This thesis will investigate roles that the built environment can play in restoring the urban watershed and reconnecting a community with the landscape sheltering that watershed. The focus of this investigation is Campus Creek, a stream that traverses the width of the University of Maryland, College Park campus. Until now the creek has been utilized primarily to drain storm water from adjacent paved surfaces, resulting in an eroding streambed rendered all but invisible by chain link fence, trash and dense undergrowth.

The revival of the stream and adjacent ecosystems will be accompanied by the introduction of structures that strive to emulate the natural systems they displace, and invite exploration of the environment while protecting sensitive resources. Habitation of the landscape will be sponsored by a set of buildings housing an interdisciplinary environmental sciences program, and by recreational uses located along the waterway. Campus Creek and the slopes north and south of its western section comprise the thesis site.