Architecture Commons^™

Co-Creation: A Study Of Intimacy And Control, Erin Brooks

Theses and Dissertations

Drawing from ongoing revitalization initiatives in Richmond, Virginia, this adaptive reuse project creates a structured dialogue between public and private expression to create a more immersive gallery experience for viewer and practitioner. The gallery experience is twofold; traditional object-based display and nontraditional process-based display. Preservation of the historic fabric of the existing Handcraft building at 1501 Roseneath is integrated with the transformative potential of introducing voyeuristic opportunities in creating a community arts center. Notions of voyeurism will center around ideas of visual connection and physical separation. This project questions if tactics of voyeurism, which inherently create physical barriers, can facilitate …

Lucky Strike House: The Space Between, Monika Shreves

Theses and Dissertations

With the onset of one of the worst economic downturns in recent history, the face of poverty is changing. This project seeks to explore a design solution aimed at helping a newly emerging segment of the population: the “half homeless”, formerly middle class individuals/families who lost their jobs and homes during the recession.

Set in the building known as the Lucky Strike Power Plant, the project contains two distinct, but overlapping, programs: 1) multi-family housing, and 2) a continuum of supportive services accessible to both the residents and the community at large. The main focus of this project is the …

Old To New And New To Old: A Study Of Dematerializing Transitions Between Old And New Architecture, Jane Ellen T. Moss

Theses and Dissertations

This project explores the juxtaposition of classical and contemporary architectural forms as they coexist within Richmond City’s urban fabric. It is an assessment and understanding of how the built environment can reinforce transitions between old and new in ways that both integrate architectural differences and embrace historical identity.

Richmond, and a large part of Virginia in general, has been shaped by the historical events of its existence. The sights of the city reveal a clash of the old and new. It is a city where newer developments and traditional elements have been trying to co-mingle.

The design incorporates a contemporary …

Transportation Safety In Virginia: Positive Changes And Future Prospects, Nouran Hakami

Theses and Dissertations

Measured by the level of transportation safety, the Commonwealth of Virginia stands out from all the States because despite increased need for mobility, it manages to maintain its safety indices at exceptionally good levels. In many respects we can attribute this success to the comprehensive Strategic Highway Safety Plan of Virginia (SHSP), which is, as concluded from the analysis of its analogues, among the best in the US. The programs and policies described in this document embrace all aspects of transportation safety and create a harmonious system. To assess the effectiveness of the SHSP, this thesis used correlation and regression …

Empirically Derived Effective Stiffness Expressions For Concrete Walls, Andrew Mock, Anahid A. Behrouzi, Laura Lowes, Dawn Lehman, Daniel Kuchma

Architectural Engineering

In most cases, analysis to determine component demands for seismic design of concrete buildings employs linear elastic models in which reduced, effective component stiffnesses are used. This document i) reviews the recommendations for defining the effective flexural, shear and axial stiffness of concrete walls that are included in current design codes, standards and guidelines and ii) compares these recommendations with stiffness expressions derived directly from experimental data by the authors and others. Section 2 reviews existing empirically derived and code‐, standard‐, and guideline‐based expressions for the effective stiffness of concrete walls. Section 3 presents the process used by the authors …

Summary Of Large-Scale C-Shaped Reinforced Concrete Wall Tests, Anahid A. Behrouzi, Andrew Mock, Laura Lowes, Dawn Lehman, Daniel Kuchma

Architectural Engineering

Flexural concrete walls (i.e., walls the yield in flexural prior to failure) are used commonly as the lateral load resisting system for mid‐ and high‐rise buildings on the West Coast. They are relatively stiff under service‐level loading, can take on various configurations to accommodate architectural constraints, and are generally assumed to exhibit ductile response under severe earthquake loading. Despite heavy reliance on concrete walls, relatively little research has been done to investigate the earthquake performance of walls with modern design details. Few data exist characterizing the performance of modern walls under variable levels of earthquake loading or the impact of …

Second Skin, Britta Bielak

Theses and Dissertations

Reason for writing. The space of confusion and possibility where the practices of art and design collide seems to be in a constant amoebic state. This place of shared influence and growth seems to pervade not only the intersection of these two disciplines, but within interior design, the intersection of people and space. How can the boundaries between an interior space and it’s inhabitants be as richly embedded with tension and opportunity as the edges where art and design meet? Like art and design, how can a space and it’s visitors interact to affect one another?

Problem + Methodology: This …

616 Hull Street_ Interaction Through Discovery In Design, Elizabeth T. Mitchell

Theses and Dissertations

The community of Old Town Manchester lies across from downtown Richmond on the south side of the James River. Annexed in 1910, Manchester was the industrial hub of the city and home to the Chesterfield Railroad, the first railway in Virginia and used to transport coal. These industrial roots are still evident today in the warehouses and manufacturing facilities that continue to operate or have been repurposed.

The building of focus is located on the corner of bustling Hull Street and quiet 7th Avenue. Distinctive in its stone masonry exterior, 616 Hull was constructed in the 1920s as a Chevrolet …

Story-Telling Through The Design Of A Permanent Mission Trip Training And Housing Facility, Betty L. Rowe

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed- assembly space is designed as a permanent mission trip training and housing facility. Predominately the space will be used by middle school and high school youth. By creating a modern experience, teens are given a better opportunity to engage in a space they can relate to. It becomes a space where young people feel encouraged to share their feelings, beliefs and desires as they journey into a closer, more intimate relationship with a higher being.

The space is intended to serve a transient population. A large portion of the first floor is devoted to communal gathering which provides …

Techstyle Haus Project Drawings, Architecture Department, Jonathan Knowles

Prototype

Complete Techstyle Haus project drawings. The Solar Decathlon competition challenges twenty collegiate teams to design and build sustainable homes that are powered exclusively by solar energy and incorporate sustainable architecture and design. Techstyle Haus is an international Brown University, RISD and University of Applied Sciences Erfurt,Germany collaboration designing a solar passivehaus out of high performance textiles.

Larc 331: Site Systems Iii: Landscape Implementation—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Bret Betnar

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

LARC 331 Site Systems III: Landscape Implementation is a 3rd year undergraduate course that focuses on the implementation of landscape architectural designs. The course is the final in a 3-course Site Systems sequence. In LARC 331, students take the final design proposal from the previous semester’s Site Design studio, LARC 210 or 211, and develop a set of construction documents for that design.

The research question asked through this inquiry is as follows: Can the inclusion of a drawing and building exercise improve students’ understanding of The Ten Fundamentals of drafting? It is believed that by including an additional drawing …

Reconsidering Firmitas: Durability As An Integral Function Of The Sustainably Built Environment, Katherine P. Yzurdiaga

Pomona Senior Theses

Architecture is an inherently functional art – buildings have functions, some more vital than others, beyond the objective of sheer aesthetic appeal. Yet at the same time, aesthetic appeal is an integral part of the human experience that many agree is vital to sustainability objectives, including those of the built environment. Ideally, a building would be able to embody and honor both principles, both form and function, but some contend that in the current architectural climate, the emphasis on beauty has surpassed the importance placed on functionality. This discussion is particularly relevant to sustainability in the built environment: Sustainability as …

Impacts Of Transportation Infrastructure Proximity And Accessibility On Real Property Values, Arturo Bujanda

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Investments in public infrastructure such as highways, airports, mass transit, and stadiums can increase adjacent property values, generating a value premium for private developers and adjacent property owners. A portion of this value can be "captured" as public revenue via property taxes to assist financing such improvements. States and local governments aim to anticipate and capture the economic value created by transportation accessibility. While value capture (VC) represents an opportunity for regional agencies to recapture some transportation infrastructure costs, it is not clear how much value is added by the infrastructure in a particular region. This research applies geographic weighted …

The Unregulated Operational Energy Loads Of Low Energy Buildings: Considering The Idiogrpahic Theory Of Design Through Post-Occupancy Evaluation, Cian O'Driscoll

Theses

The growing concern by building designers, owners and operators of the unregulated energy loads in their buildings is pushing research globally to address this issue. The term “unregulated” energy loads refers to a building’s energy demands outside of the “regulated” heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and lighting loads (Whyte, J. and Gann, D.M., 2001). These unregulated energy loads are primarily produced by the equipment and activities of those who work in the building, as opposed to the energy that maintains basic building comfort. Energy research is continually compounding the urgent need to craft innovative design strategies, and sustainable feedback …

Domestic Megalithic Architecture: An Analysis Of Status And Community At And Around The Ancient Maya Site Of Uci, Yucatan, Mexcio, Joseph S. Stair

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

Variation in domestic architecture results from the agency households exercise in their daily lives. This study defines the domestic expression of the megalithic architectural style, based on data collected in and around the ancient Maya site of Ucí, Yucatan, Mexico, by comparing it to its expression in monumental structures. It also shows how the analysis and documentation of architectural variability away from the monumental core can locate more than just commoners and elites within the social organization of the Ancient Maya. This analyzes provides evidence for higher social status for households that possess megalithic architecture since they also possess larger …

A Cultural Heritage Management Methodology For Assessing The Vulnerabilities Of Archaeological Sites To Predicted Climate Change Focuing On Ireland's Two World Heritage Sites, Caithleen Daly

Doctoral

The affect climate change will have on cultural heritage preservation poses a global challenge and is being addressed by international organisations such as UNESCO and ICOMOS. The aim of this doctoral research is to assist heritage managers in understanding the implications of climate change for the sites in their care. It addresses the question of how to approach the assessment and measurement of climate change impacts on cultural heritage. The potential future effects of climate change on cultural heritage in temperate climates are discussed and current international practice in the management of climate change impacts on cultural heritage is investigated. …

The State Of Community Design: An Analysis Of Community Design Center Services, Donovan Finn, Jason Brody

School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

Community design is a specific type practice rooted in participatory and emancipatory notions of planning and design to overcome environmental, social and economic injustice at low or no cost to the client. Since its beginnings in the early 1960’s, many of community design’s early and then-radical ideas have become more mainstream. In order to assess the state of modern community design, in comparison to its activist roots, this project reviews the websites of 81 community design centers in the United States to ascertain the approaches that centers use in order to successfully achieve operational goals. The research suggests that the …

A Commensalist Architecture: Intervening With History To Revitalize Asbury Park, Nj, Caitlin Osepchuk

Architecture Theses and Projects

I propose to design a structure that will serve to not only create a new space, but also protect, enhance, and revitalize a forgotten structure of old. Through the ideas of commensalism, transference, complicity, coupling, cutting, enjambements, and coverings I will explore different techniques solve the above stated problem. Through these explorations, I hope to use a variety of techniques that can be used to revitalize, protect, and even enhance different structures. I will revitalize a specific forgotten structure using my own architectural aesthetic and understanding of the site and techniques to not only benefit the building, the surrounding area, …

Reclaimed Identity/Innov - Roc: The Innovation Hub + Revitalization Of High Falls, Rochester, Ny, Justin M. Dufresne

Architecture Theses and Projects

This project is not about creating a piece of architecture that will serve as an icon to an idea or movement. Rather, this project is about how a series of smaller architectural interventions can reinforce a context that is already established and has roots that can be traced back to the city’s founding. A series of smaller programs linked together, and to the larger urban context will serve as a means of re-energizing this forgotten district, and re-energizing a city that has been in steady decline for the last several decades. The project must draw on several community partners and …

Architecture For Ruins: How Building New Can Showcase The Old In Barboursville, Va, Alison B. Fredericks

Architecture Theses and Projects

This project will explore the relationships between newly built, contemporary architecture and existing ruins. The product will be an architecture that works with historic preservation to highlight the values of the old and will achieve a stimulating yet respectful design that demonstrates how ruins can be used in modern day settings as a means of bringing people closer to ruins. It will be an architecture that can be used to integrate historic ruins back into their contemporary settings. The focus of this project will be an early nineteenth-century ruin in Barboursville, Virginia that is located on the site of a …