Architecture Commons^™

Improving Environmental Protection With Building Information Modeling And Design For Deconstruction, Menghan Zha

English Language Institute: Architecture Posters

No abstract provided.

Surviving In The Ai World As An Architect, Victor Beomseung Jo

English Language Institute: Architecture Posters

No abstract provided.

Forever Or Dying? Art Deco Architecture In China, Cheng Li

English Language Institute: Architecture Posters

No abstract provided.

The Way Of Water: A Cultural Revival, Mariana Munoz

Architecture Senior Theses

THE WAY OF WATER: A CULTURAL REVIVAL MARIANA MUNOZ:

This thesis aims to address the challenges facing the coastal community of Condado, Puerto Rico, by proposing interventions that protect against floods and restore access to water, while also enhancing daily life and cultural practices. Through an examination of the community’s existing conditions, and answer three research questions: (1) how to mitigate flooding without displacing the community, (2) how to meet the needs of the community during times of emergency, and (3) how to integrate interventions into daily life and existing practices. The proposed interventions include a canal system to redirect …

White Picket Possibilities: Socially, Economically And Environmentally Reshaping Suburbia, Brendan Carroll

Architecture Senior Theses

What does the future of suburbia look like? For much of its history suburbia marketed itself as a pillar of the American dream. While it could be argued that for many years owning a single-family home was an obtainable goal for most Americans, this is far from the case today. Suburbia has shifted from the housing type advertised for the masses to a housing type only obtainable by a fraction of Americans. Suburbia and the housing units within it do not match the social, economic, or environmental needs of today's society.

As the demand for suburban living remains at all-time …

Paradigms Of The Post-Natural: Depicting Alternative Futures, Andrea De Haro, Charlotte Bascombe

Architecture Senior Theses

Paradigms of the Post Natural is a thesis that utilizes imagery and storytelling to critique present practices of design which disregard the protection of our environment. We are interested in current environmental degradation characteristics of the era of the anthropocene where human-centric design methods have manipulated and exploited the ecosystem in which we coexist with other organisms as destructive pursuits of human development. Our inspiration developed from a shared interest in the conservation of non-human organisms. Specifically, we are interested in ecocides, areas in which animals are forced to adapt as they experience the human destruction of their habitat. Examining …

Weathering With: Afterlife Treatment Of Architecture, Tianhui Li

Architecture Senior Theses

When thinking about afterlife of architecture, one would imagine architecture’s incapability of maintain its form due to its deterioration. Humans tear down buildings to construct new buildings, or update building by replacing damaged parts.

However recent study indicates that the traditional human-architecture relationship will end in the near future due to population increase and global warming. As humans lose more and more habitable lands, the remaining architecture on inhabitable lands will be abandoned. This raises the question of who then decides the fate of the abandoned architecture. This thesis sees weathering as the answer to the question and reimagines the …

Museum Of The Mechanical Eye: The Phenomenology Of Perception In Architecture, Isabela Sierra

Architecture Senior Theses

Since ancient tines, philosophers have tied knowledge to clear vision. Sight has been deemed the most important sense to mankind. Plato said vision was "humanity's greatest gift." It is human nature to make optical conclusions, to reify, to totalize, to control. What is seen is assumed to certain because of the uncontested and unexplored optical gray areas upheld by our rational and technological culture. We solidified our ocular-centric society by creating vision-generated understandings of knowledge, truth, and reality. Architecture, along with art and film, deals directly with human existence in space. Architecture is the construction of human perception.

The universe …

Artificially Alternate Bauhaus: Gremlins Of Function, Body, And Pattern, Madeline Alves, Erin Zearfoss

Architecture Senior Theses

Human and machine intelligence has the potential to re-design objects and spaces of the past and generate an artificially alternate collection of reimagined Bauhaus images. Present A.I. technologies can operate as synthetic imaginations of historic Bauhaus principles and design ambitions to create a possible future. The past becomes altered through our understanding of its contributions to an alternate present.

Mela: Vessels Of Ephemeral Architecture, Neha Tummalapalli

Architecture Senior Theses

In states of temporality, conventions can be challenged and reimagined. Ephemeral architecture responds to fluctuating conditions and are often built with lightweight, recycled materials that allow for reconfiguration and reinvention. Melas, Sanskrit for "gathering," become a lens through which ad hoc urbanism can be further explored in its most idealized form. Melas include gatherings of all scales that are commercial, celebratory, or religious. The large crowds and temporary nature of these events allow for thoughtful ephemeral configurations to be tried and tested.

The largest gathering of humans in the world is the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, India. This religious pilgrimages …

Toxic Glacier: Confronting Our Society's Consumerism Culture, Valeria Otero Lopez

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis is situated in the scenario of a dysfunctional society in which States refuse to cooperate with one another, and every State refuses to import NYC’s waste.

I’m proposing the implementation of a waste treatment plant that processes waste into a “Toxic Glacier” in Central Park, which was originally developed as a place to escape from the overcrowding and polluting streets. Because of the tremendous size this would conquer, there is nowhere in NYC to execute the project but the park.

This project uncovers the City’s hidden motives for concealing waste from its inhabitants. It questions the City’s intentions …

Threshold Tectonics: Reclaiming Space Through Geomorphological Design, Amreeta Verma

Architecture Senior Theses

This research posits that a revitalization of indigenous earth architecture practices in a contemporary context can mitigate the immense waste and embodied carbon in the construction industry while engaging practices of land return and reclamation. Locally sourced earth materials are the focus of this research because when utilized in a circular consumption cycle, they can be reused or returned to the natural environment. Designing with a temporal understanding of material decay, changing site conditions, and project life cycle reduces the impact of construction waste on the burgeoning issue of environmental degradation and resource depletion. Material experimentation is used to develop …

Linear Waltz With Nature: A Self-Supporting Infrastructure In Nature, Shangkun Zhong

Architecture Senior Theses

This project aims to create a sustainable system that addresses waste management issues in urban areas by examining the functionality of recycling infrastructures and how they can be integrated. The system will absorb waste and convert it into renewable energy to support a field station in Tibet, where self-sustainability is critical, due to the remote location. Architects often demonstrate their understanding of sustainability through various means such as integration, passive/energy-saving, and natural architecture. This thesis argues that a sustainable system such as CopenHill, can exemplify the combination of green-manifested design and recycle content as a sustainable cycle that supports human-nature …

Assemblage Dwelling: A Radical Migrant Domesticity In Urbanity, Protik Choudhuri

Architecture Senior Theses

Humanity will end the 21st century as an entirely urban species. But urban environments are factories- the site of perpetual reproduction of services, interactions, urban and domestic spaces for capital accumulation, rather than the outcome of social processes. As such, the conditions under which migrants have integrated into the urban environments globally are characterized by the extraordinary struggle for decent housing and work.

Globally, it is the squatting movement that responded by countering exclusionary forms of ownership and radically transforming urban and domestic conditions for migrants through two distinct operations: the illegal appropriation of vacant buildings and domestic interventions centered …

Dissolve Of Living Space: Living Space Under The Development Of Metaverse, Wenting Feng, Nuo Lyu

Architecture Thesis Prep

According to our vision, in the future, after the use of the metaverse becomes popular, we will spend a lot of time working, living and playing in the metaverse. The space needed in reality will be reduced by the use of the metaverse, and public buildings will be retained or not depending on the nature of the building. Because the focus of human life shifts from reality to the metaverse, energy and material consumption will also be reduced, and environmental problems can be properly alleviated. The nature in the real city will also be expanded by the reduction of the …

Mars 2100: A Microcosm Of Ecocentric Design, Andrea Hoe

Architecture Thesis Prep

In the dystopian future of 2100, Earth becomes a dying planet and humanity is forced to continue colonizing the solar system for survival. Mars develops as a colonized planet, exploited for its natural resources and potential. The hierarchical system of power seen constantly throughout Earth’s history was inescapable, and poor conditions turned to extremes. As billionaires take control of the space race, the capitalist system reflected in past company towns was implemented, making the moral questions and lines blurred.

When the system is eventually ruptured, ecosystemic living is proposed. Living is now centered around health and mindfulness, creating a system …

Immersive Inoculation: Testing If Architecture Can Become A Form Of Emotional Supplementation, Julia Kazubowsi, Chloe De Marco

Architecture Thesis Prep

The environments, objects, and spaces we encounter rub off on us, even if we don't notice. Like a human interaction, every inanimate encounter we have have with surrounding objects and architecture has a positive or negative affect on us.

We recognize that ordinary things have a surprising power to create extraordinary feelings and reactions. This thesis propose a visual medium that bridges the gap between us and the inanimate. Where we meet in the middle is an architectural experience that is emotionally charged, introducing specific emotions to the body. Just as movies, books, and happy pills elicit a response from …

Paradigm Of The Post Natural: Critiquing Capitalist Ideals Through Environmental Degradation, Andrea De Haro, Charlotte Bascombe

Architecture Thesis Prep

There is an unspoken value in the destructiveness caused by design that is exposed through the exploitation of natural resources. This thesis seeks to exemplify the aesthetic value inherent within these newly defined environments. Nature is a source for human consumption, and as such it has developed into a commodity. By now it should be made evident that humanity’s presence is everywhere. There is no ecosystem left unturned by human manipulation Iin this respect, nature is dead. Deforested sites of oil fracking leave mile long toxic ponds highlighting the destructive pursuits that capitalism creates. Chernobyl showcases how human errors in …

Assistive Intelligence: Replication And Mediation Of Modern, Madeline Alves, Kimberly Esquilin, Pramita Mital, Erin Zearfoss, Julia Kubowoski, Chloe Demarco

Architecture Thesis Prep

This project is an exploration of frames of reference that guide human authorship and how they influence machine output . “Reference frames are [used] to make predictions, create plans, and perform movements.” (Hawkins 131). We guided our exploration under the principle that if we control who authored the frames of reference that the AI receives, then that would influence the output of the machine. However, we began to question to what degree we need to control the machine in order to have a valuable output –is human-intelligent authorship necessary for machine intelligence to function productively, or is machine intelligence enough …

Eternal Imprint: Two Libraries Linked In Time, Jaifer Sultan

Architecture Thesis Prep

The thesis is an exploration of the symbolic relationship between Earth and the Moon through the conceptualization of two libraries, one on Earth and one on the Moon, are to be formally expressed through a mitosis-like interdependency, where both libraries are in constant architectural dialogue with each other despite their separation which occurred some time ago.

The thesis positions itself in the architectural discourse through the rigorous stud and analysis of the library typology throughout history, to both symbolize meaning and ritualize one's experience of acquiring knowledge. This understanding of the library typology will be tackled through the cataloging of …

Suppression | Liberation: Memorial To The Lgbtq + Holocaust Victims, Justin Difabritis

Architecture Thesis Prep

Architecture + poetry are powerful forms of creativity, both exemplifying beauty, symbolism, emotion, and experience through structure + form. This thesis is interested in poetic architecture and its ability to not only narrate, represent, symbolize, or express, but also eternalize, the story of groups, individuals, and events.

Through the analysis of, but not limited to, memorials, tombs, and monuments, a deeper architectural understanding will be offered, one of architecture’s ability to emotionally affect others as a means of remembrance.

This research will focus on the literal + symbolic narrative and experience of the LGBTQ+ victims of the holocaust, placing a …

Panopticon: A Privacy Revelation, Kexin Wang, Zhexu Yang

Architecture Thesis Prep

Our thesis project studies and analyzes the control of Surveillance Capitalism over people’s privacy, and how to make people realize the importance of privacy through the means of an architectural/design narrative. This concept comes from Shoshana Zuboff’s The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power, which explains how tech companies collect extra data, capture people’s behavioral surplus and sell them to third party customers, such as advertising companies, thus the predictions about people’s preferences accordingly. In this process, technology companies can make tremendous profit by stealing users’ personal information and then …

Tectonic Thresholds: Reclaiming Space Through Geomorphological Design, Amreeta Verma

Architecture Thesis Prep

This research posits that a revitalization of indigenous earth architecture practices in a contemporary context can mitigate the immense waste and embodied carbon in the construction industry. Earth materials are the focus of this research because they are locally sourced, abundantly available, and can be reused or returned to the natural environment, when utilized in a circular consumption cycle. Designing for reuse reduces the impact of construction waste on the burgeoning issue of environmental degradation and resource depletion.

The structural viability and environmental enclosure capabilities of soil throughout its lifecycle will be tested in different forms derived geomorphically from the …

The Ark: Sanctuary For Isfs, Zejun Sun, Wei Wei Li

Architecture Thesis Prep

The thesis is aiming to decrease the potential flooding damages to the ISFs, and a balance between the limited resources and high population density to relieve the flooding issues through the renovation and reconstruction of local churches in the Baseco Compound.

Flooding has become one of the most common and devastated issues in developing countries, and it is worsen by the housing crisis that lead to a formation of informal settlements with shoddy constructions and destabilized communities. What is an applicable approach to decrease the potential flooding damage to the ISFs? How to find a balance between the limited resources …

My Abject Body: Dissimulating & Disheveling Fleshy Matter, Taylor Hoople

Architecture Thesis Prep

Body (as subject) and space (as object) are polarized entities in modern discourse and design. The current epoch of hygiene, control, and mass-production/ consumption renders the body and the space(s) it inhabits as whole, discrete entities. In their totality, body and space are idealized opposites, failing to experience any messy overlaps or ambiguous in-betweenness. My feminine body is particularly subject to this dualism, being tightly bound to the legal and social patriarchal dominance over my body’s autonomy and appearance.

This thesis seeks to corrupt my hyper-aestheticized and policed body by making (with) abject( ion). Understood both as an ongoing condition …

The Influence Of The Natural Environment On Vernacular Architecture In China, Jiaman Weng

English Language Institute: Architecture Posters

There are many strange vernacular structures in China, China is a country with a vast territory, many ethnic groups and a long history。As a result, the number of styles and patterns of Chinese vernacular architecture is also very unusual in the history of world architecture. The appearance presented by these vernacular buildings is the result of the constant adaptation of the ancient Chinese to their natural environment through generations of improvement. They represent the wisdom of the ancient Chinese people. Among the factors that probably had the greatest influence on these buildings were climate and topography.

Shukhov’S Tower: Russia’S Eiffel Tower, Zhuoer Xu

English Language Institute: Architecture Posters

The structural and symbolic features of Shukhov Tower.

Unearthed: Architect Invades Time Square With Soil, Megha Murali

Architecture Senior Theses

Rammed Earth has not yet been studied in terms of soil's inherent spatial qualities. This thesis aims to create a set of rules to follow when designing with Rammed Earth. Coupling physical testing and a series of interviews with experts, the rules are formed by manifesting natural qualities of soil as spatial manipulations. The outcome goal of this project is to broadcast soil as a material. Imagining a Rammed Earth intervention in today's world, the news about Rammed Earth would be spread as the headlining article in the New York Times. Aiming to educate a wide audience on Rammed Earth, …

Maps!: Living With Ghosts, Ximeng Luo, Shihui Zhu

Architecture Senior Theses

The scene is set along Heilongjiang. The river feeds populations in the Russian Far East and Northeastern China, while simultaneously delineating the long and winding national border between contemporary Russia and China. The Chinese Northeast has been flattened and re-established as a cultural icon, yet when we peel off the pictures from streaming media, what kind of marks does the northeast- once called "the eldest son of the Republic" for its rapid industrial development in the last century- leave on the land? Infrastructure - such as collective farms in fields, tree farms in forests, road and electric towers- becomes a …

Vesseled Cultures; Figures Of Diasporic Comforts, Ying Na Li, Rachel Ly, Skylar Sun

Architecture Senior Theses

The Domestic sphere of the Chinese American home is a promising site where continuous identities and memories of routine name are at play. In the kitchen, engaging in rituals of food making - a natural home endeavor- fosters reconnection and reconciliation with a past identity long forgotten. Architectural extrapolation is then seen through means of practices like fermenting vegetables and observation of domestic rituals between the individuals and their surroundings - whether it be the orchestration of food (the process), the jar in which the vegetables and brine rest (the vessel), or the patterns of kitchen utilities being used (the …