Architecture Commons^™

Terra Dispositions: A Lithospheric Investigation Of Wet-Matter, Alec Rovensky

Architecture Senior Theses

Human intervention of the landscape by damming, filling wetlands and over-extracting is resulting in the rapid perversion of water bodies through the desertification or flooding of terrain and the ensuing contamination of reservoirs. In turn, these changes are disrupting ecosystems, reshaping geological borders, and causing irreversible damage that poses a threat to clean water supplies. As humans exert agency over local hydrology, there is scarce consideration of the ensuing ecological consequences. This thesis aims to expose the ecological transformations of territories laced with human agency by examining the residues left by water in order to deviate from the misplaced nostalgia …

Neo Collectivism: Public Space Design For The Intergenerational Community, Shu Zhang

Architecture Senior Theses

Within our lifetime, we will see an increase in the aging of the population in China, and the social isolation of the elderly is occurring every day. Simultaneously, more and more young people migrate to large cities, while older family members stay in their home towns to ease the younger generation's burden. The once collectivist family culture has been destroyed, and the daily life of the elderly without their relatives has become monotonous and lonely. Moreover, with the advancement of technology, the younger generation is increasingly dependent on smartphones for social interaction and life, which increases the possibility of the …

Living Memories: Rethinking Remembrance, Timothy Mulhall

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis will interrogate conventional types and methods of memorialization, challenging the memorial as a complete product. Developing from inquiries into alternative acts of commemoration, this investigation will seek to conceive a memorial in the making. Memorials must be alive, changing, constantly developing as a result of interaction. The reliance on overly abstract, rhetorical conditions of design will become obsolete. The static condition of the image-friendly object will be replaced with a dynamism influenced by time and participation.

Glitter Urbanism: Lgbtq Narratives In Architecture, William Dendinger

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

This thesis explores the concept of queer space in architecture to understand its relationship between queer social narratives and their impact on spatial conditions. LGBTQ culture is a complex mix of avant-garde character aesthetics contrasted with hidden, invisible identity traits. By exploring queer figures and spaces through the lens of "camp," we can begin to see sexuality and gender’s impacts on objects and space. I argue that queer space is critical in shaping LGBTQ individuals’ narratives by bringing their struggles, celebrations, and what it is to be queer to the forefront of the urban landscape.

This is approached is by …

The Relationship Between Transit-Oriented Development (Tod) Stations And Health Outcomes, Mohammed Hafiz

Planning Dissertations - Archive

The relationship between the built environment and health outcomes, including obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, asthma, and heart diseases, has been significantly related (Chandrabose et al., 2019). Urban planning plays a significant role in shaping the built environment of cities that are affecting public health. Historically, urban planning and public health are connected due to the impact of the built environment. Consequently, the concerns about health outcomes became an issue in urban planning. This research focuses on health outcomes within the built environment. Specifically, considering more physical activities in Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) station areas, the study investigates its …

Evaluating Planning And Management Of Natural Resources Within The Utah State Park System, Erin K. Mann

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A change in management style, combined with increased visitation and the advanced age of guiding documents used to describe conditions and goals (known as Resource Management Plans) in Utah’s State Parks, are leading park managers to potentially not fulfill the objectives stated in their Resource Management Plans. Using a research tool known as “content analysis,” we analyzed the Research Management Plans of ten sample parks and found that written plans had strong priorities and goals regarding the care and management of natural resources. Significant findings included strong emphasis on resource protection, data collection, and research. Pre-written questions were asked of …

The River, The Residents, And The City: A Holistic Vision Study For Logan River's Upper Reach, Lisa Aedo

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The three-mile Upper Reach of the Logan River starting at the USU Water Lab to the 100 East bridge has been negatively impacted by residential development and diversion for agriculture and industry. A task force comprised of faculty at USU, professionals, government and city officials, and concerned residents has developed a Conservation Action Plan focused on twenty-two baseline indicators which, if improved, can help rehabilitate the river. This thesis looks at the factors that created the current challenges and seeks to provide a holistic vision with design solutions to address said challenges in alignment with that Plan. A literature review …

Socializing Vacancy: An Architectural Thesis, Greg Winawer

Architecture Senior Theses

A large portion of office space has been left vacant, and thus provides no beneficial program to its remaining occupants or the local urbanity it is surrounded by. When considering what can be done with this vacant space, the primary motivation should be to integrate a program which does the opposite: a program which positively disrupts its existing context to hybridize and improve the current outdated programmatic arrangement. To insert a residential program into an existing office tower both disrupts and enhances the rigorous flows of our working and our domestic lives. The predefined universal concept of the ‘working-day’ is …

Proposal For A High Tunnel At Delaney Community Farm, Michael Rh Pham

City and Regional Planning

This paper is a case study of an urban agriculture operation in Aurora, Colorado that focuses on providing refugees with food and work that contributes to a sense of community connectedness and pride. The paper is also a proposal for a high tunnel system that could extend the growing season of the farm and provide unique opportunities for urban farmers to learn about emerging resiliency based food production practices.

Collage, Perspective, And Space: The Consequences Of The Method Of Mies Van Der Rohe, Daniel Barker

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

The method in which architects design space has the capacity to shape the manifestation of the built work. Architect Mies van der Rohe is one of the most noteworthy designers to exhibit this in his method of design: collage. This inquiry investigates the connection between the collages and the architecture of Mies van der Rohe, and how his use of collage defined the language of the architecture he created.

The investigation studied the collages and architecture of Mies van der Rohe through a design process investigation. Collages were made in the same language as Mies and used as a …

A Transit Oriented Development Proposal For The Fourth And King Caltrain Station In San Francisco, Samuel Frederic Fluhmann

City and Regional Planning

The South of Market and Mission Bay neighborhoods have seen an explosion in growth over the last decade because of the high cluster of technology company opportunities in the area and the Bay Area’s high housing cost. These two neighborhoods are home to a public transportation hub with two San Francisco Muni metro and bus lines, Caltrain service, and Amtrak intercity bus service to Oakland and other parts of California. The existing Caltrain Fourth and King Station and railyards have massive potential for prime real estate development. San Francisco has seen a 10% increase in population over the last ten …

On The Computational Efficiency Of Les And Hybrid Rans-Les Models In Building Aerodynamics, Aly Mousaad Aly, Faiaz Khaled

Faculty Publications

Large-eddy simulation (LES) has proven to offer superior accuracy in regards to predicting surface pressures compared to the Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) models. However, the primary impediment is the high computational cost associated with LES. The authors attempt to investigate the computational cost and accuracy by employing different sub-grid scale (SGS) models in LES and hybrid RANS-LES models. One of the prerequisites of accurate pressure estimations is to ensure a horizontally homogeneous empty computational domain. This study aims to compare the computational competence qualitatively and quantitatively using an empty domain in regards to the ability to maintain horizontal homogeneity. The …

Julia Morgan: Forgotten, Omitted, Overlooked, Or Celebrated, Renee Meyer

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Julia Morgan (1872-1957) was the first female registered architect in the state of California (1902). Despite her prolific independent practice, recognition for her work came late even for her most known project, Hearst’s Castle in San Simeon, California.

Throughout history, women have been repeatedly left out of the history of architecture and design, often being overshadowed by their male partners. This paper will seek to clarify reasons to decipher why this particular architect was left out of history and the media during her lifetime and will show that her omissions were not solely due to the fact that she was …

Parafiction And The Architectural Imagination, Ashley Glesinger

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

I observe current architecture practice to be too reality-driven. As a response to this issue, this thesis demonstrates parafiction as one productive method of exercising architectural imagination. I define parafiction as a type of fiction that begins with a fact and is presented as a fact in order to demonstrate what the world could be. To create parafictions, I have used multi-medium techniques of representation. Through the representations, this thesis strives to “make present” one person’s imagination.

I see parafiction and architecture both as projective activities. Specifically, that both redefine relationships to what already exists and create tension between the …

The Glob, Spring 2021, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

All Student Newspapers

The Glob was a one-off student newspaper created for the course Words, Images and Ideas, ILLUS 3412-01, taught by Ernest A. Bryant III. Students contributed 1-2 pages each of writing and images on topics such as COVID-19, fashion and style, risograph printing, and more.

More Than Just A Fantasy: Literary Fantasy As An Architectural Tool, Kae Schwalber

Architecture Senior Theses

Fantasy literature world building can suggest and support alternative paths for architectural practice using the super stimuli of fantasy “otherworlds” to promote and create more “placed” spaces and improve the wellbeing of communities. According to Edward Relph, the United States has had an issue with “placelessness” since the 1950’s, where building typologies are nationally distributed and rarely localized. Literary Fantasy has created worlds so desirable that they have permeated into a multi-billion dollar industry that reaches past literature, making the consumption of fictional worlds a central behavior in modern societies. The cultural importance and success of the genre is due …

Constructing Spaces, Deconstructing Meaning: An Examination Of Architecture And Labor At A 17th-Century New Mexican Ranch, Katherine A. Albert

Graduate Masters Theses

There are few archaeological studies of the architecture of 17th-century New Mexican ranches (estancias) due to the paucity of surviving examples. Even fewer archaeological treatments of architecture from 17th-century New Mexico consider the cost of constructing estancias in terms of resource and labor extraction. Using a variety of methods to analyze archaeological evidence from LA 20,000, as well as comparative research of reports from other 17th-century colonial sites, this study presents a hypothetical reconstruction of the three main structures at LA 20,000—the house, the barn, and the corral—and provides estimates of the total quantity of materials and labor needed to …

Out-Of-Plane Behavior Of Concrete Insulated Wall Panels With 2-Inch, 8-Inch, And 10-Inch Insulation, Jacob Luebke

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Insulated concrete sandwich wall panels provide structurally and thermally efficient building envelopes and are becoming more popular as energy regulations tighten. To continually adapt to an ever-changing building market and new energy regulations, insulated concrete wall panels are being constructed with thinner wythes, thicker insulation, and relying on partial composite action to decrease material costs and increase thermal and structural efficiency. Numerous methods of the design of partially composite insulated concrete sandwich wall panels have been introduced in recent decades and have been verified by comparing their results to existing experimental testing. Existing testing data for insulated concrete sandwich wall …

Contaminated Mycoscapes: Designing With Living Organisms, Maria Gutierrez, Elise Zilius

Architecture Senior Theses

The Anthropocene has stripped the planet of its resources, leaving behind an abundance of contamination. The built environment no longer meets the standards set by our turbulent planet. Humankind has lost the privilege of agency in design and construction. Construction methods have failed to evolve concurrently to the intense accumulation of waste; remaining firmly rooted in the materiality of the past, they have upheld architectural notions of stagnancy, cleanliness, and hygiene and ignore the rapidly changing conditions of the environment. This investigation uses contamination to fuel mycelial growth and construct emergent forms whilst executing remediation strategies for polluted sites of …

Dissolving Realities: An Endless Domestic Landscape, Hanzang Lai, Phang Lim

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis explores how the exponential growth in communication technology is changing the way we interact with the tangible and intangible spaces. The invasion of the public into the private, the collective into the domestic, the work into the leisure, and the ability to be constantly connected wirelessly have caused a dissolution of the physical domestic space. The domestic space has lost its value of privacy and intimacy and the boundary between the binaries will be no more. The gap between “the control” and “controlled” has widened and productive workers will be oppressed to be even more productive under the …