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Full-Text Articles in Architecture

A Unique Approach To Allow Low-Income Families The Opportunity To Gain Home Ownership Access Through Alternative Financing, Wilbert Abbott, Jr. Sep 2014

A Unique Approach To Allow Low-Income Families The Opportunity To Gain Home Ownership Access Through Alternative Financing, Wilbert Abbott, Jr.

Wilbert Abbott Jr

Community and Regional Planning and Landscape Architecture professionals along with state and local politicians need to aid low-income family's by informing them of opportunities that will allow them to become home owners in mixed-use (New Urbanist) communities. In one example a study prepared by the Social Enterprise Fund of Edmonton and Calgary, Canada creates an alternative financing source to help social enterprises provide career and economic services low-income families. The purpose of this study is to 1) illustrate the barriers present to purchase a home for low-income households when there is a lack of economic resources, 2) analyze case studies …


Sustainability: Its Adaptation And Relevance In Remote Area Housing, Rosemary Rusch, Rick Best Jul 2014

Sustainability: Its Adaptation And Relevance In Remote Area Housing, Rosemary Rusch, Rick Best

Rick Best

Little consideration has been given to the context of housing in remote areas. It is important for the economic survival of many remote communities that appropriate and sustainable housing solutions are decided and implemented. This report examines housing at St Pauls, Moa Island in the Torres Strait, using site information, historical research and a review of cultural and geo-political factors to compare the current model with similar studies in self-build housing undertaken in the region between 1986 and 1992. It not only demonstrates tangible economic benefits, but also evaluates the environmental and social improvements which can be achieved with a …


Making Better Decisions About Built Assets: Learning By Doing, Craig Langston Jul 2014

Making Better Decisions About Built Assets: Learning By Doing, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

Climate change presents significant challenges to society (e.g. Stern, 2006; Bouwer and Aerts, 2006). Many have concluded that climate change is the most important problem facing humankind, and indeed other life on Earth. The construction industry, which contributes 5-10% of national GDP globally, has a prominent role to play in meeting this challenge given that the built environment demands 40-50% of global resources and generates a proportional amount of waste (Langston and Ding, 2001). Climate change adaptation is about human response to this challenge, thus mitigating the impacts of a changing climate (Burton et al., 2005).


Adaptive Reuse Of Traditional Chinese Shophouses In Government-Led Urban Renewal Projects In Hong Kong, Esther Yung, Craig Langston, Edwin Chan Jun 2014

Adaptive Reuse Of Traditional Chinese Shophouses In Government-Led Urban Renewal Projects In Hong Kong, Esther Yung, Craig Langston, Edwin Chan

Craig Langston

Conservationists and government authorities acknowledge that adaptive reuse of historic buildings contributes to urban sustainability. Traditional Chinese shophouses are a major historic building typology found in the old districts of Asian cities. In Hong Kong, the few remaining shophouses are generally deteriorating and are increasingly under threat of demolition for urban renewal. However, adaptive reuse of these buildings has created many social concerns. In light of these concerns, evaluating adaptive reuse potential needs to incorporate a much broader sustainability framework than simply physical building conditions. This study examines the extent to which obsolescence, heritage value and redevelopment pressures have affected …


Experiments In Computer Controlled Architectural Prototyping, Chris Knapp May 2014

Experiments In Computer Controlled Architectural Prototyping, Chris Knapp

Chris Knapp

This proposal aims to utilize digitally-controlled fabrication equipment recently acquired by the new Soheil Abedian School of Architecture toward developing novel, prototypical building envelope systems applicable to new building construction and retrofitting scenarios. This research into three-dimensional self-supporting enclosures is directed toward the need to develop low-cost building systems using inexpensive materials manipulated with sophisticated fabrication systems. The practical aim of the research prototypes are sustainability-providing structures which may be designed to provide shade, support vegetation growth, induce cross ventilation, increase thermal comfort, and enhance aesthetic pleasure in the built environment.