Tactical & Technological Growth: Interdisciplinary Investigations of Biophilic Tactical Urbanism for Learning Environments.

This dissertation investigated temporary, low-cost biodiversity interventions as an empirical methodological innovation. The concept of “temporary biodiversity” as a tool was explored through an interdisciplinary framework that integrated 1) technological, 2) ecological, and 3) human behavior research domains and culminated in a 1:1 scale, parametrically generated installation that was deployed in a U.S. public elementary schoolyard.

The drivers for this research were both theoretical and practical. First, biodiversity is undergoing a 6th mass extinction event globally. The complex interactions between biodiversity and the built environment in places like public schools–a critical space for engaging youth with nature–is poorly understood, from both ecological and socio-ecological perspectives. Equally important, public schools are often bereft of high quality, biodiverse-rich environments with implications for student education and overall well-being. Temporary biodiversity interventions were explored as a means to 1) generate new knowledge at the human / biodiversity / built environment nexus in public schools, and 2) serve as an applied “stepping-stone” strategy towards more biodiversity-integrated outdoor learning environments.

Temporary biodiversity interventions were theoretically framed through the term Biophilic Tactical Urbanism (BTU). BTU represented a novel intersection of tactical urbanism, biophilic design, and multispecies design concepts. Interdisciplinary, scaffolded research explored BTU through technological, ecological, and human behavior lenses. First, from a technological perspective, computational modeling of container-grown plant growth, performance, and aesthetic was conducted under architectural-inspired scenarios (slope, deflection, angled rotation, and agency). The indigenous “Three Sisters” polyculture co-planting system (corn, beans, squash, and sunflowers) served as a model ecology system. Results revealed species-specific responses, directly influencing subsequent BTU designs in later research.

Second, the ecological impacts of a 1:1 scale, parametrically generated BTU intervention were assessed in an elementary school parking lot. This research focused on plant-insect interactions and micro-spatial heat island impacts. The results showed that greater plant species richness in BTU designs correlated with increased insect family richness, especially among bees, wasps, and ants. Furthermore, the BTU intervention significantly reduced surface parking lot temperatures, demonstrating its potential for urban heat mitigation.

Finally, a human subjects study, conducted in partnership with an elementary school art teacher through a co-design framework, examined the psycho-social impacts of the 1:1 scale BTU intervention on student classroom engagement and biodiversity perception through nature photography. Classroom engagement, measured through attention redirects, teacher evaluations, and classroom outputs (n=115), improved over a three-week period compared to a conventional indoor classroom. Analysis of student photographs revealed varying perceptions of biodiversity and associated affective caption content in the BTU outdoor classroom, along with age differences between three grade levels (n=201) on their photographic engagement with insects.

Overall, this dissertation explored an interdisciplinary applied research strategy for schoolyard greening towards biodiversity that integrated design, technology, and participatory processes, serving as a proof of concept for future, larger-scale research.