Architectural Technology Commons^™

The Dwelling And The Shed: Redefining The Homestead, Ryan Mattox

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The homestead is the frontier of exploration. It is the place that shows people can take care of themselves through self-sufficient means. This place also looks at making a more sustainable population. That is partly due to the individual needing to take care of the environment around themselves so that the environment can provide for them.

My thesis project will look to create a technological and sustainable residential module that can be replicated and modified to create community based on self-sufficiency by means of sustainability. To achieve this goal, my thesis will look at combining the architectural elements of the …

Modular Adaptivity : The Plug-In Apartment, Bryce Stegmayer

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Within current architecture, many buildings are seemingly just copies of an original design that hasn’t changed in the slightest in ages. It will be placed on a site and left there to fulfill its single purpose. When this purpose is done, the building will become vacant and will be an everlasting mark of how we don’t think ahead. I’ve come to know these buildings as “one and done” architecture. They are a contradiction to the concept of sustainability and lack any foresight for their future impact. This thesis is an approach to make a change to this previous way of …

Desert Safe Haven, Deja Dortch

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The purpose of this thesis is to inform on the materials, technologies, spaces and structure needed to architecturally and sustainably achieve human comfort and create a mother nature-proof safe haven in the becoming harsh climate of the USA. All the while implementing minimum HVAC, using primarily passive and active systems towards a net zero home. Studies have shown there is a real threat with the rate in which the climate is changing. Temperatures are rising worldwide which is causing droughts, more frequent fires, glaciers to melt, sea levels to rise, more severe hurricanes and storms, etc. Sustainability is a way …

Origami In Design : How Can Origami Inform The Design Of The Kinetic Façade System?, Nicolas Ackerman

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The present goal as a designer is to create a very thoughtful building that presents itself as a visual identity for our built environment. One of the intentions of the design is to not impact more into the co2 emissions. With 40 percent of the 75 percent annual global Greenhouse emissions coming from building operations, (Architecture 2030), we as designers must shift from a formal to a performance-based architecture. An architecture that instinctively addresses reduced energy consumption and therefore lower CO2 emissions through the integration of passive design strategies. In order to compete in a future with CO2 reduction, we …

Beirut's Burden, Joelle Osta

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This is a proposal for a waste management facility to be built in the busy city of Beirut to educate the public and prevent further damage to the environment‭.‬

This facility collects‭, ‬transports‭, ‬processes‭, ‬recycles‭, ‬and monitors waste materials from both businesses and private residences‭. ‬There is a sorting and processing wing to separate waste into different categories‭. ‬

Proper incineration of certain types of waste will generate green energy and the gases emitted from the decomposition of trash in landfills can be used as a renewable energy source‭. ‬Through the use of extremely high temperatures‭, ‬trash is converted into …

Exploring The Use Of Re-Forming Concrete, Moritz Meditz

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis takes a closer look at concrete construction in the modern area and, more specifically, the use of formwork to shape the built environment.

Traditional rigid concrete formwork has been optimized for buildability while serving structural needs. This mentality means simple prismatic elements that are entirely overbuilt for the task, stacked on top or next to one another. The idea that these elements are the peak of efficiency in concrete production has informed virtually all modern concrete construction. Any shapes that vary from the simple prismatic volumes are seen as challenging to build and expensive. For the most part, …

[Aero]Tecture: An Exploration Of The Relationship Between Natural Air And The High-Rise Office Typology, Matthew Williams

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis explores the relationship between natural air and high-rise office typology and questions “has air been neglected as an essential element of spatial design, and if so, what are the consequences of such neglect?” Pre-1900, office buildings relied on natural ventilation to function. With the advent of technology such as air conditioning in 1902, accompanied by innovations in standardized steel, artificial lighting, and hydraulic elevators at the turn of the century, office buildings got bigger, taller, and deeper for economic benefit. The resulting architecture of high-rise offices supplemented natural air with mechanical air. The thesis concludes that several complications …

Technological Augmentation: Creating A Public Center For Making, Timothy Hardeman

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

We live in an era where technology is driving forward at an unprecedented pace. We have access to tools, materials, and processes which weren’t even conceptualized 50 years ago. 3D printing, CNCs, and Laser Cutters allow us to create incredible designs, and at affordable prices. We have carbon fiber, advanced composites, and modern alloys.

But where do we experience these things? In a classroom? Through screens as we read about these intangible leaps in technology? Why don’t we have a place where we get to experience these things first-hand, and experiment with our own ideas about how they could be …

Medkit: Modular Emergency Deployment, Christian Ladefoged, Zamila Karimi

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis began with exploring low-cost prefab dwelling units to be implemented in struggling communities with extreme poverty, homelessness, and unemployment. The initial research on modular units shifted to focus on our healthcare infrastructure challenges here at home given the COVID-19 crisis.

“Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a substantial impact on racial and ethnic minority populations and essential workers in the United States …”¹ This disease disproportionately impacts poor and rural communities in the United States, showing double the mortality than urban areas simply due to the neglected environment². Emergency assistance is needed to expand the …

Encapsulating Sound, Jackie Soto

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis aims to identify the acoustic anomalies of Cannon Chapel by understanding how its visitants typically occupy the flexible space, the use of materials, and the shape of the spaces, and therefore to accurately resolve those acoustic anomalies, improving the auditory experience of those visitants and advancing architectural acoustic research.

Dynamic Workplace Design, Eduardo Parra De Nova

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The design of workplaces is often complex because it balances two opposing forces: on the one hand, innovation and creativity often involve teamwork processes and collaboration, occurring in spaces which may then produce higher than normal noise levels. On the other hand, many work processes rely on individual work, which requires quiet spaces needed for concentration. Another complex issues that office design architects must address involves the ever changing nature of workplaces, either as part of short-term evolving daily activities or as part of the longer-term changes organizations have to bring to their managerial style in order to stay competitive …

21st Century Social Genesis, Jessica Headrick

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The modern adaptations of technology have shifted the pendulum of human life. Its positive strides and challenges have evolved human behavior with new social, spatial and cultural genesis today. The modern human life today is monitored, interacted with, and immediately immersed into new age technology the second life starts. This shift in behavioral acceptance can distinctively be recognized when compared to life fifty years ago. A frequent awareness and understanding of such rapid technological shifts necessitate a place where people become more aware and be educated on the innovative strides that research and progressive technology offers in order to anticipate …

Resurrecting A Fallen Angel: Architecture Remediating Pollution In Mexico City, Karen Rios

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Mexico City's population of over twenty-one million inhabitants makes it the second largest city in the world. Consequently, air pollution levels in the capital are outrageous.

The following proposal is not an attempt at fixing the city's pollution issues but, rather, presenting an innovative solution to be adopted throughout the city. The thesis aims at solving the contamination crisis' physical and psychological aspects.

That is, a combination of architectural intervention and community involvement will help slow down the rising pollution levels in a once beautiful city. Perhaps starting at a micro scale and spreading throughout the city.

Mixed Reality’S Ability To Craft And Establish An Experience Of Space, Corey Jones

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Mixed Reality, when integrated into architecture, will enable open spaces and the perception of the built environment to change rapidly with little physical fabrication.

As architects, we design with a desired experience of space in mind and don’t typically design with a rapidly changing built environment to meet a fluctuating programmatic demand. Theater Program however, often requires such rapid changes to the perceived environment, that is the stage, and is an activator of social interaction based on a shared experience of the performances.

What would be the architectural implications if we were to integrate mixed reality as a factor of …

Transfused Architecture: Ascent Of A Developing World, Sandy Ferrier

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Because there is a lack of adequate health care facilities in developing countries, there is a substantial amount of unrealized, optimal health gains and effective, architectural interventions which are not fully realized. With 80% of its population living below the world poverty line, Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere. The United Nations Development Program’s 2014 report shows the extents of poverty at 75% mainly in the rural areas of Haiti. Only 25% of households benefit from adequate sanitation, thus people become more susceptible to infections and diseases. Reoccurring natural catastrophes have also dented the country's …

Beyond Flat Space: Representing Architecture In Virtual Reality, Holden Holley

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

As architects, most of us go through years of training and experience just to read and draw plans, sections, and elevations. As students, we are taught how to read a plan and dissect the information we need to understand the spatial relationships. There are many times, however, that a plan doesn’t really tell us what experiencing this space is like. And how is the untrained client supposed to understand how this space really works? Isn’t that our job as architects, to represent our designs well enough to our clients that we communicate to them everything necessary for understanding this space …

The 21st Century Energy Hub, Farhaan B. Samnani

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Developing countries face problems like pollution, unsafe construction, poverty and lack of clean stable energy. These areas are the most in need of sustainable and net positive design since they lack the resources to design long-term solution. An architecture that can make energy affordable through onsite rapidly renewable resources, help reduce on site pollution and provide stable housing would be a welcome intervention. As we approach the new century, buildings will aim to become an energy hub. Cities do not look at a building as an energy source. Currently Energy production centers sit on the outskirts of the city. But …

Offshore R+D Facility, Philip A. Marble

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Design a Research + Development facility that merges with a functional Oil Rig. This center will house both a Marine Research Center and Oil rig Research + Development center. Both of these facilities will be in a separate structure than the Oil Rig but will have a connection back to the Living Quarter.

Constructed Reality: A Study In Spatial Perception Through Virtual Reality, Jose P. Rodriguez

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Architecture often begins explorations that lead into various modes of end products. These modes of production and representation could often embed traces that shape the outcome of the design. In his book, “Architectural Representation and The Perspective Hinge.”, Alberto Perez Gomez says that “Architects do not produce Buildings but instead produce images of buildings.” These representational images are an expression of an idea or design. Historically, representation began in static two-dimensions. By bridging into digital environments, these representations become more dynamic. As computing power increases and software broadens, the use of virtual reality environments and immersion simulations are becoming more …