Architecture Commons^™

Community Identity: Place And The South Knoxville Waterfront, Nicholas Joseph Burger

Masters Theses

“With the loss of tactility and the scale and details crafted for the human body and hand, our structures become repulsively flat, sharp-edged, immaterial, and unreal” (Holl 29). Our built environment is full of constructs which are unsuccessful on a number of levels proving why it is critical to concentrate on a sense of place and identity. A great place is described as one where people gravitate towards, a place for everyone, something that is memorable, and a space which evokes a story (Placemaking Is...). South Knoxville, Tennessee, the selected site of this thesis, will test the concept of place …

Stream Of Change: An Urban Stream Resurgence Through A Water-Centric Approach To Redevelopment, Jessica Graydon Taylor

Masters Theses

The relationship between cities and streams has historically been one of conflict. Streams are dynamic systems that do not conform to the rigid physical boundaries that characterize urban development. Past solutions to adapt streams to the urban landscape included altering stream paths and confining them to concrete channels and pipes to control localized flooding so that valuable land could be used for the construction of buildings and infrastructure. The increase in impervious cover and the rapid conveyance of stormwater to receiving streams typical to urban development has resulted in the “urban stream syndrome”, a consistently observed ecological degradation (Walsh et …

Reconnecting The Urban Web: Chicago's Failed Olympic Hope, Eric Archer

Masters Theses

‘Towers in the park,’ a destructive urbanistic typology that gained notoriety with idealistic projects by Le Corbusier, are prevalent in American cities. This architectural and urban concept consists of mono-functional high-rise towers, typically residential, placed on a superblock of unprogrammed over-scaled greenspace. The original intention was to create order within the city and provide plenty of landscaping and urban space for the city’s occupants. Noble in goals, these mega-towers have been chastised for their lack of character, inappropriate scale, and the inability to create vibrant public space that promote interaction and community by creating an over concentration of segregated nodes …

Architecture Of Transience: Developing Communities For Migrant Farm Workers, Laura Flores

Masters Theses

Migrant farm workers are an economically disadvantaged group who perform labor-intensive work for long hours in the fields. The housing available to migrant workers in the United States is typically substandard and limited in availability. Housing is usually provided by a grower or acquired by the migrant worker away from the farm. The housing available to migrant farmworkers provides little support for their families.

This study investigates strategies for developing community in transient situations. Transient populations, such as migrant farmworkers, are constantly on the move, and are ungrounded. Communities provided transient populations with rootedness and a sense of belonging. Communities …

The Role Of The Architect In The Process Of Development, Christopher Alan Owens

Masters Theses

Population growth and cars have caused cities to sprawl from their downtown cores, resulting in a landscape of low density building. Far too often the empty lot at the edge of the city or along a highway attracts the next opportunity for development, furthering the gap between residential and commercial zones. The profession of architecture recognizes that urban site selection and mixed-use programming is vital to the social and financial health of a city, though it typically only participates in the design of the building. However, the visionary training and practice of architecture places the architect in a unique position …

[Re]Constructing Community: A Strategy For Post-Disaster Recovery, Ryan James Stechmann

Masters Theses

This thesis focuses on exploring a viable solution for permanent housing after a natural disaster with an emphasis on community rebuilding in a southern coastal context. This region will continue to be affected by hurricanes and it is only a matter of time until another major disaster will happen. In any major disaster the fabric of the community is torn and takes a long time to recover. Communal places are vital to recovery after such disasters because they serve as a place where the people of the community can gather and provide support or receive support from each other and …

Network-Based Development In Chattanooga, Tennessee: Processes And Potentials, Kathryn Ansley Taylor

Masters Theses

Chattanooga is a city of networks. The goal of this project is to provide examples of how developers, by tapping into Chattanooga’s most vital networks, can create buildings that speak to the city’s unique character, build interest in the city, and foster a stronger future for Chattanooga.

Chattanooga has four networks that serve as its backbone. They are the Cultural Network, the Blue Green Network, the Fiber Optic Network and the Dwelling Network. These networks are linkages between people and places, bound by common hopes and affinities. They are platforms for social connection, economic growth and physical change.

Three developments …

Forgotten Infrastructure: The Future Of The Industrial Mundane, Whitney Ann Manahan

Masters Theses

The typical cycle of industrial use, disuse, and abandonment is no longer acceptable or feasible. This thesis investigates phased remediation and conversion of petrochemical structures and their respective sites with the intention of increasing both the socioeconomic vitality and environmental quality of the area.

The oil silo is an intriguing object and industrial artifact. Being close to one of these massive structures is captivating and there is something truly exciting and thought provoking about inhabiting a space that was clearly not meant for humans. These are qualities that provide opportunities to connect people with a site and create a place …

Layers Of Staro Sajmište [Re]Opening Dialog, Jared Samuel Wilkins

Masters Theses

This research analyzes and tests the application of a process driven memorial intervention on the contested territory of Staro Sajmište, Novi Belgrade’s former 1937 International Exposition Fairgrounds that was adapted into a concentration camp in 1941. Today, Staro Sajmište exists as makeshift living for an impoverished community. Traditional memorial and conservation efforts have been attempted on the site over the last 60 years; however, none have achieved an appropriate depth of impact. I propose to revisit Staro Sajmište through an intervention not recognized as a literal memorial, but rather as the transformation and re-appropriation of the urban fabric into an …

Constructing Terroir: Architectural Mitigation In Mono-Economies At Risk To Climate Change, Geneva Margaret Hill

Masters Theses

Climate change will have enormous implications for the future of architecture and design at all scales. Architectural discourse has recently focused mainly on preparing major cities to become the future sustainable centers of living for the world. Little has been discussed, however, about the future of smaller communities on the periphery and the implications of their loss to the diverse American cultural landscape.

Napa Valley contains many communities threatened by a changing climate. Napa Valley plays a major role in America’s culture as the heart of American winemaking. The success in Napa Valley wine is deeply rooted to the soil. …

Refuge In The Rubble : A Contemporary Garden Of Eden For The War-Orphans Of Iraq, Ali Ahmad Alsaleh

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

A Defense For Night, Emily Jean Bingham

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Placial Identity, Garrett Keyes Nelli

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Provisions For Togetherness: A Community Cafe In Downtown Knoxville, Coleen Elizabeth O'Leary

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Dwell: Reinhabiting Elkmont, Joseph Wessels

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

The Campaign For Urban Eco-Literacy: Communicating Ecological Principles In The Urban Landscape, Whitney Suzanne Tidd

Masters Theses

Though built by humans, a native species to the planet, the city is often seen as something unnatural. Cities are perceived as being separate from nature. Humans may think of “nature” as places that are separate from where they live and work. Organisms thrive and biological processes persist in urbanized environments in spite of the concrete, air, water pollution, dense human population and otherwise seemingly harsh conditions. This condition of the city as nature illustrates the ecological principles of survival, adaptation and resilience. Through a deeper understanding of these complex interconnections between other organisms, our physical surroundings and ourselves, we …

Addressing Nature Deficiency With Outdoor Classrooms, Leah Ann Sullivan

Masters Theses

Currently, a vast majority of elementary aged children are nature deficient. [1] They attend six to eight hours of school five days a week, have limited independent outdoor access due to safety concerns (example: congested neighborhoods with high traffic volume, a fear of being kidnapped, crime rates), health concerns like asthma, and spending more time indoors with technology devices. Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, explains, "Nature-deficient disorder describes human costs of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses." [2] This lack of …

Integrating Engineering And Social Aspects In Selecting Stormwater Control Measures (Scms), Maudy Indriani Budipradigdo

Masters Theses

The Low Impact Development (LID) approach to stormwater management is rapidly becoming the required replacement for the traditional approach of development design, solely for peak runoff attenuation. Stormwater Control Measures (SCMs) used in LID designs are some combination of physical structures and /or agronomic practices designed to capture runoff, remove pollutants, promote groundwater recharge, and protect receiving streams from channel degradation. The LID approach has been studied and documented in many journals and design manuals, but we know of no comprehensive study that combines the engineering (hydrologic performance requirements) and social aspects (complementary requirements) of the approach. SCMs have historically …

Adaptive Golf Course Redevelopment: Identity And Balance, Timothy Joseph Lysett

Masters Theses

Unknown to much of the general public, the golf industry is currently in a state of ongoing retraction. One of the many outcomes of this retraction is the closing of hundreds of golf courses across the country, leaving many residential communities that where designed around these open green spaces lacking an integral part of their identity. The Calusa Country Club Community of Kendall Florida, is one such place.

Like many closed golf courses throughout the United States, Calusa is currently caught in a state of limbo. As the centerpiece of a master-planned residential community developed in 1970, the golf course …

A City Divided: “Fragmented” Urban Space In 20th Century Buenos Aires, Marianela D'Aprile

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Permitting Memory, Cody Alan Rau

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Santa Maria Antiqua: The Amalgamation Of Identity In Early Medieval Rome, Cayce Davis

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

The intent of this investigation is to frame an identity for the church of Santa Maria Antiqua and the urban condition of Rome during the sixth through eighth centuries. Coupling topographical and semiotic information with larger geographic issues, this study interrogates the church and specific individuals associated with it as a way of more comprehensively understanding Santa Maria Antiqua as a visual medium of cultural change and political propaganda. Narrating the complex formation of personal and social identity at the site allows us to understand greater physical and social contexts and explore more thoroughly early Christian Rome.

Stationary System With Portfolio, Christina Elizabeth Owens

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

This creative activity explores the possibilities of designing a professional stationary system consisting of a letterhead, envelop, resume, and business card. The process began with brainstorming about myself as an architecture student and how my style and personality can be represented through a graphic system. The logo design is very clean, simple, and playful, which reflects my personality and the way I design. It works to create a push and pull of negative space from the paper through the voids of the letters. The use of the deep red provides contrast and variety to the stationary system. As for the …

Red Bird Water Kiosk Pavilion _ Clean Water Clean Life, Garrett Keyes Nelli

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Architecture has the power to strengthen community bonds, support a healthy life style and enrich individual lives. The Red Bird Water Kiosk seeks to achieve all three of these on the site of the Red Bird Mission campus, located deep in the Appalachian Mountains of Clay County, Kentucky. This is an area where most live below the poverty line, and about 64 percent of water sources are contaminated. As a result, lack of clean water has forced many locals to turn to unhealthy living standards. Because of these conditions, the county ranks as one of the poorest in the nation, …

Sounds Of The City: The Complete Musical Story, Julie Marie Davenport

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

By using a barren urban site and reworking part of the existing fabric of downtown, this project turns part of Jackson Avenue in downtown Knoxville into a vibrant music center and a concentration of creativity. Bringing all parts of the music industry to one building, this project provides a single place for musicians to gather, learn, create, and perform in order to achieve success in the music industry. This project began with the concept of revitalizing the Jackson Avenue area and extending the downtown to increase activity in this area. Much of Knoxville revolves around music, and people will be …

Leap Collaborative: A Demonstration Of Sustainable Practices, Sierra Rose Jensen, David Keith Berry

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Located on in the heart of downtown Knoxville along West Church Avenue, the LEAP Collaborative is imagined as a collection of landscape architects, engineers, architects, and planners who contract projects with an emphasis on sustainable design. Therefore, for the design of their headquarters, we wanted to express that commitment to sustainable design and display some of those practices clearly to the pedestrian and passer-by. One of the main goals was the clarity of programmatic pieces. The retail comes out to the street edge to invite shoppers. The laboratory, highly visible, pushes forward towards the street edge but is less accessible …