Ever year the thesis studio is given a local area or town to analyze, from its sense of place and its larger context, to its successes and failures. From this in-depth analysis, a topic of thesis investigation grows. After careful research, conclusions are drawn, and then used as the basis of a design project that aims of explore the realization of these conclusions.

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Our thesis studio was assigned to study the Forest Avenue region of Portland, ME, known mainly to local residents as the location of the University of Southern Maine (USM) and as a massive traffic headache. After my initial analysis, I focused my research on the role anchor institutions, like universities, can play in helping to transform their surrounding neighborhoods. The University of Maine system is currently exploring a transformative project on the USM campus, to build a new Maine Center for Graduate Professional Studies. I used this real project as the basis for my design project exploring how USM, in its role as an anchor institution, could impact the redevelopment of Forest Avenue.