Architecture Commons^™

A Material Affair: The Intimacy Between Materials And Affective Space, Rex Hughes, John Mikesh

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis argues that an architecture embracing innate material qualities, deployed for choreographed sensory experiences, will open a more intimate dialogue between humans and their environment. This thesis is rooted in the idea that the most powerful experiences are those that stimulate all the senses at once. This is illustrated by architect Lisa Heschong, who explains that fire fascinates humans because it glows, crackles, smells of smoke, and gives off heat. This intimate sensory experience provides an archetype for the way users may be seduced into engaging affective environments through haptic materials.

In an investigation of material qualities (density, hardness, …

On Nothing, Rutuja Ganoo

Architecture Senior Theses

In southeast Asian philosophy, artha, kama, dharma and moksha are said to be the four major goals in a Hindu's life. While artha (monetary) and karma (sensory) are physical and psychological, moksha is the ultimate destination. In this worldview, the soul goes through endless cycles o existence on various planes, until it grows spiritually; moksha is the release of the soul from the cycle of birth, life and death to the ultimate reunion with "god". The entity being released from this "binding," the soul, is said to work symbiotically with the human body to engage in worldly learning and experience. …