Architecture Commons^™

Toward Low Carbon Footprint And Lightweight Masonry Alkali-Activated Material, Zina Ebrahim, Mohammad Mastali, Marc Maguire

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

The portland cement concrete industry and the masonry industry are undergoing changes in response to skilled labor shortages and concerns over climate and pollution. There may be interest from parts of the industry in lower carbon footprint and lightweight masonry products. Toward this aim, the use of hemp shiv--the woody core of the hemp plant--in alkali-activated concrete was investigated herein and shown to have a wide range of impacts on the hardened state characteristics of a material suitable for structural concrete masonry units (CMUs) in accordance with ASTM C90 requirements. Hemp shiv is well known for its use in hempcrete, …

The Flow Of Power: Addressing Asymmetric Flood Risk In The Upper Valley, Eric Vr Hryniewicz

Geography Undergraduate Senior Theses

Floods are the most damaging natural disasters in America. Land use change in upland watersheds can increase the probability and severity of floods (Bronstert, Niehoff, & Burger, 2002). When watersheds are divided by political and private property boundaries it leads to a misalignment of incentives in which downstream users lack recourse for upstream land use decisions contributing to flood risk. In this thesis, researchers interrogate the attributes of town officials and towns that determine what motivates town governments to act on flooding and what motivates and enables town officials to collaborate on planning and how do they collaborate in practice. …

The Impact Of Biophilic Attributes On University Students Level Of Satisfaction: Using Virtual Reality Simulation, Amira Mohamed Mahrous, Khaled Dewidar, Mostafa Refaat, Ashraf Nessim

Architectural Engineering

Biophilic design is a new approach that can enhance human psychological well-being. Most recent studies focus on applying biophilic design to hospitals or office buildings, not academic buildings. While usually ignored, students' level of satisfaction is one of the most important key indicators for a successful learning environment. This paper aims to identify the biophilic design attributes that can potentially contribute to enhancing the students' level of satisfaction. This will be done through an experimental research design using virtual reality in a design studio at The British University in Egypt. Each participant (N = 52) was exposed to the existing …

Addressing Low Heat Pump Heating System Sales In The Uk, Ben Costelloe

Articles

The replacement of existing fossil fuel boilers with heat pumps is seen as a key measure in the decarbonisation of heating systems and addressing climate change. This policy however, is currently failing in many Western European states, particularly in the UK. The many reasons for this situation are examined. However, the age of UK housing stock and particularly the high number of dwellings built prior to the introduction of building insulation regulations in 1980, are key. To maintain the running cost of air source heat pumps competitive with those of the gas boilers they generally replace the heat pump lift …

The Concept Of Slum Management Become A Tourism Zone In Kendari City, Joko Tri Brata

Smart City

This study aims to assess to find out how the public views the handling of slums in the Kendari City Coastal Area and how the sustainability of slum handling. This research is classified as a qualitative research type, by analyzing the area to be studied because this research is classified as an exploratory research type, by describing the condition and situation of the area that is the object of research. To answer the first research objective related to the pattern of slum handlers, a survey was conducted to find out the pattern of handling slums in Kendari City, carried out …

The Design Of Consequences, Yuqi Tang

Masters Theses

Young professionals entering the architecture industry face an imminent and abrupt realization of the disparity between their academic training and the reality of what a career in practice entails.

The architectural industry has long been susceptible to criticism for unpaid internships and overtime. The issue stems from an ambiguity of architectural practice as neither a service or an outcome product, isolating the perception of our work from constructors, lawyers, doctors and even artists, and making it difficult for design labor to be commodified, or for the value of design labor to be asserted, consolidated and fiscalized1. This thesis aims to …

Liberdade Para Quem? - Layered Histories, Vanessa Shimada

Masters Theses

Uncovering the spaces of Indigenous and Black stories, and creating spaces for dialogue in the Japanese neighborhood of Liberdade, São Paulo

Landscape Interventions For Pedestrian Safety Around Urban Parks: Learning From City Of Dallas, Texas, Ann Mariya Thuruthy

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

Urban parks and their immediate surroundings provide access to nature in urbanized areas. However, they can also be crime hotspots if not properly kept or monitored or provide a safe environment for positive activities (Jones & Robinson, 2008). The local community respects a safe and secure neighborhood urban park as proximity to green spaces (McCormack et al., 2010), which enhances living quality (Iqbal & Ceccato, 2015). Nevertheless, a neighborhood urban park and its context have a negative impact on the quality of life if they cater to criminal activity. Crime rates have increased in urban public parks and buffer zones …

Dynamic Architecture As An Approach To Educational Building Development, Sara Hamed Nour, Medhat Samra

Mansoura Engineering Journal

The dynamic design of our architectural environment today has become a necessity as scientific and technological development is accelerating. Since education is the basis for the advancement of society, the architecture of educational buildings must keep pace with that development. The traditional learning spaces are no longer suitable for educational curricula and the modern learning mechanism, they need dynamism, flexibility, multi-functionality, and response to the surrounding environment changes and user desires. The basis of the research is to design our educational buildings in a dynamic manner that works on the following:

• Creating a modern educational environment with flexible, versatile …

Lighting In The Computer Rendering, Mi Tsung Chang

Publications and Research

We often take lighting for granted, but lighting plays a vital role in our physical world. In the world of 3D, we have to set up lights to simulate our world. It is a daunting task but makes computer rendering interesting and challenging. This section covers the basic lighting concepts and principles and takes a close look at how lights play an important role in defining space in computer rendering. Different rendering methods will also be discussed in this article.

Beyond The White Box: Building Alternative Art Spaces For The Black Community, Elijah Trice

Masters Theses

BASED ON THE SYSTEMIC BIASES AND LACK OF SUPPORT FOR BLACK ARTISTS & DESIGNERS IN THE PRIMARY ART MARKET, THIS STIGMA DISCOURAGES BLACK AND BROWN COMMUNITIES FROM PURSUING A CAREER IN THE CREATIVE ARTS. MY GOAL IS TO UNDERSTAND THE UNDERLYING ISSUES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THIS DISPARITY, BY ANALYZING THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF BALTIMORE CITY AS A CASE STUDY.

Rebuild Relationships Between City, Agriculture And Ecosystem In The World Of The Drought, Ninghao Wang

Masters Theses

The drought is a threat to our planet and our way of life, causing serious consequences for both people and the environment. These consequences include crop failures, food shortages, water conflicts, and so on. Arizona is currently at the center of the water crisis affecting the American West. The state depends on the Colorado River for a third of its agricultural and urban water needs. However, the river is shrinking due to drought, leading to water scarcity in the region. Rebuilt Relationships Between Agriculture, Ecosystem, and City in the World of the Drought: rethinking regenerative landscape practices in the drought-prone …

Ritual As Design Gesture: Reimagining The Spring Festival In Downtown Providence, Wenjie Wang

Masters Theses

Rooted in the belief that architecture should transcend mere functionality and embrace the realms of emotional profundity, experiential richness, spiritual resonance, and poetic expression, this thesis aims to evoke potent emotional and spiritual connections within the human psyche. My thesis, taking advantage of ritual practice, employs an architectural perspective to examine the temporal and spatial aspects, utilizing ritual practice as a design gesture to generate a platform for social relationships outside the existing community.

Focusing on the Chinese diaspora communities in Providence, my thesis reimages the long-lost Chinatown of Providence and design both ephemeral and enduring architecture with scenes of …

Soft City: Reclaiming Urban Public Spaces For Play, Jennifer Pham

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the relationship between children’s play and urban public spaces. What kinds of play are prioritized, and consequently, what ways of learning are celebrated above others? How are public spaces serving or not serving to nurture children’s development and joy?

The thesis design project is a strategic plan for spatial activism. Using a “guerilla architecture” approach, I am developing a series of workshops with the local community that culminate in collectively designed urban installations. This participatory design process enables people to perceive public spaces in new ways, and it invites community members and children to become active parts …

Interstice, Shravan Rao

Masters Theses

When I was about three years old, I distinctly remember being too small to see what was on top of the table. A couple of years later, when I could see those objects, I thought the world around me had grown smaller. In a way, it did, as I experienced, lived, captured, remembered, and shared the space repeatedly. This sense of the world shrinking was exaggerated during the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing new behaviours and modes of interaction to emerge. Continually shaping our modern lives, virtual technologies redefine how we access and share information and stories or even explore new places. …

Illusion Of Consumption, Architectural Rebellion: Unraveling The Maze Of Consumption, Xinjie Xiang

Masters Theses

Consumerism was born in the industrial age, and has been criticized since that time, but it still exists and flourishes in new forms with the information age. Consumption affects values and life, spurring economic growth and causing ecological crises. Therefore, a critical discussion of consumerism must continue.

This thesis proposes a space within an existing mall that raises people's awareness to be vigilant against the control of consumerism by exposing how marketing packages goods and manipulates people's psychology to guide consumption. An ideal mall to host this program is the Changsha International Finance Square, a large mixed-use building in the …

Greening Seoul : A New Toolkit For Adaptive Reuse, Woojae Kim

Masters Theses

As cities continue to develop and become denser, carbon emissions are increasing, causing the Earth's temperature to rise and accelerating climate change. Construction and buildings account for about 40%-50% of the causes of carbon emissions, in addition to the embodied energy of the materials used. This thesis proposes a sustainable toolkit of greening strategies that can be applied to countless existing buildings, consisting of elements to create a green facades, green walls, and energy efficiency systems. Because the majority of carbon emissions occur during the demolition of old and construction of new buildings, the top priority should be to avoid …

Finding Psychological Healing In College Settings, Dici Zou

Masters Theses

This thesis addresses the mental health crisis among college students by proposing an alternative, demonstrated through an adaptive reuse of the psychological counseling center at the Rhode Island School of Design. The existing design of many campus mental health spaces falls short in addressing the psychological needs of students. The aim of this thesis is to propose a solution by redesigning an existing space that caters to the requirements of students' mental health, through the manipulation of lighting, color, layout, acoustics, and materials to address individual sensory issues. Based on the limitations of the existing conditions of the RISD mental …

Imaginatorium For Children With Visual Impairment, Xueyun Tang

Masters Theses

Although accessible city planning and architecture codes, such as the ADA standards, have significantly improved the lives of people with disabilities by providing physical access to infrastructure, individuals with visual impairments, particularly blind children, still face significant obstacles to fully engage in social activities. Blind children are a vulnerable group that encounters various challenges in developing their cognitive and motor skills, as well as accessing education and social opportunities. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the factors in spatial design that impact blind people’s spatial perception, this thesis conducted a review of existing architectural approaches and proposes a …

Nature As Material, Time As Tool, Chuchu Chen

Masters Theses

No building stands forever. Over time, the natural environment acts upon the outer surface of the building, leading to the failure of materials and the final dissolution of the structure itself, leading to ruin. In order to prevent this or retard its occurrence, we constantly maintain and renew the things we build. Nature seems to stand in opposition to architecture. The passage of time is constantly subtracting from the building. However, what differentiates nature from architecture? This thesis questions whether these two are not opposed, but on a continuous spectrum. Approaching the building as part of the overall environment that …