Architecture Commons^™

Narrative Structures, Theodore Badenhausen

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the intersection of architecture, tradition, and environmental stewardship through a personal and analytical lens. The narrative begins with a reflection on coastal landscapes, revealing the transformative impact of natural forces and human intervention on the built environment. This evolving scenery serves as a metaphor for the broader discourse on the impermanence of architectural structures and their relationship with nature. The discussion transitions to the historical reliance on natural materials like stone, earth, and timber, which were overshadowed by the advent of concrete and steel. While these modern materials have dominated contemporary architecture, they pose environmental challenges and …

Trans-Species Communication, Fueled By Efforts Of Remediation, Naomi Canino

Masters Theses

Using science fiction pop culture and films as a basis to reposition the way that we think about communicating with plants as if they are sentient beings capable of human-like qualities, the process in which I intend to understand communication will be nestled in this fantastical, sci-fi realm of envisioning the world.

By analyzing existing forms of communication between humans, other living entities and themselves, I am challenging existing perspectives in order to propose new speculative processes of bio-based augmentation that can amplify a connection to plants. In order to pursue this exploration, I have chosen a real site in …

Folding (And Unfolding): A Site-Responsive Strategy For Reusing Construction And Demolition Waste, Jennifer Ansley

Masters Theses

Discarding—in its most reductive formulation— is a sorting operation that makes distinctions between materials (as well as objects, people, communities, and landscapes) based on perceived value. In her book Waste of the World, Nicky Gregson, therefore, argues for a more careful collection-curation strategy that revalues and re-signifies “waste” to make it available for repair and reuse. Gregson, however, points to limited space and infrastructural capacity as a potential barrier to the development of new material handling strategies. My design responds by proposing a network of walls and paths that operate in each of the sites I’ve identified as an …

Detroit Jazz Geographies: Marronage And Speculative Urban Futures, Denzel Amoah

Masters Theses

The Detroit Jazz Clubs of the 1920s-1960s existed as an emblem of marronage, or as an escape from a colonial world, becoming a spot of refuge and freedom for Blacks living in Detroit. There they were able to create a subculture that was antagonistic to hegemonic norms.

Currently, Detroit is on the precipice of a new development plan, titled ‘Detroit Future City” which aims to revitalize the city through the bolstering of industrialization and commerce. The history of Detroit has shown the dangers of what industrialization can do and alternative modes of development should be explored.

To honor the legacy …

Conspicuous Repair: Drawing Attention To Brokenness In Public Landscapes, Ashley Pedersen

Masters Theses

Repair, as a design provocation, encourages material conservation, hands-on engagement with materiality, and evaluation of maintenance routines all of which contribute to a model of sustainability that values a circular economy and degrowth. Through visible repairs that focus our ongoing attention on brokenness, repair has the potential to illuminate, and start to address the systemic causes of brokenness. In this way, repair can be a catalyst for increased stewardship of a place.

Conspicuous Repair: Drawing Attention to Brokenness in Public Landscapes investigates clay as a suitable material for the repair of masonry in urban landscapes which has the potential, through …

Fluid Futures: The Revitalization Of Yangzhou Through Its Historical Waterways, Feiyang Wu

Masters Theses

In China, cities such as Yangzhou, which in pre-modern times played central roles in the political, cultural, and economic functioning of the country based on their geographic location, proximity to water-based trade routes, and connections to the imperial court, are today facing uncertain futures due to waterways no longer being critical to trade, and government-driven development being focused on first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. With this, the working-age population migrates from smaller cities toward these urban giants, leaving behind aging relatives, a less robust and diversified economic base, and few attributes other than cultural tourism that …

Empathetic Reverberations, Tianyue Wang

Masters Theses

Plants play a crucial role in sustaining life on Earth and remediating pollution, making them indispensable components of ecosystems. However, their efforts in combating pollution are often overlooked and underappreciated by humans. This oversight can lead to a failure to recognize the severity of pollution and raises ethical concerns about using plants merely as tools for pollution control. This thesis advocates for acknowledging the essential role of plants in mitigating pollution caused by human activities and emphasizes the need to respect and protect their intrinsic value. The methodology of this research involves developing landscapes that honor and recognize the vital …

Tethered By Nourishment - Exploring Sovereignty Within An Urban Food Apartheid, Benjamin Bailey

Masters Theses

“Tethered by Nourishment” explores how the principles of food sovereignty could be spatially cultivated within an urban environment afflicted by a food apartheid. The urban environment I explore is the Elysian Fields Ave. neutral grounds (colloquial term for road medians) in New Orleans. Working with a series of food-generating landscapes, the proposal imagines multiple cultivation sites to support neighborhoods and communities struggling with fresh food access. These sites allow for varying levels of engagement from start-up farming plots for urban agriculturalists to food forests for more passive food collection. Approaching a multifaceted problem like equitable urban food access requires a …

A New Grounding, Corey Watanabe

Masters Theses

Amidst our climate uncertain reality, the question arises as to how we address the seemingly endless spiral of ecological degradation and loss we witness each and everyday? Through a cultural reframing of our relationship with invasive species, A New Grounding asks how collective ritual may serve as a vehicle to understand, heal through, and eventually embrace the trials and tribulations of ecosystem change.

Invasive species have become a major driver of the evolution of our landscapes. Research has shown their disturbance is often rooted in an underlying human environmental disturbance, however, for many these highly adaptive plants have become a …

Design With Decay, Charlotte Wyman

Masters Theses

The following project is an exploration and argument for greater acceptance of material change. The argument finds its narrative through the story of five historic coastal properties in Rhode Island that have become increasingly threatened by rising sea levels.

Despite undergoing foundation upheaval, relocation and leveling onto stilts, all but two homes remain intact. This project is a proposal for an alternative past in which the homes are not moved or raised, but instead ushered into states of decay that challenge our notions around sub-natures and their viability.

Beyond The Idle Machine: Spatio-Subjective Architecture, Andrew Schnurr

Masters Theses

.

Beach Autonomous Zone, Carl Garvey

Masters Theses

This thesis project responds to issues surrounding beach erosion on Long Island’s Atlantic Coast by envisioning policy and design decisions that activate a destabilization of the shoreline and a managed retreat away from beaches. Contrasted to methods and goals of conventional coastal engineering, a beach autonomous zone sets an extended, moving setback in which coastlines are treated, in effect, as conservation easements, allowing for and encouraging beaches to return to more natural states. On four sites of different scales representing different built beachfront conditions, I visualize the negotiations between human desires and the needs of a beach that arise under …

Corner Revolution: Beyond “Skynet”, Brightening Grey Space And Building Security, Caimin Shen

Masters Theses

The existence of surveillance areas restricts many bad behaviors, but why do we still feel vague anxiety and uneasiness when walking through street corners and promenades in a city protected by a network of cameras? As China has implemented grid management of cities through the establishment of the “Skynet”—— a system that uses facial recognition and surveillance cameras to strengthen public safety, the crime rate has dropped significantly. But public safety doesn’t just mean fewer criminal activities. Reducing people’s perceived insecurity and anxiety has become a new challenge in China today. “Corner Revolution” explores the transformative power of architectural design …

Icons Of Solitude: Peace, Quiet, And The Urban Condition, Jack Schildge

Masters Theses

The urban environment lacks sufficient public places to be alone, where individuals can feel free to seek respite from the intensity of city life. While solitude is easily achievable in the vast landscape of the natural world, it is something that must be carefully and deliberately carved out within the confines of the city and remains inaccessible to many. We’ve all heard of follies in the landscape, both sitting in remote places and dispersed throughout public parks in either case taking advantage of open space, but why couldn’t we carve room for follies in denser environments? What can be extracted …

From One Nature To Another, Sarah Mann

Masters Theses

Lichen‭, ‬fungi‭, ‬and soil each represent a microcosm of nature‭. ‬They are all quintessential examples of complex symbiosis‭, ‬yet they are often treated as lifeless materials‭. ‬But what if we took a moment to connect with each one on a daily basis‭ - ‬would that impact the way we envision the future‭? ‬

For most of us‭, ‬our homes won’t be radically changing any time soon‭; ‬therefore‭, ‬From One Nature to‭ ‬Another‭ ‬invites us to bring these entities inside and‭ ‬reflect on their possibilities as collaborators‭. ‬Each piece was carefully researched and designed to‭ ‬provide the correct atmospheric …

Evaluation Of Native Plant Integration, Subsoil Amendment, And ‘Foodscaping’ As Means Of Increasing The Environmental Feasibility Of Public Urban Greenery In The Gulf Region, Ayesha Rashed Alam

Dissertations

Public parks and gardens greatly contribute to the residential and touristic value of cities of the Gulf Region, but their maintenance is associated with high environmental and economic costs. The high potential evapotranspiration and summer temperatures greatly limit the choice of suitable landscaping plants, and light sandy soils with a high weed potential challenge the water management. The United Arab Emirates is characterized by a rapid urban development and population growth, resulting in increasing competition between green amenities and crop farming for irrigation water, cultivable land, and workforce. Various strategies and technologies have been proposed to increase the resource use …

Sustainable And Cost-Effective Work Zone Scheduling On Two-Lane Highways With Managed Lanes, Ahmed Z. Edrees

Dissertations

Roadway maintenance projects greatly influence the roadway capacity, resulting in potential traffic disturbances captured by delays. Additionally, costs associated with these projects tend to be exorbitantly extensive. Most agencies and planners try to find a solution that minimizes roadway maintenance costs, traffic delays, crash risks, and environmental impact.

Work zones on two-way two-lane roadway typically avoids high-demand periods. Lane-closure scenario is commonly used and converts the open lane into a phantom intersection, alternating two-direction movements on one lane with the help of a flagger or a temporary signal. Alternatively, using shoulders as temporarily managed lanes allows for simultaneous two-way movements …

A Peer Review Benchmark Portfolio For Architectural Design Studio: Situate, Matthew Miller

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio examines a third-year architectural design studio that emphasizes the development of designs that consider site and context. As part of a four-year sequence to gaining a Bachelor of Science in Design, this studio takes on a critical discourse of the impact designs may have on the environments they inhabit, the community of people that they interact with, and the cultures and practices followed within a region. This research examined how different modes of teaching could help with building narratives and identifying the measurable impact a design would have on its environment, community, and culture through repetition of verbal …

Monetary Condition Index And Its Relation With Other Macroeconomic Variables: An Empirical Study In Selected Mena Countries, Jinan Jihad Kassem

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

This article aims to construct a monetary condition index (MCI) for five countries in the MENA region, namely Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco, in order to interpret the stance of monetary policy in these countries. A broad MCI has been constructed by combining two transmission channels of monetary policy, the real interest rate and the real effective exchange rate, along with bank credit to the private sector. These three indicators of the monetary conditions are collected for these countries over the period 1995–2020 for all countries except for Bahrain, which has data from 1995 to 2015. Principal component analysis …

Examining Elevation Opening Ratio And Space Proportions In Lebanese Schools, Chirine Traboulsi, Mary Felix

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

The academic performance and outcomes of students are significantly impacted by the architecture of educational institutions. When designing learning spaces, two important considerations are the size of the room and the elevation opening percentage that describe how much daylight enters the space through windows. Previous studies showed that these factors have an important effect on student learning performance. This study explores the link between elevation opening percentage and space proportions in educational institutions. In order to assess daylight dispersal in a classroom in Lebanon that faced north—the direction required for the nation's best solar exposure—a quantitative approach utilizing modelling software …