Environmental Design Commons^™

Ecological Restoration Parks In Xi’An, China: An Evolving Type, Han Yan

Dissertations

This dissertation examines four urban ecological restoration projects used as public spaces in the city of Xi'an, China. The overall goal is to understand the social and ecological implications of the site features at both design and planning scale and define what is ecological restoration in China's urban context. The result of the research shows that the top-down planning initiatives approach for establishing ecological restoration sites in urban areas that meet the need for more public open space in addition to restoring healthy urban ecological systems is very different from the definition of what is traditionally understood as "ecological restoration". …

The Healing Landscapes Of Usu: Discovering Spaces Of Potential Mental Restorativeness: A Geospatial Analysis Of Usu Campus, Amelia H. Wilcken

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This project focuses on understanding an alternative resource that can be intentionally improved upon to help address the mental health crisis on university campuses. With ample research showing how nature and being outside can help improve, or be restorative for, the mental state of individuals, this project developed an analytical method for understanding the restorative potential within the campus landscape as a whole and within districts. The analysis uses nine separate elements that make up the campus landscape: (1) trees, (2) landscape plantings (grass, planters, etc.), (3) art pieces, (4) benches, (5) water features, (6) sidewalks, (7) roads, (8) parking …

Reasons And Remedies To The Dying Plant Walls, Hayley Q. Mcgough

Construction Management

Sustainability in construction has been increasingly popular and detrimental with the state of the planet and climate change. One of the more popular solutions is the addition of plant façades to a building, which are plants that are put on the vertical of a building. The benefits that come with plant facades include and are not limited to: Reduction of the urban heat island effect, improved air quality, local job creation, improved energy efficiency, building structure protection, noise reduction, increased biodiversity, urban agriculture. These benefits are not reaching their full potential because these plant façades keep dying creating a bigger …

Firesafe: Designing For Fire-Resilient Communities In The American West, Brenden Baitch

Masters Theses

The perception that wildfires are completely preventable has caused many structures and communities to be built in locations that will inevitably experience an uncontrollable fire event, risking human lives and infrastructure. Modification of built environments into fire-adapted communities has been explored in this thesis, through multiple strategies. Central to this analysis is the idea that sustainable human developments could adopt a form of biomimicry and indigenous design informed by the adaptions of plants, animals, and native groups that endure and even thrive with regular cycles of fire. This possibility has been assessed through the scope of fire adaptation strategies available …

Sistema Modular Arquitectónico Como Dispositivo De Aprendizaje Para El Fortalecimiento De Las Competencias Lógico-Matemáticas En El Contexto De La Educación Rural, Andrés Alejandro Negrete Granados, Camilo Alejandro Arias Osorio

Arquitectura

La matemática es uno de los temas más antiguos que el ser humano ha investigado puesto que está presente en todos los hábitos de nuestra vida cotidiana, por ello es importante tenerlo presente desde las primeras etapas del desarrollo cognitivo, ya que son importantes en otros campos del conocimiento, contribuyen al desarrollo el pensamiento lógico y son un medio de comunicación universal.

Examining The Ecological And Social Implications Of Parklets And Plazas Across Multiple Urban Scales, Joshua L. Muller

Master's Theses

Faced with population increases but stagnant capital improvements and impacts from global warming, cities around the world are experimenting with smaller-scale and cheaper strategies in order to accommodate the new influx of residents. New York City has led the way in converting low-efficiency intersection space into public plazas with a limited range of permanently installed elements and San Francisco has pioneered the concept of the parklet, which converts two to four street parking spaces into a modular and flexible pedestrian space. I seek to answer two questions about these spaces: What are common factors influencing the viability and successful implementation …

H2opulent, Reese Zimmerman

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This project is an experiment on resilience, in an attempt to set forth guidelines for a new architecture that is designed with water, for water, and against water. The intent of this project is to create a self-sustaining architectural model that will exist entirely detached from dry land in order to mitigate the affects of flooding and water level rise.

For this project I am analyzing projects in three categories: land, water and hybrid. Land includes projects built along the coast on solid ground, water includes projects that either float on top of the water or are built on stilts …

The River, The Residents, And The City: A Holistic Vision Study For Logan River's Upper Reach, Lisa Aedo

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The three-mile Upper Reach of the Logan River starting at the USU Water Lab to the 100 East bridge has been negatively impacted by residential development and diversion for agriculture and industry. A task force comprised of faculty at USU, professionals, government and city officials, and concerned residents has developed a Conservation Action Plan focused on twenty-two baseline indicators which, if improved, can help rehabilitate the river. This thesis looks at the factors that created the current challenges and seeks to provide a holistic vision with design solutions to address said challenges in alignment with that Plan. A literature review …

Evaluating Planning And Management Of Natural Resources Within The Utah State Park System, Erin K. Mann

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A change in management style, combined with increased visitation and the advanced age of guiding documents used to describe conditions and goals (known as Resource Management Plans) in Utah’s State Parks, are leading park managers to potentially not fulfill the objectives stated in their Resource Management Plans. Using a research tool known as “content analysis,” we analyzed the Research Management Plans of ten sample parks and found that written plans had strong priorities and goals regarding the care and management of natural resources. Significant findings included strong emphasis on resource protection, data collection, and research. Pre-written questions were asked of …

Collage, Perspective, And Space: The Consequences Of The Method Of Mies Van Der Rohe, Daniel Barker

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

The method in which architects design space has the capacity to shape the manifestation of the built work. Architect Mies van der Rohe is one of the most noteworthy designers to exhibit this in his method of design: collage. This inquiry investigates the connection between the collages and the architecture of Mies van der Rohe, and how his use of collage defined the language of the architecture he created.

The investigation studied the collages and architecture of Mies van der Rohe through a design process investigation. Collages were made in the same language as Mies and used as a …

Cm Member Of Slocoe Peace Conference Center Feasibility Study, Jackson Reynolds

Construction Management

This paper describes the parking design and estimate portion of a whole feasibility study conducted by an interdisciplinary team. The interdisciplinary team consisted of three senior undergraduate industrial engineering students, and one senior undergraduate construction management student. This feasibility study was conducted for the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education (SLOCOE) to determine if it is feasible to construct a new, 400-person conference center on a site in San Luis Obispo, CA. The complete study includes analyses of the following topics: economic, utilities, traffic/road, approval from Chumash Tribe, social/historical, climate, geological, vegetation and wildlife, noise and pollution, parking, mandatory …

Vivienda Rural Neovernacular Tradicional Para Sabana Semiinundable – Tame-Arauca., Angela Liliana Espinel Solano

Arquitectura

Se expone un proceso de investigación, en primer lugar se hace una búsqueda de viviendas ru - rales de distintos tiempos y territorios en Colombia, logrando crear una recolección de caracte - rísticas en planta, que demuestren su arquitectura profunda. En segundo lugar, se estudia una muestra de diez (10) viviendas rurales, cinco (5) pertenecientes al departamento de Arauca y cinco (5) del municipio de Tame, por medio de estas se busca comprender su contexto, los mo - dos de vida de las familias que las habitan, relaciones espaciales y el paisaje cultural, con el objeti - vo de obtener …

Vivienda Multipropósito En El Sur Occidente De Colombia Catálogo Habitacional Para La Autonomía Rural, Valeria Aegerter Cabal, Claudia Paola Muñoz Chaves

Arquitectura

En el siguiente proyecto de grado, se aborda la problemática de la vivienda rural, el hecho de que gran cantidad de campesinos no posean una vivienda adaptada a sus necesidades, estén en situaciones peligrosas para su bienestar lo cual nos hace pensar y hacernos esta pregunta: ¿Cómo la vivienda multipropósito podría contribuir y adaptarse a las necesidades espaciales que requieren las dinámicas agro-productivas de estos dos departamentos teniendo en cuenta sus modos de habitar y el proceso de transición hacia la paz? Entonces se plantea que se puede lograr, estudiando el entorno que la rodea y, en conjunto con las …

Complejo Agroturístico Y Trapiche Comunal Para El Desarrollo Rural Sostenible De La Laguna De Ortices, San Andrés, Santander, Víctor Andrés Reyes Barajas

Arquitectura

Desde la arquitectura, son innumerables las propuestas que se han planteado con el objetivo de mejorar las condiciones de vida y el desarrollo en general de las comunidades rurales del planeta. Algunas han funcionado y otras en el mejor de los casos pasan por obras inconclusas tras una fuerte inversión del estado.

Cada comunidad rural de Colombia presenta problemas relativos a este desarrollo rural y, por tanto, estas comunidades necesitan programas y proyectos que se ajusten realmente a sus vocaciones productivas, y que su cultura sea respetada desde las tipologías arquitectónicas, hasta el programa funcional de las edificaciones que se …

Reimagining Abandoned Community Space In A Post-Pandemic Environment, Julia Drooff

Scripps Senior Theses

Earlier this year, the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the demise of the Great American Mall by forcing temporary and permanent closures across the country. The low-end malls that remain are dealing with crippling debt and the closing of key department stores like JC Penney and Neiman Marcus[1]. With only super-luxury malls thriving, many of the standard malls set up in the eighties are just abandoned parts of a community. So, what should happen to these abandoned malls? And what role does that space now play in the post-pandemic community? Since malls began to shut-down pre-Covid-19 did the need for …

Módulos Educacionales Complementarios Flexibles, Adaptables Y Productivos Para La Formación Media En La Ruralidad, Paula Daniela Ballesteros González, Raquel Yohana Cárdenas Peña

Arquitectura

El presente proyecto de grado desarrolla módulos educacionales complementarios flexibles, adaptables y productivos para la formación media en la ruralidad. El proyecto se ubica en la ruralidad colombiana, la cual se caracteriza por tener un gran potencial agrícola

El proyecto se desarrolla entendiendo conceptos claves tales como la educación, la productividad, la flexibilidad, adaptabilidad, sostenibilidad, entre otros. A través de esta investigación y anteproyecto, se brinda una posible alternativa a partir de soluciones arquitectónicas y técnico constructivas que agrupan principios de diseño y objetivos planteados para lograr la aplicabilidad dentro de la educación tradicional de técnicas productivas en las escuelas …

Arquitectura Modular Para El Uso Educativo Y Comunitario En La Ruralidad, Juan Sebastian Pascagaza León, Johan Sebastian Rodriguez Jaramillo

Arquitectura

En una primera instancia del proyecto se debe conocer a partir de un problema a escala macro en el contexto rural y a partir de eso se determina que el sector educativo y comunitario en la ruralidad ha tenido problemas a lo largo de la historia en Colombia, debido a diferentes problemas sociales, conflicto armado o a la mala adecuación y administración que se da a las instituciones lo que ocasiona una mala cobertura y la pésima calidad en la educación rural en el país. Para generar un proyecto arquitectónico por medio de la arquitectura modular adaptable se deben estudiar …

Horizonte Quibdiseño Vivienda Sostenible A Través Del Diseño Colaborativo En El Pacífico Colombiano, Quibdó., Ivone Stefany Castro Segura, Angélica Tatiana Yaima Córdoba

Arquitectura

Quibdó la capital chocoana, cuenta con una gran biodiversidad y una localización privilegiada, debido a la unión entre el Mar Caribe, el Océano Pacífico y los ríos Atrato y San Juan, descubrió unas condicio-nes climáticas extremas, altos índices de pluviosidad, además de una extraordinaria cultura que lo hacen un territorio mágico y único.

Sin embargo, tiene el mayor IPM (Índice de Pobreza Multidimensional) del país, lo cual ha generado una situación problema con relación a la vivienda, debido a sus precarias condiciones de habitabilidad, la falta de acceso a servicios públicos, problemas de saneamiento y riesgo por desastres naturales; a …