Architecture Commons^™

Cherokee Architectural Traditions: A Southeastern Environmental Design Precedent, Josie J. Tunnell

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Urban Identity, Mustapha A Farrakhan Williams

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Pro Bono Publico: The Architect As Developer, Daniel Hurshel Hodge

Masters Theses

The profession of architecture now encounters a precarious economic landscape because of the separation of economy and the value chain. Architecture has historically succeeded on the backs of its craftspeople and the intangible tangibility of its productions. Yet, in our current economic era, where everyone is disconnected from value creation and imbibes value through the medium of brand, architecture has responded with niche reforms and feeble assertions of legitimacy. What follows is a reevaluation of its professional values in a valueless climate. From the standpoint of the architect, coupling its systemic elements with that of the real estate developer may …

The New Parallel: Urban And Agrarian Political, Environmental, And Architectural Landscapes Of The Demilitarized Zone, Robert Vincent Truka

Masters Theses

North and South Korea share the most heavily armed military border in the world. Technically both sides are still at war dating back to 1950. The 38th parallel, also known as The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is a 156-mile long by 2.5- mile wide border condition with over two million plus known landmines buried with-in its boundaries. The Juxtapositions of the financial, political, economical, and military modalities could not be more drastically different between North and South Korea. North Korea is a communist autocratic military dictatorship and has one of the worlds lowest Gross Domestic Products (GDP). South Korea is a …

Integral Perspectives, Henry Brian Cheek

Masters Theses

Integral Perspectives is a method to architectural design that encompasses four different approaches. The four approaches, or perspectives, I chose to focus on include: Cultural, Experiential, Performance, and Systems. Designing with each of these perspectives in mind, I intend to create a more holistic and integral design solution. My thesis explores this methodology using the affordable housing crisis in Nashville, TN.

Logistical Bodies Of Fulfillment, Michael Steven Frush

Masters Theses

existence occurs in a spatial assembly of multiple scalar experiences that is intensified and brought to perception by the exponential advancement of a virtual extension.

the physical realm that human cognition experiences acts as a bound container influenced by natural law and trusted forces. the virtual realm exists as a medium through which linkages are made that suppose unseen law, forces, and connections. the human existence experiences an interface between the multiplicities of the physical and the virtual. as technologies advance exponentially the recognition of a multiple temporality is intensified by digital networks and spatial extensions. the trusting of physical …

Rigs Of Refuge: Spatial Agency And Its Role In Conflict, Brittany Lauren Mcgraw

Masters Theses

Architecture is an inherently political endeavor. As such, designers should carefully consider the spatial dialogue that the built environment creates between those who control spaces and those who use them. In times of crisis, this dialogue often ceases to be an equal exchange, pushing users’ needs aside and exerting authority in the most expedient way possible.

This thesis proposes that amidst settings of conflict, hyper-responsive architectural systems can counteract landscapes of authority by returning spatial agency to users. As the means of providing such a system, oil rigs should be repurposed as a network of deployable crisis response hubs.

Formal Displacement, Savannah Grace Dixon

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Volatile Domesticity, Rebecca Charlotte Gillogly

Masters Theses

Architecture exits within a Myth of Permanence. I am seeking to destabilize this myth with the addition of a Volatile Domesticity; a system of living that is unstable in nature and through its instability, seeks to break apart the illusion of permanence of the built environment and our relationship to it. Volatile Domesticity can be achieved by implementing tactics of Active Temporarily and Siting.

The Myth of Permanence is the pervading myth that what we build, who we are, and where we stand are permanent, unchanging facts. The Myth can be exemplified in monuments we never imagined could crumble, thirty …

Measuring Rapid Stillness, Alexis Porten

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Excess Capacity: Shared Space Possibilities In An E-Commercial Suburbia, Christina Lulich

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Network-Based Development In Chattanooga, Tennessee: Processes And Potentials, Kathryn Ansley Taylor

Masters Theses

Chattanooga is a city of networks. The goal of this project is to provide examples of how developers, by tapping into Chattanooga’s most vital networks, can create buildings that speak to the city’s unique character, build interest in the city, and foster a stronger future for Chattanooga.

Chattanooga has four networks that serve as its backbone. They are the Cultural Network, the Blue Green Network, the Fiber Optic Network and the Dwelling Network. These networks are linkages between people and places, bound by common hopes and affinities. They are platforms for social connection, economic growth and physical change.

Three developments …

The Role Of The Architect In The Process Of Development, Christopher Alan Owens

Masters Theses

Population growth and cars have caused cities to sprawl from their downtown cores, resulting in a landscape of low density building. Far too often the empty lot at the edge of the city or along a highway attracts the next opportunity for development, furthering the gap between residential and commercial zones. The profession of architecture recognizes that urban site selection and mixed-use programming is vital to the social and financial health of a city, though it typically only participates in the design of the building. However, the visionary training and practice of architecture places the architect in a unique position …

A Defense For Night, Emily Jean Bingham

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Dwell: Reinhabiting Elkmont, Joseph Wessels

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

A City Divided: “Fragmented” Urban Space In 20th Century Buenos Aires, Marianela D'Aprile

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Make A Delirious Noise: Improvising Urbanism In New Orleans, Louisiana, Jason Michael Stark

Masters Theses

Decades of poor urban design choices and a lack of attention to the characteristics of communities have played prominent roles in the fracturing of urban communities and the relegation of those without means to the edges of the urban fabric: poverty and powerlessness abetted by geographic location. Rather than “restitching” the urban whole back together, I argue that progress can be made through the generation of local nodes of identity: a polynucleated urban condition. The development of spaces to magnify community identity with respect to localized characteristics produces a community focus to replace the unattainable (for those without means) city …

Working At The Water's Edge: Reconnecting The People Of Charleston With The Water, Maria Ann Fox

Masters Theses

Water is a chemical compound fundamental to life. When many people first think of water, it is the water used for everyday activities and drinking that may come to mind. What is frequently overlooked is the fact that 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water and 96.5% of Earth’s water is found in oceans and seas (U.S. Geological Survey). What may not be as clear is the importance of these bodies of water to the surrounding towns and cities.

Since it’s founding in 1670, Charleston, South Carolina has always had a strong relationship with the water. One could …

Block 271, Reviving An Industrial Artifact, Jared Thomas Pohl

Masters Theses

Vacant industrial sites are scattered throughout our cities all across the country. These sites, these remnants of industry, are occupied by a very interesting category of buildings. They are artifacts from an industrial era that served very unique and specific functions. These service buildings suffered programmatic failure and have lost their vitality. They have entered a form of hibernation, waiting for the post-industrial epoch to wake them up.

The building stock under investigation makes up a large portion of the city’s structures. Identifiable by their heroic scale, clean articulated lines and tendency to be vacant, these service buildings raise arguments …

Change By Design: A Study In The Potential For Architecture And Design To Encourage Healthy, Conscious Behaviors And Enduring Sustainable Change, Kathleen Michelle Lewis

Masters Theses

Sustainability is more than a technologically based, financially motivated option for living. Instead, it is an invigorating opportunity for creating healthier environments on a mental, physical, and deeply personal scale. The intent of the following study is to inspire long-term sustainable solutions. The foundation for this course of inquiry will be an exploration, analysis, and synthesis into the potential for architecture to engender quality experiences by satisfying basic human needs, instilling environmentally responsible values, and promoting sustainable behavior.

Agri[Culture]: An Alternate Paradigm For The American Landscape, Melissa Erin Morris

Masters Theses

Throughout the Appalachian region, one can experience the vast disappearance of the American landscape as we know it. Whether driving through the rugged coal mining towns of Virginia, or the suburban sprawl taking over the rural farmland of Tennessee, it becomes clear that this is a spreading epidemic. Without an appropriate balance of urban, suburban, and rural areas, we begin to loose the landscape which has always been so closely linked to this country’s cultural and physical identity.

This thesis focuses on the agrarian Appalachian culture with a proposal for a project rooted heavily in cultural identity. With programs based …

Carbon-Neutral Design Guidelines For Medium Density Urban Areas In Warm-Humid And Cool-Dry Climates, Jennifer Delane Stewart

Masters Theses

This thesis combines Architecture 2030’s carbon-neutral performance targets with the SmartCode transect-based development principles, to generate guidelines for design of medium-density carbon-neutral districts. The topic examines these guidelines in medium density planned and built sites (transect types T4, General Urban Zone, and T5, Urban Center Zone) in representative cities within a cool-dry climate (IECC climate zone 5B, Denver) and a warm-humid climate (IECC climate zone 3A, Atlanta). The thesis assumes that a carbon-neutral district is more effective and potentially easier to achieve than designing independent carbon-neutral urban buildings. Within an urban context, it is now possible to connect buildings to …

Working With Paul Rudolph To Make Rudolph Work: Reclaiming, Conserving, And Adapting Sarasota High School (1958), Katherine Marie Armstrong

Masters Theses

Sarasota High School, designed by Paul Rudolph in 1958, physically embodies the central ideas of Regional Modernism that developed in Sarasota, Florida in the 1940s and 50s. Covered breezeways, monumental sunshades, deep overhangs, and sliding glass doors promote natural ventilation and sun shading as ways to deal with Florida’s hot climate. As an example of progressive architecture of the time, it is a seminal work of Rudolph’s and significant to Sarasota’s architectural legacy of climatically responsive, modernist buildings that captured international attention.

Sixty years later, Sarasota High School is now unoccupied and in a state of disrepair. The school board …

Interactions Between The Urban Environment And “The Homelessness”: Observations And Responses, Jeffrey Charles Stahl

Masters Theses

Homelessness and people living on the streets is a phenomenon that is facing every major urban center in the United States. These people are a commonality in the urban landscape and are often seen a problem to be fi xed. Due to the interactions between the urban environment and persons experiencing homelessness, there needs to be a paradigm shift in how policy is written and how we design an intervention for these forgotten people. The goal of this thesis is to gain a clearer understanding to what it is like to survive on the streets: how dose someone fi nd …

Urban Transient Spaces: [Re] Appropriating Knoxville, Tennessee's World's Fair Park, Kathryn Dupree Greer

Masters Theses

Transient Space: An urban site that was developed for a temporary event or short-term program.

In this thesis, I will explore urban gaps created by transient events, such as the Olympics, World Fairs, and the World Cup. I believe urban environments created to accommodate for these transitory events present an interesting predicament for planners and architects. In several cases, these sites are not properly developed or programmed for post-event occupancy and create gaps in a city’s urban fabric.

I will specifically be examining World’s Fair Park in Knoxville, Tennessee. This site once hosted the 1982 World’s Fair, Knoxville International Energy …

The Architect As Developer, Samuel David Funari

Masters Theses

The current architectural landscape of strip malls and big box stores is the antitheses of what nearly every practicing architect avails to while in the security of the academy. Upon entering the real world of budgetary constraints and hard deadlines, it seems that most architects are content to simply earn a paycheck rather than produce meaningful work. This destructive method of designing is a result of a supposed lack of choices, and can only be combated when architects have more to lose than their principles. By architects playing the role of both designer and developer, it is possible to see …

Architecture As Pedagogy: Designing Sustainable Schools As Three-Dimensional Textbooks, Ester Ehrlich Schwartz

Masters Theses

The importance of school buildings has been recognized as a fundamental element of modern society. Today, roughly a quarter of America’s population, including our youngest citizens, spend the majority of their days in school buildings. Still, many of our nation’s schools are in disrepair, with systems in need of repair or replacement.

Over the years, strong evidence and research have shown that school building impact student’s health and their ability to learn. Green schools mean healthier environments for students and staff. Pragmatically, we also know that that green schools save money. Energy-efficient buildings help reduce energy costs, which in turn …

Revitalization Through Rehabilitation: Enhancing Communities Through Re-Use, Jason Stuart Pimsler

Masters Theses

The densification of an existing community through the implementation of sustainable design principles, such as adaptive reuse, promotes revitalization. The re-inhabitation of the proposed abandoned structure along the BeltLine can lead to further development of the existing arts complex. As part of this revitalization, linkages established along a citywide master-planned path provide nodal connections between the local art district and the artists of the Goat Farm and educate visitors of the significant industrial history of the area. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the positive impact that sustainable architecture, adaptive reuse and proper planning can have on a …

Enhancing Community And Place Through A Suburban Retrofit, Luke Daniel Murphree

Masters Theses

Suburban sprawl, characterized by low-density, scattered, single-use development, is an ever-increasing concern for the environment, economy, and sense of community and identity of cities today. Sprawling communities have been designed with poor neighborhood connectivity, a lack of walkability, and in isolation from public space, jobs, and schools, creating a place that is virtually devoid of social interaction and a distinguishing identity.

Suburbia constitutes roughly 75% of contemporary development in the United States. Many buildings in these suburban areas are either vacant or out of date, and demographic and market shifts indicate a growing demand for more diverse housing types and …

Encapsulating History Of Place, Ashley Linn Lenentine

Masters Theses

Architecture has the ability to reveal the culture and history of a place, to support the community and educate society. The design becomes the vessel that retains the history of the place and increases cultural appreciation throughout society. This thesis looks to reinterpret how design responds to a historic context and incorporates culture and memory into the method for new design. A place is an accumulation of layers that tell a story of the past and overlay conditions of the present that enhance the experience of the place. The site, context, history, and culture can be identified as various layers …