Architecture Commons^™

Livable Vessel: Amphibious And Nomadic Living, Dalton Hill

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The idea of nomadic living is something that has been done for thousands of years throughout history, this way of life in which people that do not settle down and move periodically. Unlike that of migration, nomadic living involves a total change of habitat and often when adopting the nomadic lifestyle, it calls for having a limited amount to own and carry as the more stuff means less space in a fixed vessel. Amphibious living refers to the idea of having a house or structure that rests on the ground but has the ability to rise in the case of …

The Question Of Design In The Context Of The First Australian Nations: Designing Reparations Through Decolonial Architecture, Eli Abamonte

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Forget about tourist postcards and picture-perfect landscapes. Australia's true heart beats in the ancient stories of the Indigenous communities that tell them, their vibrant cultural tapestry woven beneath the surface. My research dives into this tapestry, not as an Architect with blueprints imposing my own vision, but as a student with an open ear and collaborative spirit. Australia’s vastness holds countless stories, but my research led me deep into the heart of East Arnhem Land, where ancient legends whisper in the wind and the Yolngu people dwell. Anthropologists like Bruno Descola shattered my singular view of the world, revealing a …

Digital Tectonics: Developing An Architectural Design Process, Megan Eaton

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis investigates the transformative role of computer software in reshaping architectural design processes. It explores how digital tectonics, facilitated by Grasshopper, revolutionize architectural practice by offering novel avenues for innovation and efficiency. Central to this research is the development of a systematic design methodology that seamlessly integrates Grasshopper into the architectural workflow. This study looks at worship spaces and war memorials as precedents and studies their procession and experience. It uses the procession as a design parameter to be input into Grasshopper to generate design ideas. Additionally, the thesis addresses practical considerations, including the constructability of Voronoi structures. By …

Alt-Sensory, Yevguenni Marseille

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

For blind pianists like Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, or a deaf drummer such as Evelyn Glennie, how is it that they explore music? For a deaf and blind activist like Helen Keller, how could she have explored the world? The intent of this thesis is to discern and then integrate the spatial qualities that enhance communication and exploration for the sensory impaired into the public fabric. Simultaneously, the goal is to design a space that supplies to the needs of the sensory Impaired while incorporating the desirable features of the unimpaired. Typically, sensory impaired design, otherwise known as accessible …

Dialectical Utopism In Architectural Praxis: A Critique And Vision For Spatial Revolution, Self Governance, And Social Transformation In Niger, Abdoulaye Idrissa

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

In January, amidst one of Niger's most turbulent periods of socioeconomic and political unrest, I departed from the chaos-laden streets that had become scenes of collapse and despair. As an architecture student, compelled by the urgency of the situation, I embarked on a journey to explore the transformative potential of architecture in the face of such crisis.

From the bustling streets filled with the disheartened faces of the unemployed to the frontline confrontations between government forces and disillusioned inhabitants, the disarray of law and order paints a stark picture of societal fragmentation. Yet, amidst this turmoil lies an opportunity for …

From Silence To Thriving: Architecture As A Voice For The Wayuu Tribe, Angie Son Pulido

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This research explores how stories, music, and patterns intersect to shape the built environment, with an emphasis on spotlighting the Wayuu tribe, a resilient culture facing extinction in the arid desert of La Guajira, Colombia. The Wayuu people have endured centuries of adversity, including colonialism, exploitation, drug trafficking, and internal conflict. In this place, water and food are scarce, and child mortality rates are very high. Despite hardships, they preserve a culture of resilience thanks to their tradition of oral storytelling. Drawing from the tradition of storytelling, the works of writer Gabriel García Márquez, particularly his Magical Realism, serve as …

Stitching Atlanta's Hbcus: Campus Design As The Site Of Integration, Nicole James

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The DEI initiatives, which aim to cultivate an institutional culture at the intersection of diversity, inclusivity, and equity, have permeated every corner of public life. One can trace these initiatives to the rise of multiculturalism in the 1960s civil rights and other emancipatory movements that demanded the recognition of differences in general and ethnic, gender, religion, and cultural differences in particular. In architecture, however, the discourse of intersectionality arrived late and only in a fragmentary fashion. While Edward Soja, Saskia Sassen, David Harvey, Henri Lefebvre, among others, have underlined different dimensions of the relationship between space and politics, the intersection …

Rock To Renewal - Depleted Quarry Revitalization, Daija Laney

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Healing the wounds of the earth and its people through the revitalization of depleted quarries Revitalizing depleted quarries is essential for healing both the scars on the earth's landscape and the adverse effects on local communities. Despite their necessity for construction, quarries often leave lasting negative impacts, diminishing the quality of life for nearby residents and harming the environment repeatedly. This thesis advocates for a comprehensive approach to revitalizing the depleted quarries by, integrating ecological restoration, economic redevelopment, and community engagement through an architectural lens. By implementing these restoration techniques and incorporating architectural design principles driven by ecological, social, and …

Knit Architexture: Crafting A Feminine Narrative, Cameron Shapiro

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

During the industrial period, a transformative wave swept through the realm of architecture. The advent of new technologies gave rise to a sleek and polished modern form, marked by its concise, efficient lines. This era brought forth remarkable advances in construction technology, leading to significant improvements in structural integrity and architectural form. However, in the midst of these innovations, a certain artistic touch began to wane. The landscape became dominated by the repetitive replication of similar structures worldwide, leaving the artistry of craftsmanship fading into the past.

To address this growing concern, a solution emerges: the reintroduction of craft. Craftsmanship, …

Dead Malls Living Communities, Lucas Fernandez

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis is about the revitalization of unused/ underutilized suburban land and how it can be transformed into a nuevo town center of sorts for the new millennium. It analyzes how to properly integrate a new urban center into the surrounding area its in and which approaches are successful and unsuccessful.

Interstate Rejuvenate, Brennan Taylor

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Throughout the history of the automobile, roadside amenities and architecture have continually adapted to the needs and desires of motorists. Along the rural interstate highway, landscapes blend with billboards and off-ramps that bring the traveler to food, lodging, and gas. A typical interstate exit is a sprawl of structures for transaction, each isolated in its own asphalt island, competing for the consumer’s attention with signage, architectural design, or folly. These predictable prototypes spread homogenous program and form across the highway with little to no account for a sense of place. When a state border is crossed, a flat, metal sign …

تأثير رؤية 2030 في مسعى الرياض لتصبح مدينة ذكية: أولوية القوة الناعمة لاستراتيجية التحول الاجتماعي على القوة الصلبة للبنية التقنية المادية, Tahar Ledraa Prof., Sami Aldubaikhi

Emirates Journal for Engineering Research

تناقش الورقة عملية تحول الرياض لمدينة ذكية. يروج في الأدبيات التي تتعاطى مع المدن الذكية التعامل معها كغاية في حد ذاتها وليست وسيلة لغاية. في هذه الحالة يكون التركيز على العناصر المادية للمدينة كالمباني الذكية والبنية التحتية لتكنولوجيا المعلومات والاتصالات (ICT) وتطوير إنترنت الأشياء (IoT). على النقيض من ذلك، تتعاطى هذه الدراسة مع المدينة الذكية باعتبارها وسيلة لغاية، بمعنى أنها أداة مساعدة لتحقيق التحول الاجتماعي والانتقال لاقتصاد المعرفة. فهي بهذا تعطي الأولوية للإنسان على العناصر المادية في المدينة. لهذا أهم شيء يتم التركيز عليه هو إعداد السياسات الاستراتيجية لإحداث هذا التحول الاجتماعي المنشود. بناء عليه قامت الرياض بتبني رؤية 2030 …

Architecture Of The Second Sense: Inclusivity For Deaf Students, Lizzy Johnson

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Educational settings in the United States are primarily geared towards hearing individuals, posing challenges for those with hearing impairments. In 2020, 95% of school-age students with hearing loss attended conventional schools, while only 47 schools nationwide catered specifically to the deaf or hard of hearing. This oversight in design leads to issues such as inadequate spatial acoustics and limited sign language space in classrooms. My thesis proposes "Architecture of the Second Sense," advocating for a holistic approach to educational design, particularly targeting pre-kindergarten through 5th-grade schools. Drawing from phenomenological principles and the five key DeafSpace design elements—Proximity, Sensory Reach, Light, …

Piece Of Mine, Tiffany Belmonte

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis introduces an innovative mental health retreat grounded in the principles of therapeutic and adaptive design. The current state of mental healthcare architecture lacks a focus on human-centered design, primarily due to their enclosed spaces, overcrowded dormitories, and conforming layouts. Adaptive design in architecture advocates for a more user-centric approach by implementing a system that empowers individuals to customize architectural components, such as walls, roofs, doors, windows, and furnishings. This approach aims to foster individuality, flexibility, freedom, control, and comfort. Therapeutic design in architecture emphasizes the influence of spatial, lighting, thermal, and acoustic design on the human brain, mind, …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald: Ways Of The Future, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Magazine edition of the College Heights Herald for the period April 8 - May 5, 2024.

• Anderson, Alexandria. Letter from the Editor – Science, Technology & Business
• Anderson, Alexandria. Women in STEM Make Advances
• Novoselia, Mariia. Turnover on Fountain Square: Local Businesses Share Concerns & Success Stories
• SOKY Rentals Offers New Apartments
• Walk2Campus: Where Home Meets Community
• Bush, Camden. Can a Baseball Team Reduce Their Goals to a Math Problem?
• Hawkins, Kaylee. Student Business Owners Share Experiences – Gatara Townsend, Andrew Garrett, Brittiny Sadler
• Ivory, Larkin. Bikewalk BG, WKU CHHS Offer Chances for Healthy Lifestyle – Health & Human Services

Garageband Acoustics, Ramiro Garcia

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

For anyone who has practiced an instrument, how often do you find yourself desperately searching for a place to play that doesn’t sound like you’re trapped in a tunnel or a cavern? Many musicians face this challenge, often resorting to the only open space available in their homes: their garages. Though a common choice, garages suffer from numerous acoustic shortcomings, including concrete walls that trap and scatter sound haphazardly, leading to poor sound isolation and excessive reverberation. Musicians struggle to hear themselves clearly, which often results in playing at excessive volumes that bleed beyond the confines of the garage, causing …

Aguaaaa!!!, Cory Villegas

Theses and Dissertations

“AGUA” is a call for new models of learning and sharing, celebrating the diasporic as a place of global revolution. Salsa, rooted in Latin American and Afro-Caribbean histories, is choreographer Cory Villegas’s expression of cultural legacy. As an Afro-diasporic dance, Salsa carries the wealth and variety of African and Indigenous roots. Villegas contextualizes her thesis event “Las Leyendas: An Afro Cuban Suite,” presenting herself and her troupe Soul Dance Co. as evidence that contradicts the erasure of Latin & Caribbean Culture in US dance history. The paper uses English and Spanish, written, visual, and oral materials with an accompanying webpage.

間, Lele Dai

Theses and Dissertations

LeLe Dai makes contingent participatory public interventions using sensory materials such as sound, flickering light, and water. This paper examines their works through the lens of Chinese character Jian (間), meaning “gap/slit/incision,” to investigate the concept of “in-betweenness.”

Comparison Of Embodied Carbon Footprint Of A Mass Timber Building Structure With A Steel Equivalent, Mahboobeh Hemmati, Tahar Messadi, Hongmei Gu, Jacob Seddelmeyer, Moein Hemmati

Architecture Faculty Publications and Presentations

The main purpose of this study is to quantify and compare the embodied carbon (EC) from the materials used or designed to build the Adohi Hall, a residence building located on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, AR. It has been constructed as a mass timber structure. It is compared to the same building design with a steel frame for this study. Based on the defined goal and scope of the project, all materials used in the building structure are compared for their global warming potential (GWP) impact by applying a life cycle assessment (LCA) using a cradle-to-construction site …

Lgbtq+ Spaces In Rural Arkansas That Accommodate And Advocate For Queer Existence, Lacey Oxford

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

Queer communities located in rural Arkansas are often scarce and elusive to the public eye as a justified reaction to mass negative interpretations and understandings of these LGBTQ+ individuals from a predominantly conservative population. The few who have a more broadcasted identity are subject to potential public scrutiny, but offer queer individuals needed refuge and areas of unfiltered self-expression. This paper explores two LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and other identifying individuals) communities and their concomitant establishments: Santuario Arco Iris, an esteemed communal settlement designed specifically for BIPOC (black, indigenous, and other people of color), queer individuals in Boxley, …