Architecture Commons^™

Architectural + Language: Breaking Barriers And Creating Cultural Dialogue, Maria De Los Angeles Delgado Bailon

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

When I was 11 years old, I moved back to the United States, after having spent my whole childhood in Ecuador, my parents native land. I was moving back to the land of opportunity in the search for the so called ‘American Dream’. It was difficult to leave and move to a new place where we did not know anyone or have anything, but just the idea of a going back to my hometown piqued my curiosity and excitement. I remember very vividly, the day I left Ecuador. I remember telling myself to be happy, because this was a moment …

Vacated Spectacle: Inhabitance Of Abandoned Stadiums, Jalaal Malik

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

I personally have experienced the drama of thousands screaming and celebrating at once for the home team or heard the roar of the crowd from outside the stadium. But where does the community connection go when the teams move on? In cities across the world, sporting venues are abandoned as national events depart and hometown teams relocate. Dan Meis expressed in Death of a Stadium that “NFL stadia host less than 20 events a year with 30-year lifespans. This equates to $25 million per event. “First, I questioned what can be done with the facility at the end of the …

Retrofitting The Future, Lindsay Pannell

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The architectural world has felt the push toward building more efficiently and more environmentally-friendly. Programs such as LEED acknowledge well designed, energy efficient buildings that have done their part to build structures that don’t further damage the environment. However, many buildings are being torn down and replaced by these energy efficient buildings. The demolition process and the waste and disposal of materials from these older buildings are negatively affecting carbon emissions. In many cases, the new environmentally efficient buildings would take decades to offset the carbon emissions from the demolition and reconstruction process, while retrofitting buildings can cut back on …

See Me: How Architecture Can Change Our Care Of The Elderly And Orphaned, Caleb Hester

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

According to a 2017 study published by the child welfare department of the government, “there were an estimated 442,995 children in foster care” (Welfare). This is in America alone and not calculating the number of children in orphanages across the world. Additionally, in a report from the CDC, there is almost 1.3 million residents of nursing homes as of 2015. Again, this is in America alone and not accounting for the global number. The census departments average the national population to be roughly 329 million. This means that a little over 1% of the population is in nursing homes and …

Medkit: Modular Emergency Deployment, Christian Ladefoged, Zamila Karimi

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis began with exploring low-cost prefab dwelling units to be implemented in struggling communities with extreme poverty, homelessness, and unemployment. The initial research on modular units shifted to focus on our healthcare infrastructure challenges here at home given the COVID-19 crisis.

“Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a substantial impact on racial and ethnic minority populations and essential workers in the United States …”¹ This disease disproportionately impacts poor and rural communities in the United States, showing double the mortality than urban areas simply due to the neglected environment². Emergency assistance is needed to expand the …

Black Holistic: A Response To Respiratory Health And Equity Through K-12 Environments And Community - Based Design, Azha Parker

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The overarching aim of this thesis is to investigate the causes of higher amounts of absenteeism due to asthmatic disease within African American students as it pertains to building-related illness and environmental harms. With this information, design decisions will be made to respond to asthma symptoms amongst students and introduce new outlooks towards health within the communities non-intrusively. Looking at Lakeview Elementary School in Portsmouth, Virginia as a case. This majority African American school sits adjacent to a preexisting landfill that has been capped before construction of the school. This site will act as an example, showing the relationships between …

Contemplative Retreat: Examining The Fundamentals Of Spiritual Orientation Through Architecture, Daryl Rowe

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

With over 4,200 faith practices documented all over the world and 84% of the world's population identifying with one of them, the studies of the Pew Research Institute clearly show that there is a need for spiritual spaces worldwide. Throughout history, these places were held as sacred and the land and building of these structures were treated as such. They offered a connection with the energy of the earth and orientation of the soul. All religions have their own defined religious rites that aid in the continuation of your practice of the faith. These involve rites of passage, affliction, fasting, …

Revival Of The Dead Zone- Ecotourism Within The Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, Angelina Damaj

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Since the nuclear accident, Chernobyl has been abandoned for 30 years. 30 kilometers around Chernobyl was evacuated and it has left the area to become a dead zone. In actuality the dead zone is full of life. Plant and animal populations have expanded and thrived, and people have slowly started to reenter the zone. The exclusion zone has become a new ecosystem.

With more people coming into Chernobyl for tourism, there is higher risk of the ecosystem being threatened. My thesis will explore ecotourism within the Chernobyl exclusion zone. My proposal is an urban design that is shaped by ecotourist …

Remembering A Hidden Space: Stitching Memorial Architecture With A Subterranean Tunnel System Of The Slave Trade, Olivia Harrell

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

To my ancestors. Imagine the British raiding your homeland in the middle of the night… being taken away from your family all to be taken to the dungeons of Cape Coast Castle…being forced on a dark ship, stacked on top of another flesh, praying to God to survive the long voyage. Gracefully, you reach landfall, only to be examined and sorted, to have your last name stripped away from you…seeing the sick woman that lied next you on the voyage, be dumped into the Atlantic Ocean and left to drown…being forced to build the underground barracks, that you would live …

Revitalizing The Charm: Reconstructing Homelessness To Urbanization, Tyrik Grant

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The city of Baltimore is known for its beautiful harbor, distinct neighborhoods, unique museums and the renowned Johns Hopkins Hospital. Most notably, however, Baltimore is known for its delicious choices of crabs and other types of seafood. It is not Maryland’s capital, but it is Maryland’s biggest city and economic hub. The Inner Harbor, Baltimore biggest tourist attraction, is also one of America’s major import and export stations. However, it wasn’t always like this. After World War II, the city lost so much in population and business it became as financially depressed as it had been during the Great Depression. …

Bio-Symbiosis: Reconnecting To Nature And Each Other Through A Biological Lens, Melissa Holder

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that we spend 93 percent of our time indoors. For decades, the design of space has kept exterior environments separate from the interior conditions we have engineered for ourselves. This design process limits our ability to interact with other forms of life. According to Stephen Kellert’s principles of biophilic design, which defines an innate desire to interact with other forms of life, it is imperative that our spaces be designed to interact with each other and nature on an intimate and spiritual level. As humans have a hard-wired tendency to seek out relationships with other …

Encapsulating Sound, Jackie Soto

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis aims to identify the acoustic anomalies of Cannon Chapel by understanding how its visitants typically occupy the flexible space, the use of materials, and the shape of the spaces, and therefore to accurately resolve those acoustic anomalies, improving the auditory experience of those visitants and advancing architectural acoustic research.

Embedded Form: Using Structure To Inform Engaging Spaces Responsive To The Human Experience, Huntington Brown

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis takes a look at the basic understanding of structure as expressed in nature in the form of the catenary curve. This curve produces a funicular structure in response to gravitational loads. When inverted, this tension-based cable becomes an optimized arch in compression. This FORM as a result of gravity is the basis on which any material can be used to make a space. Understanding spatial qualities and expression of structure, the psychology component is embedded, along with the secondary structure, as a design component that can be dialed in to produce a spatial quality that, in theory, should …

Intersectional Freedom: Rehabilitating Victims Of Human Trafficking, Nathalia Weston

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Atlanta, Georgia is associated with being the home of CNN, The Atlanta Falcons, and Coca-Cola, but it is also one of the largest hubs for human trafficking in the United States. Every month, 7,200 men purchase sex from a minor, accounting for more than 8,000 sex acts. According to the United States Department of Justice, human trafficking is defined as the illegal act of recruiting, harboring, transporting, obtaining, or providing a person and especially a minor for sex. The 100 billion dollar industry has trapped and permanently altered the lives of nearly 5 million women and children around the world. …

Adaptive Stadium_ A Microcosm In Understanding The Identity Of Brasilia, John Rolon

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis addresses the issue of readapting the National Mané Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia with the intent to start a dialog on what identity and culture mean and how its represented in terms of a city using Brasilia. My proposal focuses in on the interrogation of the past theory and practices that influenced the concepts and foundation of the city and blending in modern day cultural ideas and influences. The main idea in choosing to re-adapt the stadium is because of its history of abandonment in which in 2 periods in history where it reached a point were it was …

Preemption: Using Design To Enhance Student Safety And Promote Student Wellness, Tobias Lewis

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

On February 14th, 2014 we witnessed one of the most horrific tragedies in American history.16 year old Nikolas Cruz walked freely through the doors of Stoneman Douglas High school, armed with an AR-15 semi- automatic rifle, and ruthlessly shot 34 and killed 17 individuals. This including 3 teachers and 14 students. In the past 10 years there have been at least 239 School shootings nationwide. Of those shootings, 438 were shot, and 138 were killed. Being appalled by these number I began to ask myself why? Why so many?. Some statistics have linked school shootings with the mental trauma of …

Surmounting Disembodiment: Architecture And Suicide Prevention, Jack Mcgeehan

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Suicide is currently the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, more than double the number of homicide deaths. This thesis questions how architects can design more appropriately for people who are at risk for suicide in the United States. While suicide is individualistic and varies from person to person, there are consistencies that can serve as a basis for mitigating the problem and building an infrastructure for the solution. This thesis begins by examining four key cohorts that are typically high risk in the United States; veterans, the elderly, the homeless, and youths. It examines the behavioral …

Regen Care: A Self-Sustainable, Urban-Scale Project That Promotes Healing Through Communal Support And Spatial Design, Fatama Mugbil

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Nowadays, we rely mostly on hospitals to aid us or the medicine prescribed by our doctors to cure us. But, not everyone has that opportunity because not everyone can afford and/or access healthcare. And with poor health, there’s poor people, causing then the homeless people to become more vulnerable.

However, with the idea of healing by design, there can be a way to facilitate healing by using thoughtful environmental and spatial design strategies that can accommodate our wellbeing. Although every site has its own conditions, the same concept can be applied through different regions where our environment can support our …

Urban Resilience: Urban Design Strategies For Addressing Climate Change In Waterfront Cities, Kathryn Stapleton

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Many of the world’s historic and notable cities grew on waterfronts taking advantage of transportation, protection, and resources. While water is essential, it can also bring great destruction where flooding and erosion leave universal damage. In light of climate change predictions, by 2050, 90% of the major waterfront cities in the world will face the challenge of rising sea levels. Waterfront cities must quickly adapt and answer to this influx of water before its effects become irreversible. Urban design should address how to enhance the resilience of coastal cities to flooding through the reintegration of nature and water into the …

2021- The Twenty-Fifth Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Twenty-fifth Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 29, 2021. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Spring 2021, Joëlle Walls

The Investigator Research Magazine

Dear readers,

We are proud to present the spring issue of The Investigator and share with you the expansion of diverse research and scholarly activities occurring at Kennesaw State. Although this year was met with challenges, KSU’s research enterprise has thrived and grown.

In this issue, Pamela Whitten discussed the establishment of the Interdisciplinary Innovation Initiative, an internal funding program to spur new collaborations focused on KSU’s research themes. And alumni Carl Saint-Louis and Karen Armstrong, featured in our cover story, have returned as faculty to mentor the next generation.

This publication would not have been possible without the visual …

2020 - The First Annual Fall Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Fall 2020 Symposium of Student Scholars, held on December 3, 2020. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

The Architecture Of The Dead: Cemetery Symbolism In Colon Cemetery, Havana, Cuba, Dana Moody

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

The purpose of this study was to document and define symbolic imagery found within the grounds of the Colon Cemetery in Havana, Cuba. Memorials erected to the dead use symbology to tell stories about the departed, giving us clues to the deceased’s values and philosophies, as well as their religion, ethnicity, social memberships, occupations, education, level of wealth, and thoughts on the afterlife (Keister, 2004). Using images of Colon Cemetery from a photographic documentary series, Havana: Behind the Facade, architectural and cemetery symbology was grouped into categories, researched for meaning, and sought for interpretations to reveal clues about Cuban culture …

The Urban Network: An Ecosystemic Framework For The Enhancement Of Atlanta, Caleb Lawrence

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The city can be considered to be one of the most delicate and intricate ecosystems on the planet, as it defines the organization of the functions and systems that make up every day human life. With the continuing trends of rapid population growth and urbanization it is imperative to thoroughly and regularly examine the network of the city to ensure the continued ability of the urban model to sustain an adequate and resilient quality of daily life. The network of certain cities, like that of Atlanta, must be challenged to develop towards that of a distributed network. The goal of …

Nai-Sig: Natural And Ideal Studies In Geometry, Steven P. Kane

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Architecture through historical evidence seeks to find a straightforward development strategy for designing a place around Phenomenological views. Humans are one moment in time and space, seeking interactions between our senses and our environment. We are able to shape our reality over time, utilizing the characteristics given to us by history and nature. The Geometric Discipline assessed, explores how natural forces seen as vectors are applied in Different rational and irrational numbers. Natural structures and forms are looked at in a sensible fashion to give logic to our environment for design. The divide of design analysis for the hexagon form …

Maker's Village / Reviving Material Consciousness, Stephanie Balga, Stephanie Balga

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Taking from Richard Sennett’s book, The Craftsman, “Skill is a trained practice; modern technology is abused when it deprives its users precisely of that repetitive, concrete, hands-on training. When the head and the hand are separated, the result is mental impairment” (p.52) This separation that Richard Sennett is talking about is the disconnect that our modern society has found due to the large amounts of mass production, social media, and technology abuse. In order to find this connection again, humans need to become more aware of their surroundings. This reconnection can occur through what is called material consciousness. This is …

Plastic Paradise: Reconstitution Of Plastic Waste Through Design Of A Module, Janel Stitt

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

As a material, plastic has many redeeming qualities, but as waste product, it is detrimental to our environment. This thesis aims to advance the encapsulation of plastic waste within a new building component: cladding material and/or modular design element. To see plastic as a one-time use material is short-sighted and doesn’t account for the potential which is inherent in this material composition. By examining any given city, you will find a surplus of plastic waste -- whether it is at a landfill, recycling center, or littered throughout the streets. This plastic waste has the ability to be something more. Buildings …

Camps In Crisis: Challenging The Architecture For Refugees, Duc Huy Ho

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Every minute, 24 people are forcibly removed from their homes. This is due to violence, natural disasters, or human rights violations during premigration. Globally, there are 70.8 million people who are displaced, the largest number in history. To put this into perspective, imagine taking everyone from California and Texas and forcing them elsewhere. This is the scale of the refugee crisis. With this many people, we have to ask: what are the options? One: refugee camps or two: resettling in a foreign community. Unfortunately, some refugees are staying in camps designed for temporary use for up to 25 years. I …

Faith In Humanity : An Exploration Of Spiritually Inclusive Architecture, Jared Triemer

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

On March 15th, 2019 at 1:40 pm, Brenton Harrison Tarrant walked into Al Noor Mosque in New Zealand. Attached to his head, an iPhone set to livestream, and in his hand a loaded shotgun. Brenton then proceeded to gleefully murder 42 innocent Muslim worshippers. Soon after he fled to Linwood Mosque where he claimed 8 more victims. His actions demark New Zealand’s largest terrorist act in history. Brenton joins the long list of individuals who’s gross misunderstanding and hatred of a religion have escalated into violence. People like Brenton represent a larger issue that afflicts our modern society; the widespread …

An Experiment For Millennial Living: West-End Atlanta Social Housing, Kino Hamilton

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The number of social housing being built is at its lowest for 70 years and we face a lack of housing that people can afford. As a result many people will live in fear and stress of being forced to move out of their home. Millennials however, will have to endure this problem coming out of college while suffering the dept of student loans. One of the biggest heartbreaks in America was the downfall of public housing throughout the nation. The demolition of public housing to give way to new infrastructures that are more promising and that will generate more …