Architecture Commons^™

An Ecosystem Approach To The Sustainability Of Urbanizing Watersheds, Sarah L. Raposa

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Political boundaries make watershed planning difficult despite the influence of many state and federal programs. Broad, top-down, watershed initiatives fail to reach many municipalities due to human resources, time and legalities. Thus, a watershed ecosystem based approach to city planning should be utilized in order to integrate a holistic and scientific foundation for land use decisions. However, there is a need for research for developing and applying a watershed approach to urbanizing watersheds.

The goal of this study is to provide a series of science based transferable recommendations upon which municipalities can make land use planning decisions. These recommendations are …

Planning For Climate Change In Coastal Australia: State Of Practice.” Report No. 4 For The Australian Sea Change Task Force, Elisabeth M. Hamin, Nicole Gurran

Elisabeth M. Hamin

The research approach included a targeted review of existing practice in planning for climate change adaptation in Australia and internationally; an analysis of Australian coastal and planning legislation and policy; a survey of coastal local government areas in non metropolitan coastal areas (February – July 2011); and two expert “round tables” comprising coastal policy makers, scientists, lawyers, local

councillors, and planners (held on 29 March 2011).

The results of the survey and round table discussions reveal widespread stakeholder acknowledgement of the significant progress undertaken in Australian coastal and climate change policy since late 2008, catalysed by the House of Representatives …

Landscapes Of Compassion: A Guatemalan Experience, Travis W. Shultz

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

ABSTRACT

LANDSCAPES OF COMPASSION: A GUATEMALAN EXPERIENCE

MAY 2011

TRAVIS WILLIAM SHULTZ

A.S., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

B.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

Directed by: Professor Peter Kumble, PhD

If landscape architecture can intertwine with the practice of social justice, how should academic training provide an atmosphere where this correlation is developed? In a professional degree program, such as landscape architecture, there are a plethora of skills among students that can be utilized no only in their future careers, but during their academic experience. By learning the tools while implementing them, there is a profound educational …

Synagogues, Europe: Medieval To Eighteenth Century, Samuel D. Gruber Dr.

Samuel D. Gruber Dr.

No abstract provided.

Synagogues: Twentieth Century, Samuel D. Gruber Dr.

Samuel D. Gruber Dr.

No abstract provided.

Jewish Historic Sites And Monuments In Bulgaria (Part 2), Samuel D. Gruber Dr.

Samuel D. Gruber Dr.

2011 published report of US Commission sponsored survey of Jewish synagogues, former synagogues and cemeteries in Bulgaria carried out in 2005 and 2006, with participation of members of the Jewish community of Bulgaria. The report PDF is in two parts.

Arnold W. Brunner And The New Classical Synagogue In America, Samuel D. Gruber Dr.

Samuel D. Gruber Dr.

Arnold W. Brunner (1857–1925), Albert Kahn (1869–1942), and other Jewish architects played an important role in reviving the classical style for American synagogue design at the turn of the twentieth century, putting their stamp on American Jewish identity and American architecture. The American-born Brunner was the preferred architect of New York’s Jewish establishment from the 1880s until his death. He adopted the classical style with his third New York synagogue, Congregation Shearith Israel, dedicated in 1897, and then championed the style in his extensive public writing about synagogue design. The classical style was subsequently widely accepted nationally by Reform congregations, …

Jewish Historic Sites And Monuments In Bulgaria (Part 1), Samuel D. Gruber Dr.

Samuel D. Gruber Dr.

2011 published report of US Commission sponsored survey of Jewish synagogues, former synagogues and cemeteries in Bulgaria carried out in 2005 and 2006, with participation of members of the Jewish community of Bulgaria. The report PDF is in two parts.

Of Spatial And Mindset Change: An Interview With Tay Kheng Soon, Lien Centre For Social Innovation

Social Space

Amidst the gloom of the growing environmental crisis and unmet social needs, one man refuses to admit defeat. After 50 years advocating in civil society and the architectural space, Tay Kheng Soon has come up with yet another ground-breaking idea—Rubanisation—which re-imagines the city and countryside as a single organic whole. Social Space catches up with the social space maverick in his eco-office in the tranquil setting of a wooded area off Dairy Farm Road.

Public Investment And Economic Growth In El Paso, Azucena Gonzalez Monzon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This research focuses on the impact from public capital stock on economic growth in El Paso, Texas. A time series analysis is used to gauge the dynamic relationship between public infrastructure and the productivity of this city's economy. An Error Correction model and a Vector Error Correction model are utilized to discover short-run and long-run impacts from public capital stock on the growth of this particular economy. The Vector Autoregressive model is used to determine causality amongst the variables and to determine the structure of this economy. This research finds that public infrastructure growth actually follows economic growth and private …

Methodology To Convert A Transportation Planning Origin-Destination Matrix Into A Microscopic Traffic Simulation Origin-Destination Matrix, Jose Osiris Vidana-Bencomo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Microscopic traffic simulation (MTS) is a cost-effective approach for the evaluation of traffic conditions in urban highways networks. In MTS models, traffic demand that is entered into the network is specified by one or several Origin-Destination (O-D) matrices. A major challenge in the application of MTS for large urban networks is the specification of the O-D matrices. This dissertation proposes a methodology that may be used to transform a O-D matrix from a transportation planning model (which is based on Traffic Analysis Zone, or TAZ, and is readily available) into a O-D matrix for a MTS model (which is traffic …

The Construction Of Interstate-95: A Failure To Preserve A City's History, Alanna C. Stewart

Theses (Historic Preservation)

In 1959, construction on Interstate-95 (the Delaware Expressway) began in Philadelphia. Original plans for construction occurred in 1937, but were not approved until more than twenty years later. Several versions of the plans were drafted, but the final plan for the elevated expressway was approved during the 1950s. The project took twenty years to complete, and by 1979, the Delaware Expressway ran along the entire eastern edge of Philadelphia.

Many people opposed of this plan. Drawings and photographs of the buildings were produced, protests and rallies took place, and alternative routes were discussed. Despite these efforts, three hundred years of …

An Evaluation Of Historic Preservation Revolving Loan Funds, And Recommendations For The Establishment Of Future Programs, Olivia Mitchell

Theses (Historic Preservation)

The historic preservation revolving loan fund has been a very valuable, albeit largely overlooked, incentive for historic preservation. This thesis explores establishments and structures, as well as the successes and failures of a majority of the revolving loan funds throughout the country. Whether they are nonprofit organizations or governmental entities, the programs’ structural differences are many, but the program administrators’ differences in experience and opinion are few. This thesis attempts to provide an otherwise previously unpublished guide to historic preservation revolving loan funds in the United States—their management structures, their operation, their successes and their failures, and to deliver a …

Evaluation And Testing Of Brick Dust As A Pozzolanic Additive To Lime Mortars For Architectural Conservation, Sara B. Rogers

Theses (Historic Preservation)

The purpose of this research is to identify an optimal methodology for determining whether a given brick dust will produce a pozzolanic reaction when combined with lime. This property will be referred to as pozzolanicity. The research required a review of the properties of pozzolanic materials, the nature of the pozzolanic reaction, and a review of existing methods for determining pozzolanicity. A testing program performed at the Architectural Conservation Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania was designed and executed to evaluate methods for testing pozzolanicity of brick dust to determine their efficacy. An evaluation of the tests was the …

A Proposed Approach For Stabilizing Verdant Concrete Of Stairway To The Sky, Las Pozas, Mexico, Nicole Matchette

Theses (Historic Preservation)

At Las Pozas, it is the coalescence of nature and art that has become valued by many who have visited the site. This thesis sets forth an approach that seeks to find a common ground between maintaining the decayed appearance of a reinforced concrete structure known as Stairway to the Sky, while preserving the material integrity of its sculptural concrete—a complicated task in the warm, humid environment of Mexico's Huasteca (was-tek-a) region.

Practical Preservation In Philadelphia: The Octavia Hill Association 1896-1912, Samantha G. Driscoll

Theses (Historic Preservation)

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the work of the Octavia Hill Association in Philadelphia. The history of Philadelphia's population, immigration, and housing issues prior to the last quarter of the 19th century are not included. For background information this thesis has utilized the following sources as the foundation of Philadelphia history: Sam Bass Warner's The Private City: Philadelphia in Three Periods of Growth, John F. Sutherland's essay "Housing the Poor in the City of Homes: Philadelphia at the Turn of the Century," and Caroline Golab's essay "The Immigrant and the City: Poles, Italians, and Jews in …

An Evaluation Of Acrylic Resin, Ethyl Silicate, And Methyltrimethoxysilane Treatment At San Antonio Missions National Historic Park, San Antonio, Texas, Natalie Karas

Theses (Historic Preservation)

This thesis provided a unique opportunity to evaluate the efficacy of a complex stone conservation treatment after 17 years of outdoor weathering. It is rare for a conservator to return to a site and assess her/his treatment and even rarer to monitor a treatment periodically over time. The conservation project under review was performed in 1993-94 and was documented step by step, including masonry characterization and condition assessment, treatment testing, treatment selection, and application. This abundance of information facilitates a comparative evaluation of the effects of the treatment on the masonry over time. This was made possible by the before, …

Enablers And Disablers Of Private Small-Scale Residential Rehabilitation In Fringe Neighborhoods Of Philadelphia, Cassandra Glinkowski

Theses (Historic Preservation)

Philadelphia displays a clear need for rehabilitation of dilapidated housing through the high percentage of vacant properties in fringe neighborhoods. While government incentives have attempted to solve these issues, there is little documentation on the driving forces and obstacles of private-sector investment in these areas of Philadelphia for the purpose of revitalization. The purpose of this thesis is to uncover and analyze the enablers and disablers of private small-scale residential rehabilitation in fringe areas of Philadelphia through an analysis of literature and interviews with practicing developers.

Contexts include a brief history of the vacant housing problem in order to describe …

Old Buildings, New Ideas: Historic Preservation And Creative Industry Development As Complementary Urban Revitalization Strategies, Rebecca C. Chan

Theses (Historic Preservation)

The cultivation of the creative sector through the implementation of arts districts has been employed as an urban revitalization tool with increasing frequency in recent years, often occurring within historic building stock. In a departure from previous models of economic development in which workers are drawn to an area by jobs, footloose and often self-employed creative industry workers are more likely to locate based on quality of life and an area's so-called livability factors present in historic areas throughout the U.S.

Creative sector research and policy making stress the importance of character-rich places and the co-location of spaces for production …

Predictive Analysis Of Stone Decay Mechanisms And Treatments On William Strickland's Second Bank Of The United States, Henry M. Bernberg

Theses (Historic Preservation)

This thesis examined the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software for predicting areas at risk of future stone decay on the Second Bank. By analyzing correlations between stone conditions, characteristics, and locational situation it was possible to determine statistical relationships between these variables. By understanding these relationships through the lens of known mechanisms of stone decay it was then possible to predict which stones are at greatest risk of developing future decay. This process is valuable because it can highlight enabling factors for stone decay and relationships between the complex variables on a building's surface that may not be …