Architecture Commons^™

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 …

Food Form Function, Travis Telemaque

Architecture Senior Theses

By 2050, the global population will have grown to over 9.7 Billion people. Traditional farming practices will no longer be able to sustain food production for the increasing population. This thesis demonstrates how architecture and urban food production can be used to educate and reconnect our cities with locally sourced food. Integrating food production into dense urban settings will create a more efficient and resilient city.

As Above, So Below: Tapping Into The Latent Energy Of Abandoned Underground Infrastructure, Alexandra N. Ramirez

Architecture Senior Theses

How can architects formalize the use of surplus energy to reach more people in a more systematic way? Abandoned underground infrastructure is an example of an untapped surplus in energy that the architect has the opportunity to repurpose. Tunnels in particular, can be used as systems to heat or cool a network of buildings above ground to create more sustainable urban environments. In addition the system could also have beneficial social implications within segregated cities by providing fluid connections between divided neighborhoods.

This thesis will establish a framework for repurposing underground infrastructures. The strategy operates under an umbrella of sustainability …

Food For Function, Ryan Desilva

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis proposes to develop and apply sustainable energy strategies driven by the needs of yet commercial kitchens within the context of adaptive re-use of buildings. Spatializing systems within the framework of building envelopes will minimize energy usage, promote smarter holistic building design; but most importantly, teach culinary students sustainable strategies related to the growth, use and reuse of food as it pertains to the consumption and production of energy.

Food For Function Pt. 2, Ryan Desilva

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis proposes to develop and apply sustainable energy strategies driven by the needs of yet commercial kitchens within the context of adaptive re-use of buildings. Spatializing systems within the framework of building envelopes will minimize energy usage, promote smarter holistic building design; but most importantly, teach culinary students sustainable strategies related to the growth, use and reuse of food as it pertains to the consumption and production of energy.

Food For Function Pt. 4, Ryan Desilva

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis proposes to develop and apply sustainable energy strategies driven by the needs of yet commercial kitchens within the context of adaptive re-use of buildings. Spatializing systems within the framework of building envelopes will minimize energy usage, promote smarter holistic building design; but most importantly, teach culinary students sustainable strategies related to the growth, use and reuse of food as it pertains to the consumption and production of energy.

Food For Function Pt. 3, Ryan Desilva

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis proposes to develop and apply sustainable energy strategies driven by the needs of yet commercial kitchens within the context of adaptive re-use of buildings. Spatializing systems within the framework of building envelopes will minimize energy usage, promote smarter holistic building design; but most importantly, teach culinary students sustainable strategies related to the growth, use and reuse of food as it pertains to the consumption and production of energy.

Knowledge Accident- Part 1, Alanna Rosenblatt

Architecture Senior Theses

The increasing un-sustainability of the built university and the rise of the apparent mass democratization or synchronization of higher education through the virtual Massive Open Online Course [MOOC] is occurring concurrently with the mutation of the historically grounded Accident into the Knowledge Accident. The standardization of higher education through the MOOC has created the conditions for the Knowledge Accident, the “integral accident”, of the built university. This is where we find the present state of the university, in a moment of crisis grounded in unconstrained "progress". The current form of the MOOC, begun in 2011, has expanded and evolved with …

Knowledge Accident- Part 2, Alanna Rosenblatt

Architecture Senior Theses

No abstract provided.

Charge. Point, Lauren Alessandra Wilson

Architecture Senior Theses

The goal of this thesis is to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, lower the carbon emission footprint, and ignite a paradigm shift towards clean energy usage. Architecture can play a role in increasing the accessibility of sustainable modes of transit by changing the way energy is produced and distributed throughout the city. Accepting both the reliance and privatization of the automobile as givens, this idea caters to a transitional stage of travel, shifting from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric powered vehicles. Current technological limitations are stunting the momentum of a sustainable transit phenomenon, i.e. EV battery charge time and …

Performative Design: Investigating Form In The Natural And Capitalist Environment, John M. Santoro

Architecture Senior Theses

"Rethinking the design process from conception and allowing natural forces, such as wind, solar exposure, and rainfall to drive the initial design will generate a structurally and environmentally efficient form."

Didactic Architecture: A Tectonic Response, Elizabeth Kankainen

Architecture Senior Theses

"Using the tectonic nature of architecture as the vehicle, architecture can educate its users of material life cycles., Through revealing particular stages of production by exposing, exaggerating and juxtaposing the connections between materials, the physical process of a buildings formation can be understood, along with architecture's inherent connection to nature."

Leaving A Smaller Footprint: Optimizing Passive Systems For Single Family Attached Housing, David J. Silver

Architecture Senior Theses

"Creating the best internal comfort conditions for the resident, while using little to zero non-renewable energy, is ideal in creating a sustainable, innovative, and contemporary structure that embraces both a flexible and efficient lifestyle and, at the same time, addresses important energy issues that will be a solid foundation for a new modern world."

No Child Left Inside: Environmental Education Through A Reciprocal Relationship Between Architecture And The Natural World, Leah Kleinman

Architecture Senior Theses

"Through a reciprocal relationship between architecture and the natural world, this thesis contends that environmental education programs can teach children to appreciate and preserve our natural environment. Architecture becomes an instructional tool itself and a way of experiencing the natural world while sustaining it and providing a healthy and comfortable setting in which to learn and have fun."

{Perm] House: Performance Of Recycled Materials, Cristina Alonso

Architecture Senior Theses

"The construction of single-family housing units will prodive an opportunity to design using recycled materials. This thesis seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of the unit's performance in a tropical climate, through means of passive cooling; in particular the promotion of comfort ventilation during the daytime."