Architecture Commons^™

[Shape Up!], Noah D. Garity

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

"designs and strategies for urban play-scapes and the notion of a deployable play-city"

Through the proliferation of exclusively visual stimuli urbanites are growing disconnected from their peers. People need tangible and physical stimuli in the built environment. Emergence is the tendency for a population to connect without any preconceived notion of such. Emergence is a critical term in the discussion of growing urban isolation. Emergence and play are intertwined, both are critical in addressing urban disconnection. Using architecture, emergence will guarantee a resurgence in urban connectivity.

People need play.

This thesis will generate positive disruption to reengage street citizens and …

New Suburbanism Learning From Suburbia, Gregory A. Sweat Jr.

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Why does current architecture not address suburban spaces? Suburban spaces are the bulk of what is seen in Atlanta Georgia; and are the most common lived space these spaces are known as Sprawl, this sprawl seen in Atlanta can be described as fragmented, contradictory, corporate, smooth, additive and ever expanding. Suburban spaces are also airy, convenient and it addresses the needs of our current societal needs. What happens when you embrace and intensify the junkspaces and non-places seen in suburbia? How do you live with the parking lot, the big box store and the strip mall? This thesis is about …

Living With Historic Architecture, Jenil A. Thornton

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

In recent decades, the awareness of history and heritage has permeated the state of our built-environment. In this line of thought, preserving, conserving, and restoring historic buildings have become a major approach in architecture. Further, with growing interests of a sustainable future, preservation, conservation, restoration, and adaptive reuse gives possible avenues for sustainable designs. Preservation is to create an environment to protect and prolong the buildings’ life, while Restoration is to preserve and reveal the aesthetic and historic value, the aura, of the space. Conservation is the combination of both preservation and restoration. Overall, they relate to interests in experiencing …

Raising Families, Restoring Communities Through Adaptive Re-Use Design: Housing For Single Parents In New York, Laila S. Smith

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis explores the transformative potential of adaptive reuse in addressing New York’s growing housing crisis, with a focus on creating affordable, high-quality housing communities for single-parent families in Yonkers. As the population of New York continues to rise, housing affordability remains a pressing issue, particularly for low- and moderate-income families. Over half of renters in the region are rent-burdened, spending more than 35% of their income on housing, which leaves limited financial capacity for essential needs such as childcare, healthcare, and food. Single-parent households are especially vulnerable, often struggling to find stable, supportive housing in safe and resource-rich neighborhoods. …

Blood Architecture : Designing A Hemophilia Treatment Center Through Biomimetic Principles, Melissa Da Costa Schmidt

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis explores how biomimetic principles drawn from the blood clotting process can inform the architectural design of hemophilia treatment centers, enhancing their efficiency, adaptability, and patient-centered care. By paralleling the phases of hemostasis—platelet aggregation, clotting factor activation, and fibrin stabilization—with spatial functions, the design proposes a layout where acute care areas are centrally positioned for rapid response, while rehabilitation zones support long-term healing, mirroring the reinforcement phase of clotting. Regulated movement and spatial zoning echo the precise control of clot formation, promoting accessibility, privacy, and reduced congestion. Architectural forms inspired by vascular networks, combined with the use of natural …

Mental Liberation, Jason A. Rosales

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Health is often prioritized for its physical aspects, yet the significance of mental health is frequently overlooked, despite its profound impact on someone’s overall well-being. Mental health is gradually becoming a less sensitive topic, particularly among young adults and teenagers, as they increasingly seek help. However, the current mental health institutions often fail to provide a safe and helpful environment for patients to prosper and recover.

These institutions are commonly described as jail-like or draining, lacking the uplifting and private atmosphere necessary for healing. Various factors contribute to these negative perceptions, including the absence of natural sunlight, cramped and suffocating …

Spatial Echoes, Joy Cherichel

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This abstract critiques the limitations within the U.S. education system, arguing that its selective preservation of history often obscures crucial narratives, particularly regarding systemic racism. Focusing on the suppressed history of Oscarville and the expulsion of Black residents from Forsyth County, Georgia, in 1912, the proposal advocates for architectural intervention to combat this historical amnesia. The central research question explores how architecture can preserve and convey unbiased racial history to enhance education. The thesis posits that intentionally designed architecture can serve as a powerful and enduring educational tool, making it harder to ignore marginalized histories. To address this, the abstract …

Revitalizing Ahmedabad's Neighborhoods: Integrating Vastu Shastra-Mixed-Use Housing And Market, Jhanvi S. Patel

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Founded in 1411, Ahmedabad is rich in cultural and architectural heritage, exemplified in its traditional pols densely packed neighborhoods fostering a sense of community, shared identity, and architectural ingenuity. Now part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, these pols are deteriorating, facing overcrowded streets, aging infrastructure, and substandard sanitation. Despite these issues, many residents remain due to strong family and cultural ties. This project explores the potential of using Vastu Shastra, an ancient Indian construction science, to guide sustainable revitalization while preserving the city’s unique identity. It examines the integration of Vastu principles in improving waste management, ventilation, and sanitation …

From Camps To Communities, Briyonna A. Reid

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis explores the potential to reimagine refugee camps not as temporary settlements, but as long-term, resilient communities that foster hope, dignity, and social cohesion for displaced populations. While refugee camps have historically provided critical emergency shelter from violence, persecution, and economic instability, their design and infrastructure often prioritize short-term survival over long-term well-being. As protracted displacement becomes increasingly common, there is an urgent need to rethink how these spaces function and evolve. This research argues that through innovative, inclusive design and planning, refugee camps can become sustainable environments that promote self-sufficiency, stability, and integration with host communities.

The thesis …

Urban Refuge: Plausible Architectural Solution For The Unhoused, Cameron Lewis

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Growing up in and around Atlanta, the presence of unhoused individuals has always been a stark reality. My dad often recounted how many people experiencing homelessness he would pass on his commute downtown, and as a child, I vividly recall seeing groups of unhoused individuals at MARTA stops and on the streets. Even as I’ve grown older, these same scenes are still there. According to the 2023 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, over 653,000 people nationwide were reported homeless, with 256,610 of them unsheltered. In Atlanta, the 2024 Point-In-Time count revealed a …

Origami Lunar Habitation Unfolding A Future Colony In Space, Andrew Fields

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

What is origami? Origami is the ancient Japanese art of folding paper into decorative pieces. Today we use origami as a way to compact things for better storage or transportation and still to create decorative pieces of art. Origami is a must in space travel as it allows for large satellites to be folded and compacted down into a rocket and then unfolded in space to allow for the most surface area for solar absorption.

How can origami help? By making it possible to create lightweight, expandable structures that can be used in alien environments and by enabling the repair …

Revitalizing Oncology By Transforming Treatment Environments By Reconnecting To Life, Lindsey Garcia

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

There is a growing consensus among researchers that human activities have profoundly reshaped the Earth's environment, to the point that our modes of living and their ecological footprint have given rise to new conditions of habitability. This transformation marks not merely the continuation of human dominance, but the emergence of a new era in which human and non-human actors are linked in shaping the future of life on Earth. Our collective actions from urban expansion to industrial processes exert influence not only on the built environment but also on the health and vitality of all species. A critical example of …

Wheelchair Worlds: [Re]Imagining Architecture For A Mobility-Centered Society, Stephanie Kim Le

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis reimagines architecture from the perspective of wheelchair users, proposing a mobility-centered design approach where ramps, movement, and sensory experience are the foundation of form — not afterthoughts. Rather than adding accessibility features to an able-bodied norm, the project designs entirely from the experience of wheeled movement. Through the creation of a Wellness and Recreation Center at East Montlake Park in Seattle, the thesis investigates how ramps can become architectural generators, how sensory-responsive materials can shape spatial dignity, and how buildings can welcome all bodies through seamless, inclusive circulation.

Drawing from both research and real-world challenges, the design replaces …

Viewing From The Sidelines: Tackling Temporality Impacting Displaced Refugees By Humanizing Border Design, Robinson Badell-Garcia

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Every day, you follow a routine that brings comfort- be it work, errands, or family care. Now, imagine the unthinkable: your stable world collapses around you, leaving you homeless and adrift. Stripped of job and shelter, what’s the best option? To leave and seek answers in unfamiliar places while grappling with the profound isolation and discrimination that comes from being displaced.

As architects, our role is to communicate people's dreams and realities, striving for a sustainable future while fostering dialogue and care. This thesis focuses on the architectural response to the increasing displacement along the Türkiye-Syria border, exacerbated by ongoing …

Weaving Of Spaces: Designing Spaces That Create Opportunities For Communication And Freedom Though Ease Of Access., Fiona Louise Duvall

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Suburban environments frequently experience spatial and temporal, fragmentation, resulting in disjointed landscapes, limited social interaction, and a weakened sense of place. This thesis explores how the strategic design and integration of interconnected destinations can counteract these issues by fostering continuous, accessible, and engaging public spaces. Focusing on an area just outside Marietta Square in Georgia, the project proposes a network of vibrant, multipurpose nodes linked through walkable corridors and green infrastructure. By enhancing physical and social connectivity, the design aims to create rhythms of use that span different times of day and appeal to a diverse range of residents. Through …

A Work[Play]Ce For All: Working Hard And Playing Hard Shouldn't Be This Hard, Mary E. Caldwell

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

62% of the United States Labor Force goes to an office every day. That means that nearly 6 out of every 10 Americans spend most of their days experiencing an ordinary office environment every week. Children, on the other hand, spend most of their days in school, where they are constantly given playful and enjoyable tasks to promote their learning. Why does this concept of promoting pleasant emotions in a person’s everyday life seem to disappear as we become older and our everyday life becomes more critical to well-being? Imagine if offices were designed to promote pleasant experiences.

This thesis …

Reclaiming Space: Addressing Urban Stratification In Atlanta's Bankhead Neighborhood, Maci J. Sims

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Picture Bankhead, Atlanta, a neighborhood woven with Black cultural history, where generations of families have shaped a strong, resilient community. But now, that fabric is fraying. Luxury developments rise where community landmarks once stood, coffee shops replace local staples, and long-time residents are priced out. At the center of this transformation is the Atlanta Beltline, originally envisioned as a unifying greenway, now a powerful catalyst for displacement in neighborhoods like Bankhead. The root of this crisis is not just affordability, but a deep housing imbalance: a polarized system of luxury high-rises and clustered affordable housing, leaving middle-income residents without space …

Tensile Techonics, Jesus A. Vielma

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Architecture has traditionally responded to seismic threats with mass, rigidity, and fortification. However, in an era of increasing seismic volatility and material innovation, the architectural response must evolve from resisting nature to coexisting with it.

This thesis reimagines earthquake-resilient design through the framework of tensile technicism — the strategic use of tension-based systems, lightweight materials, and dynamic structural strategies to create flexible, adaptive environments that breathe with the earth’s movements rather than fracture under them.

By integrating structural engineering principles with emerging material technologies, this approach offers a lighter, more sustainable, and more resilient architecture for seismic zones. Tensile systems …

Skid Row To Recuperation Constellation, Nafisa Azad

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

California suffers from more homelessness than any other state in the U.S. This is also true of chronic homelessness – a critical category of homelessness that captures the intersection of homelessness and disability. Indeed, homelessness and disability – both physical and mental - often occur together. This intersection is especially prevalent in Los Angeles. Current approaches to homelessness focus on housing, with insufficient attention paid to the oft equally troublesome disabilities that follow suit. The dearth of attention paid to the intersection between homelessness and disability represents a crucial gap to be filled. This thesis aims to demonstrate how community …

Dust To Dream, Brenda Meloto De Oliveira

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis explores the design and implementation of a holistic housing initiative to address the needs of economically disadvantaged populations in Sertão do Moxotó, Pernambuco. Situated in an arid region with limited resources, the project provides not only shelter but also community spaces, educational opportunities, and essential services to improve local living standards.

The region’s history of resilience is reflected in its vernacular architecture, which uses materials like adobe, rammed earth, and thatch—offering sustainable, climate-adapted solutions. Yet, basic amenities remain out of reach for many. Community-led initiatives, non-monetary systems, and vocational training help bridge these gaps and empower individuals to …