Architecture Commons^™

Batman's New Arkham: Revisiting Piranesi, Mathew Drummond

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

My thesis is the re-appropriation of the historical image through the medium of a comic.

For the first half of this book, I will focus the conversation around three areas of inquiries that derived from the work I've produced while the second half will focus on the research that was done to create this thesis.

The Master Plan: Design Guidelines For Installments Along The Cowboy Trail, Nathan Gradoville

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

The Cowboy Recreation and Nature Trail is a multi-purpose trail with an abundance of amenities. However, even with great features, the trail is an underutilized asset for the state of Nebraska and the Midwest region. Budget cuts and a lack of regional and local momentum has caused the trail to become devalued. The grain elevator has long been an icon, adored and beloved by the Midwesterners for centuries. The silos have inherent qualities that foster appreciation and respect. These characteristics are rooted in its stature and materiality. In order to remedy the suffering of the Cowboy Trail, a study into …

Boundary Echoes: A Series Of Cautionary Tales, Shayla Joy Dick

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Around the world, people live in places where boundaries define their lives. Cities like Nicosia, Jerusalem, Belfast, and El Paso must contend with the constant struggle of us versus them, solidified through physical barriers. Unfortunately, these places and their very real problems are removed and seemingly unimportant in our safe and familiar reality. But these are real cities where real people live. Those people could be us. Their cities could be our cities. Thus, a radical approach is taken in this thesis. A satire of sorts. Four divided cites are examined to understand the spatial and social factors of their …

Rhythms Of Cinematic Horror: Enabling The Device Of The Frame, Violet Bast

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Horror can be defined as the lens in the pursuit of defining a complex model of aesthetic judgement, which is a classification that has conventionally been home to profound suspicion about the virtues of aesthetic itself. Particularly in horror films, the device of the frame can be utilized as an opportunity to alter a viewer’s perception of what may or may not occur within a space. This affiliation with space is what allows cinema and architecture to link their worlds and human experience together. By employing the methodologies of rhythmic impact and montage theory, the effects of horror-derived operations on …

[Ne]W Arch Hall | Building Inclusion & Equity Into Architecture Education, Jati Zunaibi

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

The purpose of this thesis book is not to play into the historically white-male-centric hierarchical system that the collegiate institution has established for architecture. The objective of this text is to provide a critical reflection of our academies through the lens of a minority emerging architect (raised by two former practicing architects that transitioned into academia, spent eight years in school with countless leadership experiences, and nationally recognized as a scholar). Most of the white text contents herein are appropriate for scholastic study, but, I would encourage readers to follow along with the grey and bracketed text as well. Although …

User: Drone, Abigail L. Nelson

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Though industrial technology furthered the possibilities of architecture and, in the the case of the automobile, redefined architectural principles and promenade, it also influenced a consumerist-driven, technology-obsessed society. Cedric Price and Reynor Banham saw great promise in the implementation of technology within architecture; what they overlooked, though, was the tangible exhaust it brought: electronic waste (e-waste). The current e-waste situation in the New Territories of Hong Kong poses a case study which allows technology, specifically that of drones, to interact with architecture.

For this thesis, drones, in reaction to the e-waste case study, operate an e-waste handling facility alongside humans. …

Behind Closed Doors, Hannah Schafers

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

This thesis launches itself off the contemporary critique of phenomenology that values subjectivity and places emphasis on the ‘archetypical’ user. Spectators in build space today are just that, seeing architecture as what you bump into while trying to view something else or merely as a culturally framed monument visible by its own significance. Ninety-three percent of our lives revolve around built space, and in particular the interior condition, yet architecture has become a subconscious being of mundane expectations for the occupant. The values of human experience in architecture are sometimes difficult to portray and internalize in their pure form.

Behind …

Growth: Expanding The Nature Of Cities, Collin R. Meusch

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

This thesis aims to define and explore why it is absolutely necessary for cities to accommodate higher densities of people and incorporate the natural environment within the built environment. As urban populations continue to grow at rapid rates, the threat of losing our ties to the natural environment looms on the horizon, but presents architects with an opportunity to help combat this problem. This thesis aims to critically examine strategies for rethinking the architecture of cities, strategies that include both accommodating higher numbers of people and presenting people with the opportunity for frequent exposure to nature within the context of …

Ultimus: A Cautionary Tale Of Our Future, Ian Jones

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

This thesis is working towards developing a set of representations capable of crafting a cautionary tale of a possible future of the built environment, should we continue to ignore the signs of rapid deterioration across our planet.

The goal is to illuminate the issue of climate change through the lens of architectural propaganda and architectural ruins. By exploring these architectural concepts, the aim is to develop a parafictional method of storytelling that dramatizes and exaggerates the effects of climate change on our built environment. As well as illustrate the effects our built world has had on the Earth’s environment. Additionally, …

Representational Forms: Storytelling Of Climate Change, Hayden Cudaback

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Climate change is recognized as one of the biggest threats to our natural world and its biodiversity, as well as to global security, human health and well-being. We are already witnessing the early effects of climate change, with more frequent, extreme weather events and changing seasonal patterns being seen around the world.

Climate change is a complex object that you can’t physically connect with. Its effects can be felt, but climate change itself is an entity that people can’t understand the depth and magnitude. This characteristic of climate change makes any depiction related to its effects static and two dimensional. …

Migratory Patterns And How They Affect They Relocation Of The Age Cohort 20 To 40 Into Nonmetropolitan Communities Of Nebraska, Mariah Tobin

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Nebraska’s nonmetropolitan communities have been rapidly declining in population. However, recent research has shown an uncharacteristic increase in the population of those age 20 to 40. The survival of nonmetropolitan communities is crucial to the societal ecosystem of America. The people moving into these nonmetropolitan areas believe in rural; they are “Rural by Choice”.

If Nebraska is to keep this way of life alive and thriving, small towns must re-evaluate their communities and strive to meet the demands of today’s globally connected world and the expectations of these younger generations. People are moving into nonmetropolitan areas in search of communities …

Water And Power In Architecture: Charleston Sc, Charles Dowd

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Charleston has not always been the peninsula it is today. In fact over time it has increased in size. It took a tremendous leap forward between 1670 and 1802. The city has been gaining ground through the use of landfill techniques.

This project explores the relationship of ground and power. Through examining Charleston’s role in the slave trade it is revealed that expansion of the city is influenced by the political and economic values of the time and vice versa.

Under the Supervision of Professor John Craig Babe