Architecture Commons^™

Regenerative Agriculture Infrastructure Design: The Built Environment Of Food, Culture, & Soil, Jesse Jw Selman

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The goal of this work is to explore the built context of our food system as a manifestation of a set of social and environmental conditions that are antithetical to the long-term health and survival of human life on this planet. The specific focus of this work is the small-scale, integrated farm. The farm is but one piece of the puzzle of how we eat and resides within the larger context of storage, distribution, economy, culture etc. Using precedents, both past and present, and through design explorations this work seeks to develop a positive course forward that will enable humanity …

Rethinking Reiche, Tracie J. Reed

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Part I of the study examines the differences between two environmental assessment methods for the K‐12 education sector: the United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Schools Version 3.0 and the British Research Establishment’s (BRE) BREEAM Education issue 2.0. Credit requirements are compared side‐by‐side and against recommendations from researchers in areas such as acoustics, lighting and indoor environment quality. Strengths in the two schemes and areas for improvement are highlighted, with acknowledgement that each scheme offers components and techniques from which the other could benefit. Part II of the study introduces the Howard C. Reiche Community School in Portland, Maine. …

Disaster Rehabilitative Housing In India, Shehla Hussain

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The project explores the design development of housing within the scenario of Post Disaster Rehabilitation of populations displaced by natural disasters. By looking at the house as a system that combines two distinct phases of rehabilitative housing, namely Transitional Housing and Durable Housing, the design seeks to reduce the complications of relocation every time there is a need to move on to the next phase of shelter aid.

To truly make the house construction an owner driven experience, the system aims to be designed such that it can manipulated by the owner/user to suit their long term needs and personal …

Planning For Passenger Rail In Small Cities And Towns, Alyssa R. Larose

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Projects to expand the passenger rail network in the United States will connect major metropolitan areas over long distances, travelling through smaller communities along the way. Transit-oriented development (TOD) is a concept for planning around stations to support transit and allow the development of dense, mixed use, walkable places. TOD literature focuses largely on developing around transit in metropolitan areas. Guidance for small towns and cities in rural areas is lacking.

This thesis compares best planning practices from TOD literature to the planning practices of small cities located in rural areas of New England where new passenger rail service or …

Human Capital In The City: Exploring The Relationship Between Skill And Productivity In Us Metropolitan Areas, Ryan Wallace

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

In economics, new growth theory suggests that knowledge creation and innovation are key drivers of growth. As a result, the ‘new economy’ is increasingly reliant upon the knowledge, skills, and abilities embodied in its workforce, also known as human capital, that facilitate the stimulation and generation of new ideas (Romer 1986, 1990 and Lucas 1988). This research contributes to the understanding of the relationship between stocks of human capital and economic output. I construct metrics to measure concentrations of basic worker skills using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Information Network (O*NET) and employment estimates for 353 US metropolitan areas. …

Civic Center For Municipal Corporation Of Delhi, Akanksha Sharma

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The thesis project proposes to explore into the design possibilities for the Civic Center for Municipal Corporation of Delhi and extract the richness of the site conditions into architecture through means of computational design. The computational design approach will provide a degree of variance which will be an interesting thing to explore in terms of defining spaces, program and systems.. The design would hinge on to one of the major centers of Delhi and aim to enhance social permeability through means of forms and articulation of spaces. It would cater to all classes of people and help in promoting small …

Socio-Spatial Constructs Of The Local Retail Food Environment: A Case Study Of Holyoke, Massachusetts, Walter F. Ramsey

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This mixed-methods study addresses the relationship between the availability of food and realized food access by studying the retail food landscape of Holyoke, Massachusetts – a small, socio-economically diverse city. While a large body of empirical research finds that low-income communities and communities of color are especially likely to lack adequate access to healthy foods and experience increased vulnerability to food insecurity, few studies explore urban food environments through a mixed-methods case study approach. Through the use of food store mapping, store audits, and resident interviews, this research is a nascent attempt to articulate how the unique development histories and …

Reworking: Transforming A Textile Mill, Jennifer M. Hayes

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This project examines the adaptive reuse of a disused nineteenth century textile mill building in Gilbertville, Massachusetts. While the original form and structure of the building type was conducive to maximum production of goods, contemporary uses require different forms. Although other mills in New England have been reused for housing, museums, or professional offices, my goal was to propose a program that related to the building’s original function as a place where people worked. Because the unemployment rate is rising in Massachusetts in 2010, I propose that the mill be reused as a training center where people learn green building …

Evaluating Strategies To Create Successful Business Incubators In Massachusetts Gateway Cities, Sonya C. Smith

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This thesis evaluates economic development, planning, public policy, and business strategies to create successful business incubators in Massachusetts’ post-industrial cities. These post-industrial cities in Massachusetts are dubbed “Gateway Cities” because they were once the economic engines of the region as well as areas of entry for many foreign-born residences to live and work. These cities have been recently plagued by high unemployment, poverty, and low business investment as many businesses, especially manufacturing, have located elsewhere. Legislation and policies involving redistribution of wealth to these Gateway Cities has recently been enacted to strengthen these communities. Although there currently isn’t a cohesive …

Economic, Demographic And Housing Trends In 495/Metrowest Region, Henry C. Renski, Kim Mckee

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Using School-Age Populations To Identify Hard-To- Count Populations: A Report To The Secretary Of The Commonwealth, Henry C. Renski, Susan Strate, John Gaviglio, Sonya Smith, Bill Proulx

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Modern Mosques Of Malaysia, Wael A. Yousef

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Design Collaboratory (Dc), Thomas Fowler

Architecture

The Design Collaboratory builds on the successful 46-year multi-disciplinary experience of this academic institution in developing an interdisciplinary design studio, which cultivates innovative models of practice. A team of professors, with over 40 years of collective cross disciplinary collaborative experience, and students from Architecture and Architectural (Structural) Engineering Departments with periodic involvement from the Construction Management Department (LEED workshop and student involvement on team) participate in a 20-week interdisciplinary design studio. This course has been taught since the 2007/08 academic year. This interdisciplinary team approach to building design has all disciplines involved from the inception of the building design project. …

Integrated Project Studio (Ips), Thomas Fowler

Architecture

A third year building design (BS) studio is integrated with a building environmental systems (BES) studio, which is referred to as the Integrated Project Studio. The same 18 students are in both the building design studio and the building environmental systems studio. The instructors for each studio, one an active practitioner who is a managing partner in a local firm and also a full time lecturer in the department and the second a full time academic (full professor) collaborate together on developing the content for both courses. The quarter starts of with a series of intense short workshops that used …

Challenging Computer Software Frontiers And The Human Resistance To Change, Jens Pohl

Architecture

This paper examines the driving and opposing forces that are governing the current paradigm shift from a data-processing information technology environment without software intelligence to an information-centric environment in which data changes are automatically interpreted withinthe context of the application domain. The driving forces are related to the large quantity of dataand the complexity of networked systems that both call for software intelligence. The opposing forces are non-technical and due to the natural human resistance to change.

Based on this background the paper describes current information-centric technology, proposes avision of intelligent software system capabilities, and identifies four areas of necessary …

The Space Of The Mask: From Stage To Ridotto, Marc J. Neveu

Architecture

In this chapter, I consider the means of participation within the public sphere of eighteenth- century Venice. My interest is to flesh out the nature of discourse within interior institutional spaces, and I will do so through a discussion of two related phenomena. First, I will examine the role of the mask, which by the eighteenth century had become synonymous with Venetian carnival and debauchery. Indeed, Venice in the eighteenth century gained much of its naughty reputation due to the exploits of Sior Maschere. Masks, however, were not only worn for amusement or the possibility of anonymous pleasure. During …

Laurel Community Farmstand, Terje Johansen

Horticulture and Crop Science

The project was for us to come up with a temporary farmstand that would be set up to sell fruits and vegetables but mainly to draw people to the area to bring awareness that there were plans to build a development at that location. Our group, Dana Curtice, Robert Vasilieff and Terje Johansen met with the developers three times. New ideas and information were presented in the first two meetings. The third meeting was to present our final design.

Nourishing Urbanism: A Case For A New Urban Paradigm, Lewis Knight, William Riggs

City and Regional Planning

True sustainability demands that we seek to more than ‘prop up’ traditional approaches to our environment; rather, it requires that we redress current shortcomings in the planning and design of our urban environment at both bio-regional and local scales. Nourishing Urbanism proposes a shift in the urban and non-urban paradigm relating to energy, water and food; all face significant climate-related challenges—and are united by land-use policy, planning and design. We need a renewed planning and design framework for cities and regions that allows the retrofitting of today's urbanity, and prepares our cities for a new tomorrow. Nourishing Urbanism seeks to …

Going Home Again, William Riggs

City and Regional Planning

In Thomas Wolfe’s 1940 novel You Can’t Go Home Again, the main character, George Webber, writes a novel that depicts his hometown is part of his home community. More than simply a case of vigilante exclusion, Webber's severed connection with his hometown is part of his exploration of a changing America, about the relationship between city and country and the tensions that surround a rapidly urbanizing country. This nostalgic disconnect has entered our lexicon to refer to the line between those who have moved to the “sophisticated” metropolis from the rural backwater (or perhaps now the bucolic suburb or …

Post-Disaster Assessment Of The Performance Of Hazard Mitigation Projects: The California Smart Approach, Michael R. Boswell, William Siembieda, Kenneth Topping

City and Regional Planning

California's SMART (State Mitigation Assessment Review Team) program for assessing natural hazard mitigation project performance after a disaster is a method of integrating multiple state agencies' expertise into a working tool for assessing the value of public investments in risk reduction. The intent of the SMART program is to provide the California Emergency Management Agency with information about the performance of publicly financed mitigation projects so that it can better allocate future funding and improve the overall safety of California. A key aspect of the program is the mobilization of California State University faculty and staff from across the state …