Architecture Commons^™

Likeliness To Recommend: A Mixed Methods Analysis Of Consumer Perception Of Homebuilders, Todd Usher

All Dissertations

Measures of consumers’ likeliness to recommend a business or company have been shown to relate to business performance. Less is known about how such scores might operate in the homebuilding industry. This study examines the factors influencing consumers’ perceptions of homebuilders, an area with little published research. Using a sequential mixed-methods approach, the study analyzes survey data from consumers (N = 366) who had new homes built within the preceding 12 months. Quantitative analyses of the data reveal several aspects of consumers’ likeliness to recommend a homebuilder. One finding of great interest is that consumers of the survey were more …

Sconce Upon A Time: Evaluating Multimodal Methods Of Researching Period Lighting Technology, A Case Study Of Drayton Hall, Neale Elizabeth Grisham

All Theses

This thesis reviews several methods of researching light sources and lighting schemes from the “long eighteenth century,”[1] on a historical site. Despite the period’s cultural reliance on lighting as well as technological advancement in this era, there has yet to be published documentation on how to engage with evidence of lighting technology on historic sites for better understanding of the site’s relationship with lighting.

Using Drayton Hall in Charleston, South Carolina as a case study, this thesis outlines and demonstrates the process of five methods of investigating period lighting technology. These methods are: wall investigation, anchorage points comparison and …

Developing Mexican And Central American Spanish Phrases For U.S Construction Workforce To Improve Jobsite Communication, Alexis Saborio

All Theses

This paper gives an overview of a study conducted with US construction practitioners and Hispanic construction workers to develop Mexican and Central American construction Spanish phrases. Many companies face the challenge of a language barrier between the English construction supervisors and the Spanish-- speaking speaking Hispanic workers. This language gap is creating poor expectations among different sectors in the construction industry. Over the past several years as the number of Hispanic construction w orkers have increased in the United States so has the language barrier. The majority of the Hispanic construction workforce comes from Mexico and Central America. US construction …

Reading Toward Breath: A Poetic Ecology Of Creative Reading, Jessica Schad Manuel

All Dissertations

Reading is an act of perception that begins in wonder and leads to wisdom. It is not a response to writing but a response-ability we have to interact with the world around us and the phenomena before us. Reading with the body leads to wisdom, and when we participate in our existence by being in the world, we are reading. So what is reading? Reading is making. We make connections, and we form relationships. The act of reading is more than a cognitive process and even surpasses the phenomenological encounter.

My research describes the reader’s relationship to the text as …

Before It Breaks Fix It: An Analysis Of The Costs And Effects Of The European Monumentenwacht System, Thomas Sutton

All Theses

The concept of preventative maintenance or continuous care of historic structures through frequent monitoring and regular maintenance is uncommon within the United States. However, over the past few decades, it has become a standard approach within some European nations. This thesis analyzes a specific program model known as the Monumentenwacht which has appeared in some European countries to regularly inspect and maintain historic structures. This thesis looks at the effectiveness of these programs at improving the quality of the buildings they seek to protect. It will also analyze each organization's financial data, income, revenue, and government contribution to determine their …

Prototype For A Rural Primary Healthcare Center In Paraguay, Maria Virginia Matiauda Schneider

All Theses

Primary Health Care Centers in Paraguay are the architectural settings for the first level of access to healthcare in Paraguay, providing health promotion, pre- vention, diagnosis, treatment, and health education. These centers are built based on four standard typologies, of which two consist of permanent health- care facilities and two of satellite or mobile units. Standard designs for these centers typically consist of residential scaled buildings, with spaces linked by a single central circulation corridor and lacking adequate attention to ventilation and daylight.

The public healthcare system in Paraguay is organized around four levels of care, and the complexity and …

Habitats And Heritage: An Analysis Of The Natural And Cultural Resource Management Of The South Carolina Lowcountry, Patricia Ploehn

All Theses

The South Carolina Lowcountry is replete with cultural landscapes, each one featuring a unique collection of natural and cultural resources. These resources are valuable for their environmental and cultural heritage, a heritage which defines and benefits the communities who call the Lowcountry home. This study presents a comparative analysis of public and private land management organizations operating in the South Carolina Lowcountry. The purpose of this study is to compare how public and private organizations are currently managing natural and cultural resources on cultural landscapes that they protect and oversee. The history of federal and private land management was investigated …

Design, Integration, And Evaluation Of Iot-Based Electrochromic Building Envelopes For Visual Comfort And Energy Efficiency, Qingqing Sun

All Dissertations

Electrochromic glazing has been identified as the next-generation high-performance glazing material for building envelopes due to its dynamic properties, which allow the buildings to respond to various climate conditions. IoT technologies have improved the sensing, communication, and interactions of building environmental data. Few studies have been done to synthesize the advancements in EC materials and building IoT technologies for better building performance. The challenge remains in the lack of compatible design and simulation tools, limited understanding of integration, and a paucity of evaluation measures to support the convergence between the EC building envelopes and IoT technologies. This research first explores …

Evaluation Of The Chinese Sponge City Program: The Resilient Transition Of Urban Stormwater Management, Wuhan, Chongqing, Zhenjiang, China, Case Studies, Jueminsi Wu

All Dissertations

The Sponge City Program (SCP) is a Chinese national-level policy initiative with the primary goal to ameliorate urban flooding created by rapid urbanization and climate change, and it incorporates both green and blue infrastructure strategies. China’s Sponge City construction guidelines (MOHURD, 2014) established the Volume Capture Ratio of Annual Rainfall (VCRa) as the SCP’s key performance index and a general target VCRa goal of 70% annual rainfall was set for all pilot Sponge Cities (General Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, 2015). Yet few studies have been conducted to assess the SCP’s obtainability of the …

Economic Revitalization Through Preservation: A Study Of The Effects Of Preservation And Economic Initiatives In Five Small Cities In Virginia, Isabella Rae Gordineer

All Theses

Some preservation and economic based initiatives in small cities strive to be the driving force behind revitalization and economic growth. Small cities, especially those distant from major cities, experience periods of shrinkage. These places often struggle to stabilize and grow. Interventions from the local, state, and national levels can assist revitalization efforts with help from planners and redevelopment specialists. These interventions include initiatives with both preservation and economic objectives. Preservation initiatives include revolving funds, tax credits, foundations and advocacy organizations, historic districts, architectural review boards, ordinances, and the Main Street Program. Economic initiatives that include preservation principles and practices include …

The Social Network Of Early American Architecture: A Network Analysis Of Early Architectural Training In And Out Of The Lowcountry, James Mcenerney

All Theses

The contents of this thesis contain research conducted over a 9-month span surrounding the nature of architectural education in the late American Colonial Period, progressing into the Early Republic. Themes such as early European influences, 17^th and 18^th century art and architecture schools of Dublin, Ireland and Paris, France, and early American drafting schools/apprenticeship societies are analyzed. This paper, first, seeks to document the scholarly dialogue surrounding the ways in which early American architectural practitioners were educated, and in what ways this training was manifest in their physical designs. With a timeframe of approximately 1770 to 1830, 23 …

Partner In Historic Preservation: Local Intervention And The Retention Of Integrity In National Register Historic Districts In South Carolina, Jessica Chunat

All Theses

The National Register of Historic Places is an inventory established by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 that identifies architectural and archaeological sites significant to American history. The intention of the National Register is to encourage the documentation, evaluation, and protection of America’s historic and archaeological resources. Between its inception in 1966 to 2021, over 96,000 historic properties, sites, and structures were listed on the National Register, over 17,000 of them historic districts. Despite the important role the National Register has played in national historic preservation policy, its efficacy has never been measured. This thesis assessed the integrity of …

Co-Habitation And Migration: Urban Design For Bird Migratory Pathways, Steve C. Kurtz

All Theses

Urban landscapes are intricate systems interacting throughout the globe. Over the past decades, urban development has widely sprawled and fragmented flyway systems and corridors. This has led to many changes in species composition and has even caused the extinction of some animals (Marzluff 1997). Recent studies have indicated that there exists a protective or restorative design to create stepping-stone connectivity in urban areas. This study looks to understanding potential benefits in urban biodiversity, animal species protection, and urban benefits of green roof designs.

The Industrial Landscape Of Charleston, South Carolina From 1884 To 1955, Elizabeth Bellersen

All Theses

This study investigates the location and density of industrial sites in Charleston, South Carolina across the years 1884, 1902, 1944, and 1955. The purpose of this study is to draw attention to the industrial past of Charleston in order to better understand the city’s historic spatial organization and identify sites for future preservation. To do this, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps were used to find, map, and categorize industrial sites in downtown Charleston, south of Line Street. These maps were then analyzed for locational patterns and patterns of various attributes such as industry type, size, and building material. This research found …

A Performance Evaluation Of Architectural Coatings To Preserve Aerosol Paint On Concrete, Riley Morris

All Theses

The growing movement of assigning cultural and heritage value to graffiti and street art is one without a preservation solution to ensure the longevity of these works in-situ in an outdoor environment. The goal of this thesis was to provide a comprehensive evaluation of six architectural topcoats’ performance when applied as a conservation treatment to outdoor aerosol graffiti and street art on concrete substrate. An artist’s quality, durable, color-fast spray-paint was applied to twenty-eight concrete test panels to mimic the application of graffiti or street art. Six topcoats, Prosoco SC-1, Prosoco Gloss n’ Guard WB, Keim Faceal Oleo HD®, Keim …

Stepping Into The Past: A Spatial And Temporal Analysis Of Charleston’S Streetscape Through Imagery, Travis Galli

All Theses

The tradition of preservation has long focused on the built environment of historic buildings, while ignoring the very environment they reside in, specifically streetscapes. This thesis seeks to identify the spatial and temporal changes in streetscapes occurring on King Street and Chalmers Street from 1700 until 1971 and provide guidelines for the preservation and restoration of streetscapes to their periods of historic significance between ca. 1750-1971. By collecting and analyzing images of the streetscape at different period in time, specific features and materials were identified. Imagery included historic photos, paintings, and sketches. Broken into specific periods, this study tracks changes …

"A Beauty In The Kitchen": The Introduction Of The Cookstove As A Mechanism Of Change In Charleston's Historic Kitchens, Maria Short

All Theses

While Charleston’s historic houses have long captivated visitors, scholars, and preservationists, the architecture of these properties’ kitchens and the ways people cooked in these historic spaces have long been overlooked, in part because their historic fabric has often been obscured by later alterations or demolition. While interpretation of these historic spaces in certain house museums, such as the Nathaniel Russell House or Heyward-Washington House, now include information on the lives of the enslaved who cooked in these kitchens, the understanding of cooking technology, specifically the transition from hearth cooking to cooking on cookstoves, in Charleston remains largely unstudied. In the …

Annexation For Good: An Equity Approach For Social And Environmental Justice With Municipal Annexation, Russell H. Stall

All Theses

Municipal annexation is a powerful tool for improving communities. United States cities historically use municipal annexation to increase tax revenues, grow populations, and increase land areas. However, attitudes about annexation are changing, and there is emerging interest in broadening annexation practices to advance a broader range of social and environmental benefits. For example, annexation can be used to improve blighted areas, control overdevelopment, protect environmentally sensitive areas and open spaces, and improve the lives of residents. It is not clear if cities support using annexation in this way, and if so, when those uses are possible.

Despite restrictive laws and …

The Old Harbor: A Diachronic Study Of Charleston's Cooper River Waterfront, 1884-1990, Branden Gunn

All Theses

For the better part of three centuries, Charleston’s Cooper River waterfront functioned as an important commercial seaport complete with wharves, warehouses, offices, workshops, and other related buildings. These resources defined the area for nearly three centuries, yet today, most connections to the maritime past have been severed. Revitalization efforts and modern developments have redefined the area and filled voids created by the waterfront’s steady decline throughout the 20th century. With an aim to better understand the Cooper River waterfront’s developmental history, this thesis utilized historic Sanborn Fire Insurance maps to track the harbor’s physical and spatial changes from 1884 to …

The Influence Of Classroom Design On Problem Behaviors And Educational Growth Indicators For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd), Anthony D. Asher

All Theses

This qualitative comparative case study reports on findings from a pre-and post-occupancy evaluation using multiple data collection methods to explore how classroom design features contribute to behavioral outcomes for children with ASD. Ten children, ages three to five years older with ASD, were observed over four months as they transitioned from their current classrooms into their newly built classrooms based on evidence-based design for children with ASD. For a two-month period in each setting, environmental conditions were tracked continuously in both classrooms. In addition, interviews were conducted with the special education teachers in both settings to gain insight into the …

Cladding By Another Name: A Comparative Analysis Of The Environmental And Economic Costs Of Traditional Wood Clapboards, Composite Fiber-Cement Siding, And Vinyl Siding, Nicole Larochelle

All Theses

Using the tools provides by the scientific community, namely the products of lifecycle cost assessments (LCA) – which are synthesized in environmental product declarations (EPD) – and life cycle cost assessments (LCCA), the overall environmental and economic impacts of historic, traditional, and simulated materials are established and compared. This informs the historic preservation community of the quantifiable sustainability of historic materials in relation to alternatives. Through these two different methods of environmental and economic life cycle costing, this research demonstrates that retaining in-situ siding incurs the least impact on the environment and is the second most economic option. While the …

U.S. Army Medical Command’S Medical Treatment Facilities’ Response To Sars-Cov-2 (Covid-19), Seyedmohammad Ahmadshahi

All Theses

Starting in December 2019 to the current time in May 2022, COVID-19 was a devastating pandemic with approximately 440 million cases and 6 million deaths worldwide (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2021). The United States (US) with roughly 90 million cases and 1 million deaths (CDC, 2021) was one of the epicenters of the outbreak since the beginning. The pandemic has significantly impacted the health systems across the US with unpredictable surges of highly infectious patients with uncertain symptomology and acuity levels, requiring isolation and critical level of care (Brambilla et al., 2021).

Based on the findings from …

Planning For Local Resilience, Natasia Peacock

All Theses

Planning for resilience to climate change within the comprehensive plan is a keyway to help protect local communities. State legislations provides the guidelines to local governments to if a comprehensive plan is needed for the community and what is required to be within the comprehensive plan. This research assesses state legislation for resiliency policies for comprehensive plans and assesses comprehensive plans to see if local governments are adequately applying the legislation.

Nine states across five geographic regions, were used in evaluation of state legislation. A variety of comprehensive plans were also evaluated at both city and county levels within these …