Architecture Commons^™

Community In A Post-Diest World, Kirby Benjamin

Masters Theses

We are in need of a new sense of community, that doesn’t rely upon religion. There exists a demand to adapt the church typology to meet the needs of current society rather than allowing these important buildings to be demolished or preserved indefinitely in an unneeded state.

With the decline of Christian religious practice in America, thousands of churches become underutilized or vacant every year, leaving these icons with strong religious associations empty. This abandonment simultaneously impacts the communities these churches once held together. Today’s generations’ sense of community has transitioned from physical to virtual connections, leading to less meaningful …

F(R)Iction, Rami Hammour

Masters Theses

Architecture is a space for stories; stories of the inhabitants, the designers, and the builders...

In my thesis I’m using architecture to tell stories, and criticize ideologies. Stories become the program, the structure, and “building material”, my site is any place where the criticized ideology dominates.

Architecture becomes a question and discussion. It is my question about life, and it is the question of the characters of the story about life. Eventually it’s the question of every inhabitant of it. It’s also an armature for different conditions of interaction of private and public.

In my architecture, spaces are constructed from …

Rising With The Water, Xi Yang

Masters Theses

Under predictions of sea level rise in the next hundred years, this thesis looks at South Boston as an experiment for coastal community development in response to the rising water. South Boston shares issues facing many other coastal communities, including potential risk of flooding and adaptive beach occupations. This body of work primarily investigates innovative strategies to work with the rising water and form sand dunes that will protect the neighborhood from daily floods in 2100, continue providing secure access to the beach, and encourage new public engagements at the waterfront.

Faith In Phases, Linyi Dai

Masters Theses

This architectural proposal is about regaining faith by aligning threads of movements and allowing moments of overlap between the movements. This thesis proposes a series of constructs of an airport based on three phases: passenger, luggage and the airplane. The constructs aim to eliminate the separation between phases and to create overlap between the movements of the three types of objects.

Planning And Design For Hurricane Protection With Sea Level Rise, Bob Ivarson

May 22, 2015: Megaproject Protective Structures for Hampton Roads

No abstract provided.

Ecodistricts In San Francisco: The Implementation Of Neighborhood Regional Planning And Its Potential Effects On Environmental Resilience, Elizabeth M. Juvera

Master's Projects and Capstones

Ecodistricts, or neighborhood-scale, community-driven areas of sustainable development, have emerged internationally and within the U.S. to create models of adaptive environmental design and advanced urban infrastructure. Central SoMa is the first ecodistrict to be planned and implemented in San Francisco, with the intention of revitalizing and greening this urbanized region of the city. At this time, the Central SoMa area has very low biodiversity levels, inefficient infrastructure, and poor water management capabilities. Through the implementation of ecodistricts in San Francisco, the city can integrate physical and behavioral sustainability measures from existing ecodistricts such as permeable surfaces, green roofs, stormwater management, …

Problem-Based Learning As A Model For The Interior Design Classroom: Bridging The Skills Divide Between Academia And Practice, Gregory Galford, Susan Hawkins, Mark Hertweck

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

The addition of problem-based learning (PBL) pedagogy to studio-based learning (SBL) environments may help bridge the divide between traditional design education and initial postgraduate jobs. This paper demonstrates how one instructor adapted a PBL model to the interior design studio, including planning, execution, and evaluation. The relationship between PBL and SBL is explored. Two realistic design problems were created for use by interior design students who participated in PBL sessions. All of the groups adequately answered the client’s design programmatic needs. Students learned to perform as team members, including how to collaborate and compromise while working toward an effective design …

Expanding Hope In Payatas, Rhea Cristine S. Bautista

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Informal settlements, also known as slums or squatter settlements, are a way of life for millions around the world, especially within urban centers. The challenge is to provide a better quality of life, both physically and socially. This thesis provides a critical look into the conditions, limitations, strengths, and hopes of the community of Payatas in Metro Manila, Philippines, with recommendations of measures to support and strengthen the community, by building upon the community’s positive elements to develop social impact.

D. Leonard Thesis Board, D Leonard

Architecture Senior Theses

Britton Award Winner, Thesis Board

Exploring Nineteenth Century Church Architecture In Saint Louis, Missouri: 1870-1900, Rebecca A. Pressimone

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Steeplechasing, a seventeenth century pastime in England, was a form of match horse racing. At the time, steeples were the most distinguishable landmarks and were used to indicate the beginning and end of a steeplechase race. Over time, steeplechasing became more of a sport, and has since been turned into a track and field event, however the idea of the steeplechase remains present in architectural development, travel, and tourism. Saint Louis, Missouri—home to close to fifty religious denominations—is not unaccustomed with the design, history and use of a steeple. In Saint Louis, steeples were, and continue to be staple church …

Chimeric Realities, Thomas C. Moore

Graduate School of Art Theses

This essay examines the urban experience in postmodern cities and mediated reality. Modernity brought a change in perception that altered the experience of the city. This shift was registered through cinema which disrupted the fixity of classical space and provided an aesthetic reception similar to the gaze the flaneur. With the transition into postmodernism came the idea of the Heterotopia, a city that is capable of juxtaposing multiple temporalities and spaces that are themselves incompatible. The postmodern city developed with the exponential growth of mass communication and consumption immersing us in mediated reality.

My projective works make use of collage …

The Role Of Healing Gardens, Kalina K. Vander Poel

Student Research Symposium

The objective of this research is to observe the use patterns of a healing garden located on the oncology floor of a pediatric hospital. Use patterns recorded through behavior mapping and tracking focus on collecting data related to the type of user, length of stay, and activity. Three user groups (patient, provider, and visitor) stay an average of eight (8) minutes at Randall Children’s Hospital ranging in activity from sit and relax to actively play. Some findings are concurrent with past research while other findings are not. This research serves as an initial set of data to inform the production …

Portland State University School Of Business Administration (Sba) Renovation + Personal Comfort Investigation, Abolfazl Mekanik, Corey Griffin, Louise Foster

Student Research Symposium

This poster discusses the results of a field study about indoor thermal comfort, based on investigations in Portland State University`s School of Business (SBA) classrooms. The field study was conducted by physical parameter monitoring and questionnaires. Both field monitoring and occupant surveys were performed at the same time during the regular class period.The measurement campaign consisted of measuring the environmental parameters such as temperature (Ta), relative humidity (RH), CO₂, and sound levels. The outdoor air temperature, humidity, and sound were registered every 2 hour period during class time. The intention for this project is to investigate thermal comfort …

The Effects Of Urban Containment Policies On Commuting Patterns, Sung Moon Kwon

Dissertations and Theses

During the past several decades, most U.S. metropolitan areas have experienced strong suburbanization of housing and jobs (i.e., urban sprawl). The sprawl that arises from urban growth has become a big issue in many metropolitan areas in the U.S. In response, there has been increased interest in urban containment policies. There are contrasting views (planning-oriented vs. market-oriented) of urban sprawl and urban containment policies. Planning-oriented scholars asserted the problems of 'geographic sprawl (GS)' and the positive effects of urban containment polices, while market-oriented scholars asserted the problems of 'economic sprawl (ES)' and the negative or negligible effects of urban containment …

Architecture Through The Senses, Hannah E. Schurrer

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Current academic environments do not allow Children with Sensory Processing Disorder(spd) to function at an appropriate degree. They are either isolated in an environment which caters to their needs or are vulnerable in the uncontrollable environment of the “real world”.

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) is a condition that exists when sensory signals don’t get organized into appropriate responses. It’s a neu­rological “traffic jam” that prevents certain parts of the brain from receiving the information needed to interpret sensory information correctly. A person with SPD finds it difficult to process and act upon information received through the senses, which creates challenges …

Changing Permanence, Matthew R. Kreutzer

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Architecture and buildings are looked at as “permanent” and “stable” objects within society, and yet almost everything about them change over their lifetime. All the individual pieces that make up a building are replaced, renovated, or upgraded as time goes on and still the building as the whole remains. This interesting dynamic of a static object containing a constantly changing system is something often overlooked within the design process.

The majority of buildings today are made to suite the particular interests of the present with little thought given over to the needs of the future. This mentality has recently begun …

Architectural Presence, Kendra Lee Heimes

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Architecture plays a fundamental role in the fight against language extinction. Not only does it house the effort to document and revitalize languages, it can create architectural presence (design that makes the invisible visible) that better enables minority language communities to narrate, remember, and communicate their stories, memories and histories while collectively building upon them. Creating architectural presence is crucial to the best outreach practices of language documentation and revitalization.

Architectural Bridge Consequence, Jennifer Gaiko

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The architectural significance of bridges is indisputable. Often bridges are accredited to engineers for their transportation and functional needs; however, bridges are so much more than fundamental. The cultural significance and identity of bridges, iconic historic perspectives, influences of composition and function, style and architectural relevance and so much more are all elements that begin to shift the perspective and purpose of architectural bridges to that of a meaningful architectural symbol. Bridges impact the world, the countries they represent and the communities they inhabit. The relationship between bridges and architectural consequence is proven by the idea of iconography and practical …

A Guide For Planning A Bike Share System At The University Of Nebraska–Lincoln, Wade M. Schuldt

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

The purpose of this document is to serve as a framework for planning a bicycle share system at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with the possible inclusion of the City of Lincoln, Nebraska, in the system. This document provides a background review of the evolution of bike share systems and the recent rapid growth of these systems around the world. The document describes planning methodologies used in other locations and the lessons learned from the bike share systems around the world, as to what processes should be pursued to implement a successful bike share system. With the University of Nebraska-Lincoln move …

Activating Communities: A Space For Inclusive Recreation In Central New York, Cassandra Pettinati

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The concept is to design a specialized sports and recreation facility for adults and children with physical disabilities. Located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Syracuse New York, this facility serves as a healthy alternative to destructive behavior that is common in this low-income area. It also becomes a fun destination for members within the community. The space facilitates current and future adapted sports teams by providing a venue for practices and tournaments. It also offers the necessary support and resources for families who are new to adapted recreation. Ultimately, this space serves as an outlet for those with …