Architecture Commons^™

Factors That Influenced Current Gen Z Undergraduate Students Enrolled In Construction-Related Programs To Pursue A Career In Construction, Bishesh Bharadwaj

All Theses

This retrospective survey-based study explores the various factors that influenced Gen Z undergraduate students currently enrolled in construction-related programs to pursue a career in construction, combining the insights from overarching studies divided into two segments. The first part of the study focuses on understanding the exposure and participation of Gen Z students in STEM and construction programs during their middle and high school years to better understand the influence of such programs at the school level for a career decision in construction. Structured academic frameworks like semester curricula and offered electives emerged as a significant channel of STEM exposure, with …

A Social-Ecological Systems Inquiry For Understanding Environmental Change In Los Angeles Outer-Ring Suburbs, Farnaz Kamyab

All Dissertations

Within the framework of the city's green infrastructure, urban and suburban green coverage play a pivotal role in delivering substantial benefits to health, economy, and the environment. However, the permanence of these green coverage is threatened by dynamic changes in neighborhood socio-economic, spatial, and ecological elements and their loss or degradation presents a problematic issue. Social-Ecological System Theory (SES) offers a comprehensive framework for understanding the potential correlations between socio-economic trends and the degradation of green coverage. This research is based on a case study of the highly diverse megacity, Los Angeles (LA), which encompasses a wide array of built-environments, …

A Mixed-Method Study On The Walkability Of Streets In Hospital-Anchored Neighborhoods, Xiaowei Li

All Dissertations

The field of healthcare design is adopting planning and design principles from the Healthy Communities movement to connect hospitals to their adjacent communities. This research explores the impact of neighborhood and street design on the walkability of Hospital-Anchored Neighborhoods (HANs), a concept integrating hospitals and satellite services with their surrounding communities to enhance public health. Walkability, a crucial marker of healthy and vibrant communities, was investigated through a mixed-method study across three HANs. A comprehensive Walkability Framework with 17 built environment dimensions was developed from the literature to inform data collection utilizing GIS archival data, ethnographic observations, street audits, and …

Developing Design Guidelines Of Deployable Bamboo Scissors-Like Arch Structures: For Structural Performance, Flexibility, And Constructability, Anastasia Maurina

All Dissertations

Prefabrication approaches are widely used to improve vulnerable communities building quality. It would be valuable if the prefabrication relied on locally available resources instead of depending on heavy industry. Although prefabrication approaches have many advantages, such as efficiency and consistency, they may lack flexibility, which may not be adaptable to the community's needs and preferences. The modular approach generally enhances flexibility by arranging modules into various end products. Incorporating a modular approach with deployable structures, which can transform from compact to predetermined configurations, is expected to boost flexibility. In addition, regarding constructability, developing this idea using bamboo, which is massively …

Quantitative Techniques For Classifying Mouldings: An Exploration Of Logistic Regression Within Architectural Investigations, Chase Pilcher

All Theses

Since the passing of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966, the realm of architectural history has evolved, becoming more interdisciplinary. There was a shift in focus from looking at architecture from a fine art point of view to looking at it through a social lens. The new social perspective approach focused not only on the buildings but also on the people that inhabited or constructed the space. Approaching architectural investigations in this manner has allowed for a deeper understanding of the influences that shaped the built environment. Advancements in technology have also aided in furthering our overall comprehension of …

Women Building After The Charleston Fire Of 1838 Using “An Act For Rebuilding The City Of Charleston” Loans, Joyce Pope

All Theses

The subject of this thesis is women commissioning buildings using loans they obtained as part of An Act for Rebuilding the City of Charleston. The Act, which passed after the fire of 1838, made $2 million dollars in loans available to all Charlestonians to rebuild the city after the fire wiped out hundreds of buildings on the peninsula. As a result of the way the act was structured, at least ten women, including a formerly enslaved woman, received loans and built houses and commercial buildings using those funds. This thesis examines whether the loan program opened the door for women …

Bringing Vanished Landscapes To The Surface: A Multi-Tool Approach To Unearthing Charleston's Walled City, Alexis Allen

All Theses

The early 18^th century historic fortification system that surrounded the urban town of Charleston has been a focus of excavations and historical research within the past two decades. However, while the outline of early Charleston’s walled city is hypothesized through the analysis of historic maps and plats, very few fortification locations have been visually confirmed. In order to determine their accuracy, this thesis georeferenced eleven historic maps and four plats to the modern landscape. As a result, possible locations of Charleston’s walled city were predicted. These were surveyed as test sites and remote sensing methods were employed that helped …

Physical Accessibility And Historic Preservation In Historic House Museums Of The Southeast, Abby Milonas

All Theses

Museums are a public good, as they provide educational recreation and preserve cultural history, and so it is crucial that they are physically accessible to as many visitors as possible. The aim of this study was to understand what architectural features of historic house museums are the least accessible and what has been done to ameliorate these challenges. The survey used in the study was developed using the guidelines for making historic buildings accessible as described in the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards. It was distributed by email to representatives of 220 historic sites, of …

The Extent Of Drone Education Being Taught In Asc Schools To 4-Year Construction Students, Cheran Teja Dumpati

All Theses

The technology of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) is growing rapidly in many fields and has become one of the skills in demand in the industry. Universities are one of the primary sources of teaching drone technology with a career-oriented approach. The goal of this study is to investigate the content of the drone curriculum being taught in Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) schools. This includes the topics covered, practical training offered, and the key deliverables taught. This information serves as a foundation for the schools that are looking forward to start drone courses in their department. The research found that …

Exploring The Necessity Of Technology In Architectural Design: Moving Beyond Showcasing, Ertunc Hunkar

All Theses

Advancements in technology, particularly computational design tools, have transformed the field of architectural design. However, it is crucial to evaluate the impact of technology on the core principles of problem-solving and the design process within architecture. This study aims to examine the consequences and opportunities associated with the integration of technology in architectural design, focusing on the necessity of maintaining a strong problem-solving foundation. Architectural problem-solving involves spatial organization, functional requirements, contextual integration, and user experience. These principles guide architects in addressing design challenges and achieving successful outcomes. The design process comprises stages such as research, analysis, concept development, and …

Enhancing Station Level Direct-Demand Models With Multi-Scalar Accessibility Indicators, Luis Enrique Ramos-Santiago

Open Access Publishing Fund

Direct-demand models (DDM) are increasingly being used for a diversity of transit research and practice purposes. Yet few station-level DDM studies have explored the use of composite indicators of metropolitan accessibility in predicting demand. After all, provision of access to metropolitan destinations is one of the main goals of rapid-transit systems. Furthermore, to this author’s knowledge no study has explored potential interactions with local-level accessibility indicators that are typically included in station level transit DDMs. This study explores these possibilities and uses Los Angeles multimodal rapid-transit network as a representative case study of a system that operates in a dispersed …

Examining Pedestrian Accessibility To Opportunities In Four New Deal Villages, Maral Shemirani

All Theses

This study focuses on accessibility as an essential performance factor in city planning and urban development. The automobile-oriented designs that characterize and organize most modern United States cities, since the 1950s, have degraded pedestrian mobility and accessibility, causing people to be largely dependent on cars rather than walk, bike, and/or use public transit to reach essential and complementary daily destinations. This pervasive condition not only hinders community and sense of place, but also negatively affects people’s health and environment. We as planners should not forget that cities should be designed to serve people rather than cars. The more our …

Politics, Players, And Legislation In The California Housing Crisis, Andy Daly

All Theses

California has faced a statewide housing shortage for three decades, particularly in exclusive job-rich cities that are becoming increasingly unaffordable. In response, the state has passed pro-housing legislation that bypasses local zoning regulations, focusing on increasing the construction of affordable housing units. I conducted a convergent content analysis of over 80 articles and eight expert interviews. I found that state-led housing legislation is most effective when politicians align their messaging with other pressing issues, such as climate change, transit, and homelessness. Even if bills are rejected, progress is made by opening conversations about the importance of density and housing affordability. …

We Are Gullah: A Community Approach To Preserving Gullah Geechee Historical Sites Of Significance, Peter Gaytan

All Theses

The National Register of Historic Places is an inventory established by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 that identifies architectural and archaeological sites significant to American history. The National Register was created to encourage the documentation, evaluation, and protection of America’s historic resources. Over 96,000 historic properties, sites, and structures are currently listed on the National Register. Despite the number of historic places listed on the National Register there is still an overwhelmingly low number of sites listed on the National Register relating to underrepresented communities. This thesis assessed the definition of significance laid out in the National Register …

Procedural City Generation With Combined Architectures For Real-Time Visualization, Griffin Poyck

All Theses

The work and research of this paper sought to build upon traditional city generation and simulation in creating a tool that both realistically simulates cities and their prominent features and also creates aesthetic and artistically rich cities using assets that combine several contemporary or near contemporary architectural styles. The major city features simulated are the surrounding terrain, road networks, individual buildings, and building placement. The tools used to both create and integrate these features were created in Houdini with Unreal Engine 5 as the intended final destination. This research was influenced by the city, town, and road networking of Ghost …

Charleston, Sc Boarding Houses 1840-1880: Prevalence, Placement, And Character, Holly Adington

All Theses

While it is well known that boarding was a widely used practice in growing urban centers of the United States such as Boston and New York City during the nineteenth century. Boarding has not garnered the same level of attention in rapidly expanding Southern cities during this time. This is partially due to the delayed industrialization of the South. However, industrialization did occur in cities such as Charleston, South Carolina, and the increasing number of workers flooding into the city meant boarding became an attractive solution. The purpose of this thesis is to add to the basic understanding of the …

An Investigation Of Community-Defined Boundaries And Important Sites, Emma Grace Sprinkle

All Theses

This thesis research investigates and documents how individuals within the African American settlement communities of Cross Cut, Ferguson Village/Down Cut, and Sol Legare define the boundaries and important sites of their community. The purpose of the study is to better understand how individuals define their community’s boundaries, rather than historic preservation and planning professionals defining them. It seeks to determine the importance of factors such as houses, churches, schools, streets, farm lands, cemeteries, and community gathering spaces to boundary drawings as well as the influence of current address, age, and time spent in the community on participants’ boundaries. Before this …

Investigating Consistency Of Landscape-Scale Green Infrastructure In Local Government Policy, Anna Wilson

All Theses

Planning for Climate Change is multifaceted and requires effort across all scales. Green Infrastructure networks of green spaces, natural lands, reserves, working lands, core habitat, riparian corridors, parks, open spaces, private conservations lands, and other complementary land uses work together to support life on earth and human existence through the ecosystem services provided. Clean air, clean water, carbon sequestration, food production, recreation, pollination, and spiritual and cultural benefits are only a few of the services that natural lands provide society. With climate change occurring due to human actions such as land use, development, and energy use, to name a few, …

Economic Impact Assessment Of Nature-Based Coastal Resilience Solutions In Charleston. Estimating Local Economic Effects With Algorithm-Based Supporting Tool., Oksana Veselkova

All Theses

Coastal cities are at the forefront of the risks induced by climate change. Local communities are adversely affected, but the essential cultural assets and economies are also at risk of damage or destruction. In the efforts to limit hazard risk exposure, local governments are increasingly planning for long-term flood protection. One prospective flood risk mitigation measure is living shorelines or nature-based adaptation. The coastal ecosystems, such as beaches, wetlands, barrier islands, oyster reefs, and salt marshes, deliver multiple benefits to communities, including recreation, natural resources, freshwater, and carbon sequestration. Moreover, when combined with structural solutions, they can effectively reduce water …

The Erasure Of Rural West Texas Voices In Higher Education Institutions An Autoethnographic Study Of Minoritized Students Of West Texas In Their Journey To Obtain Success In Higher Education Institutions, David Whaley-Weems Sr

All Dissertations

I was once told there is a person in the world who has locked within his or her mind the framework for the cure for cancer or even the ability to create an energy model that will revolutionize how society consumes natural resources. Now imagine if I told you I have seen that person alive and well working as an oil well driller on a rig in Mentone, Texas. The first question most people would ask is, “Why is the person drilling in the middle of nowhere Texas instead of impacting the world by way of displaying his or her …

Likeliness To Recommend: A Mixed Methods Analysis Of Consumer Perception Of Homebuilders, Todd Usher

All Dissertations

Measures of consumers’ likeliness to recommend a business or company have been shown to relate to business performance. Less is known about how such scores might operate in the homebuilding industry. This study examines the factors influencing consumers’ perceptions of homebuilders, an area with little published research. Using a sequential mixed-methods approach, the study analyzes survey data from consumers (N = 366) who had new homes built within the preceding 12 months. Quantitative analyses of the data reveal several aspects of consumers’ likeliness to recommend a homebuilder. One finding of great interest is that consumers of the survey were more …

Sconce Upon A Time: Evaluating Multimodal Methods Of Researching Period Lighting Technology, A Case Study Of Drayton Hall, Neale Elizabeth Grisham

All Theses

This thesis reviews several methods of researching light sources and lighting schemes from the “long eighteenth century,”[1] on a historical site. Despite the period’s cultural reliance on lighting as well as technological advancement in this era, there has yet to be published documentation on how to engage with evidence of lighting technology on historic sites for better understanding of the site’s relationship with lighting.

Using Drayton Hall in Charleston, South Carolina as a case study, this thesis outlines and demonstrates the process of five methods of investigating period lighting technology. These methods are: wall investigation, anchorage points comparison and …

Developing Mexican And Central American Spanish Phrases For U.S Construction Workforce To Improve Jobsite Communication, Alexis Saborio

All Theses

This paper gives an overview of a study conducted with US construction practitioners and Hispanic construction workers to develop Mexican and Central American construction Spanish phrases. Many companies face the challenge of a language barrier between the English construction supervisors and the Spanish-- speaking speaking Hispanic workers. This language gap is creating poor expectations among different sectors in the construction industry. Over the past several years as the number of Hispanic construction w orkers have increased in the United States so has the language barrier. The majority of the Hispanic construction workforce comes from Mexico and Central America. US construction …

Reading Toward Breath: A Poetic Ecology Of Creative Reading, Jessica Schad Manuel

All Dissertations

Reading is an act of perception that begins in wonder and leads to wisdom. It is not a response to writing but a response-ability we have to interact with the world around us and the phenomena before us. Reading with the body leads to wisdom, and when we participate in our existence by being in the world, we are reading. So what is reading? Reading is making. We make connections, and we form relationships. The act of reading is more than a cognitive process and even surpasses the phenomenological encounter.

My research describes the reader’s relationship to the text as …

Before It Breaks Fix It: An Analysis Of The Costs And Effects Of The European Monumentenwacht System, Thomas Sutton

All Theses

The concept of preventative maintenance or continuous care of historic structures through frequent monitoring and regular maintenance is uncommon within the United States. However, over the past few decades, it has become a standard approach within some European nations. This thesis analyzes a specific program model known as the Monumentenwacht which has appeared in some European countries to regularly inspect and maintain historic structures. This thesis looks at the effectiveness of these programs at improving the quality of the buildings they seek to protect. It will also analyze each organization's financial data, income, revenue, and government contribution to determine their …

Prototype For A Rural Primary Healthcare Center In Paraguay, Maria Virginia Matiauda Schneider

All Theses

Primary Health Care Centers in Paraguay are the architectural settings for the first level of access to healthcare in Paraguay, providing health promotion, pre- vention, diagnosis, treatment, and health education. These centers are built based on four standard typologies, of which two consist of permanent health- care facilities and two of satellite or mobile units. Standard designs for these centers typically consist of residential scaled buildings, with spaces linked by a single central circulation corridor and lacking adequate attention to ventilation and daylight.

The public healthcare system in Paraguay is organized around four levels of care, and the complexity and …

Habitats And Heritage: An Analysis Of The Natural And Cultural Resource Management Of The South Carolina Lowcountry, Patricia Ploehn

All Theses

The South Carolina Lowcountry is replete with cultural landscapes, each one featuring a unique collection of natural and cultural resources. These resources are valuable for their environmental and cultural heritage, a heritage which defines and benefits the communities who call the Lowcountry home. This study presents a comparative analysis of public and private land management organizations operating in the South Carolina Lowcountry. The purpose of this study is to compare how public and private organizations are currently managing natural and cultural resources on cultural landscapes that they protect and oversee. The history of federal and private land management was investigated …

Design, Integration, And Evaluation Of Iot-Based Electrochromic Building Envelopes For Visual Comfort And Energy Efficiency, Qingqing Sun

All Dissertations

Electrochromic glazing has been identified as the next-generation high-performance glazing material for building envelopes due to its dynamic properties, which allow the buildings to respond to various climate conditions. IoT technologies have improved the sensing, communication, and interactions of building environmental data. Few studies have been done to synthesize the advancements in EC materials and building IoT technologies for better building performance. The challenge remains in the lack of compatible design and simulation tools, limited understanding of integration, and a paucity of evaluation measures to support the convergence between the EC building envelopes and IoT technologies. This research first explores …

Evaluation Of The Chinese Sponge City Program: The Resilient Transition Of Urban Stormwater Management, Wuhan, Chongqing, Zhenjiang, China, Case Studies, Jueminsi Wu

All Dissertations

The Sponge City Program (SCP) is a Chinese national-level policy initiative with the primary goal to ameliorate urban flooding created by rapid urbanization and climate change, and it incorporates both green and blue infrastructure strategies. China’s Sponge City construction guidelines (MOHURD, 2014) established the Volume Capture Ratio of Annual Rainfall (VCRa) as the SCP’s key performance index and a general target VCRa goal of 70% annual rainfall was set for all pilot Sponge Cities (General Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, 2015). Yet few studies have been conducted to assess the SCP’s obtainability of the …

Economic Revitalization Through Preservation: A Study Of The Effects Of Preservation And Economic Initiatives In Five Small Cities In Virginia, Isabella Rae Gordineer

All Theses

Some preservation and economic based initiatives in small cities strive to be the driving force behind revitalization and economic growth. Small cities, especially those distant from major cities, experience periods of shrinkage. These places often struggle to stabilize and grow. Interventions from the local, state, and national levels can assist revitalization efforts with help from planners and redevelopment specialists. These interventions include initiatives with both preservation and economic objectives. Preservation initiatives include revolving funds, tax credits, foundations and advocacy organizations, historic districts, architectural review boards, ordinances, and the Main Street Program. Economic initiatives that include preservation principles and practices include …