Architecture Commons^™

Performance Space For Niche And Emerging Artists, Bradford S. Hutchison

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

While large performance spaces fulfill important cultural, civic, architectural and artistic needs, few performing artists begin their careers playing in large halls. As in professional sports, the “minor leagues” play a critical role for professional performing artists by allowing them to both reach out to new audiences and hone their performance skills. Niche and emerging performing artists, therefore, rely on small performance spaces as their principal means exercising their craft. In addition to size, one important difference between large and small performance spaces is the criticality of the social experience. Small performance spaces are often informal, with entertainment being secondary …

Redesigning Suburbia: Establishing A New Infill Development Model For Existing Suburban Communities, Richard Holt

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The suburb's contribution to natural resource depletion, reliance on the automobile, and disregard for social connections has been well documented in the last 10-20 years. While these depictions are often accurate, many suburbs have successfully addressed these issues by providing walkable streets and accessible communal corridors. Innovative precedents such as Village Homes, in Davis, CA, Eichler Homes, in CA, and Skinny Homes, in Portland, OR, and others, provide examples of successful suburban developments that incorporate renewable energy solutions, passive design features, and limit the development of native landscapes.

This thesis aims to design a framework to be used in the …

Passenger Rail And Development In Small Cities, Towns, And Rural Areas: 21st Century Transit In Holyoke, Massachusetts, W. Scott Laidlaw

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The intent of this thesis is to explore the design challenges and opportunities presented by the reintroduction of passenger rail to a small economically challenged New England city. Central to my thesis is that the advent of more efficient transportation options is not, in itself, enough: the infrastructure built to support those options must provide users with a comfortable, safe, and welcoming experience. The architecture of the rail station is critical in influencing that behavior and moving our society toward greater energy efficiency.

Holyoke is a small mill city in western Massachusetts whose fortunes peaked in the early twentieth century …

A Renovation To Develop Community, Build Connections And Support Student Needs In The Southwest Residential Towers At The University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Brittany L. Haughton

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

In a time of increased admissions at State Colleges and Universities students are at risk for various concerning factors including decreased academic performance, feelings of isolation and alienation from faculty, staff and their peers, and other issues of mental health. Intentional architectural programming, primarily the public spaces within residence halls, can help to alleviate these issues for students and ensure that they are connected to their residential community not only academically but personally.

This thesis will discuss how the increase in college admissions has affected residence hall communities and the personal development of students attending large academic institutions. It will …

Rebuilding Holyoke: Revitalizing Urban Neighborhoods Through Education And Engagement, Jason L. Newman

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

In order for the green movement to be successful, it is necessary for society to be aware and to participate on all levels. Holyoke is a city of the working class and there are several vocational programs available offering job-specific training. Unfortunately, these programs pay little attention to the environmental issues associated with their trade; and, as issues of global warming are becoming more pertinent, the vocational curriculum remains disconnected.

To promote sustainable awareness and participation among vocational students in Holyoke, a new campus located in the downtown neighborhood will be introduced to the school system. In this new green …

Karnaphuli River-Life Recreation & Research Center, Chittagong, Bangladesh, Hosne A. Sufian

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Rivers are integral parts of Bangladesh & Bengali people’s life. The whole country is criss-crossed by more than 700 rivers including their tributaries. In other words, rivers formed this country as a delta and have been contributing to spring life to this land with agriculture, food, electricity, transportation, and tranquil beauty, creating opportunity for different occupations, and providing very comfortable moderate climate. Due to over population and urban sprawl, the current development pattern of the country is culminating in filling up wetlands, changing the course of lakes, narrowing down and in some cases killing rivers for urban development leaving great …

Fostering Sustainable Behavior Through Design: A Study Of The Social, Psychological, And Physical Influences Of The Built Environment, Neil Cummings

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The ultimate goal of this research paper was to gain a more acute perspective into the relationship between the physical environment and human behavior, so that architectural design may begin to promote and affect environmentally friendly behavior in its users. The three main fields of psychology that were the focus of this paper were social psychology, environmental psychology, and cognitive psychology, all of which were essential to understanding the unique relationship one has with their built environment.

The definitive goal of the sustainability movement, or what I at least think it should be, is the creation of an environmentally friendly …

Reinvestigation Of Culture, Yi Zhang

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Due to the culture revolution, inflation of economy and globalization, China has been suffering from mass unqualified products of architecture, loss of culture and traditions, also unaffordable real estate; causing the instability of the society, in which emptiness, anxiety, uncertainty of people are occupied. Burdons must be released. And culture need to be revitalized. By studying I-Ching and Taoism, the origins of Chinese civilization, finding the philosophy of Tao which can be carried into architecture, the equilibrium between culture and globalization is established. The nation-wide uniformed apartments built under the welfare oriented housing distribution system in the 1980’s, are now …

Environmental Design Research And The Design Of Urban Open Space: A Study Of Current Practice In Landscape Architecture, Jennifer Masters

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

A large and growing body of research exists on how the design of the environment can positively or negatively affect people’s health and well-being, as well as influence their behavior. Researchers in this field, known as “environmental design research,” have long acknowledged the challenge of translating their findings into formats that are accepted and used by practitioners. This study explores how environmental design research on urban open space and the practice-oriented translations of it are used by landscape architects who have been recognized in the profession for their designs of parks, plazas, and streets in urban areas. Through interviews with …

Culture, Community Development, And Sustainability In A Post-Freeway City, Bryan Obara

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Freeways that once tore through the urban fabric are now reaching the end of their lifespan and raising the question as to whether it is time to rebuild or remove them. The Interstate system has revolutionized transportation, connecting cities nationwide, but at the same time has slashed through existing neighborhoods.

The very land from which hundreds of Fox Point residents were evicted for the construction of Interstate 195 through Providence, Rhode Island, now lies barren as a result of the interstate’s realignment. The surplus land, rezoned as the East Side Overlay District (ESOD), connects the Providence River and Narragansett Bay …

Bioretention: Evaluating Their Effectiveness For Improving Water Quality In New England Urban Environments, Mary Dehais

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution is one of the leading causes of water quality problems in the United States. Bioretention has become one of the more frequently used stormwater management practices for addressing NPS pollution in urbanized watersheds in New England. Yet despite increased acceptance, bioretention is not widely practiced. This study explores and evaluates the efficacy of bioretention for protecting urban water quality.

This research found that numerous monitoring methods are used by researchers and industry experts to assess the effectiveness of stormwater best management practices (BMPs) and low impact development (LID) practices that include bioretention. The two most common …

Community Restoration: Reconciling The Legacy Of Contaminated Sites Within Our Communities, Kristofer H. Kennedy

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Separation, removal, and relocation are the initial steps in the “clean-up” of a contaminated site. While crucial to safeguarding the public health of adjacent communities and the surrounding environment, conventional remediation is subtractive from the community leaving many psychological wounds untreated. Architecture has the greatest potential to address the social concerns which contribute to the complexities of redeveloping a contaminated site.

Focusing on the 52 acre former General Electric Brownfield site in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, I have explored through design alternative approaches for the redevelopment of contaminated sites. My design research focuses on the ways in which architecture can be used …

Pendulum Performing Arts Center: Adaptive Reuse Design Of The Historic Court Square Building In Springfield, Massachusetts, Lindsay M. Schnarr

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Drawing from the ongoing revitalization efforts in the Western Massachusetts post-industrial city of Springfield, Massachusetts, this adaptive reuse project aims to bring the public back to the city center by providing a common space for cultural connections. Sensitivity to preservation of the historic fabric of the existing Court Square Building is blended with the transformative potential of introducing architectural expressions of dance theory to create a school and theater for the performing arts. The study of balance between opposing, yet complimentary forces, as they exist in architecture and dance, creates a conceptual interplay that guides the design of this project. …

Rethinking Tornado Design, Michael Hagan

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Oklahoma is in the middle of Tornado Alley, a name resulting from the large number of tornadoes that hit the region yearly. These storms are costly to life and property.

The housing in Oklahoma is currently not well enough engineered to withstand tornados. This thesis proposes a three stage response combining construction technology and the use of landscape to better protect the homes and residents of Oklahoma.

Situated Architecture In The Digital Age: Adaptation Of A Textile Mill In Holyoke, Massachusetts, Dorcas A. Brooks

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The City of Holyoke, Massachusetts is one of many aging, industrial cities striving to revitalize its economy based on the promise of increased digital connectivity and clean energy resources. But how do you renovate 19th century mills to meet the demands of the information age? This architectural study explores the potential impact of sensing technologies and information networks on the definition and function of buildings in the 21st century. It explores the changes that have taken place in industrial architecture since 1850 and argues for an architecture that supports local relationships and environmental awareness. The author explores the industrial history …

Biomimicry: Emulating The Closed-Loops Systems Of The Oak Tree For Sustainable Architecture, Courtney Drake

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Biomimicry comes from bios, life, and mimesis, to imitate. Biomimicry is becoming an increasingly well-known topic in the field of architecture, imitating nature’s designs and processes to solve human problems. This project uses the oak tree as a model, measure, and mentor to derive sustainable architecture. Biomimicry is examined as a holistic methodology with six steps: identify, interpret, discover, abstract, emulate, and evaluate. Using this methodology, this project investigates oak tree’s closed-loop systems including water, oxygen, and food. The synergies that exist within these systems are emulated to develop a complex green infrastructure of building and landscape systems. …

Critical Review Of Elementary School Design, Amy Cole

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This compilation is an in depth analysis of two elementary schools: Candor
Elementary School located in Candor, New York and Fort River Elementary School located in Amherst, Massachusetts. These two schools show the similarities and differences between a 'factory model' or double loaded corridor with an open plan school converted into individual classrooms. These schools are analyzed both at the macro (entire school building) and at the micro (individual classroom) level.

To optimally design an elementary school, the designer needs to be thoroughly aware of the past and current conditions. This understanding will bridge the gap between the teaching methodologies …

The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway: Making The Vision A Reality, Alec E. Zebrowski

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The $15+ Billion "Big Dig", replaced Boston's deteriorating six-lane elevated Central Artery, known as the Green monster, with a widened highway tunnel running underground through Downtown Boston and crossing the Charles River, creating more than 27 acres of new land area for reuse in Downtown Boston.

Today, a significant portion of the land has been turned into a system of parks known as the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. Since its completion in 2008, five civic and recreational developments planned for the Greenway have been abandoned due to poor funding, rising construction estimates, and a general lack of support. Disconnected, under-programmed …

Designing For Deconstruction: Extending The Lifecycle Of A Commercial Retail Building, Anthony Bene

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

In our fickle economy today, retail can be booming one year and going out of business the next. When things aren't going so well commercial retail buildings are left vacant and then can become eyesores that lead to a communities economic downturn. This thesis proposes a solution by designing commercial buildings for re-use by designing for deconstruction; so that whole buildings can be disassembled and relocated, or that building components can be recycled back into the materials loop.

An Ecosystem Approach To The Sustainability Of Urbanizing Watersheds, Sarah L. Raposa

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Political boundaries make watershed planning difficult despite the influence of many state and federal programs. Broad, top-down, watershed initiatives fail to reach many municipalities due to human resources, time and legalities. Thus, a watershed ecosystem based approach to city planning should be utilized in order to integrate a holistic and scientific foundation for land use decisions. However, there is a need for research for developing and applying a watershed approach to urbanizing watersheds.

The goal of this study is to provide a series of science based transferable recommendations upon which municipalities can make land use planning decisions. These recommendations are …

Language Movement Museum And Library, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Mohammad J. Shahadat

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The project aims to restore the cultural and historical richness of Bengali nation in urban scale and preserve the historical site of the area which contains some glorious memories of our Language Movement. To pass the history to new generation and to establish our cultural richness, a Language Movement Museum and a Library are proposed to be designed in the Shaheed Minar (Martyr Monument) Complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This museum and library will represent the movement of 21 February, 1952 that depicts our love for the mother tongue which is an unprecedented event for the whole world.

Nature Revealed Through The Built Environment: Re-Envisioning The Clifford A. Phaneuf Environmental Center, James W. Fiore Jr.

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The Clifford A. Phaneuf Environmental Center is home to ECOS, The Environmental Center for Our Schools, in Springfield Massachusetts. The ECOS program provides a chance for elementary and middle school students in Springfield public schools to experience and learn about the natural world. The built environment provides opportunities to teach about ecosystems and human connections to nature. A new design for the Clifford A. Phaneuf Environmental Center will teach students about the natural world experientially through the building’s own connections to the environment.

Retrofitting Suburbs: Prioritizing Bmp Implementation To Reduce Phosphorus Runoff, Emily S. Wright

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Increasing suburban development has impaired water resources in the Charles River Watershed. Growing populations in the suburban fringes of Boston, Massachusetts have had a significant impact on ecosystems in the region. According to the EPA, one of the primary pollutants in the Charles River is phosphorus (EPA, 2010b). Phosphorus pollution contributes to algal blooms in the Charles that are harmful to ecosystems and toxic to humans (EPA, 2010b).

In order to prevent existing suburban residential areas from contributing additional phosphorus to the Charles River, stormwater best management practices (BMPs) were studied to determine which BMPs effectively contain phosphorus. Infiltration trenches, …

Revitalizing Mumbai Textile Mill Lands For The City, Vinay Surve

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Cities are always in transition and so the city’s Architecture should respond to it. Transition brings opportunities of growth, expansion, improvement in social and urban fabric along with new development strategies. My thesis explores the current trend of textile mills development in the heart of the city of Mumbai, its drawbacks and proposes a development plan for a mill premise for the benefit of the city. It is an attempt to preserve the city’s old fabric, which at one time was a city in itself and merge its fabric with the new development in a cohesive manner.

I was looking …

The Kitchen Culture Project: A Center For Food And Culture, Andrew S. Toomajian

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Food is a primary aspect of daily life, and it’s preparation and consumption function as accessible markers of cultural heritage and as a vehicle for cultural exchange. The Kitchen Culture Project seeks to create a Center for Food and Culture that will function as an aggregator for a number of different programs and organizations working to promote cultural awareness and community development through culinary education and exchange. The focus of the project will be the design of a building on a site in Greenfield, Massachusetts; to house these combined programs and a study of their potential interactions in the community.

Building Integrated Aquaculture, Erik A. Woodin

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Exploratory research into a fresh concept, building integrated aquaculture, has found new information on the topic. Motives indicating building integrated aquaculture is important for sustainable development were identified. A review of the literature found relatively little in the way of experiments, aquaculture operations, and case studies which documented or demonstrated a deep understanding of the interactions between building and aquaculture systems. A simple experiment was conducted observing thermal energy and moisture interactions in simulated aquaculture facilities, some with tank covers and insulation. Two different retrofit programs were developed in a case study of building integrated aquaculture for an existing structure …

An Analysis Of Defensible Space And Crime Prevention Through Design In Crime Hotspots Of Select Boston Neighborhoods, Mario Teran

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

There is a lack of emphasis in the planning world, both academically and in the field, on preventing crime. Defensible Space and Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) has been the two main approaches taken by planners and criminal justice officials that is design-based and that has brought some level of collaboration between the two professions. This study will analyze the built environment of select crime hotspots in the city of Boston from a design-based crime prevention perspective in order to draw correlations between high crime areas and elements of design-based theories.

Using GIS, a kernel density analysis is conducted …

How Well Do Neighborhood Characteristics Predict Transit Ridership In A College Town?, Krystal M. Oldread

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This study looks at the demographic, urban form and transit service characteristics that influence ridership in a college community. It acknowledges both the internal (those that a transit operator has control over) and external (variables that the transit operator cannot control) factors that influence ridership. A literature review shows that income, unemployment levels, densities, age, urban form, headway and coverage correlated to ridership.

The study area used is the Five-College community that is serviced by UMass Transit, the dominant operator in the area. To perform analysis census data is collated at the block and block group levels regarding income, unemployment, …

Landscapes Of Compassion: A Guatemalan Experience, Travis W. Shultz

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

ABSTRACT

LANDSCAPES OF COMPASSION: A GUATEMALAN EXPERIENCE

MAY 2011

TRAVIS WILLIAM SHULTZ

A.S., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

B.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

Directed by: Professor Peter Kumble, PhD

If landscape architecture can intertwine with the practice of social justice, how should academic training provide an atmosphere where this correlation is developed? In a professional degree program, such as landscape architecture, there are a plethora of skills among students that can be utilized no only in their future careers, but during their academic experience. By learning the tools while implementing them, there is a profound educational …

Schoolyard Renovations In The Context Of Urban Greening: Insight From The Boston Schoolyard Initiative, Boston, Massachusetts, Katherine A. Tooke

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Twenty years ago the public schoolyards in Boston, Massachusetts were in a deplorable state: most were entirely paved, seriously neglected and used predominantly for parking. Since 1995, the Boston Schoolyards Initiative (BSI) has worked to transform these spaces into vibrant environments of recreation and learning. Renovations typically include adding play structures, gardens, murals and seating that can engage children at recess or support an educational activity. Recent research has shown that BSI renovations have had a positive impact on student academic performance (Lopez, Jennings and Campbell, 2008), but little attention has yet focused on how these revived and greened spaces …