Revitalizing Main Street, Usa: Recovering From The American Dream And The Destruction Of The Rural Main Street, 2023 University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Revitalizing Main Street, Usa: Recovering From The American Dream And The Destruction Of The Rural Main Street, Rebecca Virgl
Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects
The American Dream is a national ethos that states any person, with enough hard work, can succeed in the United States; it is both critique of the pitfalls of capitalism and advocacy of the potentials the system offers. Over time, suburbia has come to represent the physical manifestation of the American Dream. In the world of planning and architecture, much discussion is given to the suburbanization of the United States. The relationship between the city and the suburb is well documented, and many plans for suburban improvements focus on making suburbs more like cities, where they are more walkable, dense, …
Song’S Site At Los Angeles Eco-Village Redevelopment, 2023 Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School
Song’S Site At Los Angeles Eco-Village Redevelopment, Kendall Gilbert, Marina Rios, Kristin Hernandez, Gianna Morelli
Honors Thesis
The Los Angeles Eco-Village (LAEV) is a co-op housing community, located in Koreatown, focused on building sustainable and economically cooperative living in an urban environment. The purpose of this project is to transform a property recently acquired by the LAEV, called Song’s, into a multipurpose community hub. The project design goals established with LAEV founder and community members, include cultivating new highly sustainable and resilient ideas on urban living and incorporating educational elements that inspire the community and visitors to live more sustainably. This project proposes three design elements to improve the community use of the newly acquired Song’s at …
Optimizing Greenhouses: A Comparative Analysis Of Csb+Sju Greenhouses, 2023 College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University
Optimizing Greenhouses: A Comparative Analysis Of Csb+Sju Greenhouses, Jervon Sands
CSB/SJU Distinguished Thesis
This research aims to determine the optimal design of modern greenhouses through a comparative analysis of three on campus greenhouses. Temperature and humidity measurements as well as physical observations for each site were compared to standard measurements and ideal greenhouse design components. The results of a comparative analysis allowed for the three on-campus greenhouses to be ranked against this section. The trends found in the data confirmed the findings of previous research. Recommendations for operating an optimal greenhouse derived from the analysis and observations along with suggestions for experimental improvements based on a previous study are also included.
The Neighborhood As An Energy-Generating Community The Case Of El-Banafseg Residential Neighborhood, East Cairo, 2023 The British University in Egypt
The Neighborhood As An Energy-Generating Community The Case Of El-Banafseg Residential Neighborhood, East Cairo, Amany G. Micheal Prof., Mona Helmy Dr.
Centre for Advanced Materials
Nowadays, energy consumption is a global challenge. This is due to the shortage of several energy sources, and consequently, to their increasing prices. This paper argues that by using an integrative approach for using various energy harvesting techniques, a typical residential neighborhood can be operated as a self-generator of its needed energy, or part of it.
The paper follows a mixed qualitative, experimental, and numerical simulation approaches to examine the practicality of the paper hypothesis. It uses Space syntax modeling theory (a socio-spatial software) to analyze the pedestrian flow to indicate the potential locations of the kinetic energy harvesting Piezoelectric …
White Picket Possibilities: Socially, Economically And Environmentally Reshaping Suburbia, 2023 Syracuse University
White Picket Possibilities: Socially, Economically And Environmentally Reshaping Suburbia, Brendan Carroll
Architecture Senior Theses
What does the future of suburbia look like? For much of its history suburbia marketed itself as a pillar of the American dream. While it could be argued that for many years owning a single-family home was an obtainable goal for most Americans, this is far from the case today. Suburbia has shifted from the housing type advertised for the masses to a housing type only obtainable by a fraction of Americans. Suburbia and the housing units within it do not match the social, economic, or environmental needs of today's society.
As the demand for suburban living remains at all-time …
Paradigms Of The Post-Natural: Depicting Alternative Futures, 2023 Syracuse University
Paradigms Of The Post-Natural: Depicting Alternative Futures, Andrea De Haro, Charlotte Bascombe
Architecture Senior Theses
Paradigms of the Post Natural is a thesis that utilizes imagery and storytelling to critique present practices of design which disregard the protection of our environment. We are interested in current environmental degradation characteristics of the era of the anthropocene where human-centric design methods have manipulated and exploited the ecosystem in which we coexist with other organisms as destructive pursuits of human development. Our inspiration developed from a shared interest in the conservation of non-human organisms. Specifically, we are interested in ecocides, areas in which animals are forced to adapt as they experience the human destruction of their habitat. Examining …
Toxic Glacier: Confronting Our Society's Consumerism Culture, 2023 Syracuse University
Toxic Glacier: Confronting Our Society's Consumerism Culture, Valeria Otero Lopez
Architecture Senior Theses
This thesis is situated in the scenario of a dysfunctional society in which States refuse to cooperate with one another, and every State refuses to import NYC’s waste.
I’m proposing the implementation of a waste treatment plant that processes waste into a “Toxic Glacier” in Central Park, which was originally developed as a place to escape from the overcrowding and polluting streets. Because of the tremendous size this would conquer, there is nowhere in NYC to execute the project but the park.
This project uncovers the City’s hidden motives for concealing waste from its inhabitants. It questions the City’s intentions …
Threshold Tectonics: Reclaiming Space Through Geomorphological Design, 2023 Syracuse University
Threshold Tectonics: Reclaiming Space Through Geomorphological Design, Amreeta Verma
Architecture Senior Theses
This research posits that a revitalization of indigenous earth architecture practices in a contemporary context can mitigate the immense waste and embodied carbon in the construction industry while engaging practices of land return and reclamation. Locally sourced earth materials are the focus of this research because when utilized in a circular consumption cycle, they can be reused or returned to the natural environment. Designing with a temporal understanding of material decay, changing site conditions, and project life cycle reduces the impact of construction waste on the burgeoning issue of environmental degradation and resource depletion. Material experimentation is used to develop …
Linear Waltz With Nature: A Self-Supporting Infrastructure In Nature, 2023 Syracuse University
Linear Waltz With Nature: A Self-Supporting Infrastructure In Nature, Shangkun Zhong
Architecture Senior Theses
This project aims to create a sustainable system that addresses waste management issues in urban areas by examining the functionality of recycling infrastructures and how they can be integrated. The system will absorb waste and convert it into renewable energy to support a field station in Tibet, where self-sustainability is critical, due to the remote location. Architects often demonstrate their understanding of sustainability through various means such as integration, passive/energy-saving, and natural architecture. This thesis argues that a sustainable system such as CopenHill, can exemplify the combination of green-manifested design and recycle content as a sustainable cycle that supports human-nature …
Historic Downtown Streetscape Plan Price City, Utah, 2023 Utah State University
Historic Downtown Streetscape Plan Price City, Utah, Patricia Beckert
All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023
The idea of a small-town Main Street has profound meaning within the American culture that has prevailed for the past two centuries. Historically, Main Street serves as the beating heart of a community, a place where economic, social, cultural, and civic activities are centered (Francaviglia, 1996; Main Street America, n.d.). Since the beginning of the 19th century, many factors have led to the decline of Main Streets, and despite a variety of efforts from different stakeholders, that decline has only intensified in recent decades (Isenberg, 2008; Orvell, 2014 Howard, 2015). In 1980, after a three-year project conducted by the National …
Guiding The Future Of The Cache County Fairgrounds, 2023 Utah State University
Guiding The Future Of The Cache County Fairgrounds, Logan Hall
All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023
The County fairgrounds have been a fixture in Cache Valley, Utah for over 100 years. They provide a valuable resource to the community. Effective planning can ensure the appropriate use of this public asset and prevent underutilization. Modern design guidelines have been developed for other fairgrounds in the Intermountain West, but not the Cache County fairgrounds. This research is focused on developing a contemporary visioning plan to guide the growth and future of the County fairgrounds, create design guidelines for future development, and maximize the fairground’s economic potential. The methodology used to develop this plan involved an extensive review of …
Procedural City Generation With Combined Architectures For Real-Time Visualization, 2023 Clemson University
Procedural City Generation With Combined Architectures For Real-Time Visualization, Griffin Poyck
All Theses
The work and research of this paper sought to build upon traditional city generation and simulation in creating a tool that both realistically simulates cities and their prominent features and also creates aesthetic and artistically rich cities using assets that combine several contemporary or near contemporary architectural styles. The major city features simulated are the surrounding terrain, road networks, individual buildings, and building placement. The tools used to both create and integrate these features were created in Houdini with Unreal Engine 5 as the intended final destination. This research was influenced by the city, town, and road networking of Ghost …
Economic Impact Assessment Of Nature-Based Coastal Resilience Solutions In Charleston. Estimating Local Economic Effects With Algorithm-Based Supporting Tool., 2023 Clemson University
Economic Impact Assessment Of Nature-Based Coastal Resilience Solutions In Charleston. Estimating Local Economic Effects With Algorithm-Based Supporting Tool., Oksana Veselkova
All Theses
Coastal cities are at the forefront of the risks induced by climate change. Local communities are adversely affected, but the essential cultural assets and economies are also at risk of damage or destruction. In the efforts to limit hazard risk exposure, local governments are increasingly planning for long-term flood protection. One prospective flood risk mitigation measure is living shorelines or nature-based adaptation. The coastal ecosystems, such as beaches, wetlands, barrier islands, oyster reefs, and salt marshes, deliver multiple benefits to communities, including recreation, natural resources, freshwater, and carbon sequestration. Moreover, when combined with structural solutions, they can effectively reduce water …
Subterraneans: A Regional Earth Dwelling For Comfort And Beauty, 2023 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Subterraneans: A Regional Earth Dwelling For Comfort And Beauty, Isaak Benchoff
Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses
Subterraneans is a study of an affordable, self-sufficient, sustainable, and dignified housing prototype for the region of Northwest Arkansas. It is a design process investigation based on the ideas of turning a local, sustainable material into affordable homes that can be built within a community of people sharing land and resources. The homes would utilize as many natural materials as possible to minimize the impact on the Earth and the cost to the owners.
Research looked at many different vernacular building precedents as well as the work done by contemporary design firms in the area of economical, low-impact, and passively …
Early Childhood Educational Toys Through An Architectural Perspective, 2023 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Early Childhood Educational Toys Through An Architectural Perspective, Anindhitha Sudhakaran
Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses
This capstone explores the overlaps between architectural training and early childhood education, and how architectural design can inform the design process of creating educational toys for young children. Through an analysis of pedagogies used throughout history in early childhood education and my own personal experiences of architecture school, an understanding of how an architectural perspective can influence activities for three- to five-year-olds is developed. Precedent studies of open-ended educational toys designed by educators and designers introduced the design thinking mindset necessary to create an effectively enriching toy. The next phase of this project involves designing an educational toy for the …
Tactical Urbanism On A University Campus: A Case Study Of Crossroads On Dickson, 2023 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Tactical Urbanism On A University Campus: A Case Study Of Crossroads On Dickson, Noah Berg
Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses
Tactical Urbanism is a method of creating temporary, low-cost interventions in a city’s built environment, aiming to test new ideas, gather community feedback, and create momentum for larger-scale changes. The approach is characterized by its focus on quick, iterative projects that can be easily implemented and adjusted, rather than large, expensive initiatives that take years to complete. Examples of Tactical Urbanism projects include pop-up bike lanes, parklets, and community gardens. The goal is to encourage community participation, foster a sense of ownership, and create a safer, more livable, and inclusive city. In spring 2022, a class called “Walk, Bike, Link” …
Designing For Mass Customization Housing Through Generative Design, 2023 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Designing For Mass Customization Housing Through Generative Design, Tania Salgueiro
Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses
This research proposal aims to investigate computational design strategies for sustainable, affordable, and more equitable housing. The study will focus on the use of generative design tools, such as parametric modeling, rule-based modeling, and optimization, to aid architects and designers in creating custom housing complexes for single families in small and medium urban lots. The goal is to develop a computational method that considers sustainability, affordability, and long-term usage parameters to create housing designs that meet the desired spatial qualities. The research question asks how generative design tools can support designers in approaching affordable housing given the increasing demand for …
Environmental Injustice In Fayetteville, Arkansas: Investigating Unjust And Racist Conditions In Fayetteville's Industrial Park, 2023 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Environmental Injustice In Fayetteville, Arkansas: Investigating Unjust And Racist Conditions In Fayetteville's Industrial Park, Chloe Devecsery
Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses
Environmental racism refers to how minority neighborhoods are burdened with a disproportionate number of environmental hazards and pollution that lower the quality of life and create health disparities. Despite the growing awareness of the national and global problem, environmental injustice and racism can be found in nearly every place. There is little being done regarding policy, public awareness, and government action. The fight for environmental justice is still needed across America, in Arkansas, and in our community. This disciplinary-oriented capstone gives a brief overview of the environmental justice movement and uses publicly available maps and statistics from government and academic …
Collaboration Between Occupational Therapists And Architects To Incorporate Universal Design To Increase Accessibility, 2023 University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences
Collaboration Between Occupational Therapists And Architects To Incorporate Universal Design To Increase Accessibility, Michelle C. L. Hoff, Susan Macdermott
Spring 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium
The design of the built environment plays a key role in occupational participation. When the built environment is poorly designed, it severely limits accessibility for an individual with a disability. In contrast, when the built environment is well designed, it can support the occupational performance of individuals of all ages and abilities. Interprofessional collaboration between occupational therapists and architects can improve environmental barriers to occupational participation within home and community settings. Interprofessional collaboration between occupational therapists and architects has involved direct input through consultations, interprofessional education experiences, and the formation of interprofessional organizations. However, barriers to interprofessional collaboration have included …
Exploring Methods Of Adaptive Reuse As A Means Of Reviving Abandoned Spaces, 2023 Bowling Green State University
Exploring Methods Of Adaptive Reuse As A Means Of Reviving Abandoned Spaces, Joshua Davids
Honors Projects
This interdisciplinary project explores cases of building abandonment as well as adaptive reuse projects. Building abandonment is analyzed for its causes and influences, with adaptive reuse also discussed as a means to revitalize these abandoned spaces. The end of the project includes a small-scale design concept for the renovation of unused spaces in Bowling Green State University's Founders Hall.