Architectural History and Criticism Commons^™

Divided Cyprus, Nicola Kyverniti

Architecture Thesis Prep

Creating urban interventions in the city at different scales and sites strategically chosen to attract the city population would have the potential to expose the state of the urban fabric. Nodes designed to alter the perspective of the occupant. Exposure created through the language of architecture. Revealling dividing elements emphasizes the need for a true symbol of dialogue and freedom of discussion between the separated communities. At a global scale, conflict is not something that can truly be resolved or diminished. The notion of conflict occurs in certain locations at different periods, following the evolution of political, social, economic, and …

The Question Of Slim | A Critical Look At Manhattan's Recent Trend Towards Slenderness, Raymond Sova

Architecture Senior Theses

Manhattan’s real estate market since the turn of the 20th century to present day can be characterized as an extreme optimization of the economical elements of architecture. Most of the buildings in Manhattan’s diverse and complex skyline share a tenacious desire to maximize the profitability and feasibility of a site while minimizing overall building expenditure. This concept is defined in Koolhaas’s ‘Delirious New York,’ as the relationship between “the Needle” and “the Globe.” Seemingly immeasurable wealth and investment have given rise to a new sub-typology of super-tall strikingly skinny (Slim) residential skyscrapers that may very well result in the demise …

Hacking The Urban Village | Architecture As Board Game, Xuyun Liu

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis proposes the board game as a new research methodology and platform for the study of southern China's urban villages.

Hacking the Urban Village examines the urban villages that have, in recent decades, become a common but informal settlement type in China as a result of China's unprecedented period of urbanization.

This research forms the contextual core of a board game where game settings present the current urban conditions and players may explore alternative forms of urbanism. The board game offers players the opportunity to investigate both he formal conditions of the urban village life along with it attendant …

Sponge Logics | Rethinking Thresholds Through A Porous Mass, Tanvi Sanghvi

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis contends that the separation and distinction between the envelope and the mass in contemporary architecture is to be resisted. Architect and theorist, Greg Lynn, argues that mass “is not only the outward shape of a building; it’s also the projection of shape, plan organization, spatial and sectional type, and façade”1.This critical reevaluation of the mass, and its relationship to the interior spaces and the building’s face, is particularly pertinent to the modern construction in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. The character of the historicist and postmodern buildings that make up Jaipur is made solely based on the applied façade. This …

Releasing The Unconsciousness | Visualizing The City, Taihui Li

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis explores how subway stations lost their identity as strategic node of connectivity which constructed the prevailing image of New York City. In Civilization and Its Discontents (1930), Sigmund Freud famously compared the human mind to the city of Rome. He argues that both contain strata of memory and history which have accumulated over the years through a messy and ad-hoc process. Like Rome, New York City also has a layered history, albeit not as deep.

This thesis contends that the subway entrance serves as an experiential entre into the unconscious experience of the unknown elements of the past. …

Discover Joyce's Dublin By Reading And Running, Barry Sheehan

Academic Articles

James Joyce told his friend Frank Budgen. “‘I want’ said Joyce, as we were walking down the Universitätstrasse, ‘to give a picture of Dublin so complete that if the city one day suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be reconstructed out of my book.’” (Budgen, 1960, p.67, 68).

This research looks at the relevance of Dublin to Joyce’s writings and to the relevance of Joyce’s writings to Dublin. It is concerned with the virtual Dublin of Joyce’s writings, the physical manifestation of Dublin over time, and the relationships between them.

Numerous scholars read and analyse the writings of Joyce …

University Of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries Master Plan, Shirley Dugdale, Gerald Schafer, Bryan Harvey, James Cahill, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Leslie Button, Theresa Warner, Pam Rooney, John Cunningham

Ludmilla D Pavlova

Amherst Libraries, which is on the edge of significant change moving into a new era serving scholars, researchers and learners in the 21st Century. Over the last decade the Library has been a leader in many initiatives: increasing development of digital resources; collaborating with the Five Colleges Consortium, which was one of the first in the country to develop a shared book depository; developing a highly successful Learning Commons that engages partners in providing a broad range, of services and settings for learners; providing services through partners welcomed into library facilities, such the peer learning activities of the Learning Resources …

Umass Amherst Campus Master Plan Sustainability Chapter, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Nariman Mostafavi, Mohamad Farzinmoghadam, Kylie A. Landrey, Somayeh Tabatabaee Pozveh, Ezra Small, Ted Mendoza, Jason J. Burbank, Robert Ryan, Dennis Swinford, Niels La Cour, Alexander Stepanov

Ludmilla D Pavlova

The UMass Amherst Campus Master Plan Sustainability Chapter articulates the manner in which the Campus Master Plan 2012 principles translate into specific recommendations for campus systems development in support of future smart growth. It summarizes the current physical campus-scale planning projects that Facilities & Campus Services have completed during and after the Master Plan process, and incorporates other operational and educational initiatives that have engaged our campus community as we plan for sustainability. The CMP Chapter is organized in three major sections: i) sustainability overview; ii) campus master plan systems; iii) current initiatives; and iv) next steps. The first section …

Postwar Residential New Towns In Japan: Constructing Modernism, Michelle L. Hauk

Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design Theses & Dissertations

In 1963, Japan passed the New Residential Town Development Act prompting the construction of publicly constructed large-scale residential satellite towns across the nation in response to a severe housing crisis. Addressing two case studies, Senri New Town near Osaka and Tama New Town outside of Tokyo, this thesis examines the historical and social context of the design and construction of postwar new towns by tracing the institutional, intellectual, and architectural histories that shaped their urban form. Senri New Town, the first to be built in Japan, exemplified the model for the postwar new town while Tama New Town, the largest, …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Exploration Of Connectivity Between Urban Plaza And Mixed Use Buildings, Youngduk Kim

Masters Theses

Urbanization and development of cities is necessary in contemporary society, however, these advancements are also causing urban problems, such as lack of open green space, density problems, traffic problems, and over population.Also, existing buildings are often lacking certain functions that are currently needed since they have been designed in the past. Thus, plaza and mixed used buildings, which are considered as a unit space, are needed to mention for 'publicity' that is a part of urban components as a wide spatial concept. In particular, mixed used buildings as multiply functioned facilities are needed a specific study for 'publicity' and 'urban …

Permitting Memory, Cody Alan Rau

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

The Built Environment, Utopia, And The American Dream: Suburban Development In The United States In The 19th And 20th Centuries, Nicole Schwartz

Senior Theses and Projects

This project explores the development and evolution of the suburban built environment in the United States, from the nineteenth century in the wake of the Industrial Revolution into present day. Philosophical movements and the advent of urban planning as a recognized academic discipline at the beginning of the twentieth century contributed to a focus on urban design and development as a way to combat problems within society. Architects and planners were employed to not simply build homes in residential districts, but to increase social capital and foster healthy growth. By constructing a physically perfect model of society, a utopia, planners …

Umass Amherst Campus Master Plan Sustainability Chapter, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Nariman Mostafavi, Mohamad Farzinmoghadam, Kylie A. Landrey, Somayeh Tabatabaee Pozveh, Ezra Small, Ted Mendoza, Jason J. Burbank, Robert Ryan, Dennis Swinford, Niels La Cour, Alexander Stepanov

Campus Planning Master Plans

The UMass Amherst Campus Master Plan Sustainability Chapter articulates the manner in which the Campus Master Plan 2012 principles translate into specific recommendations for campus systems development in support of future smart growth. It summarizes the current physical campus-scale planning projects that Facilities & Campus Services have completed during and after the Master Plan process, and incorporates other operational and educational initiatives that have engaged our campus community as we plan for sustainability.

The CMP Chapter is organized in three major sections: i) sustainability overview; ii) campus master plan systems; iii) current initiatives; and iv) next steps. The first section …

Successful Urban Design Principles For The Redevelopment Of The Historic Seafronts In The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia, Along The North Red Sea , Case Study: Yanbu Al-Bahr’S Historic Seafront, Naif F. Alanazi

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis highlights the role of urban planners in the revitalization of historic

seafronts as creative and attractive places for people and a key factor in the

regeneration of the urban economy in the historic seafront areas. The Saudi Arabia

historic seafront areas along the North Red Sea have been neglected and are suffering

because of slow development and changes to industrial uses. This thesis will focus on

the urban design principles that make historic seafronts more attractive and

successful, and will use a case study approach of several American waterfront cities

such as Baltimore, Maryland; San Francisco, California; and …

Architecture And Systems Ecology: Thermodynamic Principles Of Environmental Building Design, In Three Parts, William Braham

William W. Braham

Modern buildings are both wasteful machines that can be made more efficient and instruments of the massive, metropolitan system engendered by the power of high-quality fuels. A comprehensive method of environmental design must reconcile the techniques of efficient building design with the radical urban and economic reorganization that we face. Over the coming century, we will be challenged to return to the renewable resource base of the eighteenth-century city with the knowledge, technologies, and expectations of the twenty-first-century metropolis.

This book explores the architectural implications of systems ecology, which extends the principles of thermodynamics from the nineteenth-century focus on more …