LSA 220- Intro to Landscape Architecture

Jake Mosher

Masterplan of Syracuse University

Syracuse University has a beautiful and historic campus that is instantly

recognizable with the Carrier Dome, Hendrickss Chapel, and Carnegie Library. The
redesign of a campus like Syracuse or any other university is needed in order to make
the campus handicap accessible, ecofriendly, or to keep up with advances in
technology. The Syracuse campus redesign has taken the needs and wants of students
through surveying. This allows the design committee to understand what they have to
redesign and what they can leave alone throughout the campus. Obviously not all the
needs or wants of every student can be met with one design plan so the designers have
to combine and figure out the best plan for the campus. One thing the students agreed
on was that the quad was the center point of the university. The Syracuse quad is a
quadrangle as it has sidewalks that intersect the grassy areas. This allows students to
walk across the quad without destroying it with their own created footpaths. SUNY
ESFs quad is a traditional quad with only sidewalks around the perimeter of the grassy
area. Syracuses campus is historic so change is probably rare. Almost all landscapes
change with time whether it is the designers intentions or natures intentions. A great
way to ensure the change a landscape undergoes is a positive one is to survey the
people who use the landscape like the Syracuse Master Plan committee did.