Architecture Commons^™

Mass Customization Of Housing: A Framework For Harmonizing Individual Needs With Factory Produced Housing, Basem Eid Mohamed, Carlo Carbone

All Works

Integrated processes for design and fabrication have guided mass customization of architectural systems and components. Providing affordable and accessible housing, a vital segment of the building industry, is a multifaceted process that witnessed various manifestations towards individualization over the past few decades. Design flexibility in housing systems is becoming a crucial aspect, informed by consumers’ lifestyles, demographic patterns, and lifecycles change at a rapid pace. As the housing market demands more personalized, efficient, and agile strategies, prefabricated building systems have always presented a viable alternative for flexibility and cus-tomization, following a rise of interest in the last decade focused on …

Equitable Housing Generation Through Cellular Automata, Molly R. Clark

Masters Theses

This thesis seeks to experiment with the culmination of social, natural and built paradigms of sustainability using digital generation as an architectural process. Specifically, this thesis will explore cellular automaton and modular design approaches in the context of multifamily housing, asking if we can quantify the qualities of equitable housing and guide digital algorithms to generate efficient, flexible, human centered designs. Cellular automaton is a term used to describe a phenomenon in which the growth of one cell in a plant or animal is entirely dependent upon the already existing adjacent cell. Digital cellular automaton is a mathematical, rule based …

Feasibility Report On Water Recycling And The Housing Crisis, Tally A. Perry

City and Regional Planning

The western United States is experiencing increasing population, a housing shortage, and a drought. These challenges demand creative and unprecedented changes to development. Water recycling is slowly emerging as a viable solution for developers, home owners, and cities as a way to continue much-needed housing development while mitigating unnecessary water depletion. With all change, policy, feasibility, and awareness can be the largest influencers. Drought-ridden western-American states require additional and revised regulatory requirements to promote recycled water in new development. Currently, water reuse is largely used for agricultural and industrial purposes. To motivate and encourage housing development, water recycling needs to …

The Cost Of Urbanization: A Look Into The Transformation Of Mao Era Reforms, Tieren A. Dokes

Master's Projects and Capstones

Mao Zedong has played an influential role in Chinese society, whether for better or for worse. His policies have caused ripples throughout contemporary Chinese society, but nothing stronger than his desire for urbanization and economic land reform. Utilizing Mao’s drive for urbanization and economic reform as essential historical context, this paper connects how the contemporary governmental push for urbanization has been unyielding, and, in some ways, counterproductive as decade-old Mao-era institutions reverberate in an echo chamber with cracks that allow darker forces to seep in. Real estate and urban development companies and local governments are given monetary incentive to redevelop …

Prototyping Attainability: A Guide For Incremental Density In Communities, Quinlan Mcfadden

Theses from the M. Arch. Program

In the absence of direct public investment solutions, Prototyping Attainability, explores how the combination of building typologies and land uses can achieve attainable housing strategies by striking a balance between shared community spaces and optimizing density, without disrupting the existing residential landscape. Through this exploration of research and design, strategic changes in zoning, regulation and typologies will be brought forward to aid the framework process of solutions to the housing crisis not only within Nebraskan communities, but in communities nationwide.

Big Problems, Small Solutions A Solution To The Housing Crisis Through Prefabrication., Connor Smith

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Coronavirus has come as America is in the midst of a crisis-level affordable housing issue. In 2019, 37.1 million households were identified as “housing cost-burdened,” spending 30% or more of their income on housing. 63% of Americans have been living pay-check to pay-check since the pandemic. And in addition to that, it has been estimated that we as a country have a deficit of at least 1,000,000 single-family homes. This is affordable housing as it stands today, with a huge percentage of Americans searching for permanent housing and unable to find any, and if they do, unable to afford it …

Restoring Lost Heritage, Lewis Culliver

Theses from the M. Arch. Program

One of the best streets to explore in Omaha is N. 24th Street. Many buildings showcase larger than life, vibrant murals that express the creative nature and spirit of this part of historic North Omaha. The murals represent a healing element for the community; many murals cover structures that are in various states of disrepair. Community gardens have risen to fill voids left by traumatic development practices, such as the implementation of the north freeway.

Despite having lost a large part of its heritage, including hundreds of homes and businesses that were destroyed to make way for the north freeway, …

Proposal For Adobe Earthbag Disaster-Relief Structure, John Camacho

Construction Management

The science behind creating an adobe house has been around for thousands of years; the primitive mixture contains only dirt, water, and straw. Left to cure in bricks or as a single cast-in-place system, the structure will provide long-lasting protection from the elements. Science has taken this a step further with the introduction of cementitious admixtures and reinforcement. The result is an adobe structure with exemplary thermo-retentive properties and load-bearing capabilities. This project provides an analysis on the “SuperAdobe” earthbag system that has been put into practice by independent contractors and housing-relief initiatives. The goal of the project was to …

Re-Imagining Design For Affordable Housing In Mexico, Kenza Fernandez Dominguez

Scripps Senior Theses

Since the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto, affordable housing developments in Mexico have been produced in a massive, unsustainable scale. The speed at which these developments are produced equates to the carelessness that goes into their planning. At large, the developments’ monotonous design is aesthetically dehumanizing and fails to promote a sense of community. These developments lack basic infrastructure, and their residents have abandoned them, which has incentivized increased criminal activity.

In this paper, I will be looking at successful models of affordable housing globally, exploring the histories of communal living, and function of architectural collages. Based on my findings, …

Hurricanes And Housing: Highlighting The Ongoing Impact Of Hurricane Michael And The Post-Disaster Housing Problem, Mary Beth Barr

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Hurricanes impact individuals and communities on many levels - emotional, physical, mental, financial - to name a few. Every time a hurricane occurs, lives are drastically altered forever. One of the ways that hurricanes impact individuals and communities most powerfully is through the effect that they have on housing. Unleashing uncontrollable damage to infrastructure and the built environment, hurricanes exacerbate housing problems that exist and create new ones where they did not exist before. Hurricane Michael, which catastrophically impacted the Florida Panhandle in 2018, is a case study in which the impact that hurricanes have on housing is prevalent.

By …

Bellingham's Housing Ecosystem, Malene Garcia

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The goal of my project was to understand what puts people at risk of becoming unhoused and what solutions are the most effective in combating and preventing houselessness.

To figure this out, I used Bellingham as a case study. I did research on homelessness in general, and then used that to guide my research specific to Bellingham. I focused on the causes of houselessness, the demographics of those experiencing houselessness, and the challenges that they face. Then, I researched solutions. To supplement this research, and get different perspectives specific to Bellingham, I interviewed people working in three different organizations: The …

An Adverse Path To Home: Challenges For Low-Income Workers In Access Housing In Some Mexican Cities, Aurora Melisa Munoz Casarrubias

Architecture and Planning ETDs

This thesis studies the homeownership discourses that encouraged low-income Mexican workers to commit to paying home loans and the process of providing mortgages as a strategy to address housing needs in Mexico with a case study of Homex developments. Homex was a large-scale housing construction project, which enabled me to study housing supply through loans and mortgages.

Currently, the purchase of new housing in Mexico is only accessible to those who receive more than five minimum wages (CONEVAL, 2018). To extend homeownership to low-income workers, financial institutions and the Mexican government promoted mortgage securitization and large-scale construction projects like Homex. …

A Proposal For Middle Housing Design Guidelines For The City Of San Luis Obispo, Abby Miramontes

City and Regional Planning

The City of San Luis Obispo is interested in developing a Missing Middle Housing Plan to promote the development of attractive, affordable housing in the city. Middle housing includes duplexes, triplexes, cottage courts, and townhomes. Although middle housing is not necessarily affordable by definition, it can increase housing affordability by improving the diversity of housing types available. Design guidelines will help ensure that proposed developments fit into the character of existing neighborhoods and the community as a whole.

Difficulties Building Low-Income Housing And The View Of One Company: A Case Study, Kyle Henriken

Construction Management

This case study investigates low-income housing and why it can be more difficult to build compared to other construction projects. Five individuals of PREMIER Design + Build Group were interviewed and gave their opinions on the subject. Each person interviewed has a different role in the company a market leader, project manager, superintendent, and a project engineer to gain a more diverse view on low-income housing. These interviews were semi-structured and open ended to create dialogue about their experiences in affordable housing. This paper investigates a single project called The Cottages located in Lake Elsinore CA. This process found that …

Expanding Housing Typology, Increasing Affordability: A Flexible Density Program For The City Of San Luis Obispo, Graham J. Bultema

Master's Theses

The City of San Luis Obispo faces an ongoing housing production shortage and housing affordability crisis that has been afflicting jurisdictions across State of California for a prolonged period of time. The City faces many of the same housing availability and affordability challenges as the rest of the State, but also has distinct characteristics that necessitate unique policies and strategies, such as the concurrent presence of both a large student and young professional population as well as a wealthy retirement community, which drastically drives up housing prices and demand.

The Flexible Density Program is proposed by the City of San …

Bio-Symbiosis: Reconnecting To Nature And Each Other Through A Biological Lens, Melissa Holder

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that we spend 93 percent of our time indoors. For decades, the design of space has kept exterior environments separate from the interior conditions we have engineered for ourselves. This design process limits our ability to interact with other forms of life. According to Stephen Kellert’s principles of biophilic design, which defines an innate desire to interact with other forms of life, it is imperative that our spaces be designed to interact with each other and nature on an intimate and spiritual level. As humans have a hard-wired tendency to seek out relationships with other …

Insert Community: A Revaluation Of Space, Joshua Ramirez

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis is an attempt to question the way in which we understand and create housing. Currently, there is a growing issue with lack of space within our major and developing cities, creating an increase of demand for higher density buildings, which is especially true for housing. Apartments are typically the answer for higher density, smaller square footage needs, leaving large amounts of uniformly small and repetitive housing units, slowly forcing people to abandon their individuality. The question is, are there no available options for creating more expressive and freeing units for people to be able to live in?

It …

Built Environment And Self-Rated Health: Comparing Young, Middle-Aged, And Older People In Chengdu, China, Yingying Lyu, Ann Forsyth, Steven Worthington

Geography & Planning Faculty Publications

Objectives: This article explores how the building-scale built environment is associated with selfrated health, examining differences in this association among younger, middle-aged, and older age groups. Features examined included building type, building condition, and sidewalk presence in front of dwellings. Background: Understanding how the relationships between built environments and health vary across age groups helps to build a healthy environment for all. However, most studies have concentrated on the neighborhood or indoor environment, rather than whole buildings, and few have compared age groups. Methods: This study analyzed survey data from 1,019 adults living in 40 neighborhoods in Chengdu, China, recruited …

Yimby And Covid-19, Michael Lewyn

Scholarly Works

Discusses whether the COVID-19 pandemic strengthens the case for the pro-housing YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard) movement.

Privacy In Multigenerational Homes Before And Amidst Covid-19, Jennifer Luque

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Multigenerational households in the United States are more prevalent now than they have been in the last forty years. In part, aging, illness, job loss, saving money, and even tradition are factors that contribute to the idea of multiple generations living together in one home. Given the health of the individuals, size of the home, and number of dedicated bedrooms and bathrooms, living multigenerational can have both positive and adverse effects. Many family groups fall into the category of multigenerational living. However, this study investigates the relationships between adults and senior family members in terms of privacy in the home. …

Analysis Of San Luis Obispo Housing Elements, Madison M. Driscoll

City and Regional Planning

This project focuses on analysis and recommendations for housing elements within San Luis Obispo County. The project details housing element requirements made by the State of California Housing and Community Development Department and how the incorporated cities of San Luis Obispo meet these requirements. Cities analyzed include Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Grover Beach, Morro Bay, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach, and San Luis Obispo.

America’S Finest Housing Crisis: Racialized Housing & Suburban Development, Vicenta Martinez Govea

McNair Summer Research Program

U.S. Government operations between 1940-1950 brought unprecedented direct and indirect employment opportunities to San Diego, exacerbating an already growing housing shortage. To accommodate the thousands of new defense workers, the government produced the largest defense housing project to date in the small neighborhood of Linda Vista. However, this opportunity and largesse was extended primarily to a select group of white working-class families who had access to defense jobs and, consequently, subsidized housing. Military presence in San Diego during World War II shaped the design of homes and exclusively allocated housing, as both shelter and financial instrument, to white working-class families …

Improving The Design Quality Of Housing Buildings, Ehab Nasr Elden Ahmed

Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ)

Design quality is essential to improve the standards of living and is progressively being accepted as critical to successful new housing developments. A better design quality provides attractive and sensitively planned homes that form communities, and assists in creating a healthier and advanced fellowship. As new housing growth in Egypt has missed reaching the universal rules and guidelines of design quality, this research reviews several experiences of foreign offices and governmental programs that deal with amending the design character of housing buildings. Using these Guidelines enables commissioning high performance housing facilities that improve the general standards of a better design …

Micro-Housing In Seattle Update: Combating “Seattle-Ization”, Taylor Haines

Seattle University Law Review SUpra

No abstract provided.

The State Of Affordable Housing In Pierce County, Ali Modarres, Hannah Miner, Anthony Hoffmann

Professional Reports

Affordable housing is a complex issue, requiring significant regional and metropolitan level attention. There are very few cities that can claim to have succeeded in solving this problem. However, the policy toolkit to engage with this particular challenge has grown over the last few decades. Given the diminishing role of the federal government in building and financing affordable/social housing, it has fallen to tribes, states, counties, and cities to tackle this challenge on their own or through collaboration. The State of Washington and Pierce County governments are no exception. Meanwhile, as the number of cost-burdened households has increased over time, …

Dodecahedron Housing Tower - Collaborative High Rise Design, Michael Ayers

Architectural Engineering

This Senior Project includes the integrated architectural and structural design of a 744'-0" tall housing tower located at the corner of Market St.& Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco, CA. The concept of this tower revolves around the tessellation of dodecahedron modules that provide the template for all structure and architectural elements within the building. The 20-week long course focused on the full development of this high rise building including its urban context, performative envelope, global structural performance as a tall building, foundation systems, and integration with architecture.

Building The Petro-Polis: Oil Capitalism, Imperialism, And The Making Of Abadan, 1908-1933, Reza Mortaheb

Dissertations

Abadan is the most prominent of all the oil company towns the British Petroleum Company built in Southwest Iran. Located at the border of Iran and present-day Iraq, by the mid twentieth century Abadan not only accommodated the world’s largest refinery, it had also become Iran’s most populous industrial city. This dissertation focuses on the process of urban development on Abadan Island between 1908 and 1933. Drawing on primary archival documents and secondary sources, this dissertation discusses how Abadan’s establishment and its changing urban form and spatial organization were the product of broader historical processes. Imperial intelligence and practical requirements …

State Of Independence: Reinterpreting Senior Living Through Backyard Homes, Trevor Sparrow

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

If a senior was able to live within a network of family and friends who could ensure a good quality of life was being met, as well as live in a space that was intentionally designed with their accessibility needs in mind, the independence and health of the senior can be well maintained into the final stages of their life. I am proposing the development of premanufactured homes which are designed specifically to address a senior's accessibility and care needs. These homes will be placed on the property of the existing home of the senior, their loved ones, or a …

Screened Out Of Housing: The Impact Of Misleading Tenant Screening Reports And The Potential For Criminal Expungement As A Model For Effectively Sealing Evictions, Katelyn Polk

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

Having an eviction record “blacklists” tenants from finding future housing. Even renters with mere eviction filings—not eviction orders—on their records face the harsh collateral consequences of eviction. This Note argues that eviction records should be sealed at filing and only released into the public record if a landlord prevails in court. Juvenile record expungement mechanisms in Illinois serve as a model for one way to protect people with eviction records. Recent updates to the Illinois juvenile expungement process provided for the automatic expungement of certain records and strengthened the confidentiality protections of juvenile records. Illinois protects juvenile records because it …

B2 In The Ruin, Mina Aziz, Hugo Burgos

Kean Quest

There is a large need for additional housing in central Rome. This is due both to the large number of international students who come to Rome to study for part of the year, as well as the demand for housing from smaller families. With available housing already low, this causes continuous strain on the housing system and requires the need for additional housing. Our project offers a unique solution: to convert the existing San Giacomo hospital, abandoned and unoccupied since 2008, into affordable housing for students and small families.