Architecture Commons^™

Design Guidelines And Strategies For Thermal Solar Management Of Fenestration In The Desert Climate, David Mccredo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research evaluates the effects of varying thermal properties of windows in

residential energy use for the moderate altitude and 36'N latitude climate of southern

Nevada, which has a distinct cooling season. A selection of windows across different

shading conditions and total window areas were studied using BEopt energy simulation.

Findings demonstrate that for the specific climate, latitude, and altitude of Las Vegas,

Nevada, the most expensive “high performance” windows are not always the best

option in terms of total site energy use, and can be outperformed by properly shaded

less advanced windows. Under certain conditions, shading was found to …

Assessing The Potential For A Backfire Effect On Citizen Perceptions: A Test Of Hot Spot Policing In Las Vegas, Steven Andrew Pace

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Objects: In this dissertation, I explore whether the use of motorized police saturation patrol in high crime neighborhoods negatively impacts citizen perceptions of police activity, opinions about the police, and perceived safety level. This research focuses on evaluating

whether or not any backfire effects were attributed to the use of the hot spot policing tactic. Methods: I report on survey data from the Smart Policing Initiative (SPI), which entailed face-to face interviews in 12 hot spot neighborhoods (n=1,005) (6 paired locations) as part of an evaluation from the SPI on the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Mobile Crime Saturation Team. …

Cohousing Design Strategies For Active Aging, Marisela Thompson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Objective:

Evaluate and identify approaches to the physical design, with emphasis on the interior design, of a cohousing model can be adapted to support the physical, cognitive and social health aspects of active aging.

Background:

Housing models evolve with the needs of society. Today, the societal practice of living in traditional nuclear-family based housing is challenged by the lack of financial resources(Blanchard 2017) and the need to care for an aging population. This project attempts to identify a housing model that promotes multigenerational co-housing as a means to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the elder population.

One factor …

Sustainable Interiors: Green Design Methods And Its Influence On Ecopsychology, Tillie M. O'Reilly

Student Theses 2015-Present

The profession of interior design proposes to enhance interior spaces through the use of furnishings, lighting, and color palettes while adhering to safety standards and building codes. Although designers follow strict codes to beautify a space, they may disregard the natural environment when choosing materials that are aesthetically pleasing. It is difficult for designers to design sustainably when they must balance many demands in design such as functionality, aesthetics, safety, and clients’ tastes. This paper addresses how sustainable design methods can be incorporated into the field of interior design to benefit the environment, while simultaneously improving the beauty of the …

Marching Toward The Finish​, Juan Siliezar

Featured News Story

A quick look at the work master's of architecture students are presenting as part of their graduate thesis.

Urban Scaling And The Impact Of Socioeconomic Performance On Health And Environmental Outcomes, Sky Tallman

Architecture and Planning ETDs

This thesis explores the question of whether correlations between socioeconomic indicators and health and environmental indicators can be observed at the metropolitan level of analysis. Indicators are considered both in terms of per capita values and scale-adjusted values. Scale-adjusted values are a concept based on research on urban scaling which account for the agglomeration effect of population on socioeconomic output and describe a city’s performance in terms of how it compares with expected performance on an indicator for its population size based on the power law scaling of that indicator to population. These indicators provide an alternative baseline for comparing …

The Fine Arts In Architecture: Creation Of The Wku College Of Fine Arts, Austin Young

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Over the years, the fine arts have served as the embodiment of a cultures beliefs and practices. From Art and Music to Language and Communications, the fine arts have shaped the way we interact and live our daily lives. Architecture is considered one of the many fine arts. Architecture has served as a physical monument of the representation of these ideals. Many artistic principles such as rhythm and repetition are prevalent in the detail orientation of architecture, and other principles such as performance and expression, showcase the beauty behind design that influences people’s thoughts and feelings. This research will establish …

Adaptive Reuse: Breathing Life Into America's Railways, Carter Jackson

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

For serving as a tool of westward expansion and industrial growth, the United States owes much of its history to the existence of railroads. Many of the derelict train stations constructed in the early 20th century remain in prominent locations in their cityscape, and through the advent of high speed rail in the United States, could rediscover their importance as the transportation hubs of tomorrow. One such station is located in Chattanooga, Tennessee: The Chattanooga Terminal Station, also known as the “Chattanooga Choo Choo.” In 2016, the Georgia Department of Transportation released the results of a nine-year study on the …

Suicide Normal Absurdity Foxconn Utopia, Yenhsi Tung, Yuchi Kuo

Architecture Senior Theses

Suicide normal absurdity Foxconn utopia is a study of modern architecture and urbanism in the information age. It posits that the metropolis spectacle that can be infinitely extended as a sprawling and systematic intervention. Snafu narrates the spectacle of high-efficiency in the Shenzhen and Hong Kong region, as represented by the existing Foxconn technology group in the Longhua campus. This manufacturing panorama is utopian. It consists of normal and all-inclusive phenomenon for each occupant in the form of productive cell that is embedded within an efficient coordinated system. Additionally, the standardization, optimization and hierarchical manipulation formulated by snafu generates a …

Urban Oasis, Hailey Wilkins

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

We are living in the society with basic needs for connection, meaning, and purpose. This is because our generation is experiencing its highest level of documented mental illness patients in years due to a rise in urban sprawl, causing pollution, traffic, anxiety, depression and more, this is known as urban stress. The majority of our built environment is designed and constructed by architects and urban planners who disagree with the programmatic identity of the spaces that they are creating and how it starts to affect the user of the environment. The spaces they are creating without establishing a connection to …

Managing Riparian Succession And Stabilizing Native Plant Assemblages In The Middle Rio Grande State Park, Roman M. Lopez

Architecture and Planning ETDs

Anthropogenic alterations of hydro geomorphological conditions of the Rio Grande River have changed the processes that have created the mosaic of riparian habitats valuable for ecosystem functioning, wildlife, and enjoyment by residents. These changes have created conditions that have increased the frequency of historically unprecedented disturbances such as fire and aggressive invasion of exotic species. Restoration activities and planning efforts have begun to reverse these effects, yet large areas of the Middle Rio Grande State Park, commonly called the Bosque, are still being affected by ecosystem changes. Studies of the Rio Grande and other Riparian corridors suggest that lack of …

Papine Market: Culture, Climate, Resource, Denique Lindsay

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Markets maintain a setting for communities to make a living as well as provide daily life essentials. It is an act common in the culture and economy of places all around the globe. In the Caribbeans Greater Antilles it has prevailed historically as a necessary operation for the regions inhabitants. But many of the present day market settings, like that which is found on the island of Jamaica, have promoted unhealthy and uninviting environment for the market in habitants and for the surrounding contexts. One in particular has played a very important role in my family’s daily life, Papine Market …

The Hutongs Blooming 08, L Khawn Din

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

China’s rapid development has altered the city’s landscape on a massive scale, continually eroding the delicate urban tissue of old Beijing. Such dramatic changes have forced an aging architecture to rely on chaotic, spontaneous renovations to survive the ever-changing neighborhood. In addition, poor standards of hygiene have turned unique living space and potential thriving communities into a serious urban problem. Hutongs are gradually becoming the local inhabitants’ dumpster and the haven for the wealthy. The hutongs blooming 08, will be inserted into the urban fabric, structure like clouds, attracting new people, activities, and resources to reactivate entire neighborhoods. They exist …

An Archaeological Perspective On Architectural Evolution At Fort Harrison, Rachel Nicole Bergstresser

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Fort Harrison is a historic home located in Rockingham County, Virginia. Occupation of the site began in 1749, when Daniel Harrison constructed the original limestone dwelling, and today it is protected and interpreted by Fort Harrison, Inc. The Department of Anthropology at James Madison University has performed exploratory archaeological fieldwork to better document change in the way the site has been utilized.

This project has evaluated the hypothesis that the main (front) entrance to the house was relocated from the northerly-facing side to the southerly-facing side, in conjunction with the decision to enlarge the structure. Archaeological findings and architectural evidence …

Adhocracy, Sara Denney

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Adhocracy Sara Denney The Situationists of the 1960’s were cultural revolutionaries critical of passive consumerism and encouraged the reawakening of everyday life. In the spirit of the Situationists, and operating as an “ad-hocing” machine, this project proposes a machine to repurpose objects of everyday life -- reimagining what things might become and transcending limits of their inherent definitions. Why can’t a stroller be a shower head? Categories by default create opposing forces within a situation. Arthur Rimbaud, a French poet who influenced situationist thought, coined the quote “Il faut changer la vie”, “we must change life”. By freeing things from …

Rehabilitated Ruins, Abigail Cathryn Gwin

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Rehabilitated Ruins proposes an alternative to the American Prison System, by offering true-rehabilitation based programs. These programs include: specialized counseling, family visitation, leisure activities, places of learning...

This Is Not A Memorial, Kaitlin Burger

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

After the Vietnam / American War, both lives

and land were left devastated and still remain

scarred, acting as a tangible memory of the

violence that occurred on Vietnamese soil.

Craters the size of lakes cover the countryside.

People live daily with the injuries and birth

defects resulting from malicious warfare. Though

the fighting is over, the suffering is not. Also

left behind were thousands of pounds of unexploded

ordinance embedded into the landscape, waiting to

resurface. In many unfortunate cases, the

curiosity of children has lead them to these

brightly-colored objects and, thus, their death.

My architectural installation will …

Atmospheric Resiliency: Enhancing Environmental Air Quality Through Bio-Architecture, Francesca Boakye

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The theory of purifying a city’s smog filled atmosphere by using green microalgae can be architecturally realized through a designed building envelope composed of multiple units of microalgae filled perforated panels. The nature of this project is bio-architectural. Precise execution of it relies on deep research in vehicular emission pollution in terms of molecular composition. This research will help identify the most prominent pollutant in the smog composition and match it to a species of algae that can completely process it during photosynthesis. In addition to air pollution research, research on algae typology, growth and environmental impact is also essential …

Profanation, Tsahi Zac H. Hacmon

Theses and Dissertations

This paper attempts to provoke an Israeli American dialogue that comes through profanity of conventional architecture. I am creating this dialogue by displaying two main subjects in proximity to each other: border architecture from Israel and institutional architecture or non-places in New York.

Adoration And Art: Ancient Egypt, Greece, And Rome, Fiona Wirth

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

"Adoration and Art" focuses upon religious artifacts from the ancient Mediterranean and explores what these artifacts reveal about the religious practices and sacred spaces of their cultures. This Honors College capstone consisted of an exhibition through the Lisanby Museum utilizing artifacts from the Madison Art Collection. This text is the full exhibition catalog compiled by the student through her research as an intern for the Lisanby Museum.