Architecture Commons^™

Reconnecting The City With The Riverfront, To Revitalize The Socio-Economic Conditions Of Springfield, Ma., Sneha Rasal

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The City of Springfield, Massachusetts is one of the largest cities in western Massachusetts, and was established on the Connecticut River for trading and as a fur-collecting post. In 18^th and early 19^th century, it experienced an industrial boom and became a regional financial center. Springfield became a major railroad center and grew to become the regional center for banking, finance, and courts. However, in mid-19^th century Springfield suffered due to the flooding of the Connecticut River and the disinvestment in industry. These resulted in an urban sprawl as people started moving away from heart of the …

Locating Environmental Justice Populations: A Method For Identifying Vulnerable Populations In Massachusetts, Zachary S. Silverman

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Environmental Justice is an issue that has been relevant in the mind of the federal government for the past 18 years. Within society, the goal of Environmental Justice looks to prevent the exploitation of vulnerable populations through the siting of environmentally hazardous sites. Instead of over burdening specific vulnerable populations, fair distribution of hazards throughout the population is desired.

Although there is a large body of research that study the location and impact of hazardous sites on the surrounding communities, there are few existing models which look to locate vulnerable populations through the use of quantitative data. Of the existing …

The Praxis Of Horst Hoheisel: The Countermonument In An Expanded Field, Juan Felipe Hernandez

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This paper examines the work of German artist Horst Hoheisel in Latin-America. I open the conversation by including Hoheisel’s provocative participation in the 2005 memory debates in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Here, I introduce the nature of Hoheisel’s reasoning and the dialectical self-reflectiveness that is at work in his artifacts. In each project, I look for the way in which Hoheisel lays down the “memorialistic substance” of a specific site together with the self-critical rationality that characterizes his creation. The second part of this essay attempts to construct the theoretical parameters for the expansion of the definition of the countermonument. This …

Transformation Of Urban Public Space, Ruthanne Harrison

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The concept of my thesis is to employ architectural intervention in residual urban space as a catalyst for transformation. The goal is design of a building and environment that could be used for any combination of purposes, be used freely by all members of the community, be designed so that the art and architecture is interactive, and could be transformed by the users of the space. The project makes use of a residual urban space that would otherwise remain largely inaccessible. The project explores how the space could be designed to give a sense of ownership of it to the …

Fabricating A Future Architecture, Kris L. Weeks

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

During the Renaissance era, the builder was the master of both design and fabrication. The Industrial Revolution split these two activities in the pursuit of higher efficiency. Now, the ascendance of digital fabrication could bring the two back together. This study explores the current and future use of digital fabrication in architecture. Digital fabrication is increasingly used to manufacture components for other industries, but it is experiencing slower adoption in the building industry due to size and material limitations and a contract process that makes fabricators less willing to take risks on newer digital technology. A design project was undertaken …

Housing For The Aging, Sybil R. Idelkope

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Future housing for the elderly should focus more on the psychological stresses of aging, and find solutions for the physical disabilities through this perspective. With design techniques such as biophilic architecture, mixed use and warmer, yet contemporary, materials, elderly housing can feel less institutional, and people can feel like their new home is at least comfortable and supportive of their needs.

Children's Cancer And Transplant Hospital: A Micro Town Within A Bubble, Kimia Samimi

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

As the greatest considerations in health-care design have traditionally been functional —hygiene, efficiency, and flexibility for changing technology— hospitals have evolved to become dehumanizing spaces. In this thesis two specific groups of chronically ill children who have among the longest inpatient stays are studied: cancer and organ transplant patients. Being under immunosuppressive drugs, these children are physically vulnerable thus are kept completely isolated. These long stays and isolation can be very depressing for them.

This thesis undertakes the challenge of designing a fully isolated space that doesn’t feel like one or in other words “a micro-town within a bubble”. The …

Community Land Trusts And Rental Housing: Assessing Obstacles To And Opportunities For Increasing Access, Maxwell Ciardullo

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Community Land Trusts (CLTs) are an affordable housing model based in the principles of community control of land and housing, as well as the permanent affordability of home ownership. Because of their membership-based governance structure and limited-equity formula, they are uniquely positioned to target reinvestment in communities of color and low-income communities without perpetuating cycles of displacement. Though focused on home ownership, many CLTs have adapted the model to include rental housing. This addition has the potential to expand affordability and opportunities for community governance to lower-income renters; however, it also challenges CLTs as organizations with little experience developing or …

The Building That Learns To Fish: Architecture, Peak Oil, And The Need For Adaptability, Justin M. Pelland

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Oil is a finite resource; This much has been established as fact and is commonly agreed upon. We will, some day, find our supplies depleted. The question that remains hotly debated, however, is when this will happen and what impacts it will have on our modern lives. Estimates and forecasts abound, but still no one can answer these questions definitively. As fossil fuels, the energy behind virtually every aspect of our lives, become scarce, our patterns of growth will face a reckoning. We will be forced to adapt and adjust; either shifting our energy demand to more renewable sources, or …

City Principles: The Application Of The Four Visual Characteristics On Helena, Mt, Cienna Cullen

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The larger architectural context of cities must be understood in order to effectively design buildings. If a building ignores its surroundings, it will not hold up to time and will adversely affect the city in which it stands. This can be seen in multiple of disarrayed cities and their commercial-driven building inventory. So, what makes a good city stand out, and how can this be applied to buildings? There are the four basic principles designers and planners seemed to have forgotten. The first is the layout of basic city components and their influence on current and future identity. The second …

Re-Defining The "Cookie-Cutter" Development: Designing The Home Through Adjustable Architecture, Alexander L. Koslow

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This thesis seeks to explore the architectural transformation of residential space for changes and adjustments as we find our lifestyles altering. With the understanding that change is often unpredictable, we must be prepared for adaptations to new and revised living environments. Change appears in many ways: marriage or cohabitation, having children, empty nesting, aging, caring for elder family members, illness, and death. Too often we design our homes for the present, with little thought of future needs. Universal and adjustable design must become an everyday part of an architectʼs repertoire when embarking on new projects with their clients. Even architects, …

Grow Pods: Flexible Design To Regenerate Urban Landscapes, Rachel K. Roberts

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Shifts in economics, demographics, and lifestyle in America have lead to changes in this country's urban landscape. Rural and urban populations have migrated toward the suburbs and concentrated metro areas, leaving holes in the urban fabric of small and midsized cities. Often these empty spaces become drivers of blight, crime, and discouragement in the community.

The goal of the Grow Pods Project is to transform the negative of vacant urban lots into an opportunity for improving health, building community, and encouraging positive growth.

As a tool for integrating the food system directly into the urban context, this project addresses the …

Performance Space For Niche And Emerging Artists, Bradford S. Hutchison

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

While large performance spaces fulfill important cultural, civic, architectural and artistic needs, few performing artists begin their careers playing in large halls. As in professional sports, the “minor leagues” play a critical role for professional performing artists by allowing them to both reach out to new audiences and hone their performance skills. Niche and emerging performing artists, therefore, rely on small performance spaces as their principal means exercising their craft. In addition to size, one important difference between large and small performance spaces is the criticality of the social experience. Small performance spaces are often informal, with entertainment being secondary …

Redesigning Suburbia: Establishing A New Infill Development Model For Existing Suburban Communities, Richard Holt

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The suburb's contribution to natural resource depletion, reliance on the automobile, and disregard for social connections has been well documented in the last 10-20 years. While these depictions are often accurate, many suburbs have successfully addressed these issues by providing walkable streets and accessible communal corridors. Innovative precedents such as Village Homes, in Davis, CA, Eichler Homes, in CA, and Skinny Homes, in Portland, OR, and others, provide examples of successful suburban developments that incorporate renewable energy solutions, passive design features, and limit the development of native landscapes.

This thesis aims to design a framework to be used in the …

Passenger Rail And Development In Small Cities, Towns, And Rural Areas: 21st Century Transit In Holyoke, Massachusetts, W. Scott Laidlaw

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The intent of this thesis is to explore the design challenges and opportunities presented by the reintroduction of passenger rail to a small economically challenged New England city. Central to my thesis is that the advent of more efficient transportation options is not, in itself, enough: the infrastructure built to support those options must provide users with a comfortable, safe, and welcoming experience. The architecture of the rail station is critical in influencing that behavior and moving our society toward greater energy efficiency.

Holyoke is a small mill city in western Massachusetts whose fortunes peaked in the early twentieth century …

A Renovation To Develop Community, Build Connections And Support Student Needs In The Southwest Residential Towers At The University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Brittany L. Haughton

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

In a time of increased admissions at State Colleges and Universities students are at risk for various concerning factors including decreased academic performance, feelings of isolation and alienation from faculty, staff and their peers, and other issues of mental health. Intentional architectural programming, primarily the public spaces within residence halls, can help to alleviate these issues for students and ensure that they are connected to their residential community not only academically but personally.

This thesis will discuss how the increase in college admissions has affected residence hall communities and the personal development of students attending large academic institutions. It will …

Rebuilding Holyoke: Revitalizing Urban Neighborhoods Through Education And Engagement, Jason L. Newman

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

In order for the green movement to be successful, it is necessary for society to be aware and to participate on all levels. Holyoke is a city of the working class and there are several vocational programs available offering job-specific training. Unfortunately, these programs pay little attention to the environmental issues associated with their trade; and, as issues of global warming are becoming more pertinent, the vocational curriculum remains disconnected.

To promote sustainable awareness and participation among vocational students in Holyoke, a new campus located in the downtown neighborhood will be introduced to the school system. In this new green …

Karnaphuli River-Life Recreation & Research Center, Chittagong, Bangladesh, Hosne A. Sufian

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Rivers are integral parts of Bangladesh & Bengali people’s life. The whole country is criss-crossed by more than 700 rivers including their tributaries. In other words, rivers formed this country as a delta and have been contributing to spring life to this land with agriculture, food, electricity, transportation, and tranquil beauty, creating opportunity for different occupations, and providing very comfortable moderate climate. Due to over population and urban sprawl, the current development pattern of the country is culminating in filling up wetlands, changing the course of lakes, narrowing down and in some cases killing rivers for urban development leaving great …

Fostering Sustainable Behavior Through Design: A Study Of The Social, Psychological, And Physical Influences Of The Built Environment, Neil Cummings

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The ultimate goal of this research paper was to gain a more acute perspective into the relationship between the physical environment and human behavior, so that architectural design may begin to promote and affect environmentally friendly behavior in its users. The three main fields of psychology that were the focus of this paper were social psychology, environmental psychology, and cognitive psychology, all of which were essential to understanding the unique relationship one has with their built environment.

The definitive goal of the sustainability movement, or what I at least think it should be, is the creation of an environmentally friendly …

Reinvestigation Of Culture, Yi Zhang

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Due to the culture revolution, inflation of economy and globalization, China has been suffering from mass unqualified products of architecture, loss of culture and traditions, also unaffordable real estate; causing the instability of the society, in which emptiness, anxiety, uncertainty of people are occupied. Burdons must be released. And culture need to be revitalized. By studying I-Ching and Taoism, the origins of Chinese civilization, finding the philosophy of Tao which can be carried into architecture, the equilibrium between culture and globalization is established. The nation-wide uniformed apartments built under the welfare oriented housing distribution system in the 1980’s, are now …

Environmental Design Research And The Design Of Urban Open Space: A Study Of Current Practice In Landscape Architecture, Jennifer Masters

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

A large and growing body of research exists on how the design of the environment can positively or negatively affect people’s health and well-being, as well as influence their behavior. Researchers in this field, known as “environmental design research,” have long acknowledged the challenge of translating their findings into formats that are accepted and used by practitioners. This study explores how environmental design research on urban open space and the practice-oriented translations of it are used by landscape architects who have been recognized in the profession for their designs of parks, plazas, and streets in urban areas. Through interviews with …

Culture, Community Development, And Sustainability In A Post-Freeway City, Bryan Obara

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Freeways that once tore through the urban fabric are now reaching the end of their lifespan and raising the question as to whether it is time to rebuild or remove them. The Interstate system has revolutionized transportation, connecting cities nationwide, but at the same time has slashed through existing neighborhoods.

The very land from which hundreds of Fox Point residents were evicted for the construction of Interstate 195 through Providence, Rhode Island, now lies barren as a result of the interstate’s realignment. The surplus land, rezoned as the East Side Overlay District (ESOD), connects the Providence River and Narragansett Bay …