Architecture Commons^™

The Influence Of Classroom Design On Problem Behaviors And Educational Growth Indicators For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd), Anthony D. Asher

All Theses

This qualitative comparative case study reports on findings from a pre-and post-occupancy evaluation using multiple data collection methods to explore how classroom design features contribute to behavioral outcomes for children with ASD. Ten children, ages three to five years older with ASD, were observed over four months as they transitioned from their current classrooms into their newly built classrooms based on evidence-based design for children with ASD. For a two-month period in each setting, environmental conditions were tracked continuously in both classrooms. In addition, interviews were conducted with the special education teachers in both settings to gain insight into the …

Cladding By Another Name: A Comparative Analysis Of The Environmental And Economic Costs Of Traditional Wood Clapboards, Composite Fiber-Cement Siding, And Vinyl Siding, Nicole Larochelle

All Theses

Using the tools provides by the scientific community, namely the products of lifecycle cost assessments (LCA) – which are synthesized in environmental product declarations (EPD) – and life cycle cost assessments (LCCA), the overall environmental and economic impacts of historic, traditional, and simulated materials are established and compared. This informs the historic preservation community of the quantifiable sustainability of historic materials in relation to alternatives. Through these two different methods of environmental and economic life cycle costing, this research demonstrates that retaining in-situ siding incurs the least impact on the environment and is the second most economic option. While the …

U.S. Army Medical Command’S Medical Treatment Facilities’ Response To Sars-Cov-2 (Covid-19), Seyedmohammad Ahmadshahi

All Theses

Starting in December 2019 to the current time in May 2022, COVID-19 was a devastating pandemic with approximately 440 million cases and 6 million deaths worldwide (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2021). The United States (US) with roughly 90 million cases and 1 million deaths (CDC, 2021) was one of the epicenters of the outbreak since the beginning. The pandemic has significantly impacted the health systems across the US with unpredictable surges of highly infectious patients with uncertain symptomology and acuity levels, requiring isolation and critical level of care (Brambilla et al., 2021).

Based on the findings from …

Planning For Local Resilience, Natasia Peacock

All Theses

Planning for resilience to climate change within the comprehensive plan is a keyway to help protect local communities. State legislations provides the guidelines to local governments to if a comprehensive plan is needed for the community and what is required to be within the comprehensive plan. This research assesses state legislation for resiliency policies for comprehensive plans and assesses comprehensive plans to see if local governments are adequately applying the legislation.

Nine states across five geographic regions, were used in evaluation of state legislation. A variety of comprehensive plans were also evaluated at both city and county levels within these …

A Comparison Of Preferences: Testing The Correlation Between The National Register Of Historic Places And The South Carolina Picture Project, Vito Scocozzo

All Theses

Current affairs relating to the architectural stylings of federal buildings have sparked discussions regarding the preferences of the American people for different styles of architecture. Studies have identified a disconnect between the preferences of the general public and professionals who work with the built environment. This thesis seeks to continue these discussions and better understand how they relate to historic preservation by answering the following question: Do the historic resources and buildings nominated to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) by historic preservation professionals directly compare to the historic resources identified by a wider public base as represented by …

Community Bike Shops As Youth Development Programs: Influences On Mobility & Accessibility Of Youth Participants, Adrienne Warren

All Theses

Lack of mobility in low-moderate income neighborhoods can lead to mobility-based social exclusion and can contribute to a path of generational poverty, diminished quality of life, among other health and socio-economic disadvantages for residents. Community bike shops provide opportunities for youth residents in low-moderate income neighborhoods to learn new mechanical and riding skills through earn-a-bike programs in addition to providing access to a bicycle and facilitate group riding experiences. These new experiences can improve student’s mobility and accessibility and thus help alleviate mobility-based exclusion. A mixed methods case study of two community bike shops, Village Wrench in Greenville, South Carolina …

Factors Affecting Marta Ridership: Tod, Non-Pedestrian Access, Or Something Else?, John Luke Derochers

All Theses

Public transit has emerged as a socially acceptable sustainable transportation solution to the urban ills of 21st century cities. Understanding the factors that affect public transit ridership is of great need to transit agencies, planners, and policy makers. The literature suggests two main avenues for improving transit ridership in the US context. One option is to create Transit Oriented Developments (TOD) that mimic historically strong transit land-uses and built environments, including high densities of populations, jobs, and pedestrian friendliness. The other suggests that in the modern American sunbelt cities, populations, jobs, and activity centers are scattered throughout the metro area …

"Safety In Numbers" And Bicycle Safety: A Detailed Analysis Of The Denver Metropolitan Area, Rachael Thompson Panik

All Theses

Recently across the US, there has been a push to accommodate and encourage the viability of alternative modes of transportation—especially bicycling. Leaders across all levels of government, trade groups, advocacy and policy groups, and others are promoting different methods to make urban areas more bikeable. Now, as planning practice is moving towards implementing a transportation system that serves different types of travelers, the US faces challenges involved with retrofitting existing automobile-oriented streets.

While implementing bicycle safety initiatives is becoming a popular movement among municipalities, there have been differing opinions on the best way to make cities more bikable in academic …

Impacts Of Rail Transit Investments On Demographics And Land Use: 1990-2010, Aubrey Trinidad

All Theses

This paper studies the changes in land use and population characteristics around station areas following the building of rail transit stations in 14 major cities in the United States from 1990 to 2010. It answers the question: how have investments in US rail transit made since the 1990s affected land use and demographics? It also looks at the specific effects of investments on population density, race, and ethnicity, means of transportation, median housing value, median household income, vehicle access share, occupations, and land use represented by the share of multifamily versus single-family housing. Using block group level US census data …

Importing The Vernacular: An Analysis Of The Panama Houses Of The Former Charleston Navy Yard As An Adapted Regional Building Typology, Benjamin Cunningham Walker

All Theses

Military architectural designs are often overlooked in vernacular architecture due to the widespread use of standardized plans at military installations. However, factors including climate in certain regions force the development of new designs for military bases that are better suited to local conditions. This is arguably the case for the Panama Houses of the former Charleston Navy Yard, which are an example of a vernacular building type imported from a foreign context. While scholars have looked from a broad perspective at the Navy Yard and the more prominent structures, no study has been completed considering the history and form of …

Brownfield To Brightfield: Influences On Attitude, Brittni Leigh Olesen

All Theses

The purpose of this study is to analyze what factors influence a person’s attitude towards a brownfield site converted into a future solar energy farm through the RE-Power America’s Land Initiative to help increase the success of implementing solar energy farms in cities. Five different factors, including: spatial, public participation, local context, personal values, and socio-demographic factors are analyzed and tested using descriptive statistics and measures of association. Among other tests, measures of association were used to determine that egalitarian viewpoint, education and income had statistically significant relationships with acceptance towards the potential solar energy development. However, all of these …

Framing The Lowcountry: The Evolution Of The Region’S Vernacular Tradition, Brent Russell Fortenberry

All Theses

Timber-framing systems are the foundation of Early Modern vernacular architecture traditions. The fabrication, construction, and finish details of such assemblies are indexes of the character-defining features of building practices and the wider socio-cultural context. The Lowcountry of South Carolina is no exception. From the late seventeenth-century onwards builders from Old World traditions came together to erect unrivalled British edifices in the colonial and Early Republic periods. While other scholars have closely scrutinized and interpreted the framing traditions of the Chesapeake and New England, there has yet to be a consideration of the nature and evolution of the Lowcountry’s framing. Bringing …

Washing Away Our Heritage: The Impacts Of Rising Sea Levels On National Historic Landmarks In Boston, Massachusetts And Charleston, South Carolina, Melanie Weston

All Theses

Rising sea levels not only threaten coastal infrastructure and private property, but also the world’s historic resources. This thesis examines the impacts of rising sea levels on the historic resources of Charleston, South Carolina and Boston, Massachusetts. These two cities are prominent in American history, home to a significant number of National Historic Landmarks, and are recognized as the cultural capitals of their regions. These cities will be studied closely in this work not only for their effects from rising sea levels but also for possible adaptations and mitigation policies against the predicted effects of sea level rise.

The Analysis Of A Secondary Space: Bathrooms At Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, Amber Marie Anderson

All Theses

When observing Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterwork, Fallingwater, few people contemplate the significance of the property’s six finished bathrooms. However, similar themes which underscore the importance and wonder of the overall house itself, such as the use of technological innovation and careful attention to detail, were also employed throughout the bathrooms despite their designation as secondary spaces. This thesis examines these themes via the original process of design and the post-construction treatment of these spaces. In order to do this, architectural drawings, correspondence, family papers, visual observation, oral interviews, related project documents and both Preservation and Maintenance department manuals were analyzed. …

"A Posture Of Defence": A Forensic Brick Analysis Of Charleston's Seventeenth And Eighteenth Century Walled Fortifications, Jacqueline Don

All Theses

The fortification walls that once protected the bustling colonial port of Charles Town, South Carolina lie buried under a thriving, modern city. After almost a century of rediscovery and neglect, local scholarly expertise in the form of a city task force regularly explore the history and structure of the walls that once played an integral role in the daily operations, survival, and success of the young and isolated British colony. Archaeological excavations and archival research within the last decade have made significant progress in unearthing information previously lost to development and memory. These methods have experienced limitations, however, since access …

The Structural And Material Evolution Of Molana Abbey, Ballynatray Demesne, County Waterford, Ireland, Site Wa037-011: A Mortar Composition Study, Claire Alice Achtyl

All Theses

Molana Abbey, a ruin located in Ballynatray Demesne, County Waterford, Ireland, has religious roots in the sixth century but much of the structure dates to the eleventh-century. Molana became an important center of religion and education in southern Ireland. After Henry VIII dissolved Irish monasteries in 1546, the former abbey became a part of the land holdings of Sir Walter Raleigh. The abbey was then converted from a religious to a residential structure occupied briefly by English polymath Thomas Harriot. The structure fell into disrepair until the nineteenth-century when Grice Smyth, a new owner, transformed the ruin into a garden …

The Architecture Of Rural Healthcare: Supporting Access To Health In Remote And Rural Areas, Kirsten Staloch

All Theses

Many remote and rural areas in the United States lack adequate access to basic healthcare services such as primary, urgent, and emergency care typically provided by healthcare systems and hospitals. In addition, many rural communities are comprised of an increasingly aging population, a growing number of patients with chronic illnesses, and in some communities a high volume of tourists that need urgent care. Remote communities struggle with providing access to these basic but essential healthcare services taken for granted in more populated areas. Changing reimbursement, evolving patterns of care delivery and advances in technology are all altering how access to …

One Land, Two American Dreams: Rediscovering The Secondary Dupont Narrative At James Madison's Montpelier, Sarah A. Sanders

All Theses

Secondary narratives are most easily defined as narratives deemed non-essential to the primary interpretation goals of a historic site. Given the established significance criteria in the United States, secondary narratives are currently undervalued and are challenging to address. James Madison's Montpelier in Orange County, Virginia serves as an ideal lens through which to explore this challenge, given that the estate clearly embodies more than one period of significance.

In 1901 William duPont Sr. of the illustrious Delaware duPont family purchased a large area of land just outside of the small rural town of Orange ,Virginia. Located over two hundred miles …

On The Periphery: A Survey Of Nineteenth-Century Asylums In The United States, Lauren Hoopes

All Theses

State and federal government purpose-built asylums constructed in the 'moral treatment' era of mental healthcare, here defined as 1835 to 1900, mark a period of great change in the nation. Establishment of moral treatment asylums occurred between two very different eras. The eighteenth century, in which mental illness was seen as a punishment from God, precedes the moral treatment asylums. Twentieth-century thinking favored a medical view in which mental illness can be treated or controlled with medical drugs. Asylums built in the nineteenth century relied on 'moral' treatments--treatments that utilized no restraints unless absolutely necessary and used the environment and …

Commemoration And Controversy: The Memorialization Of Denmark Vesey In Charleston, South Carolina, Sarah Katherine Dykens

All Theses

The commemoration of contested historical figures is a topic that is increasingly addressed by preservationists, historians, and those in local government. One such figure is Denmark Vesey, whose failed slave insurrection plot in 1822 forever altered the social and physical fabric of the United States. The ways in which this polarizing figure has been memorialized in Charleston, South Carolina, speak to the multivalent nature of Vesey himself as well as the shifting and complex racial politics in Charleston. In studying the four major commemorative efforts for Vesey that exist in Charleston, this thesis sheds light on the ways in which …

"Nine Mahogany Table…Two Marble Slabbs And Stands…And A Cow": The First Generation Furniture Of Drayton Hall, Shannon Marie Devlin

All Theses

When the National Trust for Historic Preservation purchased Drayton Hall in 1974, they made a groundbreaking decision. The Trust took a conservation approach to the house, preserving Drayton Hall as found and presenting it to the public unfurnished. The decision proved to have significant ramifications and as a direct result, interpreting the material culture at the site slid to the side. Drayton Hall has over a million objects in its collections ranging from archaeological sherds to pieces of furniture, yet the collections play little to no role in site interpretation to the public. The first generation furniture (ca. 1738-1779), at …

Fifty Shades Of Beige: Comparative Paint Analysis Of Three Charleston Parlors, Alison Page Dunleavy

All Theses

This research diachronically examines color in three parlors in Charleston, South Carolina: 35 Legare Street (ca. 1790); 18 Bull Street (ca.1800); and 61-63 Smith Street (ca. 1823-24) in order to determine the impact of wealth on pigment and binder selection. Cross-sectional analysis of interior finishes reveals the layers of paint on architectural elements, which identifies the evolution of color in an interior space. With additional types of analysis such as fluorochrome staining and scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), the samples also provide insight into the evolution of pigments and binders. Interpretation of the findings results in an …

Building Information Modeling (Bim): The Untapped Potential For Preservation Documentation And Management, Laura Lee Worrell

All Theses

The preservation field has few software programs specifically created to store historic and management documentation. Some programs and techniques are utilized in combination to aid in the management and documentation process of historic resources that include, laser scanning, AutoDesk AutoCAD programs, Rhino 3D, photogrammetry, geographic information system, and even Microsoft Excel. This thesis examines the applicability of the Architectural, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry's Building Information Modeling (BIM) to create a three dimensional user interface for tracking and storing historic and management documentation. The case study performed for this thesis employs the Nathaniel Russell House owned by the Historic Charleston …

Lowcountry Ghost Signs: A Study And Preservation Of Historic Signage In The South Carolina Lowcountry, James Wilson Smith

All Theses

Outdoor advertisements have enlivened America's commercial landscape since the seventeenth century. Hand-painted advertisements applied to the sides of buildings, from barns in rural settings to stores in the nation's towns and cities, were once ubiquitous but have, as both message and medium have evolved, generally fallen out of everyday use. Once common, hand-painted wall signs have faded from America's commercial landscape and have become objects of nostalgia more than a method of merchandising.

The Forgotten Stone: A History And Analysis Of Bermuda Stone In Charleston, South Carolina, Justin M. Schwebler

All Theses

Throughout the historic streets of Charleston, South Carolina there is a forgotten and overlooked stone. It is in the narrow gaps between houses, along carriageway walls, underfoot on garden paths, and in foundations of many historic buildings. The forgotten stone of Charleston is Bermuda stone. This thesis provides the history of Bermuda stone in Charleston, South Carolina. This history was written answering the following research questions. How and why was Bermuda stone imported to Charleston? Who were the people bringing Bermuda stone to Charleston and who were the people using it as a building material? When was the period of …

The Challenge Of Balance: A Study Of The Recent History Of The Board Of Architecture Review And Its Design Standards On The Calhoun Street Corridor In Charleston, South Carolina, Taylor Johnston

All Theses

Applauded as the United States’ first city to create a historic preservation ordinance, Charleston, South Carolina boasts a strong tradition in architectural protection. Presiding over this process of design review and its connected provisions, the Board of Architectural Review (BAR) evaluates any new construction, additions, and changes to any property visible in the public-right-of-way that falls within the historic district. According to the zoning ordinance, this governing body protects and preserves “the old historic or architecturally worthy structures and quaint neighborhoods which impart a distinct aspect of the city and which serve as visible reminders of the historical and cultural …

Fostering Recovery: Establishing Therapeutic Environments In Behavioral Health Facilities For Adolescents, Ashley Colquhoun

All Theses

The intent of this project is to explore what and how specific architectural features can contribute to a holistic therapeutic environment for adolescents in an inpatient behavioral health care setting. Mental health facilities in the U.S. historically have been highly institutional spaces designed to restrain and isolate persons with mental health problems from society. These facilities have often been designed under a misunderstanding of the needs of individuals with behavioral health issues, frequently thinking that they are incompetant or criminal and are therefore incapable of participating in the community. This belief is a result of stigma toward behavioral health. This …

The Mills Bill: An Economic Impact Study Of The North Carolina State Historic Mill Rehabilitation Tax Credit, Erin Elizabeth Morton

All Theses

The textile, tobacco, and furniture industries in North Carolina suffered a significant loss of revenue and jobs in the 1990s. As production migrated to cheaper locations overseas, communities throughout the state faced the collateral challenge of finding new uses for hundreds of large, empty mill buildings. To encourage redevelopment of the state's vacant mills, North Carolina's legislature created a tax credit program that targeted mills and other similar industrial properties. This thesis quantifies the economic successes of the state's mill rehabilitation tax credit. Building on equations and assumptions from Becky Holton's 2008 IMPLAN software model, this economic impact study uses …

Spectrum Of The Spirit: Interpreting The Material Connotations Of Ecclesiastical Stained Glass In Charleston, South Carolina, Valerie J. Mccluskey

All Theses

The City of Charleston is known colloquially as 'The Holy City,' and many of its holy structures display stained glass windows. Long admired for their aesthetic qualities, these stained glass windows are under-examined examples of the city's material culture. A careful reading of these windows has uncovered information about the artifacts themselves and the cultural, religious, and geographic identities of the societies who created and commissioned these windows. This thesis examines how ethnography, religion, and geography influenced the artistic styles and iconography of the stained glass windows of Charleston's ecclesiastical structures and mausoleums. The stained glass windows of Peninsular Charleston …

Domestic Cisterns In Charleston, South Carolina: Public Health And Private Water In An Antebellum City, Brittany Mckee

All Theses

This study is the first comprehensive analysis of domestic cisterns in the antebellum United States. Cisterns, traditionally defined as catchment or storage facilities for rainwater collected by means of a drainage system, became a common domestic utility in Charleston, South Carolina during the nineteenth century. The earliest cisterns on the peninsula were constructed in the city's more affluent properties. By 1870 they were a household feature in all areas of the city. Two primary factors motivated Charlestonians to install domestic water collection systems. First, the city urbanized with little to no sanitation policy. As a result the city experienced frequent …