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Re-Envisioning The American Dream, Elain Tang

Masters Theses

The United States of America is globally known as the land of opportunity, freedom, independence, equality, and above all, the American Dream. American writer and historian, James Truslow Adams, coined the phrase “American Dream” in his 1931 book The Epic of America. The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, they can attain their own version of success in society through hard work, sacrifice, and taking risks. Post-World War II, the demand for home ownership rapidly increased. The development of Levittown provided single-family homes for white nuclear …

Creating New Cultural Hubs In American Cities: The Syrian Diaspora Of Worcester, Massachusetts, Aleesa Asfoura

Masters Theses

Architectural design can be used as a tool to assist in integrating Syrian immigrants into American culture. Conceived of as a vital place-making technique, architecture can build Syrian community in the United States, while maintaining and promoting the links to Middle Eastern heritage. This thesis draws upon the lived experience of a large Syrian population in Worcester, MA, and makes a case for design in the development of a Syrian-American community center. This Syrian-American community center seeks to satisfy three goals. First, it offers a space for Syrian immigrants to better transition into American culture while also staying strongly connected …

Reinvigorating Englewood, Chicago Through New Public Spaces And Mixed-Income Housing, Givan Carrero

Masters Theses

At the start of the second industrial revolution, Chicago was home to many workers from the Union Stock Yard meat packing industry located in what is now known as the Back of the Yards neighborhood. As business grew, so did the need for housing, leading to the development of a new neighborhood, Englewood. For years, the neighborhood was prosperous and was home to the second largest business corridor in the city. During the Great Migration, much of that changed. Racially Restrictive Covenants forced African Americans to live in the Black Belt, and the eastern side of Englewood slowly transformed, paving …

Seas Of Sorrow, Lakes Of Heaven: Community And Ishimure Michiko, Brett Kaufman

Masters Theses

The goal of this thesis is to examine the theme of community in two translated works, Paradise in the Sea of Sorrow: Our Minamata Disease and Lake of Heaven, by Ishimure Michiko. I analyze how Ishimure defines a community, and I also look at the tension between insiders of the community with outsiders. Next, I look at Ishimure’s use of genre in Paradise in the Sea of Sorrow; she blends autofiction, autobiography, and illness narratives to give different perspectives to reflect on the Minamata disease health crisis. Through this analysis, I also look at the shift in Ishimure’s …

Seeing Like A State Cultural Agency: Creative Place-Making Transcripts Of Local And State Actors, Jennifer Abrams

Masters Theses

Extralocal organizations and agencies have increasingly entered into the business of creative place-making—a strategy they use to encourage economic development. One such cultural development strategy is formal cultural district programs implemented by state agencies in cities and towns. While the use of art and culture as a tool for generating revenue is well-documented, less is known about the perspective of local actors—how they understand cultural district programs as a strategy to shape their place and what ways they negotiate the logics and strategies imposed on them from extralocal organizations. The Massachusetts Cultural District Program supports communities in their efforts to …

Creating A Community A New Ecological, Economical, And Social Path To Uniting A Community, Andrew Stadnicki

Masters Theses

Humans are evolutionarily programmed to respond positively to nature, and maintaining a connection to it is necessary to the health and well being of every individual while we collectively stride for the goal of sustainability. This Thesis proposal will examine land and water restoration through the service of a sustainable community center. Environmentally low impact, organic, and vernacular design will be investigated as a means to heal, site and community with various techniques of resilient applications.

The area of research is the Blackstone River Valley, once the heart of America’s first industrial revolution. Canals, factories and mills bordered the shores …

The Role Of The Landscape In The Socialization Of Cohousing Communities: A Study In Western Massachusetts, Emilie Marques Jordao

Masters Theses

The cohousing movement started in the United States in the 1990’s and since then has spread to over 160 communities throughout the country. This type of community is characterized by small dwelling units, high housing density, shared facilities such as a common house, shared commons and grouped parking. These are pedestrian-oriented communities with car circulation restricted to the outskirts of the neighborhood. Cohousing settlements have the goal of promoting social interaction and sustainable living through design, programming, and shared ideals. Many design characteristics, such as house proximity, density, building height and size, the location of parking, the availability of common …

From Shelters To Long Living Communities, Yakun Liang

Masters Theses

Disasters happen all the time, attention should be paid to refugees and help them build new homelands. Japan is an earthquake-prone area, every year there is at least 1 earthquake above 6 magnitude happens there. In 2011, Japan suffered from the 9.0 magnitude earthquake, tsunami and meltdown, the triple disasters. About 100 people died in the earthquake itself, and 20,000 people lost their lives in the tsunami, 465,000 people were evacuated after the disaster. Two years later after the triple disaster, more than half refugees still lived in temporary shelters. Efforts should be concentrated on the development of long living …

Mosque In The Valley: A Space For Spiritual Gathering & Cultural Learning, Nabila Iqbal

Masters Theses

In the history of Architecture, religious structures have always awed people whether a person corresponds to the concerning religion or even he or she is not religious at all. Those structures have been patronized by the riches or the royal highnesses of the time and mostly got the utmost priority regarding planning and construction and the results have been magnificent. By the 16th century when Ottoman Empire (15-20th century) was spreading its dynasty, the world saw the emergence of an overwhelming spread of Islamic architecture as well. Even now one who enters the city of Istanbul or Damascus from the …

Community Development In Emerging Cities: A Case For Lagos,Nigeria, Olaoluwa Olakunle Silva

Masters Theses

Urban spatial expansion resulting from urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is growing and will not stabilize in the near future. Sub-Saharan Africa’s urban growth rate is climbing faster than developing economies. Efforts should be concentrated on accommodating this phenomenon through the promotion of sustainable urban planning and development.

Relying on secondary data, this research examines models of indigenous Sub-Saharan African urban forms and residential architecture vernacular to understand these forms and their characteristics, and how these models and associated management, design, and planning principles can be adopted in a contemporary context. Also, studies of established indigenous building materials and technology, …

Architecture For The Revitalization Of Community, Erin Riley

Masters Theses

While human society has changed a great deal through time, our need for community has remained prevalent. Architecture is a reflection of this need for community in its ability to gather people together by its definition of space, even in that of the basic plane of the public plaza. Though there are many factors to creating a sense of community, architecture and the manipulation of our environment can act as a tool for drawing people together and encouraging interaction between them.

The community of Holyoke was at one time a thriving industrial community in the 1900’s. With the passage of …

The Community Cohesion Trail Of Brattleboro, Vermont, Patrick C. Kitzmiller

Masters Theses

The focus of this thesis is the creation of a series of architectural installations, bridges and gardens that link together via a pedestrian/bike path to connect the urban center of Main St. in Brattleboro, Vermont with the municipal park on the western end of town known as Memorial Park.

This thesis argues that the vast majority of community interactions take place along the sidewalks of the urban downtown, and in certain centers of activity in and around the area, such as Memorial Park. Thus, these two places have been chosen to test whether architecture can be used to bridge the …

Bridging The Gap: Community-Oriented Transit Development, Matthew C. Jones

Masters Theses

The bedroom community has become a prevalent and oft-criticized part of the modern architectural landscape. These suburban towns have continually grown radially outward from major cities across the nation since the end of the Second World War. While these suburbs have served to fulfill housing needs and wants of society, pressure to develop has often forced this growth to occur at a much more rapid rate than a traditional community. This rapid development has led to poorly implemented infrastructure, especially with regard to walkability and public transportation, which has fallen short of meeting the needs of users. These solutions in …

Sustaining Community: A New Social, Economic, And Environmental Path For Ware, Ma, Aviva J. Galaski

Masters Theses

In Western Massachusetts, as in many regions of the United States, the municipalities with significant population size are significantly eclipsed in both number and area by the surrounding towns and villages. Struggling rural locations often face similar challenges to their urban counterparts: declining or failed industry, high levels of unemployment or under-employment, and lack access of quality housing across income classes. In addition to these obstacles, they also face additional difficulties of both physical and social isolation. While a great deal of recent effort has been placed in studying the architectural and planning interventions needed in struggling urban locations, rural …