Architecture Commons^™

Reshaping Reality: From Disneyland To Dismaland, Lina Wang

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis deals with hyperreality as a key concept to reassess contemporary socio-cultural conditions. Jean Baudrillard once described Disneyland as one of the main examples of hyperreality. By presenting imaginary as more realistic than reality itself, Disneyland draws visitors into the world of escapism and happiness achieved through simulation; it makes the troubles of the real world less relatable. If we wear glasses to view Disneyland more closely, however, we might see many issues behind it. Dismaland is an important reference in this thesis. When asked about the idea and inspiration for his Dismaland project, Banksy stated, "theme parks should …

The Shenzhen Activist Program`, Hyunggyu Kim, Jae Hyun Kim

Architecture Senior Theses

There is a gap between being an architecture student in western countries and working as an architect in underrepresented communities. Architect Teddy Cruz defines the role of an activist architect as "expanded mode of practice", and the task of "deigning the protocols or the interfaces between communities and spaces".

This thesis contends that architecture schools need to continue to embrace the widely-accepted norm of studios studying abroad and working in an international studio. Current study abroad programs tend to skew towards being touristic field trips and there is not a curriculum or programmatic investment in cultivating relationships between the visiting …

City School, Urban Re-Form: Sublimating Education Into Daily Civic Life, Alison Dobbertin

Architecture Senior Theses

The urban public school is in crisis. In the 21st century we have yet to reform the bounded and centralized school model: one of queues, rigid spatial/temporal organization, and restricted learning in a continuously supervised environment. The general failure of the public school system within the American city is compounded with the need for new skill sets that refocus educational priority upon ability to communicate, think critically and embody creativity – skills that are becoming crucial in the globalizing culture and economy. The urban public school awaits a critical re-formation that can architecturally and ideologically address these shortcomings.

Perfomance Pedagogy, Dana Hareli

Architecture Senior Theses

The term “performance pedagogy” refers to a method of instruction in which the role of the instructor is one of a scholar-performer in a subverted classroom, implicating notions of theatricality and spectatorship. Evolving from the notion of the architect as a patron-master of an atelier to that of a generalist within a craftsmen workshop, contemporary architectural education practices should foster the notion of the architect as a scholar-performer through performance-based learning. However, current formal and spatial configurations of the architectural studio inhibit the potential for theatrical interplay and improved learning. The deterioration of performance pedagogy in contemporary educational practices, fostering …

A Critique Of Chinese Education, Ying Chen

Architecture Senior Theses

The biggest problem of the state-controlled children’s education in the People’s Republic of China is that the system focuses more on the method of education rather than learning of children themselves. Thus the children lack of internal motivation to learn. Moreover, the typical education in China tend to isolate the students from the neighborhood, lacking a chance for students to really interact and experiement hands on with new knwoledge. However, this problem aspect can be overcame by learning from the western pedagogical strategies, such as the Montessori Education. For this educational approach, the primary goal is to stimulate children’s internal …

Epistemology: It’S Elementary! An Architectonically Constructivist Elementary School In Syracuse, Ny-- Part 1, Tyler Ferrusi

Architecture Senior Theses

The Constructivist framework is an epistemology which posits that “knowledge is a compilation of humanmade constructions”1 not the “neutral discovery of an objective truth.”2 As a fairly broad concept that theorizes how knowledge is acquired, constructivism illustrates our conception of what knowledge is. This the classical framework of infallible truth. Hence, the individual learner is responsible for actively building Constructivism, as theorized by educational philosophers like Dewey, Piaget, Lewin, and Kolb, is the its application is certainly not limited to designated learning environments. Thus, any environment can be a learning environment takes place within that environment. The multiplicity of environments …

Epistemology: It’S Elementary! An Architectonically Constructivist Elementary School In Syracuse, Ny-- Part 2, Tyler Ferrusi

Architecture Senior Theses

No abstract provided.

Inner City Junction: Public High School As A Multifaceted/Flex Structure, Daniel Chang

Architecture Senior Theses

"By understanding these factors and implication of the urban public educational institution, does architecture have a role in reversing the public education crisis? Can school design foster educational techniques that counteract learning deficiencies? Looking at the negative symbiotic relationship between the post-industrial inner city school and its surrounding community, can the design of a school reverse the cycle towards a more positive relationship?"

Didactic Architecture: A Tectonic Response, Elizabeth Kankainen

Architecture Senior Theses

"Using the tectonic nature of architecture as the vehicle, architecture can educate its users of material life cycles., Through revealing particular stages of production by exposing, exaggerating and juxtaposing the connections between materials, the physical process of a buildings formation can be understood, along with architecture's inherent connection to nature."

[Re]Formulating The Informal, Sebastien Coles

Architecture Senior Theses

The identity associate with the inhabitants of the "Bidonvilles" of Haiti is arguably nonexistent aside from its connection to the impoverished conditions of the Haitian slum/shantytown. This thesis contends that with the insertion of a reformative intervention in the heart of the community promoting a conducive and educational environment while overlaying a currently absent infrastructure, will help in creating a positive inner growth within the informal typology. More specifically architecture will act as a form of "pride of place," enticing interaction through the direction connection to culture.

Interactive Architecture: Creating Opportunities For Our Future, Gregory Levy

Architecture Senior Theses

"It is the contention of this thesis that developing more interactive relationships will create new opportunities for a building to respond and adapt to the rapid pace of change. Through means of flexibility and efficiency, his expanded dynamic process can generate direct engagement between a building and the users and the natural environment that interact with it."

No Child Left Inside: Environmental Education Through A Reciprocal Relationship Between Architecture And The Natural World, Leah Kleinman

Architecture Senior Theses

"Through a reciprocal relationship between architecture and the natural world, this thesis contends that environmental education programs can teach children to appreciate and preserve our natural environment. Architecture becomes an instructional tool itself and a way of experiencing the natural world while sustaining it and providing a healthy and comfortable setting in which to learn and have fun."