Architecture Commons^™

The Bahay Kubo Alternative, Reesa Winters

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis “The Bahay Kubo Alternative” aims to create an architectural solution that successfully provides alternative building methods, materials, planning, and strategy for current and future stilt homes in the Philippines.

The goal is to increase the longevity of stilt homes and give the residents a sense of ownership and belonging. Moreover, it incorporates adaptable design strategies that take future community growth as well as health & wellness into consideration. This thesis proposes modular stilt homes with alternative structures and designs to prepare the residents for natural disasters and provide them with cleaner environments.

Slums are a sad result of …

Promoting Wellbeing In A Multiethnic Community: Expanding Interactions Of Human And Ecological Systems Through Sustainable Urban Connectivity, Citlali Rosas

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis aims to develop a responsive design that expands and connects public spaces in a sustainable way to promote socio-environmental resilience. The design takes a holistic approach, considering the interdependence of social, economic, and environmental factors. By integrating mobility and public spaces with environmentalism, the design addresses significant development concerns such as water consumption, biodiversity loss, and climate change adaptation. The proposed design creates accessible, inclusive, and attractive public spaces that foster a sense of belonging and social cohesion among residents. By prioritizing the needs of local communities, the design promotes ownership and strengthens social cohesion. The design also …

Bio-Based Blueprint: Growing Architecture Using [Natural Polymers], Jennifer Adame

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

How can we utilize the bio-materials, Mycelium and Bamboo, in architectural design?

Our everyday usage of materials consists of synthetic polymers that do more harm to our environment and our well-being. Consequently, increasing CO2 emissions, harmful toxins, and long-term pollution. We must strive to find alternatives, such as using mycelium, a natural polymers, to raise social awareness, benefit our well-being and develop applications to create a circular economy to eliminate waste. This thesis proposes a framework system using natural polymers to reimage our everyday materials and offer a sustainable alternative. Developing an architectural guide accessible for individuals without prior knowledge …

Desert Safe Haven, Deja Dortch

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The purpose of this thesis is to inform on the materials, technologies, spaces and structure needed to architecturally and sustainably achieve human comfort and create a mother nature-proof safe haven in the becoming harsh climate of the USA. All the while implementing minimum HVAC, using primarily passive and active systems towards a net zero home. Studies have shown there is a real threat with the rate in which the climate is changing. Temperatures are rising worldwide which is causing droughts, more frequent fires, glaciers to melt, sea levels to rise, more severe hurricanes and storms, etc. Sustainability is a way …

Urban Anchors: Reviving The "Motor City", Alan Mota Lopez

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Currently, there are several large post-industrial cities around the world that are ridden with abandoned industrial buildings, these cities have also gone through a constant decline in population and culture while at the same time the rest of the world has done the opposite. The question at hand is what can be done for these cities to catch up with the successes of other major neighboring cities. The existing infrastructure and buildings left behind by these industries hold a great potential for re-development into proposed districts which would span a couple of blocks along a main street. The primary function …

Analogous Architectural Habitat, Brandon Watkins

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The rapid expansion of the urban landscape is destroying habitat and displacing native populations of organisms at an alarming rate. Disrupting bird migratory paths and the danger glazing poses to birds, lowering soil and water access, reducing pollinators are among the large number of issues caused by large buildings. Today's built environment accounts for 39% of carbon emissions globally and it is thought that by 2050 two thirds of the world's population will inhabit urban environments. This all means we must design structures that meet energy requirements while not just thinking about humans as the only occupants. It is our …

Urban Integration, Daylan Cowart

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Human Scale has been incorporated into urban design for a long time. Now it seems as though the urban environment is going away from that. Buildings are getting taller, spaces are being designed for the sky and not the ground. This thesis will study and test ways of designing for pedestrian comfort, safety, and interaction, while activating an existing public space.

Motown [Re]Vival: The Use Of Culinary And Urban Farming To Revitalize The Dying City Of Detroit, Keilani M. Patton

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Motown: Detroit, Michigan, once known as the automotive capital of the world, received its claim to fame through the birth of the assembly line by Henry Ford in 1905. His innovation steered the big boom of the automotive industry in the early 20th century, and later the mass movement to the city. Sadly, that all came crashing down with the fall of the industrial period. The loss of nearly all its auto plants, postwar white flight and suburbanization caused the city to suffer economic turmoil. By 1980 the population had decreased 35% since its peak in 1950. Today? The city …

Convalesce, Grace Kunst

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

What do you value most? Security or comfort? Could you choose only one? This is the daily dilemma for women and children trapped in violence and trafficking. They have a greater disposition to being re-trafficked or abused if they are unsheltered. Often, people within this group have been cut off from their friends and families, meaning they have no access to food, shelter, or finances. They need a place that can provide safety and security along with a support system for a fresh start.

This thesis project aims to explore the socio-spatial dilemma and stigma of distressed and homeless women …

The Dwelling And The Shed: Redefining The Homestead, Ryan Mattox

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The homestead is the frontier of exploration. It is the place that shows people can take care of themselves through self-sufficient means. This place also looks at making a more sustainable population. That is partly due to the individual needing to take care of the environment around themselves so that the environment can provide for them.

My thesis project will look to create a technological and sustainable residential module that can be replicated and modified to create community based on self-sufficiency by means of sustainability. To achieve this goal, my thesis will look at combining the architectural elements of the …

Modular Adaptivity : The Plug-In Apartment, Bryce Stegmayer

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Within current architecture, many buildings are seemingly just copies of an original design that hasn’t changed in the slightest in ages. It will be placed on a site and left there to fulfill its single purpose. When this purpose is done, the building will become vacant and will be an everlasting mark of how we don’t think ahead. I’ve come to know these buildings as “one and done” architecture. They are a contradiction to the concept of sustainability and lack any foresight for their future impact. This thesis is an approach to make a change to this previous way of …

Remedy Space: A Children's Interactive Hospital Retreat, Ivanna Rodriguez

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

According to the American Cancer Society, the rate of childhood cancer is increasing, and about 10,470 children will have been diagnosed with cancer in 2022. Patients who respond best to treatment and recover faster are those who feel most comfortable in their environment. This success is a result of a mental and emotional response to the natural and built environment. How can an environment that is full of stress, anxiety, sickness, and sorrow allow any patient to feel comfortable? Hospitals are typically understood as environments where these intense negative occurrences happen and become places of low morale and mental health. …

Safer Favelas Through Urban Redevelopment: Keeping Kids Of The Street, And Away From Criminal Life, Thayna P. Rocha

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis investigates the complexity of a favela’s physical and social environment , and how urban redevelopment can improve crime prevention for youth .Favelas are informal settlements lying on the outskirts of brazilian cities. The favela of Grajau is located south of the city of Sao Paulo, and it is known for gang related violence, and high crime rates. Statistics show that an average of 240 homicides happen in the district of Grajau. Out of these 240 homicides, 104 are teenagers that were involved in gang related fights. A favela’s urban setting, and its’ lack of social programs have a …

Wasteful To Useful: Investigating The Metamorphosis Of Textile For Construction Methods, Elizabeth Rodriguez

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Every year, the average American generates over 80 pounds of textile waste. Since the 1990s, consumer behavior has shifted as mass production of items has become the norm. Production of clothing alone already impacts the environment as it requires immense amounts of chemicals, energy, water, and other natural resources. So, when consumers throw away clothing and brands decide to discard overproduced items, it ends up in landfills where it takes over 200+ years to decompose. Furthermore, a large percentage of unwanted clothing will be sent off to third-world countries to try to resale or recycle. Yet, the amount being imported …

Empowering Communities Through Food Entrepreneurship And Creative Placemaking, Bailey Kijek

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The City of Clarkston is one of Atlanta’s oldest and most diverse communities. The city is currently in need of tactical placemaking strategies to create quality public spaces that can serve and unite the members of the community. This thesis seeks to identify the needs of the city using a comprehensive site analysis and apply that knowledge to determine a program that is best suited for the community. To create an impactful design, applicable placemaking procedures will be identified through literature review and case study analyses. The data collected will inform a design procedural that will yield an outcome that …

Restitution: Restoration Of A Post-Colonial Identity Through Memorial Architecture, Toyin Olurebi

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The Nigerian Diaspora use the Pidgin phrase, “Naija no dey carry last”, is a constant reminder to generations to succeed no matter how far you are from Nigeria and creating opportunities from the ground. The impact of colonialism has tainted the rich history of Nigeria for generations through implanting a conceptual Terra Nullius (No Man’s Land) as a right to claim land. The Europeans’ Scramble for Africa forced neighboring ethnic groups into colonies and separated generations through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, growing the Diaspora. Slowing, West Africa was being exploited for its rich resources as well as its cultural identity, …

Uni_Form Space: Exploring Environment Through Fashion+Architecture, Alanzo Price

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Henry Van de Velde advocated for the German concept, ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ which translates to ‘total work of art’. This concept became popular during the Art Nouveau Movement around the 1890s when architects began utilizing their knowledge of scale to design fashion and other everyday objects like silverware. Though this concept has produced intriguing designs, architects still shy away from design processes that seem ornamental assuming that they will not produce work that is ‘architectural’. The goal of this project is to create an architectural environment by curating designed elements that use a recognizable design language present in fashion and architecture. The …

A Ludic Generation: Bridging Architecture, Games, And Technology For More Playful Spaces, Jade Lefebvre

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

In a world dominated by mundane environments, this thesis proposes a novel approach to designing public spaces that integrate game design principles and extended reality technology. By embracing the inherent ludic behavior found in human nature and games, I aim to elevate everyday experiences.

This research delves into the capabilities of extended reality technology, psychology of play and its cultural and societal background, psychology of human archetypes, and game design components as an extraction for architectural typologies. Key findings reveal that by analyzing game components, design languages are formed and can be used to develop feasible architectural typologies.

The significance …

Filling The Gaps, Sam Walden

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Urban fragmentation caused by The Interstate Highway System’s top-down integration into Atlanta’s urban fabric can be redeveloped into a hub of pedestrian use and connectivity. This project seeks to address urban fragmentation by reprogramming existing architectural infrastructure into a symbiotic system of adaptive reuse and new development capable of growing between selected nodes to reclaim the many void spaces left in the wake of The Interstate’s planning and construction. To avoid past failures, we must ask, How can Atlanta’s existing architectural, infrastructural, and cultural capital be redeveloped to convert the divisive urban condition of our city’s roadways into a connective …

Reactivating And Energizing Districts Through Enhancement And Adaptive Reuse, Cody Kucharski

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

My thesis tests a design approach that combats the urban wound created by the I-75 I-85 connector in the Sweet Auburn District of Atlan­ta, GA. I propose to ener­gize and reactivate communities that have lost their identity by implementing safety, social cohesion, cultural integration and ultimately achieving economic growth for the area and its locals through a dynamic range of spatial properties of public spaces as an extension to an integrated Interpretive Center. In the 1980s, Bill Hillier, using the powerful social theory of space, developed the concept of Space Syntax as a set of rules and methods for modeling …