Architecture Commons^™

Non-Stick, Adrienne Sheriff

Architecture Thesis Prep

Rethinking the spatial implications of the appliance

within the kitchen. Reorganizing the role of the kitchen

within the home. Reasserting the role of architecture in

order to create a relevant kitchen and a relevant home.

In setting up a territory for exploration, this thesis

becomes positioned for dual audiences: the techniques

and grounding intentions to be for the profession, but the

results of that exploration to be felt and experienced by

the lay person.

As my exploration continues, I will be interested in seeing

the various ways in which drawing can act as a producer

rather than merely a recorder.

Infra[Re]Structure, Sara Minsley

Architecture Thesis Prep

This project contends that through the mediation and expression of systems, energies and flows the pedestrian can reclaim the experience of the street.Crucial to this is an understanding of what is on the street and how objects and people are situated on the streets currently. Through exploiting these issues New York City the pedestrian is offered a more engaged experience of moving through the city.

Urban Systems Of The Refugee Camp, Julia Slater

Architecture Thesis Prep

Upon completion of my research I will design a system that allows the

flexibility needed by the people as well as the control the government

and NGO’s are responsible for providing. I will focus on the way playing

with the relevant scale can help to bridge the gap between indi

vidual

and group. Special configuration is a key component in forming

communal spaces. The integration of these spaces on every scale is

fundamental to achieving success. Issues of permanence can be addressed

though alternative building methodologies, and the lessons

learned from indigenous people.

Thickening: A 21st Century Approach For Resilience In Infrastructure, Marco Antonio Ravini

Architecture Thesis Prep

Infrastructure should be designed for higher RESILIENCE, not permanence. Rather than over-engineer to resist the inevitable failure of individual components, the next generation of public infrastructure needs to exceed its technical specifications and seek opportunistic hybridity between systems. In doing so, new possibilities for multi-layered use/outputs emerge which contribute to a more productive and resilient infrastructural lifespan.

Architecture Connects, Ryan Desilva

Architecture Thesis Prep

The envelope is the transaction zone between the ideal climate and the natural climate. The envelope has an important use as a driver for adaptive building use.

House As Mediator: Integrative Typology As Connector Between Land And Sea, Samantha Kudish

Architecture Thesis Prep

Rather than the water being an obstacle to coastal residential communities, water can act as an opportunity. Instead of barricading these areas from the water, integrating it with the area would create communities that are capable of living in unison with the ocean. This can introduce new typologies of housing that can withstand the continuing rise of sea levels. Blurring the line between land and sea by living with the sea will allow coastal regions to stay afloat, benefiting from ever-changing water conditions. A proposed new housing typology would introduce a new program to coastal neighborhoods, rather than putting up …

Sitopia, Cesi Kohen

Architecture Thesis Prep

In the projected future urban world where NAFTA doesn't exist, fresh/organic fruits and vegetables are produced within the urban realm. The goal is to create a symbiotic relationship between agriculture and architecture; analyze how spaces and typologies are challenged in order to accommodate farming; and systematize new spaces through restructuring of the code.

Decay And Opportunity Of Architecture, Alexa Hansford

Architecture Thesis Prep

This thesis aims to develop a connection between the newly elevated downtown Brooklyn and the cultural/civic center of lower Manhattan. One of the growth projects is known as the Urban Farming Initiative. Private areas through out the five boroughs have been redeveloped into community gardens. The public then cultivates and reaps goods for their personal use. Through the expansion of the Urban Farming Initiative this new network connection can act as the "bridge" between the two major city centers as well as creating a central hub for the farming network.

Community Commons: Public Libraries In Digital Age, Chao Dou

Architecture Thesis Prep

This thesis will identify the programs for the Onondaga County Public Library in Downtown Syracuse based on the needs of the surrounding neighborhoods and organize the programs based on the navigational organization of digital information exchange platforms to connect the digital divide between improverish neighorhoods with the affluent neighborhoods of Syracuse, NY.

The articulation of the space will manifest as a commons for the demographics to access, create and exchange information in the community

Empire State Plaza, Christopher Kovel

Architecture Thesis Prep

De Arce constructed a system--an experiment--that could be applied to the Corbusian city to elicit new meaning from the set pieces. The process of additive transformation allowed the existing monuments to become engaged in a new conversation with their context. The superimposed fabric--‘urban poche’-- created a uniform vertical surface, or datum, against which to read the set pieces. Thus, the city of street and square was educed as fabric and figure were once again allowed to mutually reinforce one another. Public space, understood as the place of confrontation and discussion, has arguably been devalued in the contemporary city.

The ancient …

Enhancing Sensory Environments Of Crematoria, Tanya Bhatia

Architecture Thesis Prep

How can technology today enhance or amplify the social interactions of people in crematoria through the simulation of nature? Crematoria typically, are religious and neutral spaces appropriate to those who want to participate. One of the most significant aspects of crematoria is location. Most crematorium complexes today are located next to either a noisy motorway or in an industrial park. The reasoning behind this is usually to make sure it is not open to the public for viewing unless they want to be a part of it. Usually the crematoria end up in an open landscape, but have walls that …

Matters Of Air, Franklin Romero Jr.

Architecture Thesis Prep

Air pollution is an imbalance of airborne terrestrial matter that produces unwanted effects on other material bodies. This boundary-less, scale-less and heterogeneous entity is an invasive matter/energy residue that supersedes political, social, spatial, territorial, glandular and even cellular boundaries. It is a transcontinental system that envelops and intoxicates insides and outsides rendering the architectural object a benign form of protection.

This airborne matter is changing the physical, social, political, sensorial, and emotional life of our cities, and in many cases the experience of urbanity is lost due to its own degraded air. Pollution renders the most vital necessity for living …

A City Within A City: Protecting The Spirit Of Hutong, Yuan Yuan

Architecture Thesis Prep

The ancient Chinese believed that humanity should exist coherently with the nature. In Siheyuan, which are the houses stand along the Hutong, the connection with nature is expressed through the centrally located courtyard. The grey brick walls and the low-angled tile roofs create the ancient atmosphere in that historical area, because the materials are quite different from the factories processed materials of the modern buildings, such as the pre-cast concrete and glass. At the same time, the relationship between family and family is pretty closed in that area. Many tenants have to share a courtyard, sometimes they have to share …

Welcome To Peep Park: The Spaces Of The Voyeur, Christopher Malone

Architecture Thesis Prep

What exactly is that good ‘old fashioned’ voyeurism we find in architecture? It exists in overheard conversations. It lies behind loosely closed doors. It can be found in the corner of a room. sometimes it is hidden amongst the shadows cast by two vertical spaces. Voyeurism is tied to the proximity of performance that space allows to occur. Voyeurism becomes an affected, a want, a need facilitated by unnoticed, forgotten spaces. Sometimes voyeurism exists in the open. It is called upon to legitimize a space or action. These spaces become the most important part of any architecture because they encourage …

Street Market Project, Ying Zheng

Architecture Thesis Prep

What are the key features will give a city “vitality”? What are the features of a city will give a tourist (a stranger to a city, temporary visit) or a local resident (an acquaintance to a city, a person who lives in a city for a long time) a good impression so that people will enjoy the time in the city? One of the most important part of the impression of a city comes from STREET. Jane Jacobs said in her book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” that: “Think of a city and what comes to mind? …

Suzhou In Prosperous: Representative Infrastructure-Based-Prosperous About Suzhou, Li Qiu

Architecture Thesis Prep

The thesis is trying to critique and evaluate the production-infrastructure-consumption model that contemporary Suzhou is based on. The model has been set up with the help of reading the scroll Prosperous Suzhou, which, is considered both as a precedent on representation and background of sites. Suzhou is a major city locates in the Yangtze River Delta region. For 2,500 years Suzhou is acting one of the most prosperous city in the wealthiest region of China. Suzhou is one of the greatest canal cities on the world, and it is also called “the Eastern Venice” for its competitive massive networks of …