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Basic Concepts Of Structural Design For Architecture Students, Anahita Khodadadi

PDXOpen: Open Educational Resources

This book aims to narrate fundamental concepts of structural design to architecture students such that they have minimum involvement with math problem-solving. Within this book, students learn about different types of loads, forces and vector addition, the concept of equilibrium, internal forces, geometrical and material properties of structural elements, and rules of thumb for estimating the proportion of some structural systems such as catenary cables and arches, trusses, and frame structures.

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Two Black Utopias Of The United States: Self Determination And Survival, Makaveli Gresham

University Honors Theses

In line with Charles Davis III's assertion in regards to the formation of black space and it’s spectral qualities representing the "material conditions of black survival", two black utopian projects: Soul City, North Carolina and the unrealized work of Architects Renewal Committee in Harlem (ARCH) in New York City are analyzed to explicate to what extent that the United States built environment is compatible with "black survival". These two case studies are used to inform an understanding of the anti-black nature of Modernism and the cultural relationship between the construction of "whiteness" and "blackness" in the United States ...

Urban Hostility: Cpted, Hostile Architecture, And The Erasure Of Democratic Public Space, Matthew M. Carr

University Honors Theses

Free and open public space is essential to the health of urban living. In theory, it is purely neutral, acting as a social equalizer providing those of all backgrounds space to co-exist within the confines of the built environment. However, truly democratic public space has consistently been threatened and reduced in cities, affecting none more heavily than marginalized and impoverished populations. The creation of the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design agenda gave birth to hostile architecture, a detrimental form of urban exclusionism. By using hostile design typologies, cities can render public spaces unusable to undesirable citizens, and subsequently erase images ...

Fractals As Basis For Design And Critique, John Charles Driscoll

Dissertations and Theses

The design profession is responding to the complex systems represented by architecture and planning by increasingly incorporating the power of computer technology into the design process. This represents a paradigm shift, and requires that designers rise to the challenge of both embracing modern technologies to perform increasingly sophisticated tasks without compromising their objective to create meaningful and environmentally sensitive architecture. This dissertation investigated computer-based fractal tools applied within a traditional architectural charette towards a design process with the potential to address the complex issues architects and planners face today. We developed and presented an algorithm that draws heavily from fractal ...

Annual And Seasonal Variation In Hydrologic Performance Of Ecoroofs Of Multiple Depths, Portland, Or, Ashley Michelle Baker

Dissertations and Theses

It is essential that cities adopt new approaches to stormwater management in the face of changing precipitation regime. In some locations, ecoroofs have been incorporated into city plans as a stormwater control measure, and thus their real-world performance under current conditions can assist with adequate planning. In this study rainfall retention data collected during a three year period, between 2014-2017, is analyzed for 75mm and 125mm ecoroof plots in Portland, Oregon, USA. There is no difference in annual rainfall retention performance between the shallower and deeper plots. However, the 36% mean annual retention of the ecoroof plots is a significant ...

Architectural Stewardship: Exploring Interpretation Architecture Through The Lens Of The Visitor, Graham A. Oden

University Honors Theses

This undergraduate thesis investigates the experiential impact of interpretation architecture in the natural setting, specifically through the lens of its users. The need for this study arose when visitors were not approached or included to be part of the design process or studies in the renovation of Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve's Visitor Center. The only visitor related information used by the contracted firm was ten year old demographic and quantitative studies provided by the NPS. This gap of knowledge was then addressed by the proactive engagement of visitors in a design workshop ranger program at the park. Results from the documentation of the workshop are regionally specific and prompted a wider range of study to identify consistent interests and experiences visitors seek. Eight centers nationwide, including GRSA, were explored via TripAdvisor reviews for common elements that compose the visitor experience in regards to the architecture; reviews were filtered for the term "visitor center." This thesis then, is a qualitative exploration of visitor input both proactive (input gathered for the upcoming GRSA renovation) and retrospective (input in the form of trip advisor reviews). From this, five categories of visitor experience emerged: Education, Orientation, Recreation ...

Fractal Dimension As Objective Function In A Genetic Algorithm For Application In Architectural Design, John Charles Driscoll

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

One of the goals of The Green New Deal Resolution reads, “upgrading all existing buildings in the United States and building new buildings to achieve maximal energy efficiency, water efficiency, safety, affordability, comfort, and durability, including through electrification.”

How can this realistically be done given the sheer number of buildings in the United States? This presents a ‘wicked’ problem that calls out for a systems approach. This is also, in essence, a design problem. As data scientists we are used to using models to analyze data but there is another aspect to these models that can be used not to ...

Systems Thinking As A Design Process, Elizabeth Lockwood

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

During my master’s degree I analyzed sustainable practices in the built environment. What came from that work was a deep level of understanding that the current practices and rating systems appeared to be technical approaches to a larger system at play. I realized I have a gift to see hidden connections and find links between systems. Currently I use systems mapping as part of the design process to unearth the hidden elements in a system. I believe it is important to understand where designers, clients and stakeholders can insert themselves into a system. Part of this understanding is having ...

Exploring The Cultural And Infrastructural Impacts Of Consumerism On The New Cuba, Grace Stainback

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

This paper seeks to explore how a shifting economic model and an increasing influx of U.S. tourism, customs, and products will impact consumerism and waste in Cuba. The paper begins by charting the rise of an unwitting conservationist culture among Cubans, built out of necessity as a response to Castro-era economic hardships. This is followed by a discussion of recent Cuban economic reforms and the rise of tourism, private enterprise and material luxury in Cuba. For the emerging autonomous economic class who have shouldered decades of scarcity, the social and economic values of consumerism far outweigh any perceived environmental ...

Daylighting Optimization Study: Rock Creek High School Commons Skylight Optimization, Razieh Hosseini Nezhad, Ashley Mcdaniel-Harpster, Nicholas Papaefthimiou, Rosemary Hill

Student Research Symposium

The aim of this study is to optimize the shape of the skylights in order to enhance daylighting. Rhino, Diva, Grasshopper, and Galapagos are the softwares utilized to test differing shapes on top and bottom of the shaft of the skylight, and the findings show preference to those with beneficial impacts on Spatial daylighting autonomy (sDA) of greater than 55% and Annual Solar Exposure (ASE) of less than 10%. Selecting metrics within the above parameters result in optimal skylight geometry with highest daylighting output. The initial purpose of the experiment was to optimize the design of the skylight shaft with ...

Tesla Solar Roof Marketing Plan, Mustafa Almuzel, Touraj Goudarznia, Ali Daneshi, Mohammadsaleh Saadatmand, Mufeed Yacoub

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

This marketing plan for Tesla roof has been written to find the best marketing strategies for this new product. Tesla roof was launched in 2017 as part of Tesla’s mission to accelerate the transition of the world into sustainable energy. The objective is to position Tesla roof tile as the first choice for homeowners seeking aesthetics and green energy, gaining market share within three years. The research shows that positioning Tesla roof in the solar market would be the most suitable approach for Tesla. Research and customer interviews analysis implies that the value proposition for this solar roof would ...

Table Of Contents

Anthós

This document includes the front matter and table of contents for this issue of Anthós.

Land Use Zoning In America: The Case For Inclusionary Policy, Thomas Geffner

Anthós

Residential zoning code has been one of the most powerful forces in shaping the growth of modern American cities. By regulating which types of buildings can go where, zoning code has led to the creation of suburbs as we know them, with row after row of detached single-family homes. Indeed, the American city would look drastically different if it were not for the creation of zoning codes. But how did the institution that is American zoning come to exist? This essay will attempt to answer that question by exploring the early history of zoning, starting in the 1910s. It will ...

The Histories Of New York City’S Parks, Catherine Mcneur

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

This is the introduction to the Journal of Planning History volume 16 issue 2, 2017.

Trip And Parking Generation At Transit-Oriented Developments, Reid Ewing, Guang Tian, Torrey Lyons, David Proffitt, Preston Stinger, Rachel Weinberger, Ben Kaufman, Kevin Shivley

TREC Final Reports

The decision of how best to allocate land around transit stations is a debated topic, with transit officials often opting for park-and-ride lots over active uses such as multifamily housing, office, and retail organized into transit-oriented developments (TODs). In practice, guidelines for providing parking and mitigating vehicle trips come mainly from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual and the ITE Parking Generation Manual. However, both manuals have well-known shortcomings. The goal of this study is to determine how many fewer vehicle trips are generated at TODs, and how much less parking is required at TODs, than ITE ...

Citizen-Led Urban Agriculture And The Politics Of Spatial Reappropriation In Montreal, Quebec, Claire Emmanuelle Bach

Dissertations and Theses

Urban Agriculture (UA) has been practiced in Montreal, Quebec for well over a century. In the last five years or so, a renewed enthusiasm for UA has manifested itself in the form of citizen-led UA projects. The latter are often established in residual spaces, from vacant lots to sidewalks, and alleyways. These more spontaneous and informal UA practices point to a shift in how urban inhabitants perceive and use urban space. Through a case study of informal UA projects in Montreal, QC, this work brings attention to the dynamics surrounding the establishment of citizen-led UA projects, paying special attention to ...

Local Approaches To Regional Problems: Suburban Government Responses To Portland's Regional Housing Crisis, Emma Deppa

Dissertations and Theses

The Portland metropolitan region has seen unprecedented growth in the last three decades, resulting in both economic expansion and considerable gentrification. While lauded for its commitment to sustainability and a "smart development" ethos, many questions remain for the city with respect to the needs of displaced residents and a burgeoning population of young professionals. This study examines how various levels of government implement growth management policies to accommodate these demographic changes, and aims to assess whether and how the consequences of growth, especially gentrification and displacement, are meaningfully addressed. Qualitative interviews were conducted with staff members and elected officials from ...

The "Adam Cube" : Categorizing Portland, Oregon's Urbanization Using Gis And Spatial Statistics, Jeremy Grotbo

Dissertations and Theses

Transportation availability and land use intensity demonstrate a strong relationship, with intense development concentrated near significant transportation investment. Transportation networks evolved in response to emergent transportation technologies and changing urban land uses. The irregular distribution of transportation systems reinforced patterns of land use development, shaping urban form. Understanding the relationships between transportation and the intensity of land uses allows urban geographers and city planners to explain the urbanization processes, as well as to identify areas historically susceptible to future development. The goal of this research is to develop a quantitative framework for the analysis of the development of urban form ...

Cyclist Path Choices Through Shared Space Intersections In England, Allison Boyce Duncan

Dissertations and Theses

In the last several years, there has been growing worldwide interest in making streets safer for all users--pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists. One approach, shared space, is a traffic calming technique as well as urban design concept. This technique strives to fully integrate the roadway into the urban fabric by removing elements such as lane markings, curbs, and traffic signs. By removing these elements and creating a more plaza-like space, these sites become ambiguous and no user group as priority. The technique is relatively new, and the majority of existing research concerns pedestrians only. This mixed methods research focused on six ...

The Role Of Healing Gardens, Kalina K. Vander Poel

Student Research Symposium

The objective of this research is to observe the use patterns of a healing garden located on the oncology floor of a pediatric hospital. Use patterns recorded through behavior mapping and tracking focus on collecting data related to the type of user, length of stay, and activity. Three user groups (patient, provider, and visitor) stay an average of eight (8) minutes at Randall Children’s Hospital ranging in activity from sit and relax to actively play. Some findings are concurrent with past research while other findings are not. This research serves as an initial set of data to inform the ...

Portland State University School Of Business Administration (Sba) Renovation + Personal Comfort Investigation, Abolfazl Mekanik, Corey Griffin, Louise Foster

Student Research Symposium

This poster discusses the results of a field study about indoor thermal comfort, based on investigations in Portland State University`s School of Business (SBA) classrooms. The field study was conducted by physical parameter monitoring and questionnaires. Both field monitoring and occupant surveys were performed at the same time during the regular class period.The measurement campaign consisted of measuring the environmental parameters such as temperature (Ta), relative humidity (RH), CO₂, and sound levels. The outdoor air temperature, humidity, and sound were registered every 2 hour period during class time. The intention for this project is to investigate thermal ...

The Effects Of Urban Containment Policies On Commuting Patterns, Sung Moon Kwon

Dissertations and Theses

During the past several decades, most U.S. metropolitan areas have experienced strong suburbanization of housing and jobs (i.e., urban sprawl). The sprawl that arises from urban growth has become a big issue in many metropolitan areas in the U.S. In response, there has been increased interest in urban containment policies. There are contrasting views (planning-oriented vs. market-oriented) of urban sprawl and urban containment policies. Planning-oriented scholars asserted the problems of 'geographic sprawl (GS)' and the positive effects of urban containment polices, while market-oriented scholars asserted the problems of 'economic sprawl (ES)' and the negative or negligible effects ...

Sensible Air To Air Heat Recovery Strategies In A Passive House, Santiago Martin Rodriguez-Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

Due to rising energy costs and concerns about global climate change, high performance buildings are more in demand than ever before. With roughly 20% of the total energy consumption in the United States being devoted to residential use, this sector represents a significant opportunity for future savings. There are many guidelines and standards for reducing building energy consumption. One of the most stringent is the Passive House Standard. The standard requires that that air infiltration is less than or equal to 0.6 air changes per hour at a 50 Pascal pressure difference (ACH 50), annual heating energy is less ...

Whose Urban Forest? The Political Ecology Of Foraging Urban Nontimber Forest Products, Patrick T. Hurley, Marla R. Emery, Rebecca J. Mclain, Melissa R. Poe, Brain Grabbatin, Cari L. Goetcheus

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Drawing on case studies of foraging in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, we point to foraging landscapes and practices within diverse urban forest spaces. We examine these spaces in relation to U.S. conservation and development processes and the effects of management and governance on species valued by foragers. These case studies reveal the everyday landscapes of urban foraging and suggest that ideas about what constitutes the suite of appropriate human-environment interactions in the sustainable city are contested and accommodated in diverse ways.

Bicycle Level Of Service: Where Are The Gaps In Bicycle Flow Measures?, Pamela Christine Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

Bicycle use is increasing in many parts of the U.S. Local and regional governments have set ambitious bicycle mode share goals as part of their strategy to curb greenhouse gas emissions and relieve traffic congestion. In particular, Portland, Oregon has set a 25% mode share goal for 2030 (PBOT 2010). Currently bicycle mode share in Portland is 6.1% of all trips. Other cities and regional planning organizations are also setting ambitious bicycle mode share goals and increasing bicycle facilities and programs to encourage bicycling. Increases in bicycle mode share are being encouraged to increase. However, cities with higher-than-average ...

Participation, Information, Values, And Community Interests Within Health Impact Assessments, Nicole Iroz-Elardo

Dissertations and Theses

Health impact assessment (HIA) has emerged in the U.S. as one promising process to increase social and environmental justice through addressing health equity issues within planning. HIA practice is guided by values such as democracy and equity and grounded in broad social determinants of health. The most readily applied definition of democracy is problematic because it implies an element of direct, participatory engagement with the public. This is at odds with HIA practice that largely relies on stakeholder engagement strategies.

This dissertation critically examines the engagement strategies of three transportation planning HIA cases to more fully understand how the ...

Building And Maintaining Plankhouses At Two Villages On The Southern Northwest Coast Of North America, Emily Evelyn Shepard

Dissertations and Theses

Plankhouses were functionally and symbolically integral to Northwest Coast societies, as much of economic and social life was predicated on these dwellings. This thesis investigates both plankhouse architecture and the production of these dwellings. Studying plankhouse construction and maintenance provides information regarding everyday labor, landscape use outside of villages, organization of complex tasks, and resource management.

This thesis investigates three plankhouse structures at two sites, Meier and Cathlapotle, in the Lower Columbia River Region of the southern Northwest Coast of North America. Methods consisted of digitizing over 1,100 architectural features, creating detailed maps of architectural features, and conducting statistical ...

Convergent Surface Water Distributions In U.S. Cities, Meredith K. Steele, James B. Heffernan, Neil D. Bettez, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Peter M. Groffman, J. Morgan Grove, Sharon J. Hall, Sarah E. Hobbie, Kelli L. Larson, Jennifer L. Morse, Christopher Neill, Kristen C. Nelson, Jarlath O'Neil-Dunne, Laura A. Ogden, Diane E. Pataki, Colin Polsky, Rinku Roy Chowdhury

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Earth's surface is rapidly urbanizing, resulting in dramatic changes in the abundance, distribution and character of surface water features in urban landscapes. However,the scope and consequences of surface water redistribution at broad spatialscales are not well understood. We hypothesized that urbanization would lead to convergent surface water abundance and distribution: in other words, cities will gain or lose water such that they become more similar to each other than are their surrounding natural landscapes. Using a database of more than 1 million water bodies and 1 million km of streams, we compared the surface water of 100 US ...

Impact Of Sustainable Cool Roof Technology On Building Energy Consumption, Prem Kiran Vuppuluri

Dissertations and Theses

Highly reflective roofing systems have been analyzed over several decades to evaluate their ability to meet sustainability goals, including reducing building energy consumption and mitigating the urban heat island. Studies have isolated and evaluated the effects of climate, surface reflectivity, and roof insulation on energy savings, thermal load mitigation and also ameliorating the urban heat island. Other sustainable roofing systems, like green-roofs and solar panels have been similarly evaluated. The motivation for the present study is twofold: the first goal is to present a method for simultaneous evaluation and inter-comparison of multiple roofing systems, and the second goal is to ...

Planning On The Map: National Awards For Newberg & Lake Oswego, Michael D. Harrell

Metroscape

Since its inception, the Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning has produced nearly 700 graduates in the Master of Urban Studies and Planning program who have made their mark on the nation and the world. It should not be surprising, therefore, that four of them were involved, one way or another, in the award-winning projects described in this article. They are Sarah Selden and Laura Weigel, associate planners in Lake Oswego, Clackamas County Commission Chair Lynn Peterson, and Steve Olson, Associate Planner with the City of Newberg.