Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Defense In Desolation, Dounia Bendris

Theses and Dissertations

This paper discusses different forms of defense strategies in architecture throughout history as well as how a building’s function morphs over time in relation to the political and social climate that surrounds it. Both of these concepts provide a framework for understanding my thesis drawing, “Defense in Desolation,” which uses bunkers in abandonment as a reference to the psychological impact of architecture outside of functionality.

Staging A Modern Nation: The Art And Architecture Of The Peruvian Pavilion At The 1939/40 New York World’S Fair, Alida R. Jekabson

Theses and Dissertations

At the 1939/40 New York World’s Fair, the Peruvian government installed a multimedia display of objects and products in a foreign pavilion. An examination of the building and its contents provides a basis to understand how art and commerce work together to construct narratives of authenticity, nationalism and modernity.

In Present Past: Sun Tunnels And The Historic Reconstruction Of Vision, Patrice M. Capobianchi

Theses and Dissertations

The following study investigates how Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels makes effective use of time and land to reprogram the modern viewer’s eye. By utilizing sculpture that is reminiscent of pre-historic observatories as an observational framing device against the landscape topography, the artwork succeeds in presenting a historic reconstruction of vision.

Domestic Space In The Times Of Change: The Collapse Of The Ussr, 1985-2000s, Kateryna L. Malaia

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the ways urban domestic spaces transformed under the pressure of social upheaval related to the collapse of the USSR in 1991. The collapse of the Soviet Union has been examined from a standpoint of spatial changes, but existing studies are limited to public spaces and city-scale transformations. In other words, the collapse of the USSR remains a virtually uninvestigated event from the perspective of ordinary places integral for the study of social change in everyday life, such as apartment homes, courtyards, and residential streets. Between the late 1980s and 2000s, an unprecedented remodeling and home improvement boom …

Constraint And Control, Patricia Ayres

Theses and Dissertations

I have long considered themes of the body. Drawing on my knowledge as a fashion designer, I bring materials and hardware from the fashion industry into my artwork transforming and rendering them non-functional. My sculptures relate to stories of isolation, separation, and confinement. The following pages will analyze how the United States penal system controls, constrains and restricts the body through physical and psychological wounds. Furthermore, they will examine how the Catholic Church controls people’s minds and behavior through a ritualistic belief system.

North American Data, Joseph A. Burwell

Theses and Dissertations

North American Data fractures and reconfigures pre-existing narratives into new, unauthorized forms of storytelling. Core samples extracted from various narrative sources are reassigned new roles according to their proximity to each other. This paper functions as an introduction to the essential actors and their dramatic inclinations within fluctuating scenarios.

The Wheel House - An Intergenerational Space Creating Bonds Between At-Risk Teens And Seniors, Jessica M. Keegan

Theses and Dissertations

MOTIVATION

Two main groups in American society today are floundering: adolescent children of low income families and the elderly.

Between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 p.m., one in five children are unsupervised. Left to their own devices, many become involved in negative behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse, sexual activity or in the worse cases, delinquency (Afterschool Alliance, 2016). It is proven that when children are alone after school, they not only miss out on valuable learning opportunities, but also their parents are affected as well by having to lose as many as eight work days annually to …

Bantaba: Designing The Sacred Circle, Tashiara Scott

Theses and Dissertations

MOTIVATION In Richmond, there are 1.21 times as many African Americans as any other ethnic group. Yet 63.4% of African Americans live in poverty (Richmond, VA). African Americans face greater exposure to stress due to low socioeconomic status and poverty. In these communities, “discrimination and deprivation undermine individuals’ ability to accumulate the social and material resources to mitigate the effects of stress” (Brondolo, 2018). In this city’s African American community, where stress levels are high and consequential health concerns are prevalent, dance can be a remedy for managing stress and improving health (Hanna, 2006).

DESIGN PROBLEM How can an intentionally …

The Aesthetics Of Frank Lloyd Wright’S Organic Architecture: Hegel, Japanese Art, And Modernism, Kenneth Charles Dahlin

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

THE AESTHETICS OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE: HEGEL, JAPANESE ART, AND MODERNISM

by

Kenneth C Dahlin

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2018

Under the Supervision of Professor Robert Greenstreet, PhD

The goal of this dissertation is to write the theory of organic architecture which Wright himself did not write. This is done through a comparison with GWF Hegel’s philosophy of art to help position Wright’s theory of organic architecture and clarify his architectural aesthetic. Contemporary theories of organicism do not address the aesthetic basis of organic architecture as theorized and practiced by Wright, and the focus of this dissertation …

Ordering Spaces, Making Places: Women’S Uses Of Non-Domestic Spaces In Tokyo, Japan, 1868–1937, Yuko Nakamura

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores Japanese women’s uses of non-domestic spaces in the modern period (1868–1945), focusing on the transformations that were occurring in the new capital city of Tokyo. After the 1868 Meiji Restoration, a modern government took over in place of the Tokugawa shogunate, the feudal military government that had ruled Japan for nearly three centuries, based on a hereditary status-based system. The fall of Tokugawa social order liberated Japanese people from the principle that John W. Hall famously called “rule by status.” Yet, it also complicated the ways in which the society was organized. Because the status system had …

“After-Ozymandias”: The Colonization Of Symbols And The American Monument, H. R. Membreno-Canales

Theses and Dissertations

After-Ozymandias examines the visual rhetoric of American patriotism through its many symbols, including flags and monuments. My thesis project consists of photographs of empty plinths, objects, products and archival materials. Countless relics remain today memorializing leaders and empires that inevitably declined, from antiquity to modern times. Looking back at distant history feels like a luxury, though: the question for our time in America is whether we have the strength of mind as a society to scrutinize our history, warts and all.

Profanation, Tsahi Zac H. Hacmon

Theses and Dissertations

This paper attempts to provoke an Israeli American dialogue that comes through profanity of conventional architecture. I am creating this dialogue by displaying two main subjects in proximity to each other: border architecture from Israel and institutional architecture or non-places in New York.

Squatters, Shanties, And Technocratic Professionals: Urban Migration And Housing Shortages In Twentieth-Century Chile, Nathan C. Norris

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the struggles of squatters and slum dwellers for housing prior to the 1973 coup in Santiago de Chile, Valparaíso, and surrounding areas, with a focus on the Frei era of the late 1960s. The work argues that severe urban overcrowding generated advocacy for housing during the rise of progressive and leftist politics in Chile. It also explores the dynamics of efforts to promote housing through the lens of the work of professionals in the fields of architecture and urban planning. It argues that Chilean professionals adopted modernist principals in the fields of architecture and planning when promoting …

Istabl Qawsun: The History And Reconstruction Of An Abandoned Palace, Mennat-Allah Mohammed El-Mahy

Theses and Dissertations

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City Squares And Power In Medieval Cairo Manifestations Of Socio-Political Power In The City Squares Of Medieval Cairo, Muhammed Emad Al Din Feteha

Theses and Dissertations

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You Build Like A Girl, Sara Hackett

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis explored creating a space for young women to gain confidence and experience in the built environment under the guidance of female mentors. Teaching not only tool skills, but also the fundamentals of design thinking and problem solving to encourage bold decisions and lead to career decisions that expand the skilled workforce candidate pool.

Designing School Community: Changing Inner-City Middle School Culture Through Interiors, Rachel A. Ramey

Theses and Dissertations

While the knowledge of disrepair in inner-city schools is fairly common, the impact that school facilities are having on students and faculty is not as widely known. More recently, the closing of inner city schools has greatly increased across the United States; Reduction in public school enrollment from 2006-2013: Detroit -63%, Cleveland -32%, Indianapolis -27%, D.C. -23%, L.A. -23%,etc. (Journey For Justice Alliance,2014).

Due to budget cuts, threat of school closings from poor facility conditions, large class size, and pressure to raise test scores, inner city schools struggle to keep teachers (Journey For Justice Alliance,2014). Poor teacher retention along with …

Performative Design, Lenita Ann Eldhose

Theses and Dissertations

The field of design is one that holds the power to empower, bridge gaps, inform, evolve and revolutionize human thoughts. To gain a higher understanding of the correlation of anthropometrics and ergonomics in an embodied space relative to the discipline of dance connecting one’s mind and body. The need for a space that instills a sense of freedom for artists to experience and execute their art and to reside alongside their mentors and traveling artists. The need for a space that can bring the diverse cultures that live in and around Richmond together through an expressive form of art. Providing …

Purism And The Object-Type: Tradition And Modernity, Art And Society, Jamie Morra

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the Purist object-type as a formal and social tool in interwar Paris. It’s establishment, definition, and use is analyzed through the work and writings of Amédée Ozenfant, Charles-Édouard Jeanneret and Fernand Léger, via painting as the primary practice, and its further conceptual applications in architecture and film.

"A Vigorous Propaganda": The Peace Conferences Of 1899 And 1907, The Peace Palace, And Internationalism Through Design At The Hague, 1899–1920, Daniel Pecoraro

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uncovers the history of the Peace Palace and The Hague’s role in the early days of the internationalist movement. In the process of localizing the early twentieth century history of The Hague, this thesis examines the development of international imagery and culture through design. The Peace Palace as we know it today was ultimately a result of tensions between internationalist ideas (cooperation, arbitration, modernity) and the pride of Old World nationalism. The final design by Louis Cordonnier and J. A. G. Van der Steur repudiates the feeling of modernity surrounding the idea of peace through arbitration. It is …

Immersive Theater & The Physical Narrative, Lauren Prisco

Theses and Dissertations

Immersive Theater is a form of experimental theater that places spectators at the heart of the created work, by removing them from the constraint of static seats and instead encouraging them to explore an installed environment as a way of understanding the narrative. This thesis explores how Interior Design directly enhances a performance by creating spaces that challenge a spectator’s physical understanding of a narrative.

Wiped Clean, Elizabeth H. Hunter

Theses and Dissertations

It seems that all forms of pain, quotidian and monumental, are catalogued in the same muted and inaccessible space in our memory. In my installation Wiped Clean, I question whether human capacity to externalize physical trauma is aided by a the physical design of our institutions. I examine the architectures and structural mechanisms that mediate traumatic and intimate experiences with our bodies, and explore the potential of self-formation within these conditions.

Deaccessioning The Studio, Ayla Rexroth

Theses and Dissertations

I have created several micro-businesses that provide tools and facilitate experiences to help people meet their potential. The form of the businesses has ranged from a street based art gallery inside the drawers of a modern dresser to a business that sews more and bigger pockets into women’s outerwear.

Virtual / Reality: Designing Permeable Spaces For Social Well-Being In The Digital Age, Thomas R. Kennedy

Theses and Dissertations

The digital age has pushed people closer together than ever before. A device that fits in the palm of your hand allows instantaneous communication with billions of other human beings. People share everyday experiences, passing thoughts, personal photos, sometimes privately, often publicly. Distances between people and places feel reduced. Never has it been so easy to be so emotionally close to so many people.

But as digital experiences become routine, our collective perceptions of closeness and distance shift. As virtual communities become larger, so does our awareness of the actual distance between things. Even though humans can be genuinely close …

Performing Conquest And Resistance In The Streets Of Eighteenth Century Potosí: Identity And Artifice In The Cityscapes Of Gaspar Miguel De Berrío And Melchor Pérez De Holguín, Agnieszka A. Ficek

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the ways in which Potosí's two most influential colonial artists represented the urban dynamics of race, class and labor in their depictions of the Andean 'City of Silver' during the eighteenth century, when silver production, profits and population were dramatically declining.

Regional Perspective Of Recuay Mortuary Practices: A View From The Hinterlands, Callejón De Huaylas, Peru, Victor Manuel Ponte

Theses and Dissertations

Archaeological investigations of burial chambers in the north-central highlands of Peru constitute the corpus of this thesis. Most of the stone structures correspond chronologically and culturally to the Recuay Tradition, a time span of 100 to 800 CE. The study area is located in the Cordillera Negra of the Callejón de Huaylas basin (Ancash Department). CRM projects developed in the impact zone of the Pierina mine have contributed valuable information on the mortuary practices of a Recuay agro-pastoral community. This thesis relied on grave goods inventories, osteological analysis, and types of stone architecture in the burial chamber. Data from this …

Speed And Resolution In The Age Of Technological Reproducibility, Shawn Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

The rate of acceleration of the biologic and synthetic world has for a while now, been in the process of exponentially speeding up, maxing out servers and landfills, merging with each other, destroying each other. The last prehistoric relics on Earth are absorbing the same oxygen, carbon dioxide and electronic waves in our biosphere as us. A degraded .jpeg enlarged to full screen on a Samsung 4K UHD HU8550 Series Smart TV - 85” Class (84.5” diag.). Within this composite ecology, the ancient limestone of the grand canyon competes with the iMax movie of itself, the production of Mac pros, …

The Immersive Media Library @ Vcu, Michael Rosenthal-Mix

Theses and Dissertations

Answering the call issued by John Underkoffler in 2010 about the future of UI, I have imagined the Immersive Media Library (IML) as an annex of the main VCU library, offering a concentration of visually immersive spaces to compliment the space the university is already building in the renovated Cabell Library. The design is new in that the emphasis is placed on the collaboration between librarians and visitors in creating new work. Focusing on the interpersonal might be unexpected from program with such an emphasis on new technology - but I see it as vital part of the new computing …

Geometry Of Faith: A Stereotomic Reconstruction Of Sainte-Anne-La-Royale In Paris, Giuseppe Mazzone

Theses and Dissertations

Planned during the XVIIth century by the Italian architect Guarino Guarini, the church of Sainte-Anne-la-Royale was supposed to be built in Paris to honor the French Queen Anne of Austria. In an unfortunate twist of fate the church was only partially realized and later destroyed. Present history's only memory comes in three engravings by Guarino Guarini himself: a plan, a transversal section, and the main elevation.

An example of Italian Baroque Architecture, the building shines for its intriguing plan and complex system of vaults. Its execution was supposed to be realized according to the refined techniques of French stereotomy. Faithful …

The Cape Verde Project: Teaching Ecologically Sensitive And Socially Responsive Design, N Jonathan Unaka

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation chronicles an evolving teaching philosophy. It was an attempt to develop a way to teach ecological design in architecture informed by ethical responses to ecological devastation and social injustice. The world faces numerous social and ecological challenges at global scales. Recent Industrialization has brought about improved life expectancies and human comforts, coinciding with expanded civic rights and personal freedom, and increased wealth and opportunities. Unfortunately, industrialization also caused wide-scale pollution, mass extinctions and anthropogenic global climate change. Industrialization also reduced the earth's capacity to meet human resource demands - demands that are ever increasing due to population growth, …