Architecture Commons^™

Politics Of Urban Design: Racist Agendas Built Into The Environment, Chassidy Titley

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Natural Light On Mental Health, Gianna Arquilla

Honors Projects

All students have experienced low motivation at one point in their academic career, but what are the factors that can affect this? Is it solely based on their personality and work ethic, or can the environment have an effect? This study discusses the effects on mental health through architecture. Can the amount of natural light in a building affect the motivation of students? Natural light is something that is often overlooked, mostly considered as a perk rather than a necessity. How can students truly feel passionate about their work sitting in a dark place? To evaluate this data, this study …

Health And Healthcare: Designing For The Social Determinants Of Health And Blue Zones In North Nashville, Rebecca Tonguis, Honor Thomas, Olivia Hobbs

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Owned by North Nashville’s First Community Church, a now empty site in the Osage-North Fisk neighborhood of North Nashville has been identified as a potential site for a new location of The Store, in addition to a community-centric architectural development based on the social determinants of health and informed by the principles behind Blue Zones, the locations with the highest lifespans in the world. Opened by Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley, The Store is a free grocery store that “allow[s] people to shop for their basic needs in a way that protects dignity and fosters hope”, for which North Nashville …

Photography, Architecture, And Environment: An Architectural Analysis Of Edward Ruscha’S 26 Gasoline Stations, Rebecca Tonguis

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

This presentation explores Edward Ruscha’s photobook 26 Gasoline Stations through an architectural lens. Specifically, it treats Ruscha’s work as historic evidence of how consumption, industry, and commodity have infiltrated all kinds of environmental contexts through architectural manifestations. Known for being the first artist’s book, 26 Gasoline Stations ambiguously exists as both fine art and documentation of everyday conditions, with the overall graphic character highlighting its perceived focus on overarching narrative. Since gasoline stations are the primary subject of each of the 26 photographs, the subject of this work is arguably architecture, suggesting that the historic relationship between mass gas consumption—or …

Visualizing Voices: Exploring The Use Of Architectural Visualization To Present Complex Qualitative Findings, Oriana Abboud Armaly

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, I discuss the promising use of visual architectural drawings to present findings of qualitative studies, particularly when dealing with a complex, multidimensional human experience. I examine an interdisciplinary integration between qualitative research and architecture that embraces visual elements. I propose using visual drawings borrowed from architecture as a tool to present deep meanings of human experience within a social phenomenon and make the findings visually transparent. The architectural drawings offer distinct views: one provides an overall view of the building, while the other exposes its hidden layers. I employ this visual means to highlight deep meanings obtained …

Moonshine Babies, Arghavan Heydareslam

Theses and Dissertations

Moonshine Babies is a two-screen film made of collage/cut-out stop-motion and live-action. It is a visual poem based on my journals from when I recently started living in the US as an outsider. The experience left me feeling divided between the empty present and memories of the past. suggesting that there are collective memories among a group of interconnected individuals that unite them within a single narrative.

There was a moment when I asked, "If you are your memories, what does it mean to be somewhere you have no memories of and no one has memories of you there?"

Memories …

The Past Informing The Future: An Interview With Earl Santee, Populous, Rachel Hickey

Journal of Applied Sport Management

The facility expert in focus is Earl Santee, a senior principal, global chair, and founder at Populous. Populous is the leading architectural and design firm in the sport facility sector. Santee, having been has been recognized for numerous awards, including the Sports Business Journal’s 2019 Class of the Champions: Pioneers & Innovators in Sports Business, is excellently positioned to offer an expert perspective on the past, present, and future of sport facility design

Impact Of The Built Environment On The End-Of-Life Journey, Kelechi Akwazie

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Several research studies and personal anecdotes show that home-based hospice care patients report better quality of life than their inpatient care counterparts – suggesting that the location of care/built environment is a critical component of hospice care. As a result, other research studies have attempted to provide evidence-based design recommendations for inpatient hospice facilities; however, several of these recommendations either conflict with each other or are vaguely prescribed – which may dull any attempts to implement them.

This literature review takes a unique approach to the provision of evidence-based design recommendations for inpatient hospice facilities by holistically assessing hospice care, …

Uncovering Emotional Contamination: Five Sites Of Trauma, Abigail Zola

Masters Theses

“Emotional contamination,” describes residual feelings associated with a space where a negative or tragic event occurred to an individual or group either personally, historically, or politically. Emotional contamination affects people’s associations with place and informs their willingness to spend time in them. This project considers a set of design principles rooted in uncovering and acknowledging the lifespan of a site, and considers how this acknowledgment can exist as an urban system rather than an individual architectural artifact. My thesis work analyzes five case studies in Berlin where political and economic factors determined the result of intervention, and how these sites …

Cohabitation X Adaptation, 2100: A Climate Change Epoch, Kyle Andrews

Masters Theses

Some seventy-seven odd years in the future, the world as we know it will only be recognizable by those who are willing to accept it. The bustling metropolis of Boston Massachusetts has been transformed to appease the tides of Mother Nature as a consequence of human intervention. In the decades prior, humanity viciously fought to contain the effects of climate change, until many realized the colossal undertaking of such a battle. Municipalities across the globe had begun to accept that fighting the earth was no longer an option. Instead, the only hope forward was to adapt to a reality in …

A Feminist Approach To Solutions In Urban Development, Lourdes Yessenia Gracia Cantu

Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering: Sustainability and Development Capstone Projects

Are there ways of occupying space and producing places that somehow contest, challenge, and problematize the dominant modalities of organization, of space and place?

A Feminist Approach to Solutions in Urban Development presents an exploration and proposal of a more equitable and diverse urban design that guarantees the use of public space as a place for economic development. With a focus on the recent theory and social movement concerning the impact of the built environment on women, children and older adults, urban feminist, comes across as a participatory planning process that ensures the involvement of multilevel agendas, to react and …

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 …

A Preliminary Study Of Perceptions Of Community Hospitals In Cairo, Egypt: Towards Healthy Environmental Design, Veronica Iskander

Theses and Dissertations

Hospitals are a place that people dread and often avoid. Negative experiences in hospitals can contribute to pain and suffering, as well as to stress, loss of control and overall discomfort. While architecture has the power to heal when designed and maintained, it also has the power to harm if not done right. Each architectural element then has the potential to either reduce stress or contribute to it. From the location of the hospital to the colors used, there are many factors that work together to create a safe welcoming space promoting healing for all. In this study, a checklist …

Amtrak Staples Mill Station: Strategic Vision Plan 2023, Daniel S. Longest

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This plan proposes the replacement of the current Amtrak Staples Mill Station with a new facility designed to incorporate civic art, multi-use development, and fast and easy train boarding. Drawing on successful examples like Union Station in D.C. and Main Street Station in Richmond, this plan encourages stakeholders to adopt a strategic vision for the station and its vicinity as an asset to the region. An independent commission with equal representation from state agency representatives and residents would enact these improvements through a public-private partnership, including a transit-oriented development scheme for adjacent land.

From Building To Dwelling: Unfolding Infinity Through Bioregional Fulfillment, Sanjana Bhatnagar

Pitzer Senior Theses

The causes of anthropogenic climate change touch every feature of our modern-day existences. Approaches to sustainability tend to focus on material actions, but unsustainable practices are guided by an ontological orientation of individuality and human exceptionalism. This thesis provides an alternate account of being that decenters individuality through weaving the metaphysics of Fazang of the Huayan School of Mahayana Buddhism with the metaphysics of Martin Heidegger. To encompass the whole of the relational network that constitutes and conditionally defines our existence, I expand Heidegger’s account of locales as relational sites which are put forth solely by humans to an account …

Constellations Of Capital: Applying Architecture’S Spatial Language To Global Networks Of Food, Armed Conflict, And Reverberations Of Violence, Oliver J. Mead

Senior Projects Fall 2023

Architecture, as the art and/or practice of designing and constructing buildings, offers an often overlooked array of representational devices that, as tested within this senior project, prove significant in reframing geopolitical perspectives in a manner that circumvents the limitations of metaphorization. The physical products and results of architectural design are the built objects that facilitate and coordinate socio-political spaces, yet it is the spatially descriptive process of architectural design itself in representing built relationships that can be valuable in constructing provocative and experimental investigations of present and future spatial environments.This project focuses on a tripartite of present-day global issues: food …

Strengthening Urban Resilience: Understanding The Interdependencies Of Outer Space And Strategic Planning For Sustainable Smart Environments, Ulpia-Elena Botezatu, Olga Bucovetchi, Adrian V. Gheorghe, Radu D. Stanciu

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The conventional approach to urban planning has predominantly focused on horizontal dimensions, disregarding the potential risks originating from outer space. This paper aims to initiate a discourse on the vertical dimension of cities, which is influenced by outer space, as an essential element of strategic urban planning. Through an examination of a highly disruptive incident in outer space involving a collision between the Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 satellites, this article elucidates the intricate interdependencies between urban areas and outer space infrastructure and services. Leveraging the principles of critical infrastructure protection, which bridge the urban and outer space domains, and …

Book Review: Creating The South Caroliniana Library, Ron Stafford

South Carolina Libraries

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between School Architecture And Self-Efficacy Of Students With Special Needs In Some Schools In Lebanon - The Reciprocal Architectural Design Method, Hayat M. Itani

Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ)

This study sought to develop a new architectural design methodology for educational facilities. The design factors of inclusive schools built environment affect the self-efficacy of students with special needs. Self-efficacy being defined by Albert Bandura as one's belief in one's ability to succeed completing specific tasks in a certain environmental action. This research is conducted by following the sequential explanatory research design, surveyed by a mixed method. Participants were a group of 35 special education teachers and 25 students with special needs, conveniently selected from some schools in Lebanon. The two questionnaires and the individual interviews administered by the researcher …

Digital Library Of Georgia (June 2022), Mandy L. Mastrovita, Donald Summerlin, Camie Williams, Deborah Hakes

Georgia Library Quarterly

New Digital Library of Georgia collections completed in Q2 of 2022

In-Between Spaces: Atmospheres, Movement And New Narratives For The City, Paul Alexander Stoicheff

Masters Theses

We often think of architecture as distinct buildings, yet as we move through the city we continuously pass through a built environment that is a collage of buildings. These spaces between buildings are underestimated as influences on our experience of everyday life in the city. Considering architecture as linked existential experiences through spaces rather than confined to individual buildings is more in line with our experience of the city as a series of interconnected spaces and places. Rather than describing a single, static architecture through words, how can we express this linked experience of spaces dynamically through narratives? Can writing …

Genius Loci: Capturing The Distinctive Roman Spirit Through Pochoir, Carlee Mcguire

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

This capstone explores the concept of genius loci through photographic and artistic exploration and does so through a lens of study set on Rome, Italy. The first major goal of the process has been to discover the elements, moments, physical textures, and other design elements that comprise the genius loci of a city or space. The second goal has been to partake in a process that can be used by myself and other designers in efforts to make more conscious design decisions — gaining a better understanding of ‘sense of place’ can assist designers in straying from globalized, placeless design.

Spaces Of The Tragic: Modern Dramatic Tragedy And Contemporary Memorial Design, Shiloh Bemis

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Humans use narrative to understand the world around us. At early ages we are exposed to storytelling with variable intent, from cautionary tales to the inspirational and everything in between. The dialectic strength of narrative mediums is well-known and well-studied. Theatre is one of the world’s oldest enduring forms of storytelling and has a strong ability to reflect and adapt with cultures as they develop, as a means of commentary and cultural reflection.

Architecture shares theatre’s ancient roots and has always been an important method of communication and expression. However, its tactics have historically been less narrative-centric than theatre and …

Anthropomorphism In Architecture: An Investigation Into Anthropomorphism Through Ancient Greco-Roman Religious Structures, Emily Wilcox

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper will outline and detail an investigation into religious Greco-Roman structures of antiquity through the lens of anthropomorphism. Through defining anthropomorphism, three lenses of thought have presented themselves as means of inquiry: metaphor, scale and proportion, and ergonomics. Previous research into these structures and cultures has shown that there was indeed consideration for the human body in designing in construction; this project hopes to solidify these claims and present new supporting information regarding specific relationships to the body using anthropomorphism. Many contemporary buildings approach the relationship to the human body as a mask or an afterthought, disregarding what reflecting …

Case Studies On Architecture And Economics Of Public Housing, John Kent

Honors Projects

Public is an historical and contemporary issue faced by many cities. Many new developments often include plans for some form of public or affordable housing. The purpose of this paper is to explore a few case studies in public housing through the lens of community development, architectural and urban design, and economic investment. The selected projects included: Pruitt-Igoe in St. Louis, Missouri (1954), Cabrini Green in Chicago, Illinois (1962), Karl Marx Hof in Vienna, Austria (1930), Caoyang New Village in Shanghai, China (1951), and various Soviet housing projects in the former Soviet Union (1922-1991). Historical and contemporary research was used …

Experiencing History: A Roundtable Discussion Of Architecture, Theatre, And Culture Of England, Elyse Lamszus, Andrew Hoag, Riley Basick, Katherine Bosma, Autumn Bruens, Alaina Durr, Cynthia Morales, Madelynn Norton, Laura Rankin, Benjamin Ridler, Remington Ross, Lia Shomaly, Anna Shoup, Kaitlyn Tibbetts, Becca Witvoet, Emily Yerge

Scholar Week 2016 - present

This presentation features a roundtable discussion among students who traveled to England during Spring Break, March 5-11, 2022. This presentation seeks to share primary and secondary research about England’s architecture and theatre, as well as additional insights about England’s culture and history gained through first-hand experiences of traveling within the city of London and to Stonehenge and Bath.

Proposing Guidelines To Upgrade The Open Public Spaces In The Informal Settlements, Lena Hosni, Ayman Afify, Hiba Mohsen, Maged Youssef

Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ)

Informal Settlements have expanded rapidly in the last fifty years and have kept rising. With rapid population expansion has come an increase in haphazard urbanisation and informal settlements, frequently referred as slums. Defined as a settlement that was formed in an unplanned and uncontrolled way, which means they are mostly unrecognized. Unfortunately, focusing on the problem of current challenges in informal settlements, on the socio-cultural and environmental levels, which are facing a massive shift in the quality of life in these sites, this is reflected in urban fragmentations, social and infrastructures are lacking, service systems that have become progressively inefficient …

Left Out In The Cold: Archaeology Of The Sentry Box Ice House And The Ice Business In Fredericksburg, Virginia, Kerri S. Barile, Sean P. Maroney

Northeast Historical Archaeology

none

Landscape Design And Architecture Of Wooden Churches In Ukraine, Valentyna Kuryliak, Volodymyr Dudarets, Valeriy Bulatov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines the features of landscape design and architecture of wooden churches in Ukraine. Analysis of literary sources shows that the sacred wooden architecture of Ukraine is a source of inspiration for artists, art historians, writers, and other people interested in church buildings made of wood. During the research process, it was found that the natural landscape exactly complements the architecture of wooden temples, creating a natural environment for worshiping God. It is important to emphasize the following features, highlighted in the study of temple structures made of wood on the territory of Ukraine. First, the builders carefully selected …

The Tree Of Life: Observations From The Olive Grove, Kendall Lowery

Scripps Senior Theses

Scripps College is famous for its olive trees and the award-winning olive oil that they produce. However, despite the considerable age of the trees, the campus community has only harvested the annual crop of olives for the past decade. In this thesis, I set out to learn why the trees were planted on the campus in the first place. To this end, I immerse myself in the history, culture, and commerce of the olive oil industry, and ultimately use the fruit as a lens through which we can explore the colonial history of Scripps College and Southern California. In order …