Architectural History and Criticism Commons^™

River Machine: A Balcony For The City, Nicole Anne Drelich

Masters Theses

The city of Knoxville, as it is today, lacks a certain level of connection with the Tennessee River. The goal of this thesis project is to identify the source of development away from the river, and to design a waterfront intervention, which will reflect community goals, as well as pay respect to the factors that have driven the development of Knoxville in the past.

Through the study of Knoxville’s history, one can see a clear change in the geographical and social condition of the Tennessee River in Knoxville. Through the innovation of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the riverbanks were inherently …

Contextual Typologies: Synthesizing Timeless Architecture Typological Details In The Classical Urban Fabric Of Charleston, South Carolina, Denver George Sells

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis project is to explore the creation of a methodology as a tool and means of making an objective analysis out of a subjective design issue. This thesis deals with public perceptions of architecture and design, specifically Clemson University School of Architecture’s new Spaulding Paolozzi Center in Charleston, South Carolina, designed by Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture, and what ultimately led to its redaction from the Board of Architectural Reviewers in Charleston. In order to do so, case studies of other classical cities will be examined and compared to the historic urban fabric of Charleston, …

Art And Life - Make Invisible Visible In Cao Changdi Village, Beijing, China, Peng Zhang

Masters Theses

ABSTRACT

Why do we design architecture? How we design it? Why do we design architecture in this way, not in that way? What‘s the most important characteristic for architecture? How we can identity if architecture has realized all ideas we proposed before? With these questions, with the help from kind professors, I found one interesting place - Cao changdi, Beijing, China. Luckily, I found one interesting street and noticed there are some problems here. I needed to figure out what exactly are the problems and try to solve the problems with architecture.

I found that relations and connections are missing …

About Face: The Coming Of Ayres Hall At The University Of Tennessee, Justin C. Dothard

Masters Theses

In July of 1919, the University of Tennessee demolished its 91-year-old main building (called Old College) to make way for a new one in the same location (later named Ayres Hall). Through review of primary and secondary sources, this thesis investigates the motivations for Old College’s demolition and notes the institutional, cultural, and socioeconomic parameters informing Ayres Hall’s architectural genesis. Given the academic and aesthetic future the University’s administration anticipated, Old College as a main building was considered obsolete and architecturally incompatible, and it sat on a piece of land too prominent to tolerate either. Ayres Hall and Morgan Hall …

Architecture For Housing: Multi-Function Transitional Space Of Housing In China, Zhaoqing Zhang

Masters Theses

This dissertation defines and develops transitional space of housing, which is adaptable to the Chinese environment. It is the integration of community, culture element and sustainable development. Although the lifestyle is changing today, the concept of courtyard which comes from the Chinese vernacular building remains in peoples’ minds. It’s not only a form but also an expression of national culture and a sense of space. There are some attempts for Chinese architects to renovate or reconstruct the “courtyard”, but most of them are low-rise buildings. Facing with the high density, high volume urban living environment, Chinese architects only set vii …

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 …

Design Of Children's Event And Cutural Center In Osu, Accra, Ghana, Rudi Somuah

Masters Theses

Osu, a district in central Accra, Ghana, is known for its busy commercial enterprises, countless restaurants and vibrant nightlife. Osu remains prominent in Ghana and also globally for a variety of reasons. One of such reasons is that it is arguably Ghana's most contemporary setting; second to no other location in the entire country. Osu is also the site of Ghana's seat of government- The Colonial era Christiansburg Castle which houses the president’s office and official residence. The town also plays host to several western diplomatic missions and embassies including the American Embassy. In addition to its 5 star hotels, …

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 …

Design/Build In Architectural Education: Studying Community-Focused Curriculum, Matthew K. Sutter

Masters Theses

Design/Build education in architecture schools is growing in popularity across North America. I have researched the development of this movement, particularly as it has influenced educational programs. This paper begins with a review of the history of design/build at the University level. These historical precedents chart the course of several major benchmarks that have influenced design/build in the United States over the past 100 years. The second part of the study features a matrix highlighting seven current academic programs with long-term success in design/build. Then, I highlight my own design/build experiences within this format.

After determining successful design/build programming, I …

Community Development In Emerging Cities: A Case For Lagos,Nigeria, Olaoluwa Olakunle Silva

Masters Theses

Urban spatial expansion resulting from urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is growing and will not stabilize in the near future. Sub-Saharan Africa’s urban growth rate is climbing faster than developing economies. Efforts should be concentrated on accommodating this phenomenon through the promotion of sustainable urban planning and development.

Relying on secondary data, this research examines models of indigenous Sub-Saharan African urban forms and residential architecture vernacular to understand these forms and their characteristics, and how these models and associated management, design, and planning principles can be adopted in a contemporary context. Also, studies of established indigenous building materials and technology, …

Breaking The Eviction Cycle: Rethinking Design In An Urban Homeless Campsite, Lauren R. Dunn

Masters Theses

In Knoxville, TN, in an area of decaying rail-based industry close to a cluster of homeless services, people experiencing homelessness, who cannot or will not use the shelter system, generate outdoor campsites. Every 6 or 8 months, local authorities evict the campers due to complaints of trash accumulation or disturbances. The homeless campers then move to new locations, and the cycle begins anew. Homeless service providers and policy makers discuss what to do about the perceived problem, but they do not condone the urban campsites or ask the campers what they need to improve their situations.

This is a “wicked …

Urban[E] Agriculture Developing An Architecture That Supports Hyper-Localized Agriculture In The Urban Context, Jason Michael Cole

Masters Theses

This thesis contains both the outline of the modern day problem of food deserts and nutritional injustice in urban areas, as well as my proposed solution for combatting both of those issues. Through research, investigation, experimentation and synthesis of design, I have put forth my thoughts and ideas on how we as a community can work together to shape our own nutritional destiny in the urban environment.

Make A Delirious Noise: Improvising Urbanism In New Orleans, Louisiana, Jason Michael Stark

Masters Theses

Decades of poor urban design choices and a lack of attention to the characteristics of communities have played prominent roles in the fracturing of urban communities and the relegation of those without means to the edges of the urban fabric: poverty and powerlessness abetted by geographic location. Rather than “restitching” the urban whole back together, I argue that progress can be made through the generation of local nodes of identity: a polynucleated urban condition. The development of spaces to magnify community identity with respect to localized characteristics produces a community focus to replace the unattainable (for those without means) city …

Space, Ritual, Event: Constantine's Jubilee Of 326 And Its Implications On Urban Space, Brian Christopher Doherty

Masters Theses

Architecture has been characterized as the study of space. But this notion presupposes that the edifices created are not irrevocably tied to the activities, the rituals that activate them as part of a greater whole. As a historical example, Constantine's triumph of 312 and the subsequent jubilee celebrations of 326 will be examined in order to illustrate the way in which architecture, literature, and history coincide to further Constantine's imperial legitimacy and usher in a return to solitary rule within the Roman Empire.

Working With Paul Rudolph To Make Rudolph Work: Reclaiming, Conserving, And Adapting Sarasota High School (1958), Katherine Marie Armstrong

Masters Theses

Sarasota High School, designed by Paul Rudolph in 1958, physically embodies the central ideas of Regional Modernism that developed in Sarasota, Florida in the 1940s and 50s. Covered breezeways, monumental sunshades, deep overhangs, and sliding glass doors promote natural ventilation and sun shading as ways to deal with Florida’s hot climate. As an example of progressive architecture of the time, it is a seminal work of Rudolph’s and significant to Sarasota’s architectural legacy of climatically responsive, modernist buildings that captured international attention.

Sixty years later, Sarasota High School is now unoccupied and in a state of disrepair. The school board …

Main Street: An Avenue Of Culture And Commerce, Gregory Ralph Morrison

Masters Theses

Influenced by theme parks and a desire to “revive” the past, we often nostalgically consider Main Street as a homogeneous entity, relegating its existence to the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries alone. Investigation into the history of Main Streets across the United States, as well as more specific analysis of Main Street in Memphis, TN reveals the fallacy of this assumption. Main Street has had a rich and complex history. Strengthening the presence of this true past, rather than relying solely on its fabricated history, offers a tremendous opportunity for cities to capitalize on their history. To build in a way …

Reconnect: A New Identity For Suburban Commercial Space, Robert Michael Thew

Masters Theses

In this thesis, I address a critical situation found today within the American suburbs. Many suburban developments lack human scale and places for community interaction traditionally found in the downtown model of the city. The places of interaction, or forums, are inherent in the downtown model and are built into the block structure, and close to where people live. They promote multiple uses and the healthy interaction of the residents of the community. In the suburban model, the places of interaction are separated from neighborhoods and residences, they are highly insular and geared towards a single purpose, usually shopping.

This …

A Nation In Its Prime: A Pentadic Study Of Walt Disney World's Main Street, U.S.A., Casey Guise

Masters Theses

The purpose of this paper is to consider the entrance to Walt Disney World, Main Street, U.S.A., as a rhetorical text and apply Kenneth Burke's dramatistic pentad. Background is provided on rhetorical theory and The Disney Company. Meanings are derived from messages interpreted using semiotics and symbolic interaction within the location. The significance of Main Street, U.S.A., as a replica of historic architecture and an illustration of revival architecture in creating emotive messages is discussed. Further discussion includes the implications of this study on corporations and the field of rhetorical studies in addition to suggestions for further research.

Perform + Function: A Proposal For A Healthy Public Housing Community, Brandon M. Harvey

Masters Theses

PERFORM+FUNCTION: Proposal for A Healthy Public Housing Community

Architecture exists in Place, the integrated context of both the built and natural environments, including socio-economic, cultural, and political climates that influence our growth, development, and survival. As architecture necessitates around human purposes, it is important that architecture is built for and sited in an environment compatible for human well-being. My thesis focuses on human habitation and its immediate relationship with human health, assessing the performance and functionality of Place that have an impact on human health. Using public housing as the vehicle of my investigation, I will seek the appropriate application …

The Lateran Baptistery: Memory, Space, And Baptism, David Tyler Thayer

Masters Theses

In the fourth century, the Lateran Baptistery was sponsored by Constantine the Great; it is the first extant free-standing baptistery known from the Roman world. In the fifth century, Pope Sixtus III renovated the baptistery through a newly-emphasized spatial hierarchy and the appropriation of some of Rome's most cherished structural elements and decorating themes. The result was a unique space that created a dialogue with Roman memory for the specific function of the baptismal rite it hosted. This thesis will analyze the spatial and symbolic forms, and the baptism ritual to show Sixtus III’s interaction with the Roman tradition of …

The Life And Death Of An American Block: A Dialogue With Entropy, Micah Daniel Antanaitis

Masters Theses

My goal in this thesis is to frame, through design, an existing environment in a manner that fosters the witness and embrace of the reality and beauty of decay—which acts as a marker of the passage of time. My intent is to engage in a careful renewal of a neglected, and largely forgotten, urban landscape, which does not ignore its temporal context. My hope is to explore the full potential of the life cycle of buildings and discover the lesson of mortality in modern American ruins.

Things fall apart. This is a simple truth about the physical world that humanity …

Inhabiting The Periphery: A Dialogue Between Individual And Site, Robert Oliver Kown

Masters Theses

What is a periphery? We can think about this word in more than one way. First off, peripheries are places that exist as spatial conditions in cities, They indicate edges and places that have been left behind. Spaces that have lost their meaning. But in this thesis I will use the word in another way as well. What does the periphery mean for us today? What are those parts of our lives that have been marginalized, and how can we begin to reclaim what has been lost? It is the aim of this thesis to address these issues of the …

Wasted Land: Finding Redemption In A Post-Industrial Monument, Kristin Marie Karlinski

Masters Theses

This thesis is about the act of inhabiting the post-industrial landscape: about how a city with the remains of and scars from a previous era can begin to repurpose those remnants--both in a physical, as well as intangible sense. Proposing an alternative to the patterns of development that created such a landscape, it offers resistance to the entrenched values of privatization, commodification, and consumption.

The chosen site--an abandoned grain elevator in Buffalo, New York--sits at a nexus of converging landscapes: the grid of downtown to the north, a former industrial canal to the east, a stretch of barren waterfront land …

Transformation Of Industrial Space, Xin Jia

Masters Theses

By the 1970s the international markets had begun to change and the region’s industries were becoming less competitive. Mines began to close. Factories that had operated night and day fell silent. Their gates closed and they became “brownfield” sites in need of restoration.

For the over past 20 years, city planners regenerated these derelict industrial lands in different ways especially focus on renaturalizing them. Less attention is being paid to them as active and strategic roles in contemporary affairs. Today, people’s thinking about this issue demands more the character of sentimental stimulus- for either the re-creation or preservation of past …

A Methodology For Documenting The History Of Michigan Houses Built Between 1830 And 1930, Esther M. Walton

Masters Theses

This thesis delineates the methodology for documenting the history of Michigan houses built between 1830 and 1930* Three major areas of documentation are discussed. They are record search, architectural style and physical examination, as well as the location of relevant material. Each type and kind of public and private records, written, cartographic and visual are explained as to their importance and use for house research.

A brief overview of architectural style is presented along with illustration. Within the architectural style is a discussion on the physical examination of a house.

The conclusions are presented as a case study complete with …