles). There are now thirty-seven parking areas in
18
the historic core. As a result, more often than not, views
across open spaces and to the buildings are interrupted
by parked cars or by plantings installed to screen parking
areas and are out of character with the rest of the campus
landscape. Finally, there are conflicts between pedestrian,
service, and car circulation, often resulting in inefficient
and unsafe conditions.
B. PROPOSED VEHICULAR CIRCULATION
The Master Plan proposes a new hierarchy of roadway
typologies that will both clarify circulation patterns
and drastically reduce the presence of the automobile
at the core without diminishing emergency and service
access to all necessary points. Parking is consolidated
into expanded lots on the north and south boundaries of
the campus, in close proximity to public roadways. The
proposed circulation plan achieves the following:
•
Sufficient parking for visitors, staff, and students
•
Access for staff in maintenance vehicles
•
Access for emergency vehicles (fire and life safety)
•
Maintaining vehicular access to Baldwin and Main
Building service areas
•
Consolidating all service and staff access to the
campus at the peripheral gateways, reserving Main
Gate for visitors
•
A new visitor parking lot for everyday needs
immediately inside the Main Gate
•
Preservation of the taxi drop-off at Main Building
1.3 PEDESTRIAN NETWORK
A. EXISTING CONDITIONS
The existing network of paths at Vassar needs to be
reconsidered. The experience of many pedestrian routes
is compromised as the result of close proximity to parking
and vehicles. Others are too narrow to accommodate
pedestrians, bicycles, or maintenance vehicles, resulting
in maintenance problems and unsightly pavement/grass
edges worn from overuse.
B. PROPOSED PEDESTRIAN CIRCULATION
Improving the ease and enjoyment of the daily movements
of students, staff, and visitors is essential to the success
of a campus by reasserting the importance of pedestrian
engagement with the landscape while unobtrusively
providing automobile and service access. The Master
Plan prioritizes pedestrian movement through the core
campus landscape without compromising key service and
emergency access needs (see pages 24-27). For instance,
the areas around Main Building would be accessible to
delivery and emergency vehicles, but would be off-limits
to normal vehicular traffic. During special events, these
areas could also be used to provide access for persons
with disabilities. A broad range of targeted landscape
recommendations combine to advance a general goal of
reclaiming the campus as a pedestrian space. Specific
aspects of the plan include:
Efficient, safe, and enjoyable pedestrian
•
connections between buildings and landscape
destinations
•
Reduced conflicts among maintenance vehicles,
personal vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians
•
A circulation network that provides direct and
necessary routes as well as meandering and
scenic ones
•
Elimination of parked cars and the division of
paved paths into separate roadway and sidewalk
areas around the north, east, and south sides of
Main Building
•
Improvement of landscape continuity and
experience by removal of redundant pedestrian
paths, particularly in the residential quad;
introduction of connections to Students’
Building, Noyes Hall, and Kenyon Hall
FIGURE 15
View looking
toward Old
Laundry Building
from Main Campus
Drive (2009)
1.4 THE EXPANDED CORE
The core of Vassar has grown beyond the boundaries
initially established by its major water bodies. To the
east of Casperkill are student apartments, athletic
facilities, and parking. To the south, beyond Fonteyn
Kill, are academic spaces, the Buildings and Grounds
headquarters, student housing, and a major parking area
(South Lot). To the west, across Vassar Lake, are Prentiss
Fields and faculty and student housing. Surveys of the
site and interviews with various campus user groups have
confirmed that the safety of the path connections to these
peripheral areas can and should be improved by managing
bike, pedestrian, and maintenance vehicle conflicts.
If and when Vassar decides to construct new
buildings, these relatively open areas would logically be
among the first to be considered. An essential component
of planning for the future of the campus will be to create
significant improvements in the quality, accessibility,
safety, and beauty of these peripheral connections. These
improved connections will become increasingly important
as substantial amounts of parking are moved to peripheral
areas to improve the experience of moving through the
central campus.
Circulation Systems
19
EAST CAMPUS
NORTH CAMPUS
SOUTH CAMPUS
O
H
.
A V E
C O
L L
E G
E
A V
E .
D
M O N
R A Y
O
K
E
R
AV
E
C O
L L
E G
E V
I E
W
.
A V
E .
CENTRAL CAMPUS
WEST CAMPUS
FIGURE 16
The Vassar campus has
extended beyond the natural
boundaries of Fonteyn Kill
and Casperkill to form a
group of loosely defined
campus neighborhoods
1.5 WAYFINDING
Visitors need the confidence of knowing where they
are, where they are going, and how to get back. They
seek clear information from signs and printed material,
from other people, from the physical character of roads
and paths, and from the landscape itself. Improving
wayfinding signals at Vassar requires creating an
integrated set of resources, including lighting, signs,
visitor services, information programs, and publications
that respect Vassar’s rich environment, varied building
stock, and deeply rooted regard for the landscape.
CONCEPTS
From the standpoint of a visitor, Vassar functions as a
small town with inadequate addresses: there are few
names for neighborhoods, streets, and parking lots.
Lacking a “hierarchy” of place names, visitors
are unable to break up their wayfinding into sequential
decisions, from finding a district to finding a specific
building. Without signposts at a scale larger than that of
buildings, it is difficult to provide or follow directions.
Vassar needs to expand its vocabulary of campus
20
names and addresses, both to identify things that are
currently unmarked and to provide a hierarchy of terms
that breaks the campus into more manageable sections.
These new addresses can provide campus users with
information at the moment they need to use it.
NEIGHBORHOOD NAMES
The Master Plan recommends names for five official
neighborhoods. In part, these districts are already
intuitively understood by the Vassar community, since
they relate to campus topography, gates, and circulation
patterns.
•
Central Campus: The areas surrounding Main
Building, bounded at the south and east by water
bodies (Fonteyn Kill, Casperkill, and Sunset Lake).
•
North Campus: The areas adjacent to Collegeview
Avenue (extending to Blodgett Hall and Kenyon
Hall), including the residential quad and the north
parking lot.
•
South Campus: The areas south of Fonteyn Kill,
including Skinner Hall, the Buildings and Grounds
complex, South Commons residences, and the
south parking lot.
•
East Campus: The areas north of Casperkill and
Sunset Lake, including the Terrace Apartments,
fitness center and field house, golf course, and
observatory.
•
West Campus: The areas west of Vassar Lake,
including the Town Houses, Weinberg Field Sports
Pavilion, and Prentiss Fields.
These neighborhoods include most destinations at Vassar,
and they correspond generally both to a traveler’s decision
points on roadways, pedestrian paths, and parking
facilities.
Destinations outside these regions are mostly
reached using Arlington’s network of named streets
(instead of interior campus roads). Included in this group
are Alumnae House, the houses on the west side of
Raymond Avenue, the Watson faculty houses, and Vassar
Farm. In a fully implemented wayfinding program, these
sites will benefit from better street and address signage—
and from their adjacency to well-identified campus gates.
Both factors make it easier to provide directions to these
sites and for map users to envision their route along a
sequence of well-marked checkpoints.
BENEFITS OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD
NAMING STRATEGY
1. It reflects the expanded field of the modern
Vassar campus by describing outlying zones
by their relationship to the historic core. The
existing campus discontinuity stems from a
sense that Vassar has a gated central campus
with several satellite centers. That image
must be revised to envision the campus more
comprehensively as adjacent neighborhoods,
spanning Raymond Avenue and the kills, knit
together in many places and ways.
2. It clarifies existing patterns of activity and
circulation, attaching names to areas already
intuitively understood to have common
conditions, access, or services. The east and
west areas, for example, are already well
understood as places that combine athletic
facilities with townhouse residences.
3. It provides a means to deliver wayfinding
information in a strategic sequence: just enough
information at each decision point, just at the
moment when a user or direction-giver needs to
take appropriate action.
4. It associates neighborhood names with related
entrances, parking, and destinations that
supports the circulation goals envisioned by
the landscape plan, helping to direct cars to the
north and south parking areas and reduce traffic
in the central campus.
These recommendations will provide a way of
understanding, and talking about, the campus as a
composite of five different areas, each with some
distinct aspect: access routes, entry gates, parking,
landscape character, buildings, and activities.
Circulation Systems
21
1
MANCHESTER GATE
C E M E T E R Y
2
E
.
A V
E .
NORTH GATE
MAIN GATE
AV
R
E
K
BUILDINGS &
GROUNDS
O
4
O
3
C O
L L
E G
E
A V
E .
D
M O N
R A Y
.
A V E
5
H
C O
L L
E G
E V
I E
W
SOUTH GATE
N
0’
EXISTING CAMPUS GATE STRATEGY
The current system of five primary campus gates reflects
the evolution of a campus originally focused on a single
gate. Rather than restructure places of arrival to reflect
growth, entrances were added on an as-needed basis as
the College expanded. This has resulted in a somewhat
confusing experience for visitors and prospective students
because they often don’t leave through the gate they
entered.
Manchester Gate is primarily used by students
and faculty already familiar with the campus while also
serving as the preferred access point for emergency
vehicles.
North Gate, now a primary exit, does not work well
as a campus entrance. Its location and landscape context
make it seem like a “back door” to the campus, despite its
importance as a route to visitor and event parking, Kenyon
Hall, and the east athletic facilities.
Main Gate, once used for arrivals and departures,
is now a one-way entrance, with drivers routed to exit
at Collegeview Avenue via the North Gate. That forces
22
200’
400’
FIGURE 17
visiting drivers to depart in an unfamiliar place, and it
pushes visitor activity to an unwelcoming zone.
The current South Gate (near the Chapel)
functions as an alternate route to the central campus,
serving familiar users by day and some special events in
the evenings and on weekends.
Finally, campus development has drawn new
activity to the south campus, elevating the importance
of the poorly marked (and confusing) entrance near
Skinner Hall and the south lot, here labeled Buildings and
Grounds.
1
MANCHESTER GATE
C E M E T E R Y
2
.
R
E
K
O
SOUTH GATE
AV
E
3
5
O
4
.
A V E
6
MAIN GATE
H
D
M O N
R A Y
CHAPEL GATE
NORTH GATE
(Class of 1963)
C O
L L
E G
E
A V
E .
C O
L L
E G
E V
I E
W
A V
E .
COLLEGEVIEW GATE
KEY
Primary Gates
Secondary and/or
Restricted Access
N
0’
PROPOSED CAMPUS GATE STRATEGY
The proposed gate strategy provides a new and obvious
logic for campus entries, with the major public gates
arrayed in sequence along Raymond Avenue. The gates
provide a logical sequence to serve specific campus
neighborhoods and services, and to allow nearly all visitors
to arrive and depart at the same gate. This arrangement
also reinforces the more active North Campus circulation
proposed by the Master Plan, providing a highly visible
North Gate and enhancing the arrival experience in this
increasingly important zone.
Manchester Gate will continue to serve as an
entrance for students and faculty, athletic facilities, and
the golf course, and as the primary emergency vehicle
point of access.
The Master Plan proposes relocating the Class
of 1963 North Gate to Raymond Avenue, with a new
entrance road aligned with the traffic circle. The existing
north gate (renamed Collegeview Gate) would be primarily
used for service access (see page 61 for additional
information).
200’
400’
FIGURE 18
The existing South Gate would be renamed
Chapel Gate, referring to the adjacent iconic building and
reflecting the reduced activity anticipated by the proposed
circulation plan. Only service and emergency vehicles
would be permitted to use this gate.
The name South Gate would be transferred to the
entrance near Skinner Hall, providing a proper name for
this increasingly important entrance, and linking the gate
name to the neighborhood and parking that it serves.
Main Gate would remain the primary entry for all
first-time visitors. The value of this symbolic entrance to
the campus is extremely important to maintain.
Circulation Systems
23
S
P
S
P
P
P
P
S
P
P
S
P
P
S
S P
S
P
P
S
P
P
P
S
S
S
P
S
P
P
P
P
S
S
P
P
P
S
P
S
S
P
P
P
P
S
P
P
S
P S
P
P
P
S
P S
P
P
P
P
P
N
0’
EXISTING VEHICULAR NETWORK
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
24
An extensive roadway and parking system at the
center of campus serves a relatively small number
of visitors and staff.
Most of the student and staff parking is located at
the periphery.
Cross-campus views of many of the buildings of
central campus are obscured by parked cars, or
plantings that have been installed to block the
sight of parked cars.
Despite the density of uses emerging in South
Campus, pedestrian connections to this
neighborhood are not well developed.
Visitors enter through Main Gate but are directed
to an exit that is on a different road and has a
different orientation.
Without a clear roadway hierarchy, all roads are
open to all types of vehicles (students, staff,
service, deliveries, etc.).
The total number of existing parking spaces is
1,551. (See page 68 for breakdown of existing
parking spaces by lot and type).
200’
FIGURE 19
KEY
Existing Roadway:
No Vehicle Restrictions
P
Parking Area
S
Service Drop-off Zones
400’
P S
P
P
P
S
P
S
P
P
S
S
P
S
S
S
S
P
P
S
S
S
P
P
P
S
P
S
P
P
S
P
S
P
S
S
S
P
S
P
S
S
P
P
P
P
N
0’
PROPOSED VEHICULAR NETWORK
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
A new system of roadway typologies dramatically
limits the presence of vehicles in the Central
Campus.
In some places, traditional roadways are transformed
into wide pedestrian pathways that accommodate
maintenance and emergency vehicle use.
Visitor vehicles and casual drivers have much more
limited access to the campus.
Reducing the number of cars and removing buffer
planting will open up views through the campus.
New parking areas integrate an ecological approach
to stormwater management.
Smaller parking areas at the campus core are
shifted to the periphery to improve the pedestrian
experience.
Parking spaces in the north lot are reconfigured to
allow a landscape connection from the residential
quadrangle to Fairmont Avenue and the Arlington
Business District.
The total number of proposed parking spaces is
1,566. (See page 69 for breakdown of proposed
parking spaces by lot and type).
200’
400’
FIGURE 20
KEY
“Type A” Roadway:
No Vehicle Restrictions
“Type B” Route:
Emergency/Service/ADA vehicles
only (routes shared with pedestrians)
“Type C” Route:
Maintenance Carts Only
(routes shared with pedestrians)
Proposed Parking
P
Parking Area
S
Service Drop-off Zones
Circulation Systems
25
5
1
1
2
2
3
4
N
0’
EXISTING PEDESTRIAN NETWORK
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
26
Even though multiple pathways converge at these
points, pedestrians approaching Main Building
must pass between parked cars and active
roadways to reach their destination.
There are no accessible routes between Central
Campus and South Campus, forcing students with
disabilities to use Raymond Avenue or campus
shuttles.
Redundant pathways in the Residential Quad
fragment the space and discourage recreational
use of the lawn.
The single path connecting the Town Houses and
Prentiss Field to Central Campus is narrow and
bleak.
Poorly sited parking areas and the alignment of
Kenyon Drive limit safe and pleasant connections
to North Campus, despite attempts to improve its
integration through recent renovations to Kenyon
Hall and Wimpfheimer Nursery School.
200’
FIGURE 21
KEY
Existing Pedestrian Path
Informal, Frequently Used Path
Existing Road Network
Pedestrian Crossing
Pedestrian/Vehicle Conflict
Pedestrian/Maintenance
Vehicle Conflict
400’
3
4
1
1
2
2
5
N
0’
PROPOSED PEDESTRIAN NETWORK
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
By reducing the number of cars near Main Building,
circulation around, to, and from the building more
appropriately prioritizes pedestrian use.
Primary circulation pathways create links between
Central Campus and South Campus.
A new landscape around Blodgett Hall and
Wimpfheimer Nursery School improves pedestrian
and recreational uses.
Improvements to Kenyon Drive give the Vassar
community a safe and memorable passage along
the campus edge.
Additional pathways at the edge and across Vassar
Lake create other links between Central Campus,
the Town Houses, and Prentiss Fields.
200’
400’
FIGURE 22
KEY
Existing Pedestrian Path to Remain
Existing Pedestrian Path to Be Removed
Proposed Accessible Pedestrian Path
Proposed Pedestrian Path
Proposed Road Network
Pedestrian Crossing
Pedestrian/Vehicle Conflict
Pedestrian/Maintenance Vehicle Conflict
Circulation Systems
27
FIGURE 23
EXISTING LANDSCAPE ADJACENT TO MAIN BUILDING
The vehicular loop road around Main Building has created the
need for pathways to separate pedestrian and vehicular uses.
FIGURE 24
PROPOSED LANDSCAPE ADJACENT TO MAIN BUILDING
The proposed loop at Main Building is a primarily pedestrian
route that will also accommodate emergency and service
vehicles; this eliminates the need for redundant paving
systems. Vehicular circulation for students and staff will no
longer be permitted in this zone.
28
FIGURE 25
KEY PLAN
Circulation Systems
29
FIGURE 26
EXISTING RESIDENTIAL QUAD LANDSCAPE
The rigid geometry of the Residential Quad
pathways unnecessarily fragments the space,
making it difficult for students to use as a
recreational space.
30
FIGURE 27
PROPOSED RESIDENTIAL QUAD LANDSCAPE
A simplified path layout responds to critical
circulation movements while opening up the
central lawn space for recreational use.
FIGURE 28
KEY PLAN
Circulation Systems
31
2.0 Planting Systems
Planting an Ecologically
Healthy Campus
Plants and trees permeate the traditions of Vassar
College, from the rite of passage of the graduation
Daisy Chain to the planting of the Class Tree. Treasured
by students, faculty, staff, and alumnae/i, the campus
landscape as a whole is the backdrop against which the
daily and ceremonial life of the campus unfolds.
Over the years, Vassar has demonstrated support
for the campus landscape by dedicating resources
for upkeep and improvements, as evidenced by many
successful plant communities and magnificent specimen
trees. However, the campus also features many unhealthy
and unsightly situations for plants; the longevity of
important specimens and communities is endangered.
The combined effect of the initiatives
recommended on the following pages will allow the Vassar
College planted landscape to operate as an ecologically
healthy system, with a priority placed on appropriate
upkeep and maintenance, and simultaneous improvements
in beauty, usefulness, and ecological vigor. Achieving this
goal will require a Buildings and Grounds commitment
to new protocols for planting decisions, as well as new
standards governing the installation and ongoing care of
campus plantings.
33
FIGURE 29
View looking west
toward Thompson
Library from Main
Building
2.1 UNITY, VARIETY, AND HARMONY:
PLANTING THE LARGE­SCALE
PICTURESQUE LANDSCAPE
Vassar’s campus plantings reflect Matthew Vassar’s
interest in the picturesque theories of Andrew Jackson
Downing. (The two men were acquainted; Downing
designed Vassar’s country estate). The picturesque
display of evergreens that defines the lawn in front of Main
Building and elsewhere is just one example of Vassar’s
enduring influence on the campus landscape.
The campus’ evolution into an episodic landscape
that mediates between vastly different architectural
styles requires a nuanced and informed approach to
the introduction of planting. Given the importance of
Downing’s influence in the initial development of the
campus, his description of the picturesque landscape
ideal is perhaps the best model to follow: “If unity only
were consulted, a scene might be planted with but one
kind of tree, the effect of which would be sameness; on
the other hand, variety might be carried so far as to have
every tree of a different kind, which would produce a
confused effect. Harmony, however, introduces contrast
34
and variety, but keeps them subordinate to unity.” As this
applies to Vassar’s planting, the goal should be a varied
landscape that seamlessly mediates varied circulation and
architectural systems, not a uniform landscape strategy
applied regardless of location or an entirely customized
approach, determined solely by immediate architectural or
other adjacencies.
As indicated by the findings of the fall 2006
Save-a-Tree Assessment Plan, one of Vassar’s most
urgent concerns is the development of a strategy for
replacing trees as the campus landscape ages. Given the
complexities of scale discrepancies and shade/sunlight
variations between older and newer specimen plantings,
replacement and removal plans will necessitate strategic
thinking to better strengthen the picturesque landscape.
To the degree possible, Vassar should be proactive in
developing an approach that anticipates the need for
replacement—and in some cases removal—rather than
simply responding on a case-by-case basis to the loss of
an important specimen or stand of trees.
The task of selecting and siting new trees for
the campus is complex and in most cases should involve
consultation with a landscape architect. The legibility of
the picturesque landscape has been weakened in many
campus areas as a result of planting missteps in tree
selection, scale, and location. For instance, low-branching
evergreens with strong winter presence have been replaced
by high-branched deciduous trees along Main Drive. Also,
certain tree groupings—for instance, the low-branched
multi-stemmed Japanese maples at the center of the
Residential Quad—work against the spatial arrangement
of the landscape in which they are located. The gradual
evolution of contemporary uses of the campus has also
resulted in single-purpose planting approaches that
have unintended consequences for the larger landscape.
For example, many efforts to minimize the visibility of
automobiles and loading areas have had the effect of
blocking important sightlines through campus.
MAIN DRIVE
Given its importance in shaping iconic first impressions
of Vassar, the spatial configuration of Main Drive should
be preserved with the same care as the architecture
of Main Building. Regarded by many as providing the
quintessential Vassar moment, the approach along Main
Drive was originally framed by large evergreens in a
dramatic, axially symmetrical ensemble of ground plane,
sky, trees, and architectural destination. The scale of a
human figure in the landscape contrasted dramatically
and effectively with the large-scale order of the landscape
elements. Although many of the important elements are
still in place today, the contemporary experience of Main
Drive has been diminished by the introduction of a double
row of parked cars, which reduces the perceived size of
the roadway, creates an asymmetrical assemblage of color
and form, and clutters the relationship of parts. Special
consideration needs to be given to sustaining the health
of the tree planting along Main Drive while ensuring that
future planting efforts uphold the experiential impact these
plantings have on the arrival experience.
PICTURESQUE LANDSCAPE VS. SINGLE­
PURPOSE PLANTINGS
Beyond the axial approach to Main Building, Vassar’s
campus is representative of a distinctively American
preoccupation with striking a balance that preserves the
illusion of nature in a cultivated architectural setting.
Affection for nature’s irregularities alongside a human
desire to orchestrate them to better effect is characteristic
of this picturesque landscape sensibility as described
by Andrew Jackson Downing. Picturesque plantings—
particularly evergreens, with their distinctive pointed
profile and dense silhouette—would be deployed across the
campus, framing views and directing circulation. Given this
history and the importance of planting to the experience of
Vassar, decisions about locating plants must be carefully
considered with respect to the landscape as a whole rather
than in response to a strictly local condition. In some cases,
this will include the decision not to plant. For instance, in
several locations on campus, plantings designed to buffer
the visual impact of unsightly conditions, such as parked
cars or service entrances, have had the unfortunate effect
of drawing attention to the very thing they were meant to
obscure. In addition, the introduction of hedges around
gathering spaces such as those near College Center is in
conflict with circulation desire lines.
FIGURE 30
Parked cars and unnecessary signage
make Main Drive feel cluttered,
compromising the intended effect of the
ceremonial axis.
FIGURE 31
The center of the axis is cleared of
cars and signage and the vertical
evergreen frame is fortified with new
underplantings.
Planting Systems
35
DECLINE IN HEALTH AND VIGOR OF
VASSAR’S EVERGREEN POPULATION
Three parasites are presently attacking most campus
hemlocks, including wooly adelgid, mites, and elongate
hemlock scale. Controlling these parasites will require
substantial and continued resources that may be better
used elsewhere on campus. It is very possible that some
of these hemlocks may never regain their health and
should be considered for removal. As replacement trees
are considered, emphasis should be placed on selecting
species that are both disease resistant and evergreen
to support the long-term vitality of Vassar’s picturesque
landscape.
2.2 VASSAR’S TRADITION OF FLOWERS
AND THE SMALL­SCALE LANDSCAPE
Many of the landscape rituals practiced at Vassar—Class
Tree ceremonies, the Daisy Chain, as well as the everyday
cultivation of flowers and produce—have resulted in
distinctive and beautiful areas of campus that show how
students played a role in shaping their environment and
FIGURE 32
Perimeter gardens
and walking path
at Noyes Circle
(formerly called
Athletic Circle)
36
the campus played a role in shaping their education. These
intimately scaled floral displays and garden spaces have a
potential contemporary value in landscape design, but the
educational and social traditions that imbue these spaces
with meaning, along with the student effort that made
them financially viable, have diminished over time.
To preserve and improve areas of campus such
as Noyes Circle and Main Circle as a living record of
landscape design and the tangible legacy of Vassar’s
founding educational ideals, it will be necessary to
reassess the economic and facilitative strategies that
help maintain Vassar’s flowers. In addition to developing
strategies for reducing costs, a commitment to
maintaining this element of Vassar’s legacy will require
rethinking how students can be involved in campus
planting and maintenance to augment Buildings and
Grounds’ efforts through educational or volunteer projects.
The value of landscape as a teaching tool has been
reiterated in initiatives such as the Edith Roberts’ Native
Plant Garden in the 1930’s, the collaboration of English
and Botany students in the creation of the Shakespeare
Garden in 1916 and its successive renovations, and the
FIGURE 33
Admissions House landscape showing difference in
tree health as a result of different soil biologies
construction of the Molly S. Drysdale Outdoor Classroom
and the Priscilla Bullit Collins ’42 Trail. Vassar students
have historically shaped their surroundings by designating
places within the landscape for play, performance, study,
research, and escape, by planting Class Trees, by learning
to work on the farm and, perhaps most notably, by the
creation of the Class of 1875 Arboretum in 1931, which
has become a legacy of the College.
NOYES CIRCLE
Reassessing the continuation of annual and perennial
planting in Noyes Circle not only raises the question of
preserving the aesthetic of a historic site but also allows
for discussion of how planting traditions strengthened the
educational mission of the school and how those original
relationships between student and landscape might be
reintroduced and reconceived for contemporary and future
maintenance schemes.
Prior to the introduction of Noyes House, the
circle was referred to as Athletic Circle, a stand-alone
landscape that provided a setting for organized exercise
and gardening as a form of recreation and education. The
low, complex perennial and annual plantings adjacent
to the walkway accented the open center, making it feel
distinctive. The dense planting has since thinned—in
some cases overwhelmed by invasive species—creating
a more variable edge and eroding the sense of a circular
enclosure. Similarly, the absence of a distinctive
continuous circular pathway has diminished the formal
integrity of the space.
Noyes Circle has evolved away from its ideal
historic landscape expression, without a clear sense
of what it is evolving into. Currently a field for Ultimate
Frisbee and softball games, the dilapidated space reflects
a lack of defined use, whether for exercise, environmental
education, or recreational gardening. Improvements
to Noyes Circle, either incremental or comprehensive,
should be guided by distinct aspirations about how the
space should be experienced, the programmatic role that
it can or should be playing in the campus landscape, and
its history as a social center and pedagogical tool around
which multiple elements of Vassar’s educational mission
were organized.
MAIN CIRCLE
As one of the original circles in Vassar’s campus plan, Main
Circle is by far the most public and visible. As the focal point
of the Main Gate entry drive, Main Circle is the initial point
of arrival on campus and helps to mark Main Building as the
center of campus life. It welcomes visitors and announces
the affinity the Vassar community has for its landscape. The
rotation of plants—fall cabbages and spring tulips—marks
the seasons for students and faculty.
For much of its history, the circle was a simple open
lawn accented with minimal ivy or hedges. Over the years, it
was regularly transformed in response to the ever-changing
entrance to Main Building: a large addition was added
then removed, and traffic needs evolved with increasing
automobile use. However, as the extent of the beds and
plant palettes have developed, growing more robust and
varied in recent decades, their cultural symbolism has
likewise expanded. Today, Main Circle is a highly valued
piece of Vassar’s landscape and serves an important role as
a welcoming center for the face of the College.
Planting Systems
37
FIGURE 34
Tree trunks
damaged from
lawn maintenance
vehicles are more
susceptible to
disease and insect
infestation
FIGURE 35
Recently installed
bike racks near
College Center
have created soil
compaction at the
base of this mature
magnolia tree
2.3 ECOLOGICAL HEALTH
Although Vassar commits significant resources to the care
and upkeep of the landscape, its longevity as a whole has
been compromised by certain planting and maintenance
practices. The root balls of several recently planted trees
have been placed too deep in the soil, compromising their
long-term health. Likewise, many new trees are stunted in
their growth or are suffering from salt damage because they
were planted adjacent to pathways aggressively salted in the
winter.
There are many reasons to be hopeful that Vassar
can reverse the current planting problems and that these
problems will be neither difficult nor particularly costly to
correct. The health of certain sensitive species such as the
magnificent specimen beeches is very good, which indicates
that the primarily sandy loam soils remain in good condition.
In addition, the beeches’ low-branching structure provides
an effective guard against extensive pedestrian or vehicular
traffic in their root zone. This lessens the incidence of soil
compaction and the potential for physical damage, allowing
for the establishment of proper soil conditions around tree
bases, including a generous zone free from lawn. Similarly,
simple steps can be taken to eliminate lawn areas around
certain trees that have suffered as a result of conflicts
between lawn maintenance and the soil conditions that
certain trees need to prosper. The most straightforward
way to address these issues would be to institute a new
methodology for future tree and plant selection, placement,
and maintenance, one that enhances and supports the
plants as well as the unique qualities of the campus. To be
sucessful, any such methodology would need to include
several broad areas of concern described below.
38
PLANTING TECHNIQUES AND MAINTENANCE
Along with matching the right species with the right
location, the longevity of newly planted trees on campus
is best ensured by insisting on strict adherence to proper
selection and installation methods. The College should
continue to consult with a landscape architect and the
campus horticulturist to review proposed planting projects
for appropriate species selection. Trees should be chosen
at a nursery with the landscape architect rather than
the landscape contractor. Nursery trees should be free
of insects and disease, trunk wounds, deer damage,
and girdling roots, and should have correct branching
structure.
The effects of planting a tree too deep are not
usually immediately visible; several years may pass before
the problems become evident in things like the appearance
of adventitious root systems near the soil surface.
Developed by the tree as an attempt to compensate for
the lack of oxygen available to the primary root system,
adventitious roots are so close to the surface that they
provide little structural support and are more sensitive to
periods of extreme cold and/or drought. The appearance
of girdling roots is another indication of improper planting,
depth, which can cut off water and nutrient supply.
Trees with girdling roots should not be selected from the
nursery, and these roots should be removed from already
planted trees to ensure the longevity and full growth
potential of the tree.
In many instances the tree’s “root flare” is set
below grade instead of slightly above grade (see page 70
for proper planting depths). This creates a condition in
which part of the trunk is in direct contact with the soil;
this can lead to trunk decay and increased susceptibility
to borers and fungi. Extra care should be taken when
using maintenance equipment around existing and newly
planted trees. Even above the soil line, bark damage can
cause trunk decay and disease.
LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE
Paths not adequately sized to handle the volume and
type of traffic present (pedestrian, bicycle, vehicular,
maintenance, etc.) have led to situations in which the
traffic bleeds beyond the path edge, destroying the lawn
and contributing to soil compaction.
One of the important goals of the Master Plan
circulation recommendations is to replace multiple small
paths with fewer, adequately wide pathways that would
allow maintenance vehicles to travel along pathways
instead of across lawn areas and beneath tree canopies.
This would help alleviate the soil compaction caused
from maintenance vehicles, but for these efforts to be
successful, there needs to be a clear understanding
that these vehicles are restricted to pathways and not
permitted to drive on lawn areas or around trees.
SOIL COMPACTION
Soil compaction obstructs the oxygen exchange
between soils and tree root systems, and it results in
stunted growth, dieback, girdling roots, susceptibility to
windthrow, and reduced longevity. If the soil is compacted
enough to prevent proper drainage, de-icing salts will be
present in higher concentrations when trees come out of
winter dormancy, exacerbating the deleterious effects of
salts on tree health. Though there are some techniques
that can be used to help remediate already compacted
soil, Vassar’s larger goal should be to create a healthy
soil biology that is more resistant to compaction, by, for
instance, using properly designed soil profiles in high-use
areas or by infusing the soil with a healthy and supportive
microbiolgical community of insects, protozoa, bacteria,
and fungi.
CONSTRUCTION­RELATED SOIL
COMPACTION
Regardless of the size of the project, construction staging
areas need to be strictly defined to limit the impact of soil
compaction on nearby trees and lawns. Vassar should
engage a landscape architect to help plan site preparation
and landscape protection measures before the start of
projects. Robust tree protection fences and/or other
site preparation measures should be in place before
construction, be carefully monitored during construction,
and remain in place until the completion of work. All
these methods will help prevent soil compaction during
construction and limit the need for post-construction
landscape repairs and soil remediation.
LEAF LITTER AND SOIL BIOLOGY
The appearance of mature trees is often a good
indicator of the overall health of the tree and the
adjacent soil conditions. Trees rely heavily on the
surface decomposition of leaves and needles to create
optimal soil conditions for nutrient uptake and growth.
The decomposition process also helps promote the
symbiotic relationship of beneficial fungi and tree roots,
creating the working soil system found in nature. The low
branches of many of the beech trees on campus have
helped maintain a protective zone around tree trunk and
canopy that prevents the removal of leaf litter and allows
decomposition to take place.
The group of low-branched concolor firs (Figure
33) are in a relatively healthy state. Similar to those on the
beech tree, the lower branches on the firs help to preserve
needle drop zones and prevent maintenance equipment
from getting too close to the trunk. In contrast, the highbranched evergreens on the right side of Figure 33 have
routinely had their “natural” organic layer of soil removed
from around their base, and this, over time, has led to
canopy dieback and an overall decline in tree health.
COMPOST TEAS AND SUSTAINABLE SOILS
Nutrient levels and microbial activity in soils are an integral
part of an ecologically healthy planting system. Achieving an
optimum balance of the beneficial bacteria, fungi, protozoa,
and nematodes that make up this biological activity would
go a long way toward improving the overall soil structure of
many areas on Vassar’s campus.
Compost teas—liquids made by leaching soluble
nutrients and extracting beneficial organisms from compost
material—can be applied to plants and soils to stimulate
biological activity, promote root growth, improve soil
structure, and make nutrients more available to plants, thus
reducing the need for expensive fertilizers and pesticides.
Recent studies at other colleges and universities have shown
that lawn areas treated with compost teas require less
frequent mowing because the lack of excess nitrogen in the
soil (excess nitrogen is often the result of synthetic fertilizer
applications) slows plant growth. Other benefits of compost
tea applications and healthy soil structure include deeper
root growth, a reduced need for maintenance, and better
water retention.
Vassar should work with an organic tree and soil
care expert to identify and study soil zones suffering from
biological inactivity. These zones should then be ranked
in order of priority and treated to reinvigorate healthy
soil structure. If the initial study reveals that soil “dead
zones” are widespread, Vassar should consider investing in
equipment for compost tea brewing. The long-term benefits
and economic savings would far outweigh the substantial
up-front investment required. This would also require some
specialized training of Vassar’s Grounds Maintenance
personnel.
RECOGNIZING DECISIONS THAT AFFECT TREE
HEALTH
Many seemingly unrelated decisions can affect the health of
campus trees. For instance, the layout of site furniture needs
to respond to existing adjacencies. Pedestrian foot traffic
is considerably more intense around bicycle racks and litter
receptacles, and can cause serious soil compaction. Bicycle
racks should not be installed within existing tree drip lines,
since the necessary excavation can harm tree roots, and the
increased foot traffic associated with the racks can compact
the soil.
Planting Systems
39
3.0 Water Systems
Water as Landscape
Experience and Program
Vassar Lake (formerly Mill Cove Lake), Fonteyn Kill,
and Casperkill are all important water bodies that were
instrumental to choosing the site for Vassar College. In
addition to providing water for practical uses, the irregular
forms and native vegetation of these natural water
systems contributed to the variety of landscape spaces
and interaction with nature that was the hallmark of the
landscape picturesque. Pathways around the lake, with
views to and crossing Fonteyn Kill and Casperkill, became
critical elements in experiencing the campus landscape. In
the early decades of the College, Raymond Avenue was a
narrow, infrequently used road easily crossed to reach the
paths around Vassar Lake.
In addition to the role that these pathways played
in a student’s completion of her required daily exercise
regime, additional programmatic uses of the lake included
boating in spring and fall, and ice-skating in the winter.
Sunset Lake was built in 1912 as an ice skating pond
and, as the name implies, a new landscape feature that
enhanced the westward views that continue to serve as
the backdrop for commencement, as well as providing a
site for student research.
41
3.1 CAMPUS WATER SYSTEMS
FIGURE 36
Water features such as
Vassar Lake provided
opportunities for recreation
while contributing to the
experiential palette of the
campus landscape
Casperkill Watershed
H
U
D
S
O
N
R
I
V
E
R
Vassar College
FIGURE 37
Diagram showing Vassar
landholdings within the
Casperkill watershed and
proximity to the Hudson River
42
12
Mi
les
In 2001, Vassar College retained the Chazen
Companies to develop a Utility Master Plan that included
recommendations for existing and future water, sanitary,
and stormwater systems. The stormwater portion of
this report described the existing system of surface
runoff collection and conveyance to dry wells or pipes
that led directly to natural systems. The primary goal
of the stormwater section of the report was to analyze
how well the existing system worked and then suggest a
framework to guide decision-making for future upgrades
or expansions. To more effectively drain all areas of
the campus and to eliminate the possibility of flooded
roadways, pathways, or basements, the Chazen Report
recommended increasing the capacity of the system
through larger pipes and more catch basins in problem
areas, as well as a new drainage trunk line in the main
campus. The existing dry well system was not included
in the analysis that established the systems capacity,
because this aspect of the system relies on a higher level
of maintenance. Because of these efforts, stormwater is
captured more efficiently and the runoff is discharged via
outfalls into either Sunset Lake or Casperkill. Within the
framework of its goals, the Utility Master Plan has been
successful in resolving drainage problems in areas where
standing water collected on pathways and roadways,
or where water was infiltrating into foundations and
basements.
The Utility Master Plan proposed the means by
which an existing problem (flooding and potential icing)
might best be solved. It was not part of the Chazen
Companies’ charge to address the issue of water quality,
either as an existing condition or as something that might
positively or adversely affect the proposed changes to
the stormwater drainage system. Nonetheless, there is a
direct link between stormwater drainage strategies and
the ecological health and visual appeal of Vassar’s lakes
and kills.
As has been determined by the water samples
taken by Vassar’s faculty members who have been involved
in pioneering the Casperkill Assessment Project, water
quality in the kills that pass through the Vassar campus is
quite poor, both chemically and biologically. Nutrient levels
in Vassar’s waters are high, causing undesirable algal
blooms in the lakes that, in turn, have a negative effect on
aquatic life and diminish the lake’s visual appeal.
Much of the pollution comes from upstream
sources, and it is to Vassar’s credit that the study
identifies the Vassar Farm area as registering the highest
water quality among the locations tested. Nevertheless,
ongoing urbanization, both on campus and upstream,
has increased the rate and amount of water entering the
stream after a storm event, and this severely challenges
the structural integrity of the stream banks. Runoff from
roadways and parking lots is higher in temperature and
contains salts and heavy metals, all of which can be
damaging to flora and fauna. Piped runoff also contains
high levels of sediments because it eliminates the
possibility for natural removal achieved by percolation
through the soil profile in the recharging of groundwater.
All of these factors have contributed to deteriorating
water quality, destabilized banks, higher peak flows,
and the resultant presence of noxious and invasive plant
species that obstruct views, force out desirable species,
and contribute to an undesirable seed bank. Water
samples taken by students and faculty in the Casperkill
watershed show that both Vassar Lake and Sunset
Lake have high levels of nutrients and pollutants that
encourage the growth of algae and make management for
recreational or scenic purposes difficult.
1
1
2
3
4
KEY:
1. Casperkill
2. Sunset Lake
3. Fonteyn Kill
4. Vassar Lake
N
0’
500’
Low
El. 124
3.2 POTENTIAL FOR AN IMPROVED SITE
HYDROLOGY
The Vassar landscape has some strong physical
advantages that could allow it to address the issues
raised above. The shape of its terrain, the presence of
the two lakes, and the extensive landholding downstream
on Vassar Farm combine to form a comprehensive
stormwater system whose capacity could be better
harnessed—in some cases with only slight modifications—
to collect stormwater runoff. The well-drained soil types
found on campus are already well suited for inclusion in a
comprehensive plan to use various landscape measures to
reduce the amount of water collected in pipes.
3.3 EXPERIENCING VASSAR’S WATER
SYSTEMS
Although the obligatory daily exercise regime may no
longer be a component of Vassar’s curriculum, frequent
excursions to interact with the natural beauty of the kills
and lakes are and should continue to be vital parts of
the campus experience contributing to Vassar students’
health, pleasure, and education about local ecological
systems and their regional implications. There is
frequently a direct relationship between the ecological
1000’
High
El. 220
health of a landscape and its perceived beauty; for
instance, algae-choked waters are visually unappealing
as well as an indicator of poor water quality. Restoring
the role of natural systems in the campus experience will
improve the enjoyment of it as well as increase awareness
of the relationship between human behaviors and
ecological health, as indicated by water quality, species
diversity, and mutually sustaining biological relationships.
The Master Plan circulation and planting initiatives
are intended to contribute to the revival of the ecological
health and cultural importance of Vassar’s water systems.
For instance, Vassar Lake has a greatly reduced role on
campus as compared to in the school’s early decades
due in large part to expansion of Raymond Avenue into a
multi-lane roadway and the ensuing visual and physical
separation from the central campus. (This effect has
been mitigated by the introduction of a center median
and the reinstatement of single-lane traffic.) The Master
Plan seeks to reassert the importance of Vassar Lake in
the daily life of campus users through a new pedestrian
connection that wraps around the lake’s edge and
potentially building a pedestrian footbridge crossing the
lake. By contrast, Sunset Lake is still well connected to
campus activities, including annual student studies of the
Water Systems
FIGURE 38
Diagram showing
topography of
the campus and
location of major
water systems
and water flow
direction
43
lake’s depth. The lake welcomes visitors with pathways
and benches, but the increase of algae and other invasive
plants has reduced its aesthetic appeal and has required
periodic drawdowns to excavate and remove decaying
plant material. By replacing lawn edges with wetland plant
communities along the shoreline and increasing shade
over the water through the introduction of lake-edge trees,
the aquatic ecology of Sunset Lake will be better able to
support healthy fish and plant communities.
Using the Vassar campus as a laboratory, the
Casperkill Assessment Project represents an excellent
model for future collaborations among faculty, students,
local organizations, and local individuals. Other waterrelated pedagogic efforts might include wetlands
research, water quality and streambank erosion
monitoring, and habitat studies. Beyond classroomrelated work, student volunteers could be encouraged to
participate in the removal of invasive species, planting of
new species, and general cleanup, both on campus and
elsewhere in the watershed.
3.4 PLANNING FOR A REGIONAL
APPROACH TO HYDROLOGIC HEALTH
Vassar has a history of environmental leadership and
a willingness to embrace changes that benefit the
environment beyond the campus. For instance, in 1894
Vassar College considered a proposal put forth by the
town to divert its sewage into a canal that emptied
directly into the Hudson River. At a meeting of the Board
of Trustees for Vassar College, Ellen Swallow Richards,
a renowned industrial chemist and water quality expert,
pointed out the impact of this plan on downstream
communities and convinced the College to address this
issue directly through the construction of new on-campus
sewage facilities.
Recent projects at Vassar, like the renovation
of the roadway around the Town Houses, demonstrate
the College’s commitment to responsible stormwater
management. Using a comprehensive planning approach,
these efforts can be amplified by conceiving of
stormwater management as a fully integrated system that
takes advantage of the size and unique characteristics of
the campus. A set of recommendations and conceptual
FIGURE 39
The buildup of algae in
Vassar’s water systems
requires periodic drawdowns
of Sunset Lake to remove
decaying plant material
44
plans should be developed that outline comprehensive
improvements to the landscape and its hydrological
system, including infrastructural elements such as rain
gardens, bioswales, settling basins, and stormwater
storage landscapes in the form of offline wetlands,
modifications to stream banks and existing wetlands, and
the reconfiguration of the lake edges. With a framework
in mind that will guide decision-making as individual sites
come under consideration for various projects, stormwater
decisions could be undertaken in ways that benefit the
regional water system and improve the overall campus
landscape’s appearance, performance, and ecological
diversity. Vassar’s continued leadership in this regard
is more than just good practice: it is also a strategic
response to the strong possibility that environmental
regulations will become stricter in years ahead.
Recognizing Vassar’s institutional commitment
to environmental leadership, the Master Plan proposes
an approach to stormwater management that identifies
ways to improve area-specific, campuswide, and
regional ecologies with an eye towards economy, selfsufficiency, and pragmatism. This approach starts with an
understanding of how stormwater projects are undertaken
on campus. With many of its water management systems
already in place, there is now no designated budget for
stormwater improvements. Instead of being engaged
as stand-alone projects, adjustments to the stormwater
system now generally occur as part of larger projects
related to building or landscape improvements. It
makes sense to pair projects and achieve multiple goals
simultaneously without significantly increasing costs and
disruptions associated with construction projects.
Vassar’s current stormwater measures generally
address conditions within the project boundary to
achieve compliance with municipal and state regulations.
While many good decisions can be made within these
parameters, this localized approach might miss
opportunities for greater efficiency and ecological health
that could be explored by looking comprehensively at the
campus’ integrated system of surface drainage, piped
drainage, and water bodies through the completion of
a stormwater master plan. A technical analysis should
consider the interaction between cultural and natural
landscapes, starting with quantification of the regional
Hudson River watershed, the Casperkill watershed,
and the stretch of the Casperkill and Fonteyn Kill that
pass through Vassar. This quantification needs to
be accompanied by an evaluation of variables in the
campus landscape that affect water quality, including
percentages of permeable and impermeable surfaces,
the volume of water discharged to the lake during peak
flood events, the quality of water discharged there on
an ongoing basis, the quality of plant and animal habitat
sustained by the water bodies, the effects that current
maintenance practices have on water quality, and the
annual expenses related to maintaining the lakes in their
current state. This assessment would establish a baseline
level of performance that a comprehensive stormwater
master plan would then seek to improve on, one that
could become the starting point for a stormwater master
plan agreement between Vassar and New York State
environmental regulators.
New York State environmental regulators have
demonstrated willingness in the past to work with
institutions to pursue local and regional environmental
goals. If Vassar were to work together with state officials
to develop a stormwater and ecological restoration
plan, the College could join its efforts with any similar
initiatives that the State or other landholders might be
undertaking in the region. Approval of a comprehensive
plan may also create a fast-track mechanism for Vassar
that eliminates the need for local environmental approvals
for the stormwater components of smaller projects if the
proposed improvements conform with the stormwater
master plan.
CLASS B
CLASS A
CLASS B
CLASS A
CLASS B
CLASS B
CLASS A SOILS
High Water Infiltration Rate
CLASS B SOILS
Moderate Water Infiltration Rate
FIGURE 40
Soil map highlighting soil
drainage classes. Class A and
B soil types are preferable for
natural water infiltration and
groundwater recharge (Source:
Dutchess County Soil Survey)
3.5 STORMWATER MANAGEMENT: A
THREE­PART APPROACH
The Master Plan recommends a series of initiatives that
address stormwater issues identified in both the Chazen
Utility Master Plan and the Casperkill Assessment
Project. The overarching goal is to achieve positive
change by making the best use of existing systems and
site conditions without requiring the College to upgrade
outfalls or add new ones. This would be pursued through
related measures including controlling campus sources of
water pollution, the method for conveying stormwater to
natural systems (most likely through bioswales) and the
end-point controls, using Vassar’s extensive landholdings
to absorb overflow in rain gardens, independent wetland
areas, and the lakes. Taken together, these initiatives have
the potential to improve the quality of water, increase
plant and animal habitat, and promote the enjoyment
of the campus landscape as a place for recreation and
relaxation.
3.6 RECOMMENDATIONS: STORMWATER
PRACTICES TOWARD ECOLOGICAL
HEALTH
The Master Plan recognizes that Vassar’s well-drained
native soils should be leveraged by allowing stormwater to
percolate into the ground before it is captured in drainage
structures or released into nearby bodies of water. The
movement of water through soil is a natural filtration
system that cleans the water of sediment and pollutants
before it reaches the larger watershed. In addition to
providing moisture that sustains plant life, groundwater
also carries harmful salts away from tree root zones
to deeper levels in the soil. In the event that natural
percolation cannot absorb all of the stormwater runoff
due to frozen conditions, exceptionally high volume, or
high water tables, overflow systems should be installed to
remove excess water.
Water Systems
45
KEY
Direct Discharge Points to Existing Water
Systems
N
0’
500’
1000’
Existing Drainage Structure
Existing Drainage Line
FIGURE 41
As is typical of the
modern world,
Vassar’s campus
relies heavily on a
drainage system
which consists of
catch basins and
underground pipes
that discharge
directly into
existing water
systems
WATER QUALITY AND BANK STABILIZATION
Ecology is a function of the simultaneous operation of
multiple systems. Improvements to the planting palette will
work in tandem with other stormwater initiatives to improve
water quality (along with plant and animal habitats) and
the structural integrity of existing banks. Measures such
as planted buffers that filter stormwater before it reaches
Sunset Lake and shade trees around the lake to keep
water temperatures lower will improve the sustainability of
the system as a whole by fostering water quality that will
support an active biology of aquatic microorganisms and
plants. Moreover, engineering technologies that incorporate
planting as a structural element have been developed to
increase the strength and resistance to increased flows.
These techniques, known collectively as bioengineering,
integrate knowledge of engineering and natural systems to
provide proven sustainable solutions to many typical erosion
and water-quality problems.
OFFLINE WETLANDS
Members of Vassar’s science faculty discovered that
although Sunset Lake currently provides an adequate
settling basin for particulate matter, it cannot easily achieve
this while also being maintained as a healthy water body. By
going into new “offline” wetlands, or settling basins that are
not part of a running stream network, the sediment could
46
be more easily contained and controlled without requiring
a complete drawdown of the lake, as is now the case.
Portions of the main campus or the Vassar Farm site could
easily be transformed into offline wetlands, introducing
added ecological, educational, and experiential value while
eliminating the maintenance costs associated with the
drawdowns of the lake.
HEALTHY STREAM BANKS
The abrupt transition between upland areas and stream
edges due to partial channelization of Fonteyn Kill limits
stream bank habitat diversity and the potential for multiple
ecosystems in a fairly small area. Similarly, the shading of
understory plantings by Norway maples has compromised
the structural integrity of stream banks and native plant
communities. As initiatives are undertaken to reduce the
effect of storm events on Fonteyn Kill, the health of the
stream banks should be reinforced by reestablishing the
stream’s natural meandering course and replacing invasive
species with native riparian plants.
The “Pipe and Pitch” method of stormwater
management system also increases the
flashiness of streams which can lead to problems
of stream bank erosion.
WATER LEVEL DURING FLOOD EVENT
FIGURE 42
Existing Drainage Strategy
The “Pipe and Pitch”
method of stormwater
AVERAGE WATER LEVEL
management system also increases the
STREAM
flashiness of streams which can lead to problems
Overuse of catch basins and pipes
The “Pipe and Pitch” method of stormwater
of stream bank erosion.
in Vassar’s current stormwater management
Storm pipes speed up themanagement
flow of watersystem also increases the
strategy prevents rainwater from infiltrating
flashiness
of streams
which
can lead to problems
LEVEL
DURING
FLOOD
EVENT
preventing particulateWATER
matter
from settling.
through the well to moderately well-drained
of stream
bank
erosion.
The result is sedimentAVERAGE
buildup
in
the
stream.
WATER
LEVEL
soils throughout the campus.
STREAM
WATER LEVEL DURING FLOOD EVENT
Overuse of catch basins and pipes
AVERAGE WATER LEVEL
in Vassar’s current stormwater management
STREAM
Storm pipes
speed up the flow of water
strategy prevents rainwater
from
infiltrating
Overuse of catch basins and pipespreventing particulate matter from settling.
through the well to moderately
in Vassar’s well-drained
current stormwater management
The result is sediment
buildup
the stream.
soils throughout the strategy
campus.prevents rainwater from infiltrating
Storm
pipesin
speed
up the flow of water
preventing
particulate
matter from settling.
through the well to moderately well-drained
The result is sediment buildup in the stream.
soils throughout the campus.
WATER LEVEL DURING FLOOD EVENT
The creation of intercepting ponds
promotes infiltration of groundwater
and allows particulates to settle
before entering lakes and streams.
STREAM
FIGURE 43
Natural Drainage Strategy
The creation of intercepting ponds
promotes infiltration of groundwater
Theto
creation
and allows particulates
settle of intercepting ponds
infiltration of groundwater
before entering lakespromotes
and streams.
and allows particulates to settle
before entering lakes and streams.
In some instances, due
to the presence of
impervious surfaces, space
constraints, high water table,
and other mitigating factors,
piping will be necessary.
In some instances, due
The creation of intercepting
to the presence of
ponds to receive runoff piped
In
some
instances,
due
impervious surfaces, space
directly from impervious
surfaces,
of
constraints, high water table, to
as the
wellpresence
as to collect
natural runoff,
impervious surfaces, space
and other mitigating factors, promotes infiltration of groundwater
constraints, high water table,
piping will be necessary.
and allows particulates to settle
Thefactors,
creation of intercepting
and other mitigating
before entering lakes and streams.
ponds
to receive runoff piped
piping will be
necessary.
The creation of intercepting
directly from impervious surfaces,
ponds to receive runoff piped
as well as to collect natural runoff,
directly from impervious surfaces,
promotes infiltration of groundwater
as well as to collect natural runoff,
and allows particulates
to settle
promotes
infiltration of groundwater
before entering lakes and
andstreams.
allows particulates to settle
before entering lakes and streams.
AVERAGE WATER LEVEL
STREAM
Stream levels during flood events are
reduced since some of the stormwater
WATER
LEVEL
DURING FLOOD EVENT
is held in the upland
areas
thereby
decreasing erosion
of downstream
banks.
AVERAGE
WATER LEVEL
WATER LEVEL DURING FLOOD EVENT
AVERAGE WATER LEVEL
STREAM
Stream
levels during flood events are
reduced since some of the stormwater
Stream
during flood events are
is held in the upland
areaslevels
thereby
since some
of the stormwater
decreasing erosionreduced
of downstream
banks.
is held in the upland areas thereby
decreasing erosion of downstream banks.
WATER LEVEL DURING FLOOD EVENT
AVERAGE WATER LEVEL
STREAM
Overflow pipes are
incorporated as necesary
in order to ensure that
flooding does not STREAM
occur at
the pond locations.
Stream levels during flood events are
reduced since some of the stormwater
WATER
LEVEL
DURING FLOOD EVENT
is held in the upland
areas
thereby
decreasing erosion
of downstream
banks.LEVEL DURING FLOOD EVENT
AVERAGE
WATER LEVEL
WATER
STREAM
AVERAGE WATER LEVEL
Overflow pipes are
Stream levels during flood events are
incorporated as necesary
reduced since some of the stormwater
Overflow pipes are
Stream levels during flood events are
in order to ensure that
is held in the upland areas thereby
incorporated as necesary
reduced since some of the stormwater
flooding does not occur at
decreasing erosion of downstream banks.
in order to ensure that
is held in the upland areas thereby
the pond locations.
flooding does not occur at
decreasing erosion of downstream banks.
the pond locations.
FIGURE 44
Hybrid Drainage Strategy
Water Systems
47
4.0 Landscape
Projects
1
6
2
u
e
8
e
n
7
4
o
l l
e
g
e
v
i e
w
A
v
3
u e
e n
A v
H
o
o
k
e
r
A
v
e
n
C
u
e
o l
l e
g e
A
v e
n u
e
C
d
o n
y m
R a
N
0’
400’
FIGURE 45
Implementation of a
Long-Term Vision
AREAS OF FOCUS
The scale and complexity of the proposed Master Plan
improvements vary greatly throughout the campus. Rather
than providing a strictly prescriptive direction about the
next project to be implemented, the Master Plan identifies
eight focus areas, each of which can be broken down into
smaller projects to help address the College’s immediate
needs, as funding becomes available. Additional landscape
planting projects are also described in this chapter. The
focus areas are:
200’
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Blodgett/Wimpfheimer/Kenyon Courtyard
Central Campus Landscape
Kenyon Drive Circulation and Planting
Residential Quad Circulation and Planting
Recommended Planting and Remediation Projects
(see page 54)
Sunset Lake
Sciences Landscape
South Campus Parking Landscape
Landscape Projects
49
Blodgett/Wimpfheimer/Kenyon Courtyard
EXISTING
Recent renovations to Kenyon Hall have allowed it to
become an increasingly important part of the daily
life of students and faculty members. Renovations to
Wimpfheimer Nursery School will similarly contribute
to the reinvigoration of the nearby area. One obstacle
to the full integration of this precinct into the fabric
of the larger campus is the 25-car parking lot that
currently occupies the courtyard formed by Kenyon Hall,
Wimpfheimer Nursery School, and Blodgett Hall, which
forces pedestrians to either cross the parking lot or take
peripheral routes to reach the buildings’ front entrances.
KENYON
HALL
BLODGETT
HALL
FIGURE 46
Existing
Scale: 1” = 300’
PROPOSED
A strong landscape connection is essential to stitching
these buildings into the larger campus. The introduction
of a generous shared landscape consistent with the
open spaces in the rest of the campus core facilitates
pedestrian movement between these spaces. A major
tree planting effort in this area helps reintroduce the
missing canopy and strengthens this specific landscape
episode, while adding to the diversity of experience in
the Vassar landscape. Removing the existing parking
lot allows students and faculty to move freely through a
space previously dominated by vehicles.
Pedestrian
N
Vehicular
KENYON
HALL
W
NU IMPF
RS
ER HEIM
Y S ER
CH
OO
L
BLODGETT
HALL
FIGURE 47
Proposed
Scale: 1” = 300’
50
W
NU IMP
RS FHE
ER
Y S IMER
CH
OO
L
N
Pedestrian
Vehicular
Central Campus Landscape
EXISTING
Main Building continues to operate as a home base where
all students regularly pass through to pick up mail, visit
the bookstore, stop for lunch, spend free time between
classes, attend lectures, or participate in social events.
Existing circulation patterns, which force pedestrians
to navigate between parked cars, moving cars, and
maintenance vehicles, do not support the central role
of Main Building in the life of the College. The vehicular
loop around Main Building also has a strong visual impact
on the experience of the landscape, making it unclear
whether pedestrians are welcome in this zone.
ELY
HALL
MAIN
BUILDING
FIGURE 48
Existing
Scale: 1” = 450’
PROPOSED
Removing the loop road around Main Building creates a
real pedestrian zone at a critical point in cross-campus
circulation. Views of the building currently obscured by
parked cars, shrubs, and dense evergreen screening are
opened up to better reveal the relationship between the
landscape and Vassar’s unique collection of architectural
styles. The new loop pedestrian walkway remains wide
enough to allow for fire, rescue, and maintenance vehicles.
Access to Main Building’s loading dock is also maintained.
MUDD
CHEMISTRY
N
Pedestrian
Vehicular
ELY
HALL
MAIN
BUILDING
FIGURE 49
Proposed
Scale: 1” = 450’
N
Pedestrian
Vehicular
Landscape Projects
51
Kenyon Drive Circulation and Planting
EXISTING
The current configuation of Kenyon Drive combines
vehicular and pedestrian circulation in a single space,
creating a roadway that is dangerous because of
its narrow width and the high speeds at which it is
typically traveled. As one of the most direct routes
from Collegeview Avenue to Kenyon Hall, it is highly
trafficked by pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles.
CUSHING
HOUSE
FIGURE 50
Existing
PROPOSED
Separating the vehicular roadway and pedestrian path
is paramount to restoring pedestrian sovereignty to
the campus and making this peripheral condition feel
less so. Shifting Kenyon Drive further north away from
the buildings takes advantage of the full extent of the
property boundary and allows for bends in the road to
act as natural traffic-calming measures.
CUSHING
HOUSE
FIGURE 51
Proposed
COLLEGEVIEW
AVE.
S
PU
AM
HC G
RT RKIN
O
N PA
STUDENTS’
BUILDING
ING
SH
CU
NOYES CIRCLE
RESIDENTIAL
QUADRANGLE
FIGURE 52
Proposed
Scale: 1” = 450’
52
N
Pedestrian
Vehicular
Residential Quad Circulation and Planting
LATHROP
STRONG
DAVISON
RAYMOND
JEWETT
ROCKEFELLER
HALL
EXISTING
Strong House, the first of the Vassar Quadrangle
dormitories to be built, was initially conceived of as a
stand-alone building oriented to face the gardens east
of it—which were, at that time, the center of campus.
This eastward orientation meant that the service side
of the building faced the quadrangle formed to the west
of Strong in the subsequent decade. Rather than being
reconfigured to better support the space within the quad,
Raymond House, Davison House, and Lathrop House
were also outward-oriented, with service spaces facing
the quad. In addition, the existing path network does
not reflect actual circulation patterns, and the general
redundancy of pathways unnecessarily fragments the
central quad space, preventing recreational uses.
FIGURE 53
Existing
Scale: 1” = 300’
Vehicular
LATHROP
STRONG
DAVISON
RAYMOND
JEWETT
FIGURE 54
Proposed
Scale: 1” = 300’
Pedestrian
ROCKEFELLER
HALL
PROPOSED
Planting large canopy trees along the edges of the
quadrangle creates an informal colonnade along the
pathway between the austere building facades and the
central lawn. Perimeter plantings adjacent to the buildings
add color, texture, and depth to the edges of the quad.
While still accommodating logical desire lines through the
space, the removal of many of the central paths creates
a continuous expanse of lawn from Rockefeller Hall to
Jewett House. The proposed circulation shown to the
right represents one iteration of how the paths might be
reconfigured.
N
N
Pedestrian
Vehicular
Landscape Projects
53
Recommended Planting and Remediation Projects
STAND-ALONE PLANTING PROJECTS
Evergreen screening at loading dock: Remove select
spruces to open up views in and around the loop road and
Powerhouse Theater.
2 Residential Quad: Remove trees from central quad space.
2.
Remove trees with damaged bark or that have been planted
too deep. Introduce a tree colonnade at east and west edges
of quadrangle.
3 Blodgett/Wimpfheimer/Kenyon courtyard: Introduce a mix of
3.
deciduous and evergreen trees.
4 Town Houses: Plant additional deciduous and evergreen
4.
trees. Create small-scale gardens for student use.
5 Strong/Lathrop Courtyard: Create a landscape similar in
5.
character to the Davison/Raymond courtyard.
6 Noyes Circle: Create a garden that provides opportunities for
6.
teaching and student maintenance programs.
7.
7 Alumnae House: Plant tall evergreen trees in the landscape
fronting the roundabout to reinforce this important campus
threshold.
8 President’s House Planting: Remove thinning hemlocks.
8.
Replace with other shade-tolerant evergreens.
9 Vassar Lake: Clear vegetation to open up views.
9.
10.
10 Sunset Lake: Remove arborvitae hedge around Sunset Lake;
replace with fewer, strategically placed evergreens.
11 Admissions Building Landscape: Transplant select magnolias
11.
to other locations to open up views.
12 Continue street tree planting and center median along
12.
Raymond Avenue to allow pedestrian connections between
South Campus and the Watson Faculty Housing
13 Noyes House Hedge: Replace and/or prune sections of the
13.
yew hedge on the south side of Noyes House.
1
1.
LONG-TERM PLANTING PROJECTS
Evergreen “Curtain”: Replant evergreens along Raymond
Avenue where they have been cut down or where their health
and vigor are in decline.
2 Graduation Lawn: Plan for the eventual replacement
2.
of hemlocks with mix of shade tolerant evergreens and
hardwood species.
3 Fonteyn Kill: Remove the Norway maples and other invasive
3.
species. Replant the stream banks for stabilization.
4 Commit to planting at least fifteen trees each year to plan for
4.
the eventual losses of the aging tree canopy.
1
1.
1
1.
2
2.
3
3.
4
4.
CHANGES IN MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES
Maintain leaf litter beneath the existing tree canopy.
Remove invasive species.
Monitor soils for compaction problems.
Infrequently mown and/or meadow areas.
FIGURE 55
Location of Planting Projects
3
3
4
1
1
4
4
13
1
10
11
1
2
3
1
2
6
5
2
3
3
8
1
3
12
1
7
1
1
1
1
9
2
4
54
4
Sunset Lake
EXISTING
Created in 1913, Sunset Lake is an exceptional resource
on campus. Not only does it provide the much-lauded
backdrop for graduation, it also plays a significant role in
the campus’ stormwater management network
Unfiltered stormwater is now piped directly into
Sunset Lake, meaning that sediment and pollution reach
the lake and cause buildup over time. This ever-shallower
depth, coupled with the fact that Sunset Lake does
not receive significant shade, results in higher water
temperatures and ideal conditions for algae to flourish.
The solution has been periodic dredging of the lake, which
is inefficient, deadly to fish, and remains only a temporary
solution.
FIGURE 56
Existing edge condition
PROPOSED
A series of offline wetlands should be created adjacent to
Sunset Lake to help remove particulates from stormwater
and highly polluted water from Casperkill before it enters
the lake. Direct discharge pipes should also be rerouted
to filter through the treatment areas prior to entering
the Casperkill. Tall plantings at the lake’s southern edge
should be maintained to help shade shallow water areas.
Manipulation of the lake’s edge to create a more diverse
plant habitat while maintaining it as the backdrop for
graduation ceremonies should also be considered.
FIGURE 57
Proposed edge condition
FIL
L
Recharge
FIGURE 58
Proposed edge condition
Landscape Projects
55
Sciences Landscape
EXISTING
Situated around Fonteyn Kill, the landscape defined by
Sanders Classroom, Sanders Physics, Mudd, Olmsted,
and Skinner is a critical threshold area to South Campus.
There are now three opportunities to traverse this border:
along Raymond Avenue, on the path that leads through
Olmsted Hall, and farther east on the path leading to
Buildings and Grounds. However, none of these options
are ADA-compliant.
The Kill, along with its proximity to the science
department buildings, provides a rich opportunity to use
the landscape as a teaching tool. This area also includes
the Shakespeare Garden, which traditionally was an
opportunity for Vassar students to cultivate the land for
educational and recreational activities while forging strong
connections with the landscape.
Fonteyn Kill now receives runoff from the Central
Campus from direct piping into the stream. This is
problematic because it contributes to its susceptibility
to flash flooding in heavy rain. This in turn contributes
to stream bank erosion, which is evident along both the
banks by the footbridges crossing Fonteyn Kill.
CHAPEL
OLMSTED
HALL
SANDER
S
PHYSICS
NER
SKIN
L
HAL
FIGURE 59
Existing
Scale: 1” = 300’-0”
Pedestrian
Vehicular
CHAPEL
NEW
ENGLAND
SANDER
CLASSR S
OOM
Stormwater
Treatment
OLMSTED
HALL
CENTER FOR
DRAMA AND
FILM
MUDD
CHEMISTRY
SANDER
S
PHYSICS
NER
HAL
L
56
Stormwater
Treatment
N
SKIN
PROPOSED
With architectural additions to Olmsted Hall and Sanders
Physics comes a rich opportunity to develop the nearby
landscape into the teaching landscape that the science
faculty have envisioned. It is an ideal location to implement
the stormwater runoff treatment techniques previously
discussed and to use these places to teach the ecology of
wetland ecosystems. Integral to this teaching landscape is
the creation of wetland treatment areas that will help filter
out sediment from storm runoff. Further consideration
should be given to manipulating the actual alignment
of the channelized stream to diversify ecosystems by
introducing pools and riffles in the stream bed.
Also important to this landscape project is the
development of accessible paths. First, the planned
extension of the sidewalk along Raymond Avenue will
provide a safe, fully accessible pathway from Central
Campus to Skinner Hall, South Campus, and daily use
parking areas. Second, the new bridge building will
provide a second accessible connection. Last, a direct
and accessible landscape connection between Central
Campus and the South Parking Lot is necessary to
facilitate ease of movement from this key parking area and
to reinforce the guiding principle of parking on the edges
of campus and walking inward.
CENTER FOR
DRAMA AND
FILM
MUDD
CHEMISTRY
SANDER
CLASSR S
OOM
NEW
ENGLAND
FIGURE 60
Proposed
Scale: 1” = 300’-0”
N
Pedestrian
Vehicular
Footbridge Over Vassar Lake
EXISTING
The Town Houses and Prentiss Fields are accessed from
main campus by a bleak, narrow pathway that leads to a
crossing of busy Raymond Avenue in front of Chicago Hall.
There are no efficient routes to the science quadrangle
and South Campus. Students are reduced to using the
existing pathway, which squeezes by an existing building
and empties into a parking area. The view from Vassar
Lake is not easily seen and never experienced due to the
dense understory and lack of formal path systems along
the lake’s edge.
THOMPSON
LIBRARY
VASSAR LAKE
FIGURE 61
Existing
Scale: 1” = 450’
PROPOSED
Two new Vassar Lake pedestrian routes are created
between Main Gate and Prentiss Fields. The first pathway
runs along the eastern edge of the lake, connecting with
the existing pedestrian pathway to the east. The second
pathway involves the construction of a new pedestrian
bridge cutting across Vassar Lake that creates a more
direct link to the fields. Together, these two trails form
a new pedestrian loop around the lake that will help to
reassert the central importance of water systems in the
everyday experience of the campus landscape.
N
Pedestrian
Vehicular
THOMPSON
LIBRARY
VASSAR LAKE
FIGURE 62
Proposed
Scale: 1” = 450’
N
Pedestrian
Vehicular
Landscape Projects
57
South Campus Parking Landscape
EXISTING
The 1988 Sasaki Master Plan recognized the
decentralization of the campus and called for a shift of the
parking to the edges of campus, creating the North and
South Parking Lots. Today these lots provide spaces for up
to 525 cars, over one-third of the total campus parking.
S
CO OUT
MM H
ON
S
S
ING
D
BUIL
S
ND
U
RO
&G
HO
OK
ER
AVE
.
SOUTH LOT
NER
SKIN
L
HAL
OND
RAYM
AVE.
Pedestrian
FIGURE 63
Existing
Scale: 1” = 450’
58
S
CO OUT
MM H
ON
S
S
ND
&
GS
OU
GR
PROPOSED
PARKING
DIN
BUIL
KE
R
AVE
.
SOUTH LOT
HO
O
PROPOSED
As parking areas are transferred from the center to more
peripheral areas, South Campus offers an opportunity to
create additional parking areas in keeping with the strong
landscape experiences of the campus as a whole, while
reconfiguring existing parking to better serve the daily
needs of the South Campus community. The removal of
parking immediately adjacent to Buildings and Grounds
allows a wider landscape pedestrian route through the
South Campus parking lot and connects the buildings
of South Campus to Main Campus through safe and
accessible routes across natural topographic changes.
Increasing the width of the landscape connection also
allows for the collection and treatment of parking lot
surface runoff with bioretention swales, a treatment
process that operates by filtering stormwater runoff
through planted zones and filter media. As at the North
Campus Lot, bioretention swales here are incorporated
between proposed parking bays to treat surface runoff
and reduce the perception of vast parking areas.
Vehicular
NER
SKIN
L
HAL
OND
RAYM
FIGURE 64
Proposed
Scale: 1” = 450’
AVE.
Pedestrian
Vehicular
North Campus Parking Landscape
EXISTING
The lawn area near North Campus offers an opportunity
to expand parking areas peripheral to the main pedestrian
circulation routes and would allow removal of parking at
the pedestrian-oriented center.
.
COLLEGEVIEW AVE
NORTH LOT
STUDENTS’
BUILDING
TENNIS
COURTS
FIGURE 65
Existing Condition
Scale: 1” = 450’
PROPOSED
The North Parking Landscape is expanded to accept cars
that have been relocated from the center to the campus
edge and will be easily accessed from both Raymond
Avenue and Collegeview Avenue. Bioretention swales are
introduced to treat surface runoff and reduce the visual
scale of paved areas.
N
Pedestrian
Vehicular
.
COLLEGEVIEW AVE
H
RT
T
LO
STUDENTS’
BUILDING
NO
FIGURE 66
Proposed Condition
Scale: 1” = 450’
N
Pedestrian
Vehicular
Landscape Projects
59
Alternate Tennis Court Location
CO
LLE
GE
VIE
WA
VEN
UE
EXISTING
The tennis courts are the only major sports facility that is
not part of Vassar’s sports district to the west of Raymond
Drive. With their high fencing and large footprint, the courts
interfere with a sense of landscape arrival and continuity
as one enters the campus from Bennett Gate, which is the
primary pedestrian route from campus to the shops and
restaurants along Collegeview and Raymond Avenues.
EXISTING
TENNIS
COURTS
AVENUE
COL
L
EGE
AVE
N
UE
D
RAYMON
FIGURE 67
Existing
Scale: 1” = 450’
Pedestrian
N
Vehicular
PROPOSED
Relocating the courts in the vicinity of Prentiss Fields will
unite active recreation fields on campus. The removal of the
courts adjacent to Bennett Gate will allow this area to be
developed as a welcoming moment of pedestrian arrival onto
campus.
TOWN
HOUSES
BR
EW
ER
SL
AN
HO
OK
ER
AVE
NU
E
E
PROPOSED
TENNIS COURTS
FIGURE 68
Proposed
Scale: 1” = 450’
60
N
Pedestrian
Vehicular
Reoriented Collegeview Gate
EXISTING
North Gate, whose structure was donated by the class of
1963, is currently slightly obscured because of its northsouth orientation along east-west running Collegeview
Avenue. The muted sense of entry that is created by the
absence of a clear sightline is compounded by the fact
that Collegeview Avenue already feels very residential;
there is no sense that an entrance to campus will be found
in this direction.
COL
LEG
EVIE
WA
VEN
UE
STUDENTS’
BUILDING
FIGURE 69
Existing
Scale: 1” = 200’
N
Pedestrian
Vehicular
PROPOSED
The Class of 1963 gateway will be relocated along
Raymond Avenue, creating a new, highly visible “North
Gate” for the campus while the existing North Gate will be
renamed “Collegeview Gate.” Entry onto campus in this
area will be reoriented so that the new gate will be a highly
visible destination as you approach it from the west. This
realignment also serves to incorporate the three Vassarowned houses at the end of Collegeview Avenue into the
official grounds of the campus.
COL
L
EGE
VIE
WA
VEN
UE
STUDENTS’
BUILDING
FIGURE 70
Proposed
Scale: 1” = 200’
N
Pedestrian
Vehicular
Landscape Projects
61
5.0 Campus
Standards
The campus standards represented in this section cover a
wide range of material from site furniture to paving types
and pathway widths to siting sculpture within the campus
landscape. The intent is to build, when appropriate, on
recommendations made in the 1988 Sasaki Master Plan
with respect to site furniture and lighting while introducing
standards that help support the more pedestrian-based,
ecologically focused landscape recommendations outlined
in previous chapters of the 2011 Master Plan.
Campus Standards
63
CIRCULATION
SIGNAGE—KIT OF PARTS
64
Element
Information
Action
NAMES + TERMS
Vassar “neighborhoods”
Gate names
Parking lot names
Devise consistent set of terms/names
Devise consistent set of terms/names
Devise consistent set of terms/names
PRE-VISIT INFORMATION
Web information
Maps
Consistent directions
Coordinate with sign program
Coordinate with sign program
Coordinate with sign messages
APPROACHES TO VASSAR
Trailblazer signs
Negotiate with town/state DOT
CAMPUS PERIMETER/ENTRIES
College/gate identifications
Negotiate with town/state DOT
ORIENTATION SIGNAGE
Printed maps
Map distribution program
Information area (Main Building)
Posted maps/directory
Coordinate with sign messages
Determine locations, including Vassar website
Revise, refocus goals and offerings
Visitor parking + public building lobbies
IDENTIFICATION SIGNAGE
Parking identification signs
Major building identifications
Secondary building identifications
Indicate proposed lot names
Indicate building name, tenants, date of construction
Indicate building name, tenants, date of construction
911 - EMERGENCY SIGNAGE
Street name signs
Building numbers
Coordinate with regulatory agencies
Coordinate with regulatory agencies
ACCESS SIGNAGE
Accessible route signs
Accessible entrance signs
Accessible parking areas
Coordinate with campus circulation maps
Coordinate with campus circulation maps
Coordinate with campus circulation maps
DIRECTIONAL SIGNAGE
Vehicular directional signs
Pedestrian directional signs
Compass point markers
Indicate arriving, parking and departing
Indicate to/from parking + primary zones
REGULATORY SIGNAGE
Traffic control signs
Parking regulations
Pavement markings
Coordinate with regulatory agencies
Coordinate with and/or revise campus regulations
Coordinate with regulatory agencies
TEMPORARY SIGNAGE
Add-on directional panels
Event/celebration banners
Pedestrian route markers
Install as needed
Install as needed
Install as needed
Phase
Type of Signage
Description
PHASE 1
College/gate identifications
Building identifications
Parking lot identifications
Street names
Building numbers
Vehicular directional signs
Temporary/event signs
Pre-visit/web information
Printed maps
Gate Names
Major buildings
Visitor parking
911 response requirement
911 response requirement
Major routes/destinations
Add-on panels for major signs
Coordinated with sign program
Coordinated labels with sign messaging
PHASE 2
Building identifications
Parking identifications
Vehicular directionals
Pedestrian directional signs
Traffic control signs
Access signing
Access signing
Posted maps
Secondary buildings
Staff/restricted parking
Secondary routes/destinations
Major routes/destinations
Speed limits, stop signs, etc.
Accessible parking
Accessible building entrances
Primarily interior locations at building entries
PHASE 3
Trailblazer signs
Building identification signs
Pedestrian directional signs
Temporary/event signs
Outlying facility signing
Miscellaneous signing
Regional directionals
Minor buildings, as needed
Selected secondary routes/destinations
Add-on panels for secondary signs
Security area, Vassar Farm
Information, fire equipment IDs, etc.
CIRCULATION
WAYFINDING: TRIP CHART
Ballantine Field
Campus Exit Signage
Campus Standards
65
CIRCULATION
CAMPUS ROAD NAMES
8
6
10
9
6
5
3
ue
2
4
11
Av
en
3
e
nu
nue
ve
ve
d A
Co
lle
ge
Av
en
ue
H
oo
ke
r
R
on
aym
A
Co
lle
ge
vi
ew
1
12
N
0’
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
66
Josselyn Drive
North Campus Drive
Main Campus Drive
Chapel Road
Pratt Lane
Kenyon Drive
Doubleday Lane
Sunset Lake Drive
Terrace Lane
New Observatory Road
Skinner Lane
Brewers Lane
500’
KEY
“Type A” Roadway:
No Vehicle Restrictions
“Type B” Route:
Emergency/Service/ADA vehicles
only (routes shared with pedestrians)
“Type C” Route:
Maintenance Carts Only
(routes shared with pedestrians)
Proposed Parking
1000’
CIRCULATION
ROAD/PATH TYPES
PEDESTRIAN PATH
The pedestrian path is scaled to accommodate
two students walking side by side or passing one
another along the path. This is the narrowest
passage on campus, and is scaled to promote the
intimate nature of a pedestrian college campus.
6’-0” min.
8’-0” min.
PEDESTRIAN PATH SHARED WITH
MAINTENANCE CARTS
While still maintaining the small pedestrian
scale of the pedestrian path, this slightly wider
version is used in areas where pedestrians must
share the road with maintenance carts. It is wide
enough to ensure the safety of pedestrians, yet
still narrow enough to feel like a pedestrian path
and encourage the carts to drive slowly.
PEDESTRIAN PATH SHARED WITH
EMERGENCY VEHICLES
This path is sized to accomodate emergency
vehicles and delivery vehicles while serving as
an accessible drop-off route during theater and
other campus events. Primarily it remains a
pedestrian path and has a low-profile curb to
protect adjacent plantings.
14’-0” min.
TWO­WAY VEHICULAR ROAD
Used in areas where the pedestrian path is
separate from the roadway, this two-way
street is built with a 6” curb, designating it as a
primarily vehicular route.
22’-0” min.
Campus Standards
67
CIRCULATION
DD
PARKING COUNTS
GG
EE
BB
CC
HH
FF
AA
X
Z
W
U
R
V
Y
KK
Q
T
O
LL
P
N
S
A
K
D
B
L
JJ
M
J
C
II
G
E
H
F
I
MM
NN
EXISTING PARKING AREAS
KEY
TOTAL
TEMP.
MISCELLANEOUS
A
B
C
D
E
2
101
16
11
15
13
2
12
-
-
96
-
1
5
1
1
-
1 (Campus Dining)
3 (House Fellow)
8 (House Fellow)
2 (R.O.C)
F
G
H
I
J
12
55
4
18
22
12
43
4
-
18
-
-
17
8
4
-
4 (House Fellow)
1 (FLLAC Volunteer)
K
L
M
N
O
12
18
50
4
28
14
48
-
-
-
9
2
2
2
3
1 (Admission)
9 (Visitor)
4
1 (Security)
1 (AVRC), 1 (NYSAF)
1 (Ferry House)
14 (Admission)
P
Q
R
S
T
16
23
15
19
2
13
23
15
-
-
-
11
-
2
2
1
-
1 (CDF Department)
6 (House Fellow)
1 (Load/Unload)
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
10
14
12
30
22
22
9
12
28
20
13
-
-
5 (Baldwin)
-
1
2
5
2
1
-
2 (Emergency)
1 (CIS), 1 (Retreat)
8 (House Fellow)
AA
BB
CC
DD
EE
9
19
25
40
69
9
17
25
38
54
-
10
-
2
2
4 (1 is TA)
-
1 (House Fellow)
FF
GG
HH
II
JJ
36
50
1
13
424
36
49
11
-
124
207
2
1
1
2
2
2
87 (Employee & Student)
KK
LL
MM
NN
26
77
139
70
23
49
66
7
-
133
-
-
5
6
4
9 (WNS) 7 (ITC)
-
3 (Security Director)
TOTAL
1,551
658
149
350
140
75
24
155
68
UNMARKED
EMPLOYEE
STUDENT
VISITOR
HANDICAPPED
-
CIRCULATION
DD
PARKING COUNTS
GG
EE
BB
CC
HH
FF
AA
X
Z
W
R
KK
Q
Y
T
LL
P
N
A
QQ
K
JJ
B
M
PP
OO
E
G
H
I
MM
NN
PROPOSED PARKING AREAS
KEY
TOTAL
A
B
C
D
E
2
96
0
0
15
CHANGE
0
-5
-16
-11
0
F
G
H
I
J
0
45
4
18
0
-12
-10
0
0
-22
K
L
M
N
O
12
0
8
4
0
0
-18
-42
0
-28
P
Q
R
S
T
16
23
15
0
2
0
0
0
-19
0
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
0
0
12
30
22
22
-10
-14
0
0
0
0
AA
BB
CC
DD
EE
9
26
4
40
69
0
7
-21
0
0
FF
GG
HH
II
JJ
36
61
1
0
407
0
11
0
-13
-17
KK
LL
MM
NN
26
77
139
70
0
0
0
0
OO
PP
QQ
90
16
149
90
16
149
TOTAL
1,566
15
PARKING BY SPACE TYPE
Proposed changes to the campus’ vehicular network
coupled with the College’s internal review of campus
parking policies and regulations will have some impact
on the breakdown of proposed parking space types.
This breakdown should be adjusted by the College as
necessary to provide sufficient parking types based on
current and future needs.
Campus Standards
69
PLANTING
STANDARD PLANTING DETAILS
Tree Staking
Set Crown of Root Ball
Slightly Higher than
Finished Grade
2” Mulch
Finished Grade
Backfill Soil
Soil Profile Varies
Compacted Soil Pedestal
to Prevent Settling
Undisturbed or
Compacted Subgrade
10’ Min.
PLANTING
Planting technique is of utmost importance to
fostering healthy arboriculture practices. This
begins at the nursery, where only high-quality
trees must be purchased. From there the
trees must be planted properly to ensure their
longevity and health.
While the soil profile will vary on a caseby-case basis, it is crucial that each tree is
planted with the root flare slightly higher than
the finished grade, to ensure proper planting
depth. This will promote proper oxygenization to
the roots and allow the plant to thrive.
This critical soil zone also marks an area
in which lawn should be kept out. Mulch (aged
mulch or leaf litter) rings around newly planted
trees will promote proper soil biology for tree
roots while creating a protected area that will
hold mowers and other maintenance vehicles
away from the roots and trunk.
PLANTING ADJACENCIES
It is critical that new trees be placed in areas
with enough space around them that their roots
will be adequately protected. All site furniture
(bike racks, benches, etc.) should be kept at least
10 feet outside of the dripline.
Emergent
Herbaceous Plugs
Wet Meadow
Seed Mix
Brush Layer
Existing Canopy
Flood Water Level
Design Water Level
Bottom of Lake
Elevation Varies
1:1 Slope
70
8:1 Slope
LAKE EDGE PLANTING TECHNIQUES
The creation of a riparian buffer edge at
the lakes and stream will allow for the
implementation of natural biofiltration systems,
work to control soil erosion, and promote natural
wetland ecosystems. Careful planting in these
areas will filter out sediment, reducing the
turbidity of the water system, and will create
a beautiful and educational wetland teaching
garden.
SCULPTURE IN THE LANDSCAPE
SITING STRATEGIES
OVERVIEW
The picturesque landscape of Vassar College is best
experienced as a world of buildings, pathways, vegetation,
topography, and water. When introducing new parking,
roadways, or other utilities into this system, the utmost
care should be exercised to prevent any unnecessary
interruptions from or interference with the landscape
experience.
The primacy of the landscape experience must also
be considered when placing new art in the landscape. The
first-hand study of art is undeniably an integral part of a
well-rounded education; however, this purpose is greatly
diminished when art is treated as either decoration or as
a self-referential event. The College will need to judge
the worthiness of the pieces for inclusion in its outdoor
sculpture collection not only based on their intrinsic
artistic or historic merit, but also based on whether an
appropriate site can be found that will allow the piece to
contribute to the landscape rather than detract from it.
The campus collection should be seen as a network
of related objects that together provide another means
for students to reach their full intellectual potential.
A set of criteria can be established to determine how
individual pieces can be evaluated to determine how
they might successfully contribute to the experience of
the campus landscape. Since each piece of sculpture
will have a different potential impact, it is impossible to
suggest which sites may be appropriate without knowing
more about the work in question. The following principles
should therefore be viewed primarily as a framework for
sound decision-making about whether certain locations
on campus will benefit from the inclusion of particular
artworks.
PRINCIPLES
Outdoor sculptures should be harmonious with
their surroundings. Sculpture on campus should
not have a dominant presence on its site or in its
scale relative to its surroundings, nor should it
interfere with the continuity of landscape episodes
particular to the Vassar campus.
2. Each piece should be evaluated with respect to
subject matter, materiality, form, and relationship
to the ground and how these qualities relate to its
siting.
3. Sculptures should not compete with or enter into
a spatial dialogue with one another. As a general
rule, no piece of sculpture should be visible from
any other piece.
4. Important view sheds, such as Main Drive axis,
contribute to the landscape experience and should
remain without sculpture.
5. The siting of sculpture should be carefully
coordinated with maintenance practices and the
location of major utilities. For example, to allow
snow removal to take place along pathways,
sculptures should be set back far enough from
paths or roads so as not to be at risk of damage.
When sculptures are sited in turf or meadow areas,
provisions for mowing equipment to pass safely
around them should also be established.
1.
Campus Standards
71
MISCELLANEOUS
FURNISHINGS
TRASH RECEPTACLES
Manufacturer: Victor Stanley
Model: Ironsites Series S-42 w/Rain Bonnet Lid
Finish: Black
ASH URNS
Manufacturer: Landscape Forms
Model: Grenadier
Finish: Black
BENCHES
Manufacturer: Victor Stanley C-10
Model: Classic Series, Contoured
Finish: Black w/Mahogany Slats
BIKE RACKS
Manufacturer: Columbia Cascade Original
Model: Cycloops
Finish: Black
PEDESTRIAN PATHWAYS
The recommended pavement type for all campus
pathways is bituminous concrete with chip
and seal topcoat. The chip and seal treatment
adds a less urban quality to pathways, further
distinguishing them from roadways beyond the
campus boundaries.
Although porous pavement was
considered, it is not recommended for use on
campus for several reasons; porous pavement is
typically a higher cost per square foot than chip
and seal, requires specialized maintenance, can
be difficult to repair, and becomes less effective
over time as debris clogs the pores which affects
its usefulness in managing stormwater runoff.
72
MISCELLANEOUS
5’-0”
5’-0”
6’-8”
6’-8”
FURNISHINGS
SIGNAGE TYPE I & TYPE II
Sign:
•
Steel pan (23-1/4”W x 16”H and 231/4”W x 36”H)
•
Paint finish: Porcelain enamel, match
custom dark green
•
Graphics: Engineer-grade reflective
vinyl - 3M or Approved Equal
Frame:
•
Fabricated plate aluminum “T” (2-1/2” x
1-1/2”)
•
Paint finish: Catalyzed acrylic
polyurethane paint both faces and all
edges
8’-8”
8’-8”
Details and specifications per Vassar
standard documents
SIGNAGE TYPE III & TYPE IV
Sign:
•
Steel pan (23-1/4”W x 16”H)
•
Paint finish: Porcelain enamel, match
custom dark green
•
Graphics: Engineer-grade reflective
vinyl - 3M or Approved Equal
Frame:
•
Fabricated plate aluminum “T” (3” x
2-1/2”)
•
Paint finish: Catalyzed acrylic
polyurethane paint both faces and all
edges
Details and specifications per Vassar
standard documents
LIGHTS
Manufacturer: Sentry Lighting
Model: SBP Battery Park, 12’ Pole, SAL-W
Finish: Black
Campus Standards
73
Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc.
Landscape Architects, PC
16 Court Street, 11th Floor
Brooklyn, New York 11241
t. 718.243.2044
f. 718.243.1293
www.mvvainc.com