Architecture Commons^™

Michael’S Mouth, Peter Olshavsky

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

“Michael’s Mouth” examines the virtuoso performance of small mouth sounds (“um,” “ah,” etc.) in MOS’ 2006 video, Alternate Ending 1: The Glimmering Noise. In this performance, “Michael” deftly uses non-words to advance a non-discursive argument about architecture as a form of attention in the post-critical imaginary.

Moral Distress Among Clinicians Working In Us Safety Net Practices During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Study, Donald E. Pathman, Jeffrey Sonis, Thomas E. Rauner, Kristina Alton, Anna S. Headlee, Jerry N. Harrison

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Objective To explore the causes and levels of moral distress experienced by clinicians caring for the low-income patients of safety net practices in the USA during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design Cross-sectional survey in late 2020, employing quantitative and qualitative analyses. Setting Safety net practices in 20 US states. Participants 2073 survey respondents (45.8% response rate) in primary care, dental and behavioural health disciplines working in safety net practices and participating in state and national education loan repayment programmes.

Measures Ordinally scaled degree of moral distress experienced during the pandemic, and open-ended response descriptions of issues that caused most moral distress. …

Deep Learning In Urban Analysis For Health, David Newton

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

The application of deep learning to urban health analysis is in its early stages, but offers new and promising capabilities in using large image-based datasets to better understand the built environment and its effects on human health. This chapter will introduce and explore some of these capabilities, providing the allied design fields with a roadmap of this emerging area of research, its potentials, and current challenges. The chapter begins with a brief overview of existing research related to urban morphology and health, in which precedent work using traditional methods as well as deep learning are introduced. Next, research is presented …

From Cropland To Cropped Field: A Robust Algorithm For National-Scale Mapping By Fusing Time Series Of Sentinel-1 And Sentinel-2, Bingwen Qiu, Duoduo Lin, Chongcheng Chen, Peng Yang, Zhenghong Tang, Zhenong Jin, Zhiyan Ye, Xiao Zhu, Mingjie Duan, Hangyu Huang, Zhiyuan Zhao, Weiming Xu, Zuoqi Chen

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Detailed and updated maps of actively cropped fields on a national scale are vital for global food security. Unfortunately, this information is not provided in existing land cover datasets, especially lacking in smallholder farmer systems. Mapping national-scale cropped fields remains challenging due to the spectral confusion with abandoned vegetated land, and their high heterogeneity over large areas. This study proposed a large-area mapping framework for automatically identifying actively cropped fields by fusing Vegetation-Soil-Pigment indices and Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) time-series images (VSPS). Three temporal indicators were proposed and highlighted cropped fields by consistently higher values due to cropping activities. The proposed …

"Introduction" To Presenting Difficult Pasts Through Architecture: Converting National Socialist Sites To Documentation Centers, Rumiko Handa

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

This study deals with the question of how architectural design, when applied to his­torical places, can assist in bringing an extremely difficult – notable and troubling – past to the present in meaningful ways. In particular, it examines postwar architectural designs that converted National Socialist perpetrators’ places into documentation centers on National Socialism whose explicit purpose is, above all, to present and discuss the community’s involvement in the National Socialist ideology and actions.

Although the cases I have selected for close study vary stylistically and in many other ways, these centers have a number of common attributes that make the …

Allure Of Water: An Interview With Steven Holl, Peter Olshavsky

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Steven Holl is the founder and principal of the award-winning Steven Holl Architects and is a tenured professor of architecture at Columbia University. His work around the globe has demonstrated a deep affinity for and exploration of the power of water. This article is Peter Olshavsky’s interview with Holl, conducted in Holl’s New York office and edited for length and clarity.

Reconfiguring Architectural Agency, Peter Olshavsky

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

This essay, for the exhibition "Steven Holl: Making Architecture,” argues that matter, things, and technologies are increasingly seen as co-constitutive of human agency. Studying this expanded conception of agency in the architecture of Holl reveals three opportunities. It enables us to re-describe the architect’s relation to architectural phenomenology beyond materiality. It reveals architecture’s active comportment in socially embedded settings, and it advances the idea that architecture makes us what we are.

Locating The Memory Of Political Genocide In The Tradition Of Peace: Two Documentation Centers Of Nazism In Germany, Rumiko Handa

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

How can architectural design assist in making the past present in meaningful ways when applied to buildings that commemorate troubling pasts? This dilemma becomes even more challenging when a preexisting building is located in a district that had provided citizens with a peaceful setting for leisurely activities before it was taken over for politically hostile purposes. Once that evil force has been eliminated, both city authorities and citizens may desire to return the district to its distant past, bringing peace back to the area. Yet they may also desire that the building carry their difficult memories of the more immediate …

W. G. Sebald’S Austerlitz : Architecture As A Bridge Between The Lost Past And The Present, Rumiko Handa

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Architecture has a way of bringing the past to the present for us. It is an important asset, for the experience of the past constitutes a positive moment in our everyday conduct of life, allowing a contemplation on our existential meaning. It is an often neglected aspect, as it lies outside of architecture's aesthetic, functional, or structural realms. Mechanisms at work in effectuating this feature can vary, among which the following are notable: A building may commemorate a particular event or individual by being a monument. A building may refer to the time of its origin by way of its …

Research Methods For Architecture (Review), Rumiko Handa

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Review of Ray Lucas, Research Methods for Architecture (Laurence King, 2016).

Renewed interest in integrating research into design is apparent when we look at books published on the topic in recent years. The go-to textbook for more than a decade, Linda Groat and David Wang’s Architectural Research Methods was revised and expanded in a recent second edition (2013), reflecting such interest. The most important area of update is on the relationship between design and research. In particular, it explores research by design, that is, generating new knowledge using design as a method, as do a number of other publications. Among …

Presenting The Extremely Difficult Past: Günther Domenig’S Documentation Center Of The National Socialist Party Rally Grounds, Nuremberg, Germany, Rumiko Handa

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Buildings have a way of bringing the past into the present. This is important because experiences of the past often constitute impactful moments in everyday lives and allow a contemplation of existential meaning. It is an aspect often neglected by architectural professionals and critics because it lies outside the Vitruvian triad of aesthetic, functional, and structural virtues. It goes without saying that a building’s presentation of the past is ontological. In other words, individual perceptions of a building are subjective, and the building’s objective traits or histories do not guarantee that it will turn into a place of memory for …

Letter On "Urban Mining", Rumiko Handa

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

“Urban mining” (in “Source material”) may be a new term, but we have a long history of repurposing layers of a building that has become obsolete. Ise Shrine in Japan is rebuilt every 20 years; each time, dismantled columns, beams, and other components are bestowed upon other shrines, which reuse them in high veneration. The Coliseum had been a mine for stone and metal since the fourth century, and in 1452, Pope Nicholas V, intending to rebuild Rome, reportedly removed 2,522 cartloads damaged by an earlier earthquake. The ancient arena’s travertine can be found in buildings throughout the city.

In …

Untimely Thinking Of Alberto Pérez-Gómez, Peter Olshavsky

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

This is the foreword to the two-volume collection of essays by the eminent architectural historian Dr. Alberto Pérez-Gómez titled, Timely Meditations: Select Essays on Architecture (2016). It examines his work on hermeneutics to reconsider "innovation" in architecture by privileging architecture’s performance of cultural orientation over innovation for its own sake. This shifts attention from action based on information to a hermeneutic position that draws on a less articulate background.

Aspen Art Museum, Rumiko Handa

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

'I hope when people come to the New Aspen Art Museum they will sense that this building is very much at home in Aspen and could only live here', Shigeru Ban states in a short essay to visitors included in the museum brochure. Indeed, the way in which Ban's design fits uniquely within its context is nothing less than extraordinary. A full appreciation of his accomplishment, however, requires a study of Aspen's history.

What strategies are available to the architect who intends to design a museum that fits well for a community with keen interests in arts but lacking in …

Community-Engaged Public Health Research To Inform Hospital Campus Planning In A Low Socioeconomic Status Urban Neighborhood, Jeri Brittin, Sheila Elijah-Barnwell, Yunwoo Nam, Ozgur Araz, Bethany Friedow, Andrew Jameton, Wayne Drummond, Terry T.-K. Huang

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Objective: To compare sociodemographic and motivational factors for healthcare use and identify desirable health-promoting resources among groups in a low socioeconomic status (SES) community in Chicago, IL. Background: Disparities in health services and outcomes are well established in low SES urban neighborhoods in the United States and many factors beyond service availability and quality impact community health. Yet there is no clear process for engaging communities in building resources to improve population-level health in such locales. Methods: A hospital building project led to a partnership of public health researchers, architects, and planners who conducted community-engaged research. We collected resident data …

Coelum Britannicum: Inigo Jones And Symbolic Geometry, Rumiko Handa

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Inigo Jones’s interpretation that Stonehenge was a Roman temple of Coelum, the god of the heavens, was published in 1655, 3 years after his death, in The most notable Antiquity of Great Britain, vulgarly called Stone-Heng, on Salisbury Plain, Restored.¹ King James I demanded an interpretation in 1620. The task most reasonably fell in the realm of Surveyor of the King’s Works, which Jones had been for the preceding 5 years. According to John Webb, Jones’s assistant since 1628 and executor of Jones’s will, it was Webb who wrote the book based on Jones’s “few indigested” notes, on …

Experiencing The Architecture Of The Incomplete, Imperfect, And Impermanent, Rumiko Handa

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

For some time now architects have operated with the notion that the building is complete when construction is finished. They strive to make the building perfect and wish to keep it so permanently. Seen from this point of view, any subsequent alterations seem to degenerate the original. And yet, buildings never stay the same as they take part in politics, economics, and religion through the course of time. Their changes may be caused by natural forces or artificial means, and may manifest physically or in meaning. For example, immediately after the inauguration of the Colosseum in Rome, structures were added …

Introduction To Allure Of The Incomplete, Imperfect, And Impermanent: Designing And Appreciating Architecture As Nature, Rumiko Handa

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

For as long as we can remember, architects have operated with the notion that a building is complete when construction is finished, and that any subsequent alterations are degeneration. They strive to make the building perfect and wish to keep it so permanently. The notion that a building is complete when construction is finished is problematic in a number of ways. First, it does not reflect reality. After construction is finished, people move in and events take place, and alterations inevitably are made as people’s needs change and the building becomes obsolete. In fact the “afterlife” is the very “life” …

Quality Of Life, Perceptions Of Change, And Psychological Well-Being Of The Elderly Population In Small Rural Towns In The Midwest, Rodrigo Cantarero, James J. Potter

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

This study examines the quality of life of the elderly residents of two rural Nebraska towns, both having experienced a large increase in population. The study examines how the residents’ perception of changes in the community affect their view of quality of life, and identifies determinants of psy-chological well-being for these elderly residents. The results are compared to the non-elderly resi-dents of these two communities for purposes of contrast. A face-to-face survey of the residents addressed physical, social/cultural, economic, and service issues. Both correlation and regression were used to analyze the data. The quality of life of the elderly residents …

Community Satisfaction, James J. Potter, Rodrigo Cantarero

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Community has been described as an original phenomenon, namely, the local unity of a group of human beings who live their social, economic, and cultural lives together and jointly recognize and accept certain obligations and hold certain standards of value in common. Satisfaction can be defined as the discrepancy between aspiration and achievement, ranging from the perception of fulfillment to that of deprivation. Satisfaction is highly personal, heavily influenced by past experiences and current expectations. Finally, we can say that the term community satisfaction refers to people’s subjective evaluation of their own well-being as measured by how well their local …

Sen No Rikyū And The Japanese Way Of Tea: Ethics And Aesthetics Of The Everyday, Rumiko Handa

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Sen no Rikyū (1522-1591) was a tea master who consecutively served Japan’s two warlords in the turbulent feudal era. Rikyū synthesized wabi tea into ethics and aesthetics by applying it to every aspect of the ceremony, from the tea setting to the physical environment, and from the manner of making and drinking tea to the way of interacting with the environment. By producing artifacts and environments that clearly showcased the incomplete, imperfect, and impermanent nature of their physical aspects, Rikyū succeeded in guiding tea participants to the ontological contemplation of their own imperfect and transient existence. Henri Lefebvre (1901- 1991) …

Sir Walter Scott And Kenilworth Castle: Ruins Restored By Historical Imagination, Rumiko Handa

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

This is a study of how the architectural ruins of Kenilworth Castle contributed to the historical imagination of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) and how he forged their literary restoration. The castle, located between Warwick and Coventry, was first constructed in the early twelfth century by Geoffrey de Clinton, the royal chamberlain to King Henry I (r. 1100-1135). Major additions were made by King Henry II (r. 1154-1189); King John (r. 1199-1216); John of Gaunt (1340-1399), son of King Edward III and Duke of Lancaster; and Robert Dudley (1532-1588), Earl of Leicester. The castle played a number of important roles throughout …

The Multi-Dimensional Nature Of Predicting Quality Of Life, James Potter, Rodrigo Cantarero, Heather Wood

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

The array of attributes theorized to impact quality of life (QOL) has sparked research across many fields of study. This multidisciplinary effort has identified influential dimensions such as satisfaction with residence, neighbourhood, economiy, social, and community issues. This study expands upon previous research, creating indices to represent dimensions shown to influence QOL, and then using regression analysis identifies the dimensions most likely to increase perceived QOL. The data indicates the combination of community support and residential satisfaction provides the best model for predicting QOL. This research helps confirm the importance of utilizing a multidimensional approach in the study of QOL.

Stress And The Contextual Proximity Of Residential Factors, Rodrigo Cantarero, James Potter

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Research is mounting showing the link between the built environment, well-being and health. We explored three factors: crowding, housing satisfaction, and neighborhood satisfaction to determine their correlation with housing stress, and in turn correlation with overall level of stress. A Simple Random Sample (SRS) of blocks was generated and a total of 180 residents were sampled. Correlation and regression models were used in the data analysis. Although a direct relationship between the residential environment and the overall level of stress was not found, we did find an indirect connection via stress from the struggle for a better house.

Zero-Net Energy Building Science Research: Nebraska Housing Case Study, Timothy Hemsath

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

What makes a new home sustainable? There is no simple answer and no silver bullet to reducing energy consumption, choosing the right building material or perfectly designed floor plan. Every case is different and every home-owner has their own perspective. To answer the question I was motivated to assemble this mini-portfolio of homes to begin identifying current best practices.

This booklet contains five newly constructed Nebraska homes. Each example identifies what high performance green building design elements, technologies and systems builders, architects and home-owners are using. The following five homes are not all Nebraska has to offer as examples, but …

How Architectural Ruins Entice The Observers' Engagement: The Hermeneutical Function Of Distanciation, Rumiko Handa

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

During my recent trip to England, at a dinner at a friend's house, I met a violinmaker based in London. 1 mentioned that I had assigned my students to design a workshop and small performance space for a well-known American violinmaker, who at that time had a workshop in a small town in Nebraska, not far from where 1 teach. The London violinmaker told me he was organizing people to work on a museum dedicated to violin making. After telling us how he eventually will have a place to display and even to let visitors listen to some rare and …

Parametricism (Spc) Acadia Regional 2011 Conference Proceedings, Janghwan Cheon, Steven Hardy, Timothy Hemsath

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

In today’s computer savvy world it is no longer interesting to discuss digital tools purely as means in themselves. The growth of abstract exponential systems or the generation of modulated patterns for their own sake simply strain justification in light of real-world concerns such as climate change, decaying cities, and economic crises. However, the impact of explicit logic and computational thinking on design and design process remains substantial. So we continue to pursue evolving digital techniques in hope that they prompt innovative design strategies and creative organizational, effectual, or material innovations that align with the evolving technologies which shape contemporary …

Decon | Recon: Design Strategies For Repurposing Materials, Timothy Hemsath, Lindsey Ellsworth

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

The deconstruction (DeCon) and repurposing (Re- Con) of existing structures and materials are worth- while and relevant endeavors given the potential for such procedures to be more economically and environmentally sustainable than conventional construction methods. Conventional construction methods often utilize virgin materials for produc- tion of architecture requiring extensive energy to harvest, process and manufacture the materials for use. Today we must face the fact that we exist in a carbon sensitive economy, and demand design approaches that reduce architecture’s impact on the environment. Our pedagogical goal was to de- velop a project framework to enable flexible ReCon design methodologies …

"Introduction" To Conjuring The Real: The Role Of Architecture In Eighteenth- And Nineteenth-Century Fiction, Rumiko Handa, James Potter

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Buildings give an immediate presence to the historical or fictional world, which otherwise is unknown or unfamiliar to the audience. The portrayal of a building’s concrete and specific substance makes the world come alive, although the building itself is a mere segment of the world that it represents. This book will trace the genealogy of this representational role of architecture, going back through the history of film and then further in literature, art, and theater, and identify its pedigree in the nineteenth century, where authors, artists, and stage managers used thorough depictions of buildings to effectively feed the audience’s historical …

Searching For Innovation Through Teaching Digital Fabrication, Timothy Hemsath

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

The use of digital fabrication in the discourse and education of architectural students has become a common skill in many schools of architecture. There is a growing demand for computer-aided design (CAD) skills, computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) logic, programming and fabrication knowledge in student education. The relevance of fabrication tools for architecture and design education goes beyond mere competence and can pursue innovation in what Branko Koleravic (2003) observed, “The digital age has radically reconfigured the relationship between conception and production, creating a direct digital link between what can be conceived and what can be built through “file-to-factory” processes of computer …